Kaczér (Originally Katz), Illés
KACZÉR (originally Katz), ILLÉS
KACZÉR (originally Katz ), ILLÉS (1887–1980), Hungarian author and journalist. Born in Szatmár, Kaczér began his career in provincial journalism before starting to write for Budapest newspapers. He made his name as a novelist and playwright, and his dramas enjoyed considerable success in Hungary during the 1920s. By this time, however, as a result of the revolution of 1918–19, he had left the country and gone to live first in Vienna and later in Berlin, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. In 1938 he moved to London but in 1959, at which time he was already established as a contributor of stories and essays to the Hungarian-language newspaper Uj Kelet, made his home in Israel. Kacźer was noted for his powerful treatment of Jewish themes, ranging from biblical times to the era of social and religious family conflict in the 19th and 20th centuries. His works include the novel Khafrit, az egyiptomi asszony (1916); the play Megjött a Messiás (1921); Ikongo nem hal meg (1936); Fear Not, My Servant Jacob (1947); and The Siege of Jericho (1949), originally published in London as The Siege, 2 vols; and Három a csillag (1956).
bibliography:
Magyar Zsidó Lexikon (1929), 445; Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon, 1 (1963), 565.
[Baruch Yaron]