On Thursday Bertalan Havasi, the head of the Prime Minister’s Press Office, informed kormany.hu that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is currently in Washington, had written to the family of Imre Kertész to express his condolences on the death of the Nobel laureate.

“It was with the deepest sorrow that I learnt that our great writer and translator, the author of Fatelessness, can now only be with us through his immortal lines”, Mr. Orbán wrote.

In his letter, sent from Washington, the Prime Minister wrote the following: “History has taught us to always look into the future through the lens of our past. I believe that through reading the novels of Imre Kertész, the whole of humanity may see its own fate in a different light. With his world-renowned work he highlighted that no tyranny of any kind can conquer the human will to live and the desire for freedom. With his undying lines he bestowed the most prestigious literary prize on Hungary”.

Imre Kertész was 87. After a long illness he passed away at his home in Budapest at 4.00 a.m. on 31 March.

(Prime Minister's Office)