Ramesheditor at 09:45, 1 January 2026

2026-01-01T09:45:18Z

New page

{{Short description|Hungarian author (1890–1963)}}
{{Infobox writer
| embed =
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Ervin Baktay
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Baktay Ervin, Búvár, 1935.jpg
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Ervin Gottesmann
| birth_date = 1890
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1963
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = Writer, painter
| language =
| nationality = 
| citizenship = 
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = 
| subject = [[Indologist|Indology]]
| movement =
| notable_works =
| spouse = 
| partner = 
| children =
| relatives = *[[Amrita Sher-Gil]] (niece)
*[[Umrao Singh Sher-Gil]] (brother-in-law)
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| years_active =
| module =
| website = 
| portaldisp = 
}}
'''Ervin Baktay''' (1890–1963; born '''Ervin Gottesmann'''<ref>[http://www.terebess.hu/keletkultinfo/baktay.html Baktay Ervin (1890-1963) megjelent könyvei (Terebess Ázsia E-Tár)]</ref>) was an author noted for popularizing [[Indian culture]] in [[Hungary]].<ref name="embassy">[http://www.indianembassy.hu/html/education.html Indo-Hungarian Cultural & Educational Relations, Historical Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009170120/http://www.indianembassy.hu/html/education.html |date=2008-10-09 }}, Indian Embassy in Hungary</ref><ref>Claudine Bautze-Picron. [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01079408/document Ervin Baktay, the art historian]. BÉLA KELÉNYI, Az indológus indián. Baktay Ervin emlékezete (The Indologist Indian: Memory of Ervin Baktay), Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts – Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, 2014 (pp. 364-9)., 2014. halshs-01079408</ref>

Baktay had started his career as a painter<ref name="sikh-heritage">[http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/arts/amritashergil/amritashergill.html Amrita Shergil], sikh-heritage.co.uk</ref> and he encouraged his niece [[Amrita Sher-Gil]] to pursue art.<ref name=Dalmia.12/> He gave up painting to study [[eastern religion]]s and art, and became a renowned [[Indologist]].<ref name="sikh-heritage"/>

==Early life==
Ervin Baktay was born on 24 June 1890 in [[Dunaharaszti]], on the Pest side of Budapest.<ref name=Dalmia.12>Dalmia, pp. 12-13</ref> He was the youngest of five children of Raoul Gottesmann and his wife Antononia Levys-Martonfalvy.<ref name=Sundaram.xvi>Sundaram, p. xvi</ref> Following the death of his father in 1905, Baktay's mother decided to move to Austria and then to [[Zebegény]], Hungary, at the onset of the [[First World War]].<ref name=Sundaram.60>Sundaram, p. 60</ref> He studied painting with [[Simon Hollósy]] in [[Munich]].<ref name=Sundaram.56>Sundaram, p. 56</ref> Later, in 1927, he made his first journey to India.<ref name=Keserü>{{cite book |last1=Keserü |first1=Katalin |editor1-last=Dalmia |editor1-first=Yashodhara |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: Art & Life : a reader |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809886-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7W4oAEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=8. Amrita Sher-Gil: the Indian painter and her French and Hungarian connections|pages=67-68}}</ref>

He was uncle to artist [[Amrita Sher-Gil]] and nephew to Nagybánya artist Alfréd Gottesmann (1872–1965).{{citation needed|date =April 2024}}

==Works==
Baktay translated the ''[[Kama Sutra]]'' in 1920 and then published a version of the ''[[Mahābhārata]]'' in 1923.<ref name="Pollet1995">{{cite book |last1=Pollet |first1=Ag |title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact : Proceedings of the 8th International Rāmāyaṇa Conference, Leuven, 6-8 July 1991 |date=1995 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |location=Leuven |isbn=90-6831-701-6 |page=149 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&dq=Ervin+Baktay&pg=PA149 |language=en |chapter=II. International impact of Ramayana}}</ref> In 1960, he produced a version of the ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref name="Pollet1995"/> His major work, ''History of Indian Art'', was published in 1963.<ref name=Sundaram.56/>

==Death==
[[Image:Baktay Ervin.jpg|thumb|right|Dr. Ervin Baktay's tomb at [[Farkasréti Cemetery]]]]

Baktay died in 1963.<ref name=Sundaram.56/>

==Selected publications==
*Baktay Ervin: Die Kunst Indiens; Übers. Edith Róth; Bearb. Heinz Kucharski; Berlin - Budapest, Terra - Akad. Verlag, 1963.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book |last=Dalmia|first=Yashodhara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mj3mlgEACAAJ |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life |date=2013 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Gurugram |isbn=978-0-14-342026-2 |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010 |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=1|pages=1-417|isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010 |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=2|pages=418-821|isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baktay, Ervin}}
[[Category:Hungarian Indologists]]
[[Category:20th-century Hungarian Jews]]
[[Category:People from Dunaharaszti]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery]]

{{Hungary-academic-bio-stub}}

Ervin Baktay - Revision history

Ramesheditor at 09:45, 1 January 2026