Born: 14-Apr-1950
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
Died: 14-Jul-2016
Cause of death: Cancer - Pancreatic

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Author

Nationality: Hungary
Executive summary: Celestial Harmonies

Péter Esterházy, once hailed as Hungary's greatest living writer, came from an ancient, aristocratic Hungarian family. His father was stripped of his wealth under Communist rule, and forced to work as a parquet-floor layer and police informant. The younger Esterházy studied mathematics and worked as a government statistician before achieving literary success. Frequently mentioned as a Pulitzer or Nobel candidate, he is best known beyond Hungary for his Harmonia Caelestis (Celestial Harmonies), a sprawling, kaleidoscopic climb through a fictionalized representation of his family tree.

His brother, Márton Esterházy, is a well-known former soccer player, and their grandfather, Móric Esterházy, was briefly Prime Minister of Hungary in 1917. Other noteworthy ancestors include Prince Nicolaus Esterházy, the patron and beloved friend of composer Joseph Haydn, and Major Count Ferdinand Walsin-Esterházy, the French traitor who prepared false evidence against Alfred Dreyfus.

Father: Mátyás Esterházy (count/laborer)
Mother: Lili Manyoky (m. 1948)
Brother: Márton Esterházy (soccer player)

    High School: Budapesti Piarista Gimnázium, Budapest, Hungary (1968)
    University: BS Mathematics, Eötvös Loránd University (1974)

    Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels 2004
    Hungarian Ministry of Furnaces and Heavy Machinery Statistician (1974-78)

Author of books:
Fancsikó és Pinta (Fantsiko and Pinta) (1976, short stories)
Pápai vizeken ne kalózkodj (Do Not Make Piracy on Papal Waters) (1977, short stories)
Termelési-regény Kisssregény (Novel of Production) (1979)
Függő (Indirect or Suspended (1981)
Ki szavatol a lady biztonságáért? (Who Grants the Security of the Lady?) (1982)
Fuharosok (The Transporters) (1983)
Kis Magyar Pornográfia (Little Hungarian Pornography) (1984)
A Szív Segédigéi (Helping Verbs of the Heart) (1985)
Bevezetés a Szépirodalomba (An Introduction to Literature) (1986)
Tizenhét Hattyúk (Seventeen Swans) (1987)
A Kitömött Hattyú (1988, essays)
Hrabal Könyve (The Book of Hrabal) (1990)
Hahn-Hahn Grófnő Pillantása:Lefelé a Dunán (The Glance of Countess Hahn-Hahn: Down the Danube) (1991)
Az Elefántcsonttoronyból (From the Ivory-Tower) (1991, non-fiction)
A Halacska Csodálatos Élete (The Wonderful Life of Little Fishy) (1991)
Egy Kékharisnya Följegyzéseiből (1994, non-fiction)
Egy Nő (She Loves Me) (1995)
Egy Kék Haris (1996, non-fiction)
Harmonia Caelestis (Celestial Harmonies) (2000)
Utazás a Tizenhatos Mélyére (2006)
Deutschlandreise im Strafraum (2006)

Wrote plays:
Búcsúszimfónia (Farewell Symphony) (1994)

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