Antal Szerb was a noted Hungarian scholar and writer, born on May 1, 1901 in Budapest. He is generally regarded as one of the most significant Hungarian writers of the 20th century. Szerb was born to assimilated Jewish parents but was baptized as a Catholic. He studied Hungarian, German, and later English, obtaining a doctorate in 1924. From 1924 to 1929, he lived in France and Italy, also spending a year in London, England.

As a student, he published essays on Georg Trakl and Stefan George, quickly establishing a formidable reputation as a scholar. He wrote erudite studies of William Blake and Henrik Ibsen among other works. Elected President of the Hungarian Literary Academy in 1933 at the young age of 32, he published his first novel, The Pendragon Legend.

Sadly, Antal Szerb's life was cut short when he died on January 27, 1945 in Balf.