Ervin Baktay

Ervin Baktay
Born	Ervin Gottesmann 1890
Died	1963
Occupation	Writer, painter
Subject	Indology
Relatives	Amrita Sher-Gil (niece) Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (brother-in-law)

Ervin Baktay (1890–1963; born Ervin Gottesmann[1]) was an author noted for popularizing Indian culture in Hungary.[2][3]

Baktay had started his career as a painter[4] and he encouraged his niece Amrita Sher-Gil to pursue art.[5] He gave up painting to study eastern religions and art, and became a renowned Indologist.[4]

Early life

Ervin Baktay was born on 24 June 1890 in Dunaharaszti, on the Pest side of Budapest.[5] He was the youngest of five children of Raoul Gottesmann and his wife Antononia Levys-Martonfalvy.[6] 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.[7] He studied painting with Simon Hollósy in Munich.[8] Later, in 1927, he made his first journey to India.[9]

He was uncle to artist Amrita Sher-Gil and nephew to Nagybánya artist Alfréd Gottesmann (1872–1965).^[citation needed]

Works

Baktay translated the Kama Sutra in 1920 and then published a version of the Mahābhārata in 1923.[10] In 1960, he produced a version of the Ramayana.[10] His major work, History of Indian Art, was published in 1963.[8]

Death

Dr. Ervin Baktay's tomb at Farkasréti Cemetery

Baktay died in 1963.[8]

Selected publications

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

References

1. Baktay Ervin (1890-1963) megjelent könyvei (Terebess Ázsia E-Tár)
2. Indo-Hungarian Cultural & Educational Relations, Historical Perspective Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, Indian Embassy in Hungary
3. Claudine Bautze-Picron. 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
4. Amrita Shergil, sikh-heritage.co.uk
5. Dalmia, pp. 12-13
6. Sundaram, p. xvi
7. Sundaram, p. 60
8. Sundaram, p. 56
9. Keserü, Katalin (2014). "8. Amrita Sher-Gil: the Indian painter and her French and Hungarian connections". In Dalmia, Yashodhara (ed.). Amrita Sher-Gil: Art & Life : a reader. Oxford University Press. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-0-19-809886-7.
10. Pollet, Ag (1995). "II. International impact of Ramayana". Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact : Proceedings of the 8th International Rāmāyaṇa Conference, Leuven, 6-8 July 1991. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. p. 149. ISBN 90-6831-701-6.

Bibliography

• Dalmia, Yashodhara (2013). Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life. Gurugram: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-342026-2.
• Sundaram, Vivan (2010). Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Tulika Books. pp. 1–417. ISBN 978-81-89487-59-1.
• Sundaram, Vivan (2010). Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings. Vol. 2. New Delhi: Tulika Books. pp. 418–821. ISBN 978-81-89487-59-1.