Name Jozsef Pusztai Role Writer | Died 1934 | |
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József Pusztai (originally József Pozderecz, Slovene: Jožef Pustai; January 26, 1864 – February 13, 1934) was a Slovene writer, poet, journalist, teacher, and cantor in Hungary. He was also known under the pen name Tibor Andorhegyi.
Born in Beltinci, Prekmurje, in Zala County of the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Slovenia), his parents were János Pozderecz and Franciska Nemecz. His surname was modified to Pusztai because he thought of himself as a Hungarian and felt it was the duty of ethnic Slovenes to assimilate. In Čakovec and Pécs he studied to be a teacher, graduating in 1883. After first having worked in Szőce (in the Őrség region), in 1889 he returned to Prekmurje. From 1889 until 1919 he worked in Martjanci, near Murska Sobota, where he wrote the first hymnal in Prekmurje Slovene. He wrote articles for Muraszombat és Vidéke (Murska Sobota and District), for Értesítő in Szombathely, and for Dober pajdás (Good Friend) in Szentgotthárd. In 1919 he returned to his hometown of Beltinci.