language and literature at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, was born on the 27th of October 1759, at Ér-Semlyén, in the county of Bihar, Hungary. He studied law at Kassa and Eperies, and in Pest, where he also obtained a thorough knowledge of French and German literature, and made the acquaintance of Gideon Ráday, who allowed him the use of his library. In 1784 Kazinczy became subnotary for the county of Abaúj; and in 1786 he was nominated inspector of schools at Kassa. There he began to devote himself to the restoration of the Magyar language and literature by translations from classical foreign works, and by the augmentation of the native vocabulary from ancient Magyar sources. In 1788, with the assistance of Baróti Szabó and John Bacsányi, he started at Kassa the first Magyar literary magazine, Magyar Muzeum; the Orpheus, which succeeded it in 1790, was his own creation. Although, upon the accession of Leopold II, Kazinczy, as a non-Catholic, was obliged to resign his post at Kassa, his literary activity in no way decreased. He not only assisted Gideon Ráday in the establishment and direction of the first Magyar dramatic society, but enriched the repertoire with several translations from foreign authors. His Hamlet, which first appeared at Kassa in 1790, is a rendering from the German version of Schröder. Implicated in the democratic conspiracy of the abbot Martinovics, Kazinczy was arrested on the 14th of December 1794, and condemned to death; but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment. He was released in 1801, and shortly afterwards married Sophia Török, daughter of his former patron, and retired to his small estate at Széphalom or “Fairhill,” near Sátor-Ujhely, in the county of Zemplén. In 1828 he took an active part in the conferences held for the establishment of the Hungarian academy in the historical section of which he became the first corresponding member. He died of Asiatic cholera, at Széphalom, on the 22nd of August 1831.
Kazinczy, although possessing great beauty of style, cannot be regarded as a powerful and original thinker; his fame is chiefly due to the felicity of his translations from the masterpieces of Lessing, Goethe, Wieland, Klopstock, Ossian, La Rochefoucauld, Marmontel, Molière, Metastasio, Shakespeare, Sterne, Cicero, Sallust, Anacreon, and many others. He also edited the works of Baróczy (Pest, 1812, 8 vols.) and of the poet Zrinyi (1817, 2 vols.), and the poems of Dayka (1813, 3 vols.) and of John Kis, (1815, 3 vols.). A collective edition of his works (Szép Literatura), consisting for the most part of translations, was published at Pest, 1814–1816, in 9 vols. His original productions (Eredeti Mukái), largely made up of letters, were edited by Joseph Bajza and Francis Toldy at Pest, 1836–1845, in 5 vols. Editions of his poems appeared in 1858 and in 1863.
KAZVIN, a province and town of Persia. The province is situated N.W. of Teheran and S. of Gilan. On the W. it is
bounded by Khamseh. It pays a yearly revenue of about
£22,000, and contains many rich villages which produce much
grain and fruit, great quantities of the latter being dried and
exported.
Kazvin, the capital of the province, is situated at an elevation of 4165 ft., in 36° 15′ N. and 50° E., and 92 m. by road from Teheran. The city is said to have been founded in the 4th century by the Sassanian king Shapur II (309–379). It has been repeatedly damaged by earthquakes. Many of its streets and most of the magnificent buildings seen there by Chardin in 1674 and other travellers during the 17th century are in ruins. The most remarkable remains are the palace of the Safawid shahs and the mosque with its large blue dome. In the 16th century Shah Tahmasp I. (1524–1576) made Kazvin his capital, and it remained so till Shah Abbas I. (1587–1629) transferred the seat of government to Isfahán. The town still bears the title Dar es Salteneh, “the seat of government.” Kazvin has many baths and cisterns fed by underground canals. The system of irrigation formerly carried on by these canals rendered the plain of Kazvin one of the most fertile regions in Persia; now most of the canals are choked up. The city has a population of about 50,000 and a thriving transit trade, particularly since 1899 when the carriage road between Resht and Teheran with Kazvin as a half-way stage was opened under the auspices of the Russian “Enzeli-Teheran Road Company.” Great quantities of rice, fish and silk are brought to it from Gilan for distribution in Persia and export to Turkey.
KEAN, EDMUND (1787–1833), was born in London on the 17th of March[1] 1787. His father was probably Edmund Kean,
an architect’s clerk; and his mother was an actress, Ann Carey,
grand-daughter of Henry Carey. When in his fourth year
Kean made his first appearance on the stage as Cupid in Noverre’s
ballet of Cymon. As a child his vivacity and cleverness, and
his ready affection for those who treated him with kindness,
made him a universal favourite, but the harsh circumstances
of his lot, and the want of proper restraint, while they developed
strong self-reliance, fostered wayward tendencies. About 1794
a few benevolent persons provided the means of sending him to
school, where he mastered his tasks with remarkable ease and
rapidity; but finding the restraint intolerable, he shipped as a
cabin boy at Portsmouth. Discovering that he had only escaped
to a more rigorous bondage, he counterfeited both deafness and
lameness with a histrionic mastery which deceived even the
physicians at Madeira. On his return to England he sought the
protection of his uncle Moses Kean, mimic, ventriloquist and
general entertainer, who, besides continuing his pantomimic
studies, introduced him to the study of Shakespeare. At the
same time Miss Tidswell, an actress who had been specially kind
to him from infancy, taught him the principles of acting. On
the death of his uncle he was taken charge of by Miss Tidswell,
and under her direction he began the systematic study of the
principal Shakespearian characters, displaying the peculiar
originality of his genius by interpretations entirely different
from those of Kemble. His talents and interesting countenance
induced a Mrs Clarke to adopt him, but the slight of a visitor so
wounded his pride that he suddenly left her house and went back
to his old surroundings. In his fourteenth year he obtained an
engagement to play leading characters for twenty nights in
York Theatre, appearing as Hamlet, Hastings and Cato. Shortly
afterwards, while he was in the strolling troupe belonging to
Richardson’s show, the rumour of his abilities reached George
III., who commanded him to recite at Windsor. He subsequently
joined Saunders’s circus, where in the performance of an
equestrian feat he fell and broke his legs—the accident leaving
traces of swelling in his insteps throughout his life. About
this time he picked up music from Charles Incledon, dancing
from D’Egville, and fencing from Angelo. In 1807 he played
leading parts in the Belfast theatre with Mrs Siddons, who began
by calling him “a horrid little man” and on further experience
of his ability said that he “played very, very well,” but that
“there was too little of him to make a great actor.” An engagement
in 1808 to play leading characters in Beverley’s provincial
troupe was brought to an abrupt close by his marriage
(July 17) with Miss Mary Chambers of Waterford, the leading
actress. For several years his prospects were very gloomy, but
in 1814 the committee of Drury Lane theatre, the fortunes of
which were then so low that bankruptcy seemed inevitable,
resolved to give him a chance among the “experiments” they
were making to win a return of popularity. When the expectation
of his first appearance in London was close upon him he was
so feverish that he exclaimed “If I succeed I shall go mad.”
His opening at Drury Lane on the 26th of January 1814 as Shylock
roused the audience to almost uncontrollable enthusiasm.
Successive appearances in Richard III., Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth
and Lear served to demonstrate his complete mastery of
the whole range of tragic emotion. His triumph was so great
that he himself said on one occasion, “I could not feel the stage
under me.” On the 29th of November 1820 Kean appeared
for the first time in New York as Richard III. The success of his
visit to America was unequivocal, although he fell into a vexatious
dispute with the press. On the 4th of June 1821 he
returned to England.
- ↑ This date is apparently settled by a letter from Kean in 1829, to Dr Gibson (see Rothesay Express for the 28th of June 1893, where the letter is printed and vouched for), inviting him to dinner on the 17th of March to celebrate Kean’s birthday; various other dates have been given in books of reference, the 4th of November having been formerly accepted by this Encyclopaedia.
