Háy was born in 1900 in
Abony,
Austria-Hungary to a Jewish family. He was involved in the German communist movement in the 1920s, particularly in
agitprop plays. During
World War II, he lived for a time in
Moscow's
Hotel Lux, along with scores of other Communist exiles. In the 1950s he was a dissident in the
Hungarian Writers' Union, and advocated for
workers' councils in the months leading up to the
Hungarian revolution of 1956. During the revolution, he played a significant role in the
Hungarian Writers' Union, as a revolutionary body. He was involved in the workers council movement, and wrote the radio appeal to the intellectuals of the world which was broadcast as the Parliament building fell to Soviet troops. Háy was arrested and sentenced to 6 years in prison in November 1957. After three and a half years in prison, he was released and a few years later in 1965, left Hungary for Switzerland with his wife Éva where he continued to write plays in the west as an emigré. He died 1975 in
Ascona,
Switzerland, two days after his 75th birthday. His son,
Peter, is a retired
Canadian author, publisher and bookseller. ==Selected works==