Francis Kalnay

Francis Kalnay (July 18, 1899 – December 2, 1992) was an American children's book author. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and moved to the United States in 1919, where he settled in Carmel, California. He is the author of Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa, which won a Newbery Honor in 1959.^[1][2] He also wrote The Richest Boy in the World (Harcourt Brace, 1959; Angel Press, 1977).

Francis Kalnay
Born	(1899-07-18)July 18, 1899 Budapest, Hungary
Died	December 2, 1992(1992-12-02) (aged 93)
Occupation	Writer
Genre	Children's Literature
Subject	Hungarian

Kalnay was head of an espionage unit for the Allied Forces during World War II, and worked for the OSS, where he was one of the few foreign-born Americans briefed on the ULTRA decrypts. He also recruited Yugoslavian intelligence agents, but was suspected of Communist leanings by the top brass. He later relocated to Argentina. A secular Jew, several of his family members were killed by Hungarian Nazis.^[3][4][5][6]

References

1. "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present". American Library Association. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
2. "Francis Kalnay". Goodreads. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
3. Fennelly, Katherine (August 22, 2023). Family Declassified: Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author. Sunbury Press, Incorporated. ISBN 979-8-88819-110-1.
4. Smith, Richard Harris (August 1, 2005). OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-59921-658-4.
5. Chalou, George C. (December 1995). The Secret War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7881-2598-0.
6. Moran, Christopher (August 23, 2016). Company Confessions: Secrets, Memoirs, and the CIA. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-250-04713-7.

External links

• Children's literature portal

• Francis Kalnay at Library of Congress, with 7 library catalogue records