Bella Nagy

Nagy had her stage debut in 1898, and performed in several works by Mór Jókai before she married the writer in 1899 in Budapest.^[4] Their age difference (he was 74 and she was 20), plus their religious differences, caused a scandal, and his family tried to have him declared incompetent.^[1][5] She left the stage reluctantly, and attempted a comeback in 1901,^[6] but continued in the public eye as Jókai's wife.^[7]

After his death, she was his sole heir, outraging other claimants and causing further scandal and prolonged legal battles; she lost those battles, and was left without support from Jókai's estate.^[8][9][10]

In 1912, Nagy donated Jókai's books and papers to the Hungarian National Museum in exchange for a life pension.^[11][12]

Nagy married writer Mór Jókai in 1899,^[13] as his second wife; they honeymooned in Sicily. His first wife, Róza Laborfalvi, was also an actress.^[14] Nagy was widowed when Jókai died in 1904;^[15][16] she never remarried.^[1]

She moved to England in the 1939, to flee the Nazis and to arrange for an English-language edition of her husband's works. She lost her life pension in 1942, when Germany pressured Hungary to cease payments.^[12] She died in 1947, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, aged 67.^[17]