Another well-known person of letters who started to learn Hungarian was Edmund Wilson (died 1972). I learned of the backstory to this in the late Frederick Exle

Another well-known person of letters who started to learn Hungarian was Edmund Wilson (died 1972). I learned of the backstory to this in the late Frederick Exley’s memoir. He was obsessed with Wilson and interviewed his assistant, a Hungarian woman many years his junior who apparently made a huge impression on Wilson. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/08/missionary-2 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/08/missionary-2