Francis Kalnay

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}

{{Infobox writer

| image =

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| name = Francis Kalnay

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1899|7|18}}

| birth_place = Budapest, Hungary

| death_date = {{death date and age|1992|12|2|1899|7|18|mf=y}}

| death_place =

| occupation = Writer

| nationality =

| period =

| genre = Children's Literature

| subject = Hungarian

}}

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.{{Cite web |url= http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal |title= Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present |website= American Library Association |accessdate= April 17, 2015 |archive-date= October 24, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111024135429/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm |url-status= dead }}{{Cite web|url= http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/643232.Francis_Kalnay |title= Francis Kalnay |website= Goodreads |accessdate= April 17, 2015}} He also wrote The Richest Boy in the World (Harcourt Brace, 1959; Angel Press, 1977).

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.{{Cite book |last=Fennelly |first=Katherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRgc0AEACAAJ |title=Family Declassified: Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author |date=2023-08-22 |publisher=Sunbury Press, Incorporated |isbn=979-8-88819-110-1 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Richard Harris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83aMqklUijYC |title=OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency |date=2005-08-01 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-59921-658-4 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Chalou |first=George C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3OIFS_yzyUC |title=The Secret War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II |date=December 1995 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-0-7881-2598-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Moran |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1OTDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22francis+kalnay%22++oss&pg=PA53 |title=Company Confessions: Secrets, Memoirs, and the CIA |date=2016-08-23 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-04713-7 |language=en}}