Híres Magyarok

(Dezso Blasko, 1882 – 1956) Actor – The Original Dracula! His first American film was 1923’s The Silent Command, a suspenseful spy movie in which Bela played the bad guy. He officially became a US citizen on June 26, 1931. He took on the role of Count Dracula in Horace Liveright’s play in place of actor […]

b. 3/25/1881, Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary, d. 9/26/1945, New York Composer Béla Bartók was one of the most significant musicians of the twentieth century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and other folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesized with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive […]

Andy Grove (Gróf András) was born on 9/2/1936 in Budapest. The Jewish Grof family escaped the Nazi deportations, but Andras was later marked as a son of a capitalist. He immigrated to the US in 1956, when the Soviets entered Budapest. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1960 with a Bachelor […]

(1944 – 2019) Producer, Hollywood Legend Fled Soviet troops and left Hungary in 1956. During a career that spanned the globe, he has been one of the most important producers in Hollywood for the past 20 years.Vajna is the president of Cinergi Productions, co-Founder of Carolco Pictures (Rambo, Total Recall, Terminator, Color of the Night, Judge […]

b. 6/20/1946, Nürnberg, Germany Pianist The first African-American concert pianist to achieve international superstardom. André Watts is the son of an American career soldier stationed in Germany and a Hungarian refugee. Watts began studying the violin at age four. By the time he was six he made it known that his preference was for the piano, […]

(1894 – 1985) Acclaimed photographer One of the pioneers of “street photography.” With a small camera he captured the poetic and absurdity of ordinary life. A major force, he made his mark on different kinds of photography, making documentary an art form. Kertesz began taking pictures when he was sixteen. He was called to arms in […]

Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) was born in Budapest, and obtained his diploma in medicine in 1917. For more than 10 years he toured the world, and at Cambridge he obtained his Ph. D. in chemistry. After returning home he took up a professorial position and headed a department at the University of Szeged, where shortly he […]

The plaque outside the Hungarian cottage states that Haraszthy was the first sheriff of San Diego and that he lived from 1812 to 1869. This hardly does justice to a man and his family who contributed so much to America and to California in particular. Here is the story of this Hungarian-born American. Ágoston Haraszthy’s […]

(1873 – 1976) “Mr. Motion Pictures” and Oscar Winner Producer and Founder of the Paramount Pictures Empire and Loew’s Theatres. Produced the first full-length motion picture, The Prisoner of Zenda. Received a special Academy Award in 1948 for his “contribution to the industry.” In 1903 teamed with Marcus Loew to open the first of a […]

(b. 3/30/21 Budapest, d. 2/1/70 Budapest) Alfréd Rényi received a literary, rather than scientific, schooling in Budapest and Szeged. His studies were interrupted in 1944, when he was forced to a Nazi Labor Camp, but somehow managed to escape and even rescue his parents from the ghetto. After the war he finished his PhD studies […]