Famous Hungarians
Hungary may be a small country, but it has proudly produced major contributions to world's cultural and science. You may be familiar with household names in the world of music such as Liszt and Bartok and you certainly have played with a Rubik cube. But, you might not know that everyday when you pick up the phone you use a word of Hungarian origin: "Hallo". It is from "Hallom" -- "I can hear" in Hungarian, and it goes back to the first phone conversation between Tivadar Puskás (inventor of telephone switchboard) and his assistant.
Here is a short list of famous Hungarians. Many of them are either from, or lived in Budapest. Should you be interested, we will be happy to take you to sites that are connected with them.
Edward (Ede) Teller (b. Jan. 15, 1908, Budapest) Physicist, instrumental in the Manhattan Project, Father of the H-Bomb: co-developed the Atomic Bomb and Discovered BET equation
Leo Szilárd (b. Feb 11, 1898, Budapest, d. May 30, 1964, La Jolla, California) Physicist - Co-developed the Atomic Bomb, patented the nuclear reactor, catalyst of the Manhattan Project
John von Neumann (b. Dec 28, 1903, Budapest - d. Feb 8, 1957, Washington, DC) Legendary Mathematician, Physicist, Logician, and Computing Pioneer. Father of Binary Code and the Stored Program Computer, the keys to modern computer programming.
Dennis Gábor (b.1900, Budapest - d. 1979, London) Nobel Prize in 1971 for his investigation and development of holography
Tivadar Puskás (b. 9/17/1844, Pest - d. 1893) Inventor, Telephone Pioneer / Thomas Edison's Colleague - Inventor of the Telephotograph (forerunner to radio) and Telephone News
Peter Carl Goldmark (b. 12/2/1906, Budapest - d. Westchester County, NY, 12/7/1977) Engineer, CBS Chief Scientist - Invented the Color Television, 33 1/3 LP Record, and the Electronic Video Recorder!
Kálmán Kandó (b. 1869, d. 1931) Inventor/Engineer - Discovered the triple phase high tension current for electric locomotion and industrial applications. He is the Father of Modern Electric Trains!
Mihály Csikszentmihályi (b. Hungary, ) Renowned Psychologist - Father of "Flow Theory," former Chair of University of Chicago's Department of Psychology, and Bestselling Author
Ignác Fülöp Semmelweis (b. 1818, Buda, d. 1865, Vienna) Physician - "The Mothers' Savior" - Discovered Cause of Puerperal Fever in 1847. Pioneer of antiseptic policy
József László Bíró (b. 1899, d. 1985) Inventor - Developed the Ballpoint Pen AND the Automatic Gearbox for Automobiles
Ányos Jedlik (b. 1800, Szimő [today Zemné, Slovakia after annexation in 1921] d. 1895) Benedictine Priest, Engineer, Physicist, Inventor - Father of the Dynamo and Electric Motor
Joseph Galamb (1881 - 1955) Ford Chief Engineer: Designed the Model T and Model A Ford, the Fordson Tractor, invented the Ignition Plug and the Planetary Gearbox, and prepared the production of Liberty aircraft engines
Albert Szent-Györgyi (b. Sept 16 1893 Budapest; d. Oct 22 1986 Massachusetts) He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and medicine in 1937 - for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumarate acid.
Oscar Asbóth (1881 - 1960) Engineer: Student of Theodore Kármán and Helicopter Pioneer.
Adolph Zukor (b. 1873, Ricse, Hungary, d. 1976, Century City, CA) "Mr. Motion Pictures" and Oscar Winner
Joseph Pulitzer (April 10, 1847 - October 29, 1911) He introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers. Today he is best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prize.
William Fox (born Vilmos Fried, 1/1/1879, Tulchva, Hungary, d. 5/8/1952, New York) Producer and Hollywood Mogul - Founder of Fox Studios
Miklós Rózsa (b. 1907, Budapest) Triple Oscar Winning Film Composer
Korda Brothers Internationally recognized as superior filmmakers, the Korda brothers - Alexander, Zoltán and Vincent - made an indelible mark on the film industries in their native Hungary, as well as in Austria, Germany, the U.S., France and, especially, Great Britain.
Imre Kertész (Budapest, 1929- ) Hungarian writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002.
Michael Curtiz (b. Manó Kertész Kaminer, 12/24,1898 Budapest, d. 4/10/1962, Hollywood, California) Oscar Winning Director of "Casablanca"
Harry Houdini (b. 3/24/1874, Budapest, d. 10/31/1926, Detroit) The "Greatest Magician on Earth," Actor, Pioneer Pilot
Gábor Csupó - (b. 1952, Budapest) Co-founder of Klasky-Csupo, one of the world's leading independent animation studios, Founder of Tone Casualties, Musician. 5 EMMYS and 2 CABLE ACE Awards - produced Rug rats and the Simpsons
George Pál (b. 1/2/1908, Cegléd, Hungary, d. 5/2/1980, Beverly Hills, California) Cartoonist - Winner of SIX Oscars, and pioneer of stop-action animation!
Elemer Ragalyi (b. 1939, Budapest) Acclaimed Emmy Award Winning Cinematographer of Oscar Winning "Journey of Hope"
Béla Bartók (b. 25 March 1881; d. 26 Sept 1945 New York) Composer, pianist and author, educated at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Budapest. He was professor of music at the Royal Academy from 1907 to 1940, and made a 12-volume collection of traditional Hungarian, Romanian and Arabian melodies, also writing articles on research into folklore and folk songs
Zoltán Kodály (December 16, 1882 - March 6, 1967) was a composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist and philosopher. The Kodaly Method's philosophy is that music education is most effective when started early and that everyone is capable of musical literacy
Franz Liszt (b. Oct. 22, 1811 - Doborján, Hungary (AKA, Raiding after Austrian annexation); d. July 31, 1886 - Bayreuth, Germany) Classical Composer, "Greatest Pianist of All Time"
Lehár, Franz (b. 4/30/1870 Komárom (now called Komarno in Slovakia after annexation at Trianon) - d. 10/24/1948, Bad Ischl, Austria) Foremost composer of 20th century operettas.
Imre (Emmerich) Kalman (b. 10/24/1882 Siofok, Hungary, d. 10/30/1953, Paris) Composer - "One of the Greatest Composers of Operetta" - Operetta = 20 century musical-
George Soros "The world's greatest money manager" and Great Progressive, Controversial Philanthropist.
Hon. Tom Lantos (b. 2/1/1928, Budapest, Hungary, d.) 11-term U.S. Congressman from California (D)
Ernő Rubik Mathematician, Inventor of the Rubik's Cube
Charles Simonyi (b. 9/10/1948, Budapest) Billionaire Computer Scientist and Chief Architect, Microsoft Corporation - He managed teams who developed Microsoft Multiplan, Word, Excel, and other applications