When Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi was asked if he believed in extraterrestrials, he replied, "They are already here...they are called Hungarians!"
Can you help support our work? Please CLICK IMAGE TO DONATE!
Did you know that the developers of the atomic bomb; the holograph; moon rover; Model T Ford; and the fathers of binary code, BASIC and computer programming; the atomic bomb, nuclear engineering; the California wine industry; the U.S. Cavalry; the Model T Ford; matches; color television; full-length motion pictures; the carburetor; the Zeppelin; the automatic gearbox; the moon rover; Intel Corporation; and of the U.S. aerospace industry are all Hungarian-Americans? And what about Joseph Pulitzer, of "Pulitzer Prize" fame? There's much more to his story. And can you believe there was a Hungarian Emperor of Madagascar?
This list is far from incluive, but exemplifies, along with the other sections, the Hungarian Genius! Many of these will surprise you. They sure surprised me. The number of these incredible people is astounding given the size of the Hungarian population in the entire world is around 20 million. I have received submissions from all over the world (see "Special Thanks").
Click to [Submit] a Famous Hungarian. Please include a resource for verification purposes. I do get quite a bit of hate mail regarding this site and this list. History can so easily be corrupted by nationalism. To maintain the high standards and integrity of this site, submissions cannot be accepted without a verifiable resource.
Sections:
- Sports
- Science, Mathematics, & Technology I, II
- Film, the Arts, & Media I, II
- Business & Politics
- Military
- Hungarian Nobel Prize Winners
- Hungarian Olympic Triumph
- Master Name Index is below
Master Name Index (Alphabetical with Appropriate Section in Link)
- Don Adams - Record setting Triple Emmy Award and Clio Award Winning Actor, Director, Screenwriter - Get Smart!
- Florian Albert - Soccer Great - World Cup scoring title and European Soccer Player of the Year: the "Gold Ball" of 1967
- Franz (Gabriel) Alexander - Physician and Psychoanalyst: Psychoanalytic Pioneer - Father of Psychosomatic Medicine
- Count Ede Laszlo Almasy - Explorer, Double Agent! Immortalized in "The English Patient"
- Geza Anda - Acclaimed Pianist: The "Troubador of the Piano"
- Anonymous - Inventor of the Carriage or "Coach"
- Lt. Colonel Albert Anzelm - Civil War Hero: General Fremont's Chief-of-Staff
- General Alexander Asboth - US Chief-of-Staff, US Minister to Argentina
- Oscar Asboth - Engineer - Student of Theodore Kármán and Helicopter Pioneer
- Bob Babbitt - Legendary, Two-time Grammy-award winning Electric Bass Player earning 25 Gold and platinum records playing on over 200 top 40 hits. An "Icon of the Groove" helping to "define the era of the 1960's." Part of the Funk Brothers: "the Greatest Hit Machine in Modern Music."
- Donat Banki - Co-Invented the Carburetor
- Robert Barany - Nobel Prize 1914 - "For his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus"
- Bela Barenyi - Engineer, Auto Safety Pioneer - Father of the Volkswagen Beetle, Passive Safety, Occupant Safety Cell, Collapsible Steering System, AND the Seat Belt!
- Victor Barna - Legendary Table Tennis Champion - "The Greatest Table Tennis Player that ever Lived"
- Madeleine Forro Barnothy - Astrophysicist, Pioneer in the study of Cosmic Radiation, Bio-Magnetism and Magnetic Therapy, first Woman to earn a doctorate in physics in Hungary!
- Drew Barrymore - Actress, Model, Producer, Philanthropist, "America's Sweetheart"
- Bela Bartok - Composer, ethnomusicologist
- Zoltan Bay - Physicist: First to use radar to take measurements of the moon
- Antal Bejczy - Engineer - Developed Mars Rover "Sojourner," and Pathfinder's Remote Control System
- George von Bekesy - Nobel Prize 1961 - "For his discoveries concerning the physical mechanisms of stimulation within the cochlea."
- Laszlo "Laci" Bellak - Table Tennis Legend - Seven-time World Champion, Hall of Famer
- Laszlo Benedek - Producer/Director/Writer of "The Wild One" fame
- Pal Benko - Legendary Chess Champion Grand Master - only man to beat Bobby Fisher in ' 62 and US Chess Hall of Famer
- Les Besser - Engineer: “Father of microwave computer-aided design” Microwave Engineering
- Cicciolina (Ilona Staller) - Actress, Politician - Queen of Euro Porn through the 80's and 90's - Member of Parliament! Co-founder of Italy's Green Party
- Count Moric Benyovszky - Emperor of Madagascar!
- Count Laszlo Bercsenyi - Huszár, Founder of the modern French Cavalry! Marshal of France
- Gabor Bernath - Inventor, Computer Prodigy: at 15 Invented the commercially viable 3d Scanner, "ScanGuru," and won the 50th Intel ISEF
- Peter Besenyei - World Champion Aerobat
- Jozsef Laszlo Biro - Inventor - Developed the ballpoint pen in 1938 AND the automatic gearbox for automobiles.
- Otto Blathy - One in the "Great Triad"of Electrical Engineers at Ganz: Father of the electric transformer, the tension regulator, the watt meter, the alternating current motor, the turbogenerator and high efficiency turbogenerator.
- Hugo Bockh - Geologist who discovered Iran's oil fields
- Ladislau (Laszlo) Boloni - Soccer Player and Rumanian National Team Head Coach
- Farkas Bolyai - Mathematician
- Janos Bolyai - Mathematician - Discovered non-Euclidian hyperbolic geometry
- Julius Boros - Golf Legend
- Adrien Brody - Actor - Oscar Nominated for "The Pianist"
- Imre Brody - Physicist: Father of the Krypton Electric Bulb
- J. Edward Bromberg, AKA Joe Bromberg - Actor on the Big Screen and Broadway, McCarthy Black-listee
- Joe Bugner - (WBF) World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Australian Heavyweight Champion - Fought Muhammad Ali for the world title twice!
- Robert Capa - Acclaimed Photojournalist: "One of the greatest photojournalists of the 20th century" and "The Greatest War Photographer in the World"
- Louis CK - Emmy Award-winning comedian and writer, television and film producer and director
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Renowned Psychologist - Father of "Flow Theory," former Chair of University of Chicago's Department of Psychology, and Bestselling Author
- Marton Csokas - Acclaimed Actor - "The Kiwi who Infiltrated Hollywood"
- Sandor Korosi Csoma - (Alexander Csoma de Koros) Explorer and Scholar "Father of Tibetan Studies and Buddhist Culture" Walked from Hungary to Tibet and presented the world with the first Tibetan dictionary and grammar and became a Buddhist Saint!
- Janos Csonka - Co-Invented the carburetor
- Larry Csonka - Miami Dolphins' Perfect Season Super Bowl Runningback, Super Bowl VIII MVP and Hall of Famer.
- Tivadar Csontvary (Kosztka) - Famed Painter: Picasso once chided Chagall that he could not produce a painting half as good as one of Csontvary's!
- Gabor Csupo - Leader of the new generation of animation. 5 EMMYS and 2 CABLE ACE Awards - produced Rugrats and the Simpsons
- Charles Csuri - "Father of Digital Art!"
- George Cukor - Double Oscar-Winning Director
- Jamie Lee Curtis - Actress...Best Legs in Hollywood?
- Tony Curtis - Oscar-Nominated Actor, Artist, and Hollywood Legend!
- Michael Curtiz - Oscar Winning Director of "Casablanca"
- Huba Wass de Czege - Brigadier General, US Army Founding Director of the US Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies and Architect of AirLand Battle Doctrine
- Georges Cziffra - World-renowned, Legendary Concert Pianist: The "virtuoso showman at the keyboard!"
- Joseph Dallos - Physician - The First Modern, Molded Contact Lenses!
- Frank Darabont - Director/Writer - Two Oscar Nominations for The Green Mile, "One of the best writer/directors of his generation"
- Nicholas Deak - Banker, Finanacier. Received the surrender of the Japanese in Burma in WWII. Founder of Deak-Perera, the nation's "oldest and largest foreign exchange and precious metals investment firm
- Robert Deak - Banker, Financier and Father of the Secured Credit Card
- Mihaly Denes - Mechanical Engineer - Father of Sound Film and Television Broadcasting: Produced the first television program in history!
- Miksa Deri - One in the "Great Triad"of Electrical Engineers at Ganz: Developed A/C electric generator
- Dr. Hans von Dohnanyi - WWII hero of German resistance!
- Kristof (Christoph) von Dohnanyi - Conductor (Cleveland) of the "Country's Greatest Orchestra"
- Erno (Ernst) von Dohnanyi - Pianist, composer, conductor, and pedagogue
- Antal Dorati - Acclaimed Conductor and Composer
- Istvan Dorogi - Chemical Engineer / Inventor: Father of Mass Produced Inflatable Toys, Forms and Figures!
- Lawrence Dorr - Pulitzer Prize Nominated Author / Professor - The "Christian Hemingway"
- Albrecht Durer - Reniassance Master - perhaps the Greatest "German" artist of the Renaissance era. Also the most important of the Renaissance Mathematicians - Father of Descriptive Geometry
- Krisztina Egerszegi - 5-time Olympic Gold Medalist: "Greatest Backstroke Swimmer of All Time," youngest Olympic Champion of all time, and only woman to win five gold medals in individual swimming events!
- St. Elizabeth of Hungary - Giver of Charity, Patroness of Hospitals
- Baron Lorand Eotvos - Mathematician: Developed one of the first steps towards relativity theory. Inventions made it possible to explore for natural resources like oil, coal, and different ores
- Zsolt Erdei - WBO light heavyweight champion, former World Amateur Champion
- Arthur Erdelyi - Mathematician - His works are cited as "the most widely cited mathematical works of all time and a basic reference source for generations of applied mathematicians and physicists throughout the world."
- Paul Erdos - Legendary Mathematician: Revered by colleagues and considered to be the "most brilliant mind in his field," he collaborated with so many mathematicians that the phenomenon of the "Erdos Number" evolved
- Joe (Joszef) Eszterhas - Prolific Screenwriter (Basic Instinct, Sliver, Flashdance) "Highest-paid writer in Hollywood"
- Jeno Fejes - Engineer, Inventor - first in the world who submitted patents for manufacturing automobile parts by cold-forming, pressing, torch- or spot-welding.
- Gyula Fenyi - Physicist: First to prove that the frequency of solar protuberances varies according to the number of sun spots
- Philip Figyelmessy - US Inspector General during Civil War
- Charles Fleischmann - Founder of the famous Standard Brands Yeast Company of Fleischmann's Yeast fame
- Eugene Fodor - Founder of "Fodor's Travel Guides"
- Albert Fono - Mechanical Engineer - Received the first patent on airplane jet propulsion and enabled aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. Also developed Aerial Torpedoes, Jet Artillery, Air Compressors
- William Fox - Producer and Hollywood Mogul - Founder of Fox Studios!
- Milton Friedman - Nobel Prize 1976 - "for his achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy" - the best known living economist
- The Gabor Sisters - Glamorous Actresses with a Hungarian Temper!
- Dennis Gabor - Nobel Prize 1971 - "for his investigation and development of holography"
- Daniel Carlton Gajdusek - Nobel Prize 1976 - For discovering "new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases."
- Joseph Galamb - 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
- Eva Gardos - Acclaimed Screenwriter, Director, and Editor
- Charles Gati - Political Scientist, Author, Foreign Policy Advisor, Professor
- Mitzi Gaynor - Legendary Actress / Singer / Dancer: Star of "South Pacific"
- Uri Geller - Psychic/Entertainer
- Peter Gergely - Architect and Structural Engineer: Founder of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering
- Peter & Charlie Gogolak - All-Pro Football Players - Longest Field Goal and all-time leading scorer in New York Giants history!
- Karl Goldmark - Composer
- Peter Carl Goldmark - Engineer, CBS Chief Scientist - Invented the Color Television, 33 1/3 LP Record, and the Electronic Video Recorder! National Medal of Science
- Peter Goldmark, Jr. - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the International Herald Tribune
- Pal Greguss - Chemical Engineer and Physicist: invented the Pál-Optic used in NASA's Deep Space Program
- Andy Grove - Former President/CEO, and Chairman of Intel. Time's Man of the Year for 1998! That's the second Hungarian to be awarded this honor!
- Lou "The Toe" Groza - NFL Football Player: Record-setting Tackle and Placekicker for the Cleveland Browns - 9 Pro-Bowls, Hall of Famer
- Alfred Haar - Mathematician: Introduced a measure on groups, now called the Haar measure, used by von Neumann, and other notables
- Eugene Hainer - US Congressman, 1893, 1895, from Lincoln, Nebraska
- George "Papa Bear" Halas - Legendary Hall of Fame Football Coach: Father of the NFL
- Robert Halmi, Sr. - Producer, "Tele-Visionary," Chairman of Hallmark Entertainment, the most prolific producer in TV history: multiple Emmy Award winner and 1999 Peabody Award winner
- Col. Agoston Haraszthy - "Father of California Wine Culture!" - Ronald Reagan
- Mariska Hargitay - Actress (Law and Order. ER, Leaving Las Vegas)
- Mickey (Miklos) Hargitay - Mr. Universe!
- John Harsanyi - Nobel Prize 1994 - "For his pioneering analysis of equilibrium in the theory of non-cooperative games." Shared prize with A Beautful Mind's John Nash
- Stefan Hatos - Television producer of "Let's Make a Deal" fame
- Goldie Hawn - Very Cute Actress and Academy Award Nominee for Private Benjamin. Tentative honoree
- Robert Hegyes - Actor, Director - immortalized as "Juan Epstein" on Welcome Back Kotter!
- Miksa Herz - Architect - known in Egypt as Pasha Herz
- Theodor Herzl - Founder of the Zionist Movement
- George de Hevesy - Nobel Prize 1943 - "For his pioneering work with isotopes as tracers." Winner of Atom for Peace Award 1959
- Martina Hingis - Tennis Superstar! At 17, she became the youngest #1 ranked player ever and is the youngest to ever win and defend a Grand Slam Title.
- Dezo (Dezso) Hoffmann / Hofmann / Hoffman - Acclaimed Photographer - the Beatles' photographer! "One of the Greatest Photographers in Entertainment"
- Csaba Horvath - Renowned Professor of Chemical Engineering at Yale. Father of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)
- Joseph Rudolph "Bronco" Horvath - All-Star Hockey Player
- Les Horvath - Football Player - Ohio State's First Heisman Trophy Winner
- Harry Houdini - The "Greatest Magician on Earth," Actor, Pioneer Pilot
- Alan Mackenzie Howard - Actor
- Leslie Howard - Actor - 'Gone With the Wind"
- Tim Howard - England's Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year for 2004 - first American to win the coveted AF Cup title with Champion Manchester United. US National Team keeper.
- Al Hrabosky - "The Mad Hungarian" Great relief pitcher
- Jeno Hubay - Violin Virtuoso, Romantic Composer - The "Prince of the Violin" and Founder of the legendary modern Hungarian Violin School
- Janos Hunyadi - Military leader and statesman. First to stop the Ottoman Turks!
- Emeric (Imre) Ienei - Soccer Player and Rumanian National Team Head Coach
- Janos Irinyi - Chemist - Invented safety matches!
- Ernest Istook - US Congressman, Republican from Oklahoma, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee, Co-Chair of the Hungarian Caucus in the US House of Representatives
- General Robert Ivany (Iványi) - West Point Graduate; West Point (Army) Football Coach; Commanding General, Military District of Washington; Commandant of the War College; and President of the University of St. Thomas
- Geza Jako - Physician, scientist, educator. Father of soft tissue microsurgery, laser surgery, minimally invasive surgery. White House Advisor for Cancer to Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr. Pioneer of human cochlear stimulation for deafness.
- Anyos Jedlik - Priest, Engineer, Physicist, Inventor - Father of the Dynamo
- Stephen (Steven, Istvan) Kaali - Medical Pioneer, Inventor - Patented Bio Electrical Blood Cleansing Device for AIDS and other blood diseases
- Janos Kabay - First to isolate morphine directly from the plant
- Frida Kahlo - Acclaimed Artist and Mexican Icon: One of the most influential artists of the middle twentieth century
- Rudolf Emil Kalman - Developed the Kálmán Filter which is the " greatest discovery in statistics in our century." Kalman filtering is also the method used in GPS (Global Positioning Systems) for navigation
- Kalman Kando - Inventor, Engineer - Discovered triple phase high tension current for electric locomotion and industrial applications. Father of Modern Electric Trains!
- Moricz Kohn Kaposi - Physician and Dermatologist: Discovered Kaposi's Sarcoma
- Theodore von Karman - Aeronautical Engineer & Mathematician. The Father of the Supersonic Flight and a founder of the aeronautical and astronautical sciences. Designed the first rocket to reach interstellar space!
- Bela and Marta (Martha) Karoly - U.S. Gymnastics Coaches to Nadia and Mary Lou
- Sgt. Leopold Karpeles - Civil War Hero - Congressional Medal of Honor Winner
- John Kemeny - Mathematician, President of Dartmouth: "Father of Microcomputing," developed BASIC computer language
- Farkas Kempelen de Pazmand - Inventor - First Speaking Machine - first experimental phonetician
- Gyorgy Kepes - Painter, designer, author and educator who founded and directed the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT
- Andre Kertesz - Acclaimed photographer
- Imre Kertesz - Nobel Prize 2002 - "For writing that upholds the tragic experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"
- Kincsem - "The greatest racehorse of all time"
- Karch Kiraly - 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Professional Volleyball Player: "The King" and Player of the Century
- Christina Kiss - Renowned Pianist: one of the foremost Liszt interpreters of our time
- Max Kiss - Pharmacist and Inventor of Ex-Lax!
- Calvin Klein - American Fashion King!
- Brigadier General Frederick Knefler - Civil War Hero: "Hungarian Patriot and American General" - highest rank attained in the Union army by a member of the Jewish faith.
- Mark and David Knopfler - Legendary, Grammy Award-winning Rock Musicians of Dire Straits: "The Sultans of Rock" and "the finest British band of all time."
- Sgt. Matej Kocak - WWI Hero - DOUBLE Congressional Medal of Honor Winner
- Sandor Kocsis - Soccer Legend: The "The Man With The Golden Head"
- Zoltan Kocsis - Piano Virtuoso and Composer
- Zoltan Kodaly - Composer, educator, ethnomusicologist, linguist, author and philosopher
- Arthur Koestler - Author/Playwright
- Lajos Koltai, HSC - Cinematographer - Oscar Nomination
- Sir Alexander Korda - Legendary, Oscar Nominated Producer / Director: A "Hollywood Renegade" & Founding Member of The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers. Founder and guiding force behind the British film industry and "Savior of the British film industry."
- Michael Korda - Best-Selling Author and Superstar Publisher and over 40 years as Editor-In-Chief of Simon & Schuster
- Vincent Korda -Oscar Winning Film Art Director
- Zoltan Korda - Acclaimed Director
- Janos Kornai - Economist, Harvard Professor: Developed the "economics of shortage" theory
- Bernie Kosar - Superbowl winning Quarterback. Played for the Browns, Cowboys and the Dolphins!
- Mihaly Kotai - Boxer - WBF Super Welterweight Champion and world-title contender - "The Ace of Tokai"
- Ernie Kovacs - Actor, Broadcast Pioneer, and Legendary Comedian and T.V. Personality Three Emmy Awards in the 1956-57 TV season.
- Laszlo Kovacs ASC - Legendary Cinematographer
- Col. Michael de Kovats - US Military Hero!- Founding Father of the US Cavalry!
- Brigadier General Eugene A. Kozlay - Civil War Hero: Organized the 54th New York Infantry Regiment
- Hon. Tom Lantos - 11-term U.S. Congressman from California
- Erno Laszlo - Dermatologist and Cosmetics Tycoon: Father of Modern Skincare Products
- Estee Lauder - Cosmetic Queen! Founder of the current world cosmetics leader!
- Leonard A. Lauder - White House Advisor and Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
- Ronald S. Lauder - US Ambassador to Vienna, Deputy Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, philanthropist and businessman.
- Benjamin Lax - Electrical Engineer / Physicist: Founder and Director of Francis Bitter National Magnetic Laboratories (MIT); Professor of Physics, Emeritus (MIT); Semiconductor and magneto-optics pioneer; Radar Pioneer: developed the radar height and range finder and discovered radar meteorology.
- Peter Lax - Renowned and Prolific Applied Mathematician and "one of the greatest figures in pure and applied mathematics of our times."
- Franz Lehar - Foremost composer of 20th century operettas
- Fulop von Lenard - Nobel Prize 1905 - "For his studies in x-rays and the cathode ray tube"
- Menyhert Lengyel - Oscar Nominated Writer, Producer, and Broadway and Film Director
- Gyorgy Ligeti - Composer and 20th Century Musical Pioneer: One of the world’s best known living composers - featured on 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Franz Liszt - Classical Composer, "Greatest Pianist of All Time"
- Lajos Loczy - First to make geological survey of the Trans-Himalaya mountain chain
- Stefan Lorant - Photographer / Editor / Filmmaker / Pioneering Journalist - Widely regarded as the first major editor of modern photojournalism and "the Godfather of Photojournalism"
- Peter Lorre - Actor - Chaplin called him "the greatest actor alive"
- Laszlo Lovasz - Renowned Yale University Senior Faculty Mathematician, Microsoft Senior Researcher, Computer Scientist: 1999 Wolf Prize Winner
- Bela Lugosi - Actor - The Original Dracula!
- John Lukacs - Eminent Historian: Pulitzer Prize Nominated, Ingersoll Prize Winner - "one of America’s most respected historians - Yale"
- J. Anthony Lukas - Acclaimed Author and Journalist . "One of America's most brilliant writers" and Winner of TWO Pulitzer Prizes!
- Paul Lukas - Actor, Academy Award Winner for "Watch on the Rhine," in 1943
- Janos Luppis - Naval Captain and Engineer: Co-Inventor of the Torpedo
- Dezso Magyar - Chair, American Film Institute Conservatory, Master Filmmaker-in-Residence
- The Magyar Tribes - Innovators: Invented The Stirrup and wooden-framed saddle; Leather Processing; the famous reflex bow; Beef Jerky; Mint Methods
- Eva Marton - Heavenly Soprano
- Kati Marton - Acclaimed journalist & best-selling author
- Ilona Massey - Actress
- Maria Mednyanszky - Legendary Table Tennis Champion - First official female World Champion
- Joe Medwick - Baseball Superstar: World-Series Slugger, Hall of Famer, "The Muscular Magyar"
- Col. Geza Mihaloczy - Civil War Hero: Organized the famed "Lincoln Riflemen"
- Jozsef Mihalyi - Engineer / Inventor: Co-Developed Automatic Camera, Chief Designer at Kodak
- Ferenc Molnar - Playwright: part of the "Hungarian Invasion" of New York Theatre
- S/Sgt Frankie "Zoly" Molnar - Vietnam War Hero - Congressional Medal of Honor Winner
- Miklos Molnar - Soccer Star: Danish "Golden Boot," Kansas City Wizards, International - His nickname is "Danish Dynamite" for his explosive scoring ability
- Alanis Morrisette - Multi-Platinum-selling Singer, Songwriter - 7 Grammy Awards! One of the VH1: 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll
- Peter Munk - Industrial Tycoon - One of the Richest Men in Canada: Founder of Barrick Gold and the multi-billion dollar Canadian construction and development firm TrizecHahn
- Charles Nagy - World Series Pitcher (Cleveland Indians), 3-time All Star, & Olympics Gold Medal Winner!
- Laszlo Moholy - Nagy, Avant-Garde Painter, designer, and experimental photographer: A Founder of Constructivism, Professor and Director at the Bauhaus School of Design, Chicago, and Founder and head of the Chicago Institute of Design
- Joe Namath (Németh) Sports Hero, Super Bowl Quarterback and MVP (New York Jets), and Hall of Famer
- John von Neumann - Legendary Mathematician, Physicist, Logician, and Computing Pioneer: Co-developed the Atomic Bomb. Father of Binary Code and the Stored Program Computer, Father of Game Theory. Key in development of U.S. ballistic missile program
- Paul Newman - Oscar Winning Actor - Eight Oscar Nominations!
- George Olah - Nobel Prize 1994 - "For his contribution to carbocation chemistry: the study of hydrocarbons, the ingredients of oil and natural gas, and his discovery of new ways to use them"
- Edward James Olmos - Oscar and Tony Nominated and Emmy Award Winning Actor, Producer, Director, and Activist. The "Olivier of the Latino World" and People's 2000 Sexiest Man Alive
- Eugene Ormandy - Renowned Conductor (Philadelphia)
- Tom Orosz - NFL Football Player - Superbowl Punter for the Miami Dolphins #3
- Egon Orowan (Orován) - Applied Physicist
- George Pal - Cartoonist/Animator of "War of the Worlds" - Winner of SIX Oscars, and pioneer of stop-action animation!
- Ziggy Pallfy - Hockey Phenom - Top Scorer for the NY Islanders and LA Kings - sixth in the NHL in scoring!
- Laszlo Papp - Legendary Boxer: Only man in history to win 3 consecutive Olympic Gold Medals
- Joseph Pasternak - Prolific Film Producer/Director: Multiple Oscar Nominations. Rescued Universal Studios
- Beatrix Aruna Pasztor - Costume Designer: designed costumes for 20 major feature films
- George Pataki - Governor, New York
- Ferenc Pavlics - Engineer: Developed NASA's Moon Rover and Directed Development of the Mars Rover
- Eszter Pecsi - Structural Engineer - designer of the first reinforced-concrete skyscraper! First woman to receive a degree in engineering in Hungary (1920)
- Jozsef Petzval - Inventor: A Founder of Photography: His Work allowed for construction of modern cameras and made practical portrait-photography possible. Invented Photographic Objective Lens, Darkroom, Opera Glass, and perfected the telescope
- Sandor (Alexander) Pfitzner - Engineer: Designed the first American Monoplane for Curtiss
- Sylvia Plachy - Acclaimed Photographer, Mother of Actor Adrien Brody
- John Polanyi - Nobel Prize 1986 - "For contributions to the development of a new field of research in chemistry - reaction dynamics." Founder of Reaction Dynamics
- Zsuzsa (Susan), Judit (Judith), and Zsofia (Sofia) Polgar - Chess Grand Masters and Olympic Gold Medalists! - Judith has been called the Greatest Female Player of all Time!
- George Polya - Mathematician: "The Great Teacher"
- Colonel George Pomutz - Civil War Hero: Appointed US Consul General to St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Geza Pozsar - U.S. Gymnastics National Team Coach and Choreographer
- Janos Prohaska - Actor/Stuntman
- Freddie Prinze, Jr. - Actor and Heart-Throb! "Young Hollywood's Leading Man"
- Freddie Prinze Sr. - Actor, Comedian
- Joseph Pulitzer - Publishing Tycoon: Responsible for building of the Statue of Liberty
- Ferenc Puskas - Soccer Legend: The "Greatest Soccer Player in History!"
- Tivadar Puskas - Inventor, Thomas Edison's Colleague - Devised the idea of using telephone exchanges between subscribers, invented the switchboard and built Europe's first telephone exchange. Coined the term "Hello"
- S/Sgt. Laszlo Rabel - US Military Hero! Congressional Medal of Honor
- Elemer Ragalyi - Acclaimed, Emmy Award Winning Cinematographer
- Jessica Rakoczy - Boxer - IBA Lightweight World Champion! The "Ragin'" Rakoczy. Number 1 ranked overall!
- Tommy Ramone - Drummer and Producer of the Legendary, Pioneering Punk Rockers, The Ramones!
- Deszo Ranki - Renowned Concert Pianist - with Kocsis, the "Golden Boys of the Magyar Keyboard"
- Fritz Reiner - Legendary Conductor: A "Foremost Conductor of his Time" and "Genius Orchestra Builder"
- Imre Reiner - Painter, Sculptor, Illustrator, and Renowned Type Designer of "Reiner Script" fame!
- Maria Judith Reményi - Miss USA 1966
- Alfred Renyi - Mathematician. Discovered "one of the strongest methods of analytical number theory"
- Frigyes Riesz - Mathematician. Riesz was a founder of functional analysis and his work has many important applications in physics
- Odon Riszdorfer - Engineer / Inventor: Co-Developed Automatic Camera and Automatic Shutter for Movie Cameras. Father of the hand held, battery operated light meter.
- Donald Lawrence Ritter - US Congressman, Republican from Pennsylvania
- Ferenc Rofusz - Animator: Oscar in 1981 for his animated film, "The Fly" (A Légy) - the first Hungarian Oscar for a cartoon.
- Anna M. Rosenberg - Under-Secretary of Defense in Truman Cabinet. Medal of Freedom in 1945 and Medal of Merit in 1947
- George Rosencrantz - Chemist, Businessman, Founder of Syntex, the number seventeen world-ranked drug firm, the developer of Aleve
- Miklos Rozsa - Triple Oscar Winning Film Music Composer
- Erno Rubik - Mathematician, Inventor of Rubik's Cube!
- Leopold Ruzicka - Nobel Prize 1939 - "For his work on polymethylenes & higher terpenes"
- S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall - Famed Character Actor, from Casablanca fame
- Anna Sandor - Emmy Award-Winning screenwriter
- Nicolas Sarkozy - French Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Freedoms. Potential Candidate for French Prime Minister!
- Andrew Sarlos - Hungarian-born Canadian investor and financial guru, author, and great philanthropist
- Sylvia Sass - Another Heavenly Soprano, "the New Callas"
- Bela Schick - Pediatric Doctor / Researcher: Pioneer in immunology - Devised the "Schick test" for determining susceptibility to diphtheria.
- Andras Schiff - Acclaimed Classical Pianist
- Claude-Michel Schonberg - Acclaimed Grammy and Tony Award-winning Writer, Composer, and Producer of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon
- Friedrich Schorr - Renowned "mahogany-colored" Bass- Baritone
- Gerard Schurmann - World-renowned Double Oscar Winning Composer: Orchestrated Lawrence of Arabia and Exodus
- David Schwartz - Inventor - Father of the Dirigible Air Ship or Zeppelin
- Thomas A. Sebeok (Sebők) - Father of Modern Semiotics (the study of signs and non-verbal communication)
- Janos Andras Segner - Father of the Water Turbine: First scientist to use reactive force and made substantial contributions to the theory of Dynamics
- Jerry Seinfeld - Actor / Comedian: American Icon! The most successful and influential comedian of his generation!
- Paul Selenyi - Physicist and Father of Electrostatics / Photoconductivity Pioneer - first to record images with an electrostatic marking process: the foundation of Xerography!
- Monica Seles - Tennis Superstar - She has won 9 Grand Slam singles titles and bronze in Sydney 2000!
- Hans Selye - Physician, Endocrinologist, Researcher - Founder of the concept of Stress: The "Einstein of Medicine!"
- Ignac Semmelweis - Physician, "The Mothers' Savior"
- Don Shula - Legendary Hall of Fame Football Coach (the 17-0 Miami Dolphins!) Winningest Coach in NFL History
- Gene Simmons - Legendary Tongue and Rock-n-Roller of KISS!
- Paul Simon - Musician, Singer, Songwriter - American Legend of Simon & Garfunkel" fame! 12 Grammys and Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famer
- Charles Simonyi - Computer Scientist and Chief Architect, Microsoft Corporation: Father of WYSIWYG and Hungarian Notation
- Denis Sinor - Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Indiana University Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Uralic and Altaic Studies
- Anna Sipos - Table Tennis Legend - first female player to use the "pen holder grip"
- Sir Georg Solti -Acclaimed Conductor: Record number of Grammys
- Mihaly Somogyi - Chemist: Produced first Child Insulin Treatment in US - Developed the "Somogyi test" for the diagnosis of diabetes
- George Soros - "The world's greatest money manager" and Great Progressive Philanthropist.
- Brent Spiner - Actor and Trekkies' favorite android, Lieutenant Commander Data!
- Major-General Julius H. Stahel (Számwald) - US Military Hero! Congressional Medal of Honor
- Ilona Staller (Cicciolina) - Actress, Politician - Queen of Euro Porn through the 80's and 90's - Member of Parliament! Co-founder of Italy's Green Party
- Sir Aurel Stein - "The most prodigious combination of scholar, explorer, archaeologist and geographer of his generation" - The "Sven Hedin of England" - pioneered the use of aerial photography in archaeology.
- George Stigler - Nobel Prize 1982 - "For his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulation"
- Elvis Stojko - "King of the Ice" - 3-time World Champion, 7-time Canadian National Champion, and 2-time Olympic Silver Medalist!
- Miklos Szabados - Table Tennis Legend - second only to Barna
- Ekaterina (Katalin) Szabo - Champion Gymnast: Four Olympic Gold Medals and One Silver in Los Angeles
- Gabor Szabo - JJazz Great: One of the "most original and outstanding improvisational guitarists of the 20th century"
- Istvan Szabo - Director, Writer, Producer - Academy Award in 1981
- Professor Szalay - Father of British Weightlifting
- Chef Louis Szathmary - Legendary Chef and founder of Chicago's "The Bakery" - father of the "Stouffer's frozen dinner"
- Victor Szebehely - Aerospace Engineer: Pioneer of Orbital Mechanics and a key figure in the Apollo Space Program: "His work got us to the moon"
- Gabor Szego - Mathematician: Head of University of Stanford Mathematics
- Pierre Szekely - Renowned Sculptor and Architect - the "Incessant Adventurer"
- George Szell - Conductor
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi von Nagyrapolt - Nobel Prize 1937 - "For his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion process with special reference to vitamin C & the catalysis of fumaric acid." First to isolate Vitamin C
- Leo Szilard - Physicist: Co-developed the Atomic Bomb. Physicist - Co-developed the Atomic Bomb: Conceived the nuclear chain reaction and campaigned for nuclear disarmament, though the first to consider the application of the atom to making bombs. Achieved first sustained nuclear fission reaction with Enrico Fermi. Identified the unit or "bit" of information
- Kornel Szilvay - Officer in the Hungarian Fire Brigade: Father of the Dry Fire Extinguisher!
- Henrietta Szold - Founder of Hadassah
- Pvt. William L. S. Tabor - Civil War Hero - Congressional Medal of Honor Winner
- Jeffrey Tambor - Actor
- Count Samuel Teleki - Explorer! Led the famous East-Africa Expedition
- Maria Telkes - Chemist, Engineer: Pioneer of Solar Energy: "Mother of the Solar Home," "The "Sun Queen," and "world's most famous woman inventor in solar energy."
- Edward (Ede) Teller - Physicist: Co-developed the Atomic Bomb. Discovered BET equation. Father of the the H-Bomb
- Joe Theismann - Legendary Two-time Superbowl Quarterback for the Washington Redksins
- Lou Thesz - Legend of Professional Wrestling, "Wrestling's True Icon"
- Kalman Tihanyi - Physicist: Father of the Picture Tube and Television Pioneer (NOT Zworykin) - Invented the Picture Tube (Iconoscope), Infrared-sensitive (night vision) television, and Flat TV Tube
- Steve Tichy - Huge proponent of all things Hungarian, and world-renowned helpdesk technican from Boston, MA! Now he IS famous indeed (at least for a while!)
- Ivan Tors - Producer/Director, Underwater Film Pioneer
- Andre de Toth - Director - Oscar Nomination, "The Gunfighter"
- Paul Turan - Mathematician: Erdos's closest friend and collaborator and Great Hungarian number theorist
- Steven Ferencz Udvar-Hazy - Business Tycoon, Aircraft Leasing Pioneer, and GREAT Philanthropist - Father of the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center
- Colonel George Utassy - US Civil War Hero: Organized the famed Garibaldi Guard
- Albert Vadas (Wadas) - Spanish American War Hero - Congressional Medal of Honor Winner
- Janos Vas - Hockey Player - Dallas Stars
- Major Gyula Vari - Hungarian Air Force, Acclaimed Fighter Pilot - First pilot to win consecutive titles at Fairford's Royal International Air Tattoo
- Andrew Vajna - Producer, Hollywood Legend: President of Cinergi Productions, co-Founder of Carolco Pictures
- Robert Varkonyi - Poker World Series Champion of 2002! First Ever to Win 2 Million!
- Viktor Vasarely - Famed painter known for his geometrical forms, he is the father of Op-Art
- Bishop Faustus Verancsics - Invented the air turbine
- Peter Vermes - Soccer Star: Kansas City Wizards, US National Team (captain), International
- Adrienne Vittadini - Renowned Fashion Designer and Businesswoman
- Andre Watts - Acclaimed Classical Pianist - one of the "Great Pianists of the 20th Century"
- Johnny Weissmuller (sports, film) - The one and only Tarzan and FIVE-time Gold Olympic swimming legend! "The greatest swimmer of all time"
- Rachel Weisz - Actress and Model (The Mummy, Enemy at the Gates, Stealing Beauty, Sunshine, Beautiful Creatures)
- Jules White - Four-time Oscar-Nominated Producer / Director of "The Three Stooges" and More!
- Elie Wiesel - Nobel Prize 1986 - "For his dedication to peace, atonement, and human dignity"
- Eugene Wigner - Nobel Prize 1963 - "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles" Co-developed the atomic bomb, developed first breeder reactor, and is known as the Founder of Nuclear Engineering
- Debra Winger - Actress - 2 Oscar Nominations!
- Major Charles Zagonyi - "The Union Forever!" Led the famous Civil War "Zágonyi Death Ride"
- Karoly Zipernowsky - A/C Electronics Pioneer! One in the "Great Triad"of Electrical Engineers at Ganz: Founder of heavy-current electrical engineering
- Vilmos Zsigmond (ASC) - Legendary Cinematographer - Oscar Winner and Multiple Oscar Nominations!
- Richard Zsigmondy - Nobel Prize 1925 - "For his work on methods in the study of colloid chemistry"
- Adolph Zukor - "Mr. Motion Pictures" and Oscar Winner
Special Thanks To:
- Judit Györgyey Ries of the University of Texas, Department of Astronomy for her correction and information on John von Neumann.
- M.E. Pflieger for his contribution of Peter Lorre and András Schiff.
- Feri Zsuppán, Ph.D., of Duke University, for his quotation from Albert Szent-Györgyi seen under the title.
- Paul Szilágyi, Ph.D., for his contributions of Zukor, Benedek, Rosencrantz, Tors, Udvarhelyi, Kertész, Benko, Gajdusek, and Deák.
- Al Boyd, of the University of Maryland, for his contribution of Alfred Schorr.
- The Lónyays for their contributions of de Kovats, Haraszthy, Puskás, Bolyai, Irinyi, Pólya, and Pázmánd! Great contributions! Thanks Amigos! You are now very "in" famous. Other information which the Lonyay's provided me was from the following books - Our Hungarian Heritage by Albert Wass (c)1975 Danubian Press and The Spirit of Hungary by Stephen Sisa. These are great books, check 'em out.
- Gene Dannen, and his Leo Szilard Home Page!
- Andrew J. Rózsa, Ph.D. in Birmingham, Alabama for Miklós Rozsa, General de Czege, Zinfandel info. on Haraszthy and Alexander Korda.
- Mike & Naomi Tronzo for their contribution of Ilona Massey.
- Johanne Tournier in Canada for her information and research on Béla Lugósi and contribution of Houdini! Great homepage!
- Professor Edward Chászár in Virginia for lending me a copy of (which I returned late!) Rezsoe and Margaret Gracza's informative book, "The Hungarians in America, (c)1969 Lerner Publications. LOC #68-31503.
- Miklós Békefi for his corrections on accent marks! Also his contribution of the Associated Press Article on Hungarians in the Arts.
- Kása Zoltán from the University of Kolozsvár and Urszenyi Gábor from California for their contribution of Erdôs Pál.
- George Furmann in Canada for Nicholas Hungaricus! Szathmary
- "El Abogado" Juan Luis Boldizsár in Chicago for Chef Louis.
- Andrew M. Gombos, Jr., in Houston, Texas for Hraboski, "The Mad Hungarian"
- Zsolt Szalavari in Austria for Charles Csuri!
- Szisz (Kiss Szilárd) from the University of Kolozsvár, Transylvania for his contribution of Rubik.
- László Aranyos for his contribution of Goldmark and Vasarely.
- Géza Hartai from Plano, Texas for Ferenc Rofusz.
- Steve Colman (Kálmán Pista) for his contribution and editorial on Kémény and Mikes
- Valentin Poncos in Canada for his contributions of Haar, Kalman, and Riesz.
- The History of Mathematics Archive at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland for their superb collection.
- Richard diSilvio, owner of the Franz Liszt Page for Christina Kiss.
- Barry Hanger, for Frank Capa
- Stephen Elekes in Hungary for S.Z. Sakall
- Chris Golya at the Centre for New Media Research, School of Art, Design and Media, University of Portsmouth, UK for Moholy-Nagy, Kertesz, and additional biographical data on Biro
- Miklos Racz in Virginia for Petzval, Herzl, Lehar, Hunyadi, Moholy-Nagy
- Al Cunniff and Vladimir Korovkin for Gabor Szabo
- Prof. Tom Barthel from the City College of New York for Joe Medwick
- Andre Mommen in the Netherlands for Varga and Kornai
- Gordon Woodworth for Peter Gogolak trivia!
- Attila Zseni alias Zsenya in Hungary for contact lens developer, Dallos Joszef, Imre Kálmán, and Tivadar Csontvary.
- Dezso Nyitray for Gene Simmons of KISS and Gábor Csupó!
- Kati S. Maharry at Indiana University School of Medicine (Ooey Pooey) for Calvin Klein!
- Laramie Banks for history and bibliography on Peter Karl Goldmark
- Joseph Laszlo Kupan, in California, for biographical data on Charles Simonyi, Steven Udvar-Hazy, Jeffrey Tambor, Jerry Seinfeld, and Paul Simon
- Prof. Tom Barthel for Joe Medwick
- Mihaly Lorincz for Kincsem
- USA Gymnastics for the information on Geza Pozar
- Andrew Sarkany for submitting Kristina Egerszegi
- Barry Hanger for biographical information on Robert Capa
- Marc for Rachel Weisz
- Paul Hazuda and Ricardo Creisstoff for the Freddy Prinzes
- Enike Smith for Edward James Olmos and Mariska Hargitay
- Gabor Piros for submission of Hans Selye
- Janos Bimbo for Lou Thesz
- Lászlo Gergely in Hungary for information related to pilot phenom Gyula Vári
- Stephen Beszedits for his biographical data on many of many of the miltary heroes
- Alice Egyed, Ph.D. and Martha Bihari for Andras Schiff
- Amanda Sowards for Director/Writer Frank Darabont
- Julianna Anda for her Father's cousin, renowned pianist, Geza Anda
- Al Miller for Mitzi Gaynor
- Dr. Daniel A. Lowy and Martha Bihari for Gyorgy Ligeti
- György Takács in Sweden for the Knopflers of Dire Straits and Alanis Morissette
- Joe Schmidt for Paul Simon (and Timothy Johnson), Joe Bugner, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Florian Albert, Jules White, Eugene Fodor, and Viktor Barna
- Fred Mintz for Tommy Ramone
- Martha Bihari for Gerard Schurmann
- Marc Witorsch for Adrien Brody
- Istvan Szoke for Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Lola for Adrienne Vittadini, and Pierre Szekely
- Lisa Doyle for Marton Csokas
- Zsuzsanna Cseke for Ranki, Perenyi, Durer and Sarkozy
- Andy Vella for Don Adams!
- Judith Meszaros for Ziggy Palffy.
- Gail Bernas for Peter Lax
- Jozsef "Joe" Urmos for Janos Prohaska
- Pál Breuer for Egon Orovan, Elemer Ragalyi, Charles Gati, Andrew Sarlos, Peter Munk
- Veronica Saldanha Marinho in Brazil for her uncle, Artist and Typographer Imre Reiner
- Ellen Rozsa for Kati Maton
- Andy "New York Jets" Kovalev for Mihaly Kotai, Joe Theismann, Robert Hegyes, and Zsolt Erdei.
- Major Eric Arnold for Laszlo Lovasz
- Andrew Mihovics for Les Horvath, Bronco Horvath, Jessica Rakoczy
- Don Mezei for Bob Babbitt
- Lajos Bartucz for Lawrence Dorr
- Nobel Prize Laureate, Dr. George Olah for John Lukacs
- Giselle for comedian Louis C.K.