Stefan Lorant

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Stefan Lorant (Hungarian: Lóránt István; February 22, 1901, in Budapest, Austria-Hungary – November 14, 1997, in Rochester, Minnesota) was a pioneering Hungarian-American filmmaker, photojournalist, and author.

Early work

He was born on February 22, 1901, in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, to Izrael Reich and Hermine Guttmann, both Jews.^[1] After completing high school in his native Hungary in 1919, Lorant moved to Germany, where he made his mark in films and photojournalism. His first film, The Life of Mozart, established him as a filmmaker, and he went on to make 14 films in Vienna and Berlin, some of which he wrote, directed, and photographed. He claimed to have given Marlene Dietrich her first film test, and though he rejected her for the part, they remained lifelong friends. Lorant's abilities in writing and still photography led to the editorship of the Münchner Illustrierte Presse, one of Germany's finest picture magazines.

Opposed to

Long a friend of the talented and powerful, Lorant championed Sir Winston Churchill before and during World War II, and was a friend of the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe. He gave advice to Life founder Henry Luce around the time of that magazine's startup in 1936, and he edited the works of many leading photographers while in Europe, including Felix Man, Kurt Hutton, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Robert Capa. Lorant also edited the works of a notable British photojournalist for Picture Post, Bert Hardy, though Hardy's early work for that magazine was not attributed to him, even in the purchase, apparently because the agency he worked for did not allow freelancing.

More about Lorant's late life and work can be found in Michael Hallet's book Stefan Lorant: Godfather of Photojournalism.

Marriage and family

I was Hitler's Prisoner describes how Lorant met and married Niura Norskaja, daughter of a once-wealthy Kiev factory owner. Their son, Andi, was three when Lorant was released.

Lorant married Laurie Jean Robertson in 1963; they divorced in 1978. They had two sons: Mark, who died at age 19 in an auto accident, and Christopher.

References

Sources

• Thomas Willimowski, Stefan Lorant – Eine Karriere im Exil (Berlin: wvb, 2005)
  ISBN 978-3-86573-139-5
• Michael Hallett, Stefan Lorant – Godfather of Photojournalism (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006)
  ISBN 978-0-8108-5682-0
• The International Center of Photography Encyclopedia of Photography (New York City: A Pound Press Book, Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984). "Lorant, Stefan," Pages 310–311.

• Stefan Lorant collection, ca. 1869–1993 (bulk 1920–1992). Research Library at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
• "All the Best" is a complete history of Picture Post magazine in online and paperback forms, many of the early chapters of which deal with that magazine's founding editor, Stefan Lorant. "All the Best" author David Joseph Marcou interviewed Mr Lorant via phone various times in that editor's later years. Of all his magazine credits in Europe, Mr. Lorant always seemed proudest of being Picture Post's first editor. He was very influential in making Picture Post, Britain's most popular World War II magazine.