József Fischer

It is exciting that one of the most progressive Hungarian architects of the interwar period did not complete a classical degree in architecture. He degreed at the Budapest College for Applied Arts and came into contact with many architects. In 1922, he married Eszter Pécsi, who is regarded as Hungary's first female architect. Together they opened their own architectural office in 1931. At this time, he was already head of the Hungarian CIAM Group, which brought him into closer contact with Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Like these architects, he published in magazines (Tin Hungary Tér és Forma) in order to publicise his work.

In addition to his work as an architect, he was also a social democratic politician. In the last year of the war, he and his family went into hiding from the Nazis. After World War II, he was jointly responsible for the reconstruction of Budapest. During the uprising in 1956, he was a minister in the government of Prime Minister Imre Nagy. The uprising was crushed and Imre Nagy was executed under pressure from the Soviet Union in 1958. József Fischer lost his job in the same year. He had to wait a long time to leave the country. But in 1964 he followed his wife and son to the USA. Eszter Pécsi died in 1975 and he decided to return to Hungary in 1978. After 1990, he and his work were publicly discussed and honoured. He was declared an honorary citizen of Budapest in 1993. 

Sources

• Wikipedia József Fischer