All eventsConcerts, festivals and markets, tonight and this weekend
Annual festivalsJazz, techno, cars and parades: Michigan’s year, festival by festival
Holidays & seasonsPumpkin season, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the Fourth
Sports: games & scoresLions, Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers: live scores and trophies
ItinerariesReady-made day plans, stop by stop
Places to exploreMuseums, parks, neighborhoods and icons
Metro Detroit mapWhat Metro Detroit is, and what every town is about
The Henry FordRosa Parks’ bus, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory
RenCen: live trackerThe Renaissance Center’s past, present and future, up to the minute
Gordie Howe BridgeThe new bridge to Canada: live waits, tolls, and yes, you can walk it
ToursBy boat, by bike or on foot, with a local guide
Escape roomsOne hour, one lock and your crew
Plan a meetingVenues, hotels and what’s on in town on your dates
Detroit A–ZFrom limos to chambers of commerce: every business and service in one place
ShoppingDetroit-made brands, markets and shopping streets
Detroit with kidsZoo, science center and rainy-day ideas
Motor City cultureFactories, museums and car events
Wellness & rechargeA riverside sauna, spas, yoga and running trailsDETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Detroiters born in Hungary or of Hungarian descent, and people with strong ties to Hungarian culture: Harry Houdini, conductor Antal Doráti, Ford Model T engineer József Galamb, and the priests, athletes and politicians of Delray's Hungarian neighborhood.
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
22 people
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Theatre & dance · 1874–1926
Harry Houdiniillusionist, escape artist, stage and film performerBudapest-born escape artist who played Detroit's vaudeville houses for decades, leapt handcuffed off the Belle Isle Bridge in 1906 and died in the city on Halloween 1926.
Science & invention · 1920–2000John Harsanyieconomist, game theoristBudapest-born Nobel laureate in economics and a founder of modern game theory, who taught at Wayne State University in Detroit from 1961 to 1963.
Film & TV · 1931–2024Mitzi Gaynoractress, dancer, singerMusical film star of South Pacific, the daughter of a Hungarian-descended musician, who spent part of her childhood in Detroit before her family moved to Hollywood.
Music · 1906–1988Antal Doráticonductor, composerBudapest-born conductor and pupil of Bartók and Kodály who led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1981 and put it back on the world's record shelves.
Music · born 1952Kim Kashkashianviolist, teacherDetroit-born Armenian-American violist, one of the world's leading players of her instrument and a Grammy winner for music by Hungarian composers.Abraham Nemethmathematician, inventor of Nemeth BrailleBlind mathematician from a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant family who taught at the University of Detroit for three decades and created the Nemeth Braille Code for mathematics.
Music · born 1961Rick Margitzajazz tenor saxophonist, composerDetroit-born tenor saxophonist of Hungarian Romani descent who played with Miles Davis and recorded three albums for Blue Note before settling in Paris.
Auto industry · 1928–2024Ferenc Pavlicsmechanical engineer, developer of the Apollo Lunar Roving VehicleA 1956 refugee who began his American career in GM's off-road vehicle lab in Detroit and went on to develop the wheels and drive of the Apollo moon buggy.
Visual art · 1875–1941Géza Marótisculptor, architect, applied artistHungarian sculptor and designer whom Eliel Saarinen brought to Detroit in 1927; he created the Fisher Building's arcade paintings and sculpture and the reliefs of Belle Isle's Livingstone Lighthouse.
Politics · 1890–1963Rudolph G. Tenerowiczphysician, politicianBudapest-born Polish-American physician who served as mayor of Hamtramck and as a US congressman from Detroit, a career marked by a bribery conviction and his role in the 1942 Sojourner Truth Homes conflict.
Music · 1888–1957Victor Kolarconductor, composer, violinistBudapest-born conductor who spent two decades on the podium of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, rising from assistant to principal conductor, and died in Detroit.
Visual art · 1926–2013Balthazar Korabarchitectural photographer, architectHungarian-born architect-photographer who joined Eero Saarinen's Michigan office in 1955 and became one of America's leading architectural photographers from his Detroit-area base.Andy FarkasAmerican football fullbackHungarian-American fullback who came of age at University of Detroit Jesuit and the University of Detroit, starred for Washington and finished his NFL career with the Detroit Lions.
Politics · 1922–1993Zolton Ferencylawyer, political activist, professorDetroit-born son of a Hungarian-American family who chaired the Michigan Democratic Party, ran for governor in 1966 and later founded the left-wing Human Rights Party.Ferenc VargasculptorHungarian sculptor who fled after World War II, settled in Detroit in the 1950s and made public monuments for the city's Polish and Catholic communities, including a Pulaski monument.Martha Glaserjazz manager, producer, civil rights activistDaughter of Hungarian Jewish immigrants who grew up in southwest Detroit, turned to civil rights work after the 1943 Detroit riot and became the longtime manager of jazz pianist Erroll Garner.Imre Molnardesign educator, dean and provost of the College for Creative StudiesHungarian-born, Australian-raised designer who as dean and provost of Detroit's College for Creative Studies pushed its car-design school into the world's front rank.John Nicholspolice commissioner, sheriffSon of Detroit's southwest-side Hungarian community who rose to Detroit police commissioner and narrowly lost the 1973 mayoral race to Coleman Young.Bert Rubyprofessional wrestler, trainer, promoterHungarian-Jewish wrestler from Transylvania who became a fixture of Detroit professional wrestling as a barefoot grappler, trainer and the right-hand man of promoter Harry Light.Zoltan Sepeshypainter, art educatorHungarian-born painter who settled in Detroit in 1921 and later led the Cranbrook Academy of Art for about two decades.Stephen I. Feketeautomotive engineer, Hudson chief engineerBudapest-trained engineer whose balanced-crankshaft patent sat at the heart of Hudson's 1916 Super Six; later Hudson's chief engineer in Detroit.Zoltán Jánosivehicle engineer, terramechanics researcherHungarian refugee engineer whose soil-shear equation, worked out at the Army's Land Locomotion Laboratory by the Detroit Arsenal, still helps model off-road wheels and tracks.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗
