Marton, Endre 1910–2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born October 29, 1910, in Budapest, Hungary; died November 1, 2005, in New York, NY. Journalist and author. Along with his wife, Ilona, Marton became famous for his reports from his native Hungary during the uprising there in 1956 and the early years of the Communist regime. Originally a student of economics, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1932 and a doctorate in 1936, both from Budapest University. War soon struck his homeland, and Marton was sent to the Russian front, where he was made to work in a forced labor brigade. After World War II, he returned to Hungary, where he worked for a time as a foreign correspondent for London's Daily Telegraph. He then joined the Associated Press (AP), reporting frankly on events in Hungary to the rest of the world. His wife was also a journalist, and worked for United Press International. Because of their work, the couple came under suspicion of the Communist government, and both were arrested in 1955, falsely accused of espionage. They were released the next year, in time to witness the region's unsuccessful uprising against the Communists. Marton would afterwards chastise the West for not stepping in to help the Hungarians in what proved to be a pivotal event that guaranteed Communist rule in Hungary for decades to come. Fleeing the county, the Martons and their children moved to Vienna, Austria, then New York City, and finally Washington, DC. Here, Marton continued his work as a correspondent for the AP for the next two decades. He also wrote for the Economist and was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's foreign service school. The recipient of the prestigious George Polk Award in 1957, as well as the Overseas Writers Presidential Award and the Headliners Club Award, Marton was the author of the memoir The Forbidden Sky (1971).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Marton, Endre, The Forbidden Sky, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1971.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2005, p. B10.

New York Times, November 2, 2005, p. C18.

Times (London, England), November 23, 2005, p. 64.

Washington Post, November 2, 2005, p. B6.