Imre Ungár | |
Birth Date: | 23 January 1909 |
Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
Death Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
Occupation: | Pianist |
Imre Ungár (23 January 1909, in Budapest – 22 November 1972, in Budapest) was a Hungarian pianist.
Born into a Jewish family. His parents were Ábrahám Ungár (1875-1938) and Hermina Katzburg.[1] He was blind since the age of three. While a student under István Thomán at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music he won the Competition for Young Talents, beginning a concert career through Hungary. He took part in the II International Chopin Piano Competition, tying with Russian émigré Alexander Uninsky for the 1st prize. Uninsky won the coin flipping. He was awarded the first prize of the Budapest Talent Competition at the National Talent Congress. In 1932 he was awarded the Military Merit Medal. He married at this time; his wife was Ilona Gelléri and their son, István, was born in 1945.[2]
After World War II, which he spent in the Netherlands, Ungár combined his concert career with teaching at the Liszt Academy.