Capa, Robert (1913-1954), a Hungarian-born American photographer, was one of the greatest photojournalists of the 1900’s. From 1936 until his death, Capa photographed the great military conflicts of his time. They included the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), World War II (1939-1945), the Israeli war for independence (1948-1949), and France’s Indochina War in Vietnam (1946-1954). His dramatic photos of battle and war’s impact on innocent civilians made him world famous.
Capa was born on Oct. 22, 1913, in Budapest, Hungary. His real name was Endre Erno Friedmann. He took the name Robert Capa in 1936 for its cosmopolitan ethnic and national identity. In 1931, he traveled to Berlin to study journalism but turned to photography. In 1933, Capa moved to Paris, where he supported himself as a freelance photographer.
In 1936, Capa went to Spain to cover the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. There he photographed a militiaman as the man fell dead after being struck by a bullet. That picture became one of the most famous in the history of photography. In 1938, Capa traveled to China to photograph the Chinese as they fought and defeated an invading Japanese army. He covered action during World War II and took part in the Normandy landing of Allied troops on D-Day (June 6, 1944) on Omaha Beach in France.
In 1946, Capa became an American citizen and legally changed his name. In 1947, he cofounded the famous photographic agency Magnum Photos. He also collaborated with the American author John Steinbeck on A Russian Journal (1948), a book about their experiences traveling in Russia in 1947. During the last years of his life, Capa photographed many international celebrities, such as artists Pablo Picasso of Spain and Henri Matisse of France. While in Vietnam, Capa was killed after stepping on a land mine on May 25, 1954. His photos were published in Death in the Making (1938) and The Battle of Waterloo Road (1941). He wrote an autobiography, Slightly Out of Focus (1947).
