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Lucien L. Aigner Edit Profile

filmmaker Photographer photojournalist writer

Lucien Aigner was a Hungarian photojournalist. He worked throughout Europe and the United States as a photojournalist for many photo-illustrated magazines. Aigner contributed significantly to the development of modern photojournalism and the acceptance of the candid news photograph.

Background

Lucien Aigner was born on September 14, 1901 in Nové Zámky, Nitra, Slovakia. He was the son of Adolf and Carola (Stern) Aigner.

Education

Lucien Aigner studied at Prague University, Friedrich-Wilhelm University and University Budapest.

Career

His first camera, a Brownie, was acquired at age nine and was used to photograph his family. By 1926, Aigner was a reporter for Az Est, the Hungarian newspaper group, and soon became a photographer with them. During this time, Aigner started using a Leica camera.

As the Paris correspondent of the London General Press at the Stresa Conference of 1935, Aigner photographed Benito Mussolini, who was about to sneeze as the picture was taken. The photo made the cover of Newsweek in 1940, and established Aigner as a photojournalist. In 1941 he emigrated from France to the United States to escape Nazi persecution.

Lucien L. Aigner then spent time at Princeton University taking photographs of Albert Einstein. The photos of Einstein are among Aigner's most famous, and were reportedly Einstein's favorite photos of himself.

He died in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Works

  • book

  • photography

    • Paris Protects its Inhabitants Against Gas Attacks

      1934
All works

Interests

  • movie making, concert reading of poetry and scripture, playwriting, dramatics

Connections

Married Anne Lenard, November 19, 1932 (divorced 1953). Children: John, Steven, Anne-Marie Rowan, Katherine Collins. Married Mildred A. Allen, July 2, 1955.

Father:
Adolf Aigner

Mother:
Carola (Stern) Aigner

Spouse:
Anne Lenard

Spouse:
Mildred A. Allen

Brother:
Etienne Aigner