Trotsky, Copenhagen

1931

Arrested by the Hungarian secret police and made to leave

In 1931, just before his first photograph was published, Friedmann was arrested by the Hungarian secret police for his radical political activity, beaten and jailed. A police official’s wife, who happened to know his family, won his release on condition that he leave Hungary immediately.

1931

From Hungary to Vienna, Prague and Berlin

At 18, accused of alleged communist sympathies, Friedmann was forced to flee Hungary: he moved to Vienna, then to Prague and finally settled in Berlin, all cities that were then centres of artistic and cultural ferment.

1932

First published photograph: Trotsky in Copenhagen

The first published photograph by Endre Friedmann, the future Robert Capa, showed Leon Trotsky speaking in Copenhagen on “The Meaning of the Russian Revolution”.

1933

Moves to Paris after the Nazis come to power

The Nazi Party’s rise to power made Friedmann, a Jew, decide to leave Germany, and he moved to Paris.

1933

Meets Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris

In Paris Friedmann met Henri Cartier-Bresson, the future co-founder of Magnum Photos.

1934

Meets Gerta Pohorylle (Gerda Taro)

In 1934 in Paris Friedmann, who then called himself André, met Gerta Pohorylle, a German Jewish refugee, and taught her photography; she later took the name Gerda Taro.