Photo by Miklós Labori

Miklós Labori (1883-after 1944) was a Hungarian photographer and photojournalist. From the 1910s onward, he was well-known for his magazine covers and star portraits as well as for his articles for Hungarian theatre magazines.


Hungarian postcard by Jozsef Reinitz, Budapest. Photo: Miklós Labori, Budapest. Ica Lenkeffy.


Hungarian postcard, no. 1. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Emmi Kosáry.


Hungarian postcard. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Juczi Bojda.

Warm recognition from the ministries

Miklós Labori was born in 1883 in Budapest as Manó Messinger. He was the son of József Messinger, a printer, and Karolina Szinayberger. In the summer of 1909, Manó registered his surname as Oszkár Messinger, together with his brothers Béla and László, and changed it to Mészöly. Béla and László became renowned artists. Mano would become a famous photographer under the stage name Miklós Labori.

The company name Labori was officially registered in the 1910 Central Bulletin and was used for a short time by the photographer Ignác Erdényi, but in 1915 it was registered in its entirety as the company name of Miklós Mészöly.

In May 1909, Labori's works were exhibited at the Archduke's Palace on Margaret Island, as part of the 1st National Photographic Exhibition, organised by Artur Kohlman, editor of the Amatőr newspaper. It featured portrait photographs on "Hungarian photographic plates, the first products of the Hungarian photographic industry".

In September 1909, Labori held a large-scale press vernissage in his studio in Elisabeth Square - by then he had already been present with his photographs in Hungary and abroad for ten years, having been awarded prizes in Budapest, London, Paris, Liège, Brussels. In August 1910, while he was on a study trip abroad, he had his studio remodelled and enlarged.

Also in December 1911, Budapest newspapers reported that Labori had "received a warm recognition from the ministries." In 1926, he extended his services to amateur photographers. In addition to developing the images he also gave them professional advice.


Hungarian postcard. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Juci Lábass.


Hungarian postcard. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Juci Lábass and Jenö Nádor in the operetta 'Pillangó főhadnagy' (Lieutenant Butterfly by Imre Harmath, first performed in 1918.


Hungarian postcard by Jozsef Kiadja Reinitz. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Jenö Sziklay in 'Médi'.

Popular on the French Riviera

From the 1910s onward, Miklós Labori was also a well-known magazine cover and star photographer as well as a photojournalist for a number of mainly Hungarian theatre magazines such as Színházi Élet, Színházi Hétét, Figáró, Színházi Világ, Pesti Hírlap, and Ország-Világ, while he also did some photos for Vasárnapi Ujság. His portraits also appeared on many postcards.

In 1920, Labori became a board member of the then-established Theater World Publishing Company, a joint-stock company. In 1927, he made an album about the Institute for the Blind, showing the everyday life of the blind, school education, skill development and vocational training. These photos were the subject of a temporary exhibition of his images in 2005.

In 1907 Labori had a studio at 15 Váci körút in Budapest which also belonged to Ignác Erdényi. Between 1908 and 1943, he had his own studio at 18 Erzsébet tér (later gr. Tisza István, then József Atilla utca) in Budapest's 5th district. In 1919 and 1930, photographer Károly Demeter also worked in his studio. From 1920, Labori was an elected member of the Budapest Photographic Industrial Association.

His photographs were famous on the French Riviera, thanks in part to his studio in Nice. Labori was part of the many Hungarian photographers active in France, who came to Paris with a fresh spirit, either as trained photographers - like Egry Landau, Ilka Révai or Miklós Mészöly/Labori - or they became photographers there, like Brassai or Alexander Trauner who eventually became a famous film set designer in France. In 1935, Labori was elected a member of the French College of Merchants and Craftsmen.

From 1928 to the 1940s, Labori's studio in Budapest was owned by the Trükk Film Company. According to a disclosure sheet, he was abroad in 1944, residing at his address in Nice. Nothing is known of his whereabouts after 1944, but as he was Jewish, he may have died during the Holocaust. 


Hungarian postcard by Jozsef Kiadja Reinitz, Budapest. Photo: Miklos Labori, Budapest. Otto Torday.


Hungarian postcard, no. 21. Photo: Miklós Labori, Budapest. Collection: Didier Hanson. Sári Fedák as Anna in the play 'Hotel Imperial' (1917), written by Lajos Bíró. Performed at the Magyar Shinhaz (Hungarian Theatre).


Hungarian postcard by József Reinitz, Budapest. Photo: Miklós Labori, Budapest. Dezsõ Kertész.

Sources: Wikipedia (Hungarian), Criticailapok, and ushmm.