Endre Gellert
Gellert, Endre
Born Oct. 1, 1914, in Budapest; died there Mar. 1, 1960. Hungarian stage director; People’s Artist of the Hungarian People’s Republic (1954). Graduated from the Theatrical Academy in Budapest in 1935.
Gellert was the founder of the Hungarian realistic school of stage direction and was an advocate of the teachings of K. S. Stanislavsky and of Russian Soviet drama. In 1945 he became a leading director of the National Theater in Budapest. The name of Gellert is associated with the best Hungarian performances of the plays of N. V. Gogol, A. P. Chekhov, and M. Gorky (The Inspector-General, 1951; Uncle Vanya, 1952; and Vassa Zheleznova, 1949). His productions of Hungarian plays—The Master’s Feast by Moricz (1948) and The Human Tragedy by Madách (1955)—are also significant. In 1946 he became the director of the department of dramatic arts of the Theatrical Institute of Budapest (he was a professor). He was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1950 and 1953.