Robert Capa

Robert Capa , 1913-54, American war photographer, b. Hungary as Andre Friedmann. He came to Paris in 1933 and from that time on recorded with profound concern the spectacle of humanity caught in war. In 1936 he covered the Spanish civil war, taking the photograph of a Loyalist at the instant of death that has become a classic. In 18 years he covered five wars; the result is a powerful and very personal indictment of war. In 1946, Capa helped found Magnum, a select agency for photojournalists. His books include Death in the Making (1938) and Images of War (1964). Capa was killed in Vietnam by a Viet Minh land mine while photographing French combat troops.

Bibliography: See biography, Blood and Champagne (2003), by A. Kershaw.

Capa, Robert (1913–54) US photojournalist, b. Hungary. He is best remembered for his haunting photos of the brutality of war, especially the image of an execution of a Loyalist prisoner in the Spanish Civil War. Capa covered World War II for Life magazine and was a founder (1946) of the Magnum photographic agency. He was killed by a landmine in Vietnam.