George Molnar
| Town/City | Sydney |
|---|---|
| First name | George |
| Last name | Molnar |
| Country of Origin | Hungary |
| Date of Birth | 25April,1910 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1939 |
| Submitted by | Attila J. Ürményházi |
Story
George (György) Molnár was born in Nagyvárad, Hungary (Romanian city of Oradea since WW2 ) in 1910 and came to Australia as a sponsored migrant in 1939 with a B.Arch. (Budapest) to begin work as a government architect in Canberra.
In 1945 he took up a lectureship at the University of Sydney and also began contributing cartoons to the Daily Telegraph. His talents were recognized by the opposition daily newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald which employed him from 1952 to 1984. His sharp, satirical, thought provoking, black & white fine line drawings more than just entertained the readers three times a week. Considered irrefutably a conservative European in attitude and disposition, he frequently criticised the irrational trends, social mores through his incisively executed art form.
As professor of architecture at Sydney and NSW Universities, he alerted the establishment and the public to the high cost of the 1960s and the 1970s uncontrolled building development boom causing the destruction of much Victorian & Georgian architecture in Sydney. He was a passionate advocate of modern architecture but equally dedicated to preservation of heritage assets and to modern urban development strictly when sustainable, soulful and allowing for humane dimensions. Unfortunately more than half of the city’s heritage value buildings were lost before the Heritage Act (1977) and Environmental Planning & Assessment Act (1979) were introduced.
Molnar was fluent in Hungarian, French, German and English and a fount of Latin adages which were delivered with aplomb when opportune. The architect-professor, cartoonist-commentator, master water-colourist , writer (Statues) and social analyst was awarded the OBE in 1971 and the AO in 1988 for his unique contribution to Australian society. Australian newspapers responded to his passing away with substantial articles, praising his abilities as ‘the finest newspaper cartoonist of his generation’ (The Australian) and his personal qualities as ‘ a cultured man whose wit was as elegant as his art’ (The Age).