Ignaz Schnitzer
Ignaz Schnitzer (also Ignatz or Ignác Schnitzer; 4 December 1839 – 18 June 1921) was an Austrian famous writer, journalist, translator, librettist and newspaper founder of Hungarian origin. Life. Schnitzer was born in Ratzersdorf (then Kingdom of Hungary, today a district of Bratislava, Slovakia). He began studying philosophy in Pest, but soon worked as a journalist. From 1857 he lived in Vienna and wrote for various newspapers, such as the "Pester Lloyd" and the "", and as an editor for the newspaper "Der Fortschritt". In 1867 he returned to Budapest and was first a member of the editorial board of  Bécsi Debatte. In 1869 he founded together with Zsigmond Bródy (1840-1906) the daily newspaper "Neues Pester Journal", which he headed as editor-in-chief for a decade. Besides he worked on Hungarian plays for German theatres; in 1879 he translated Ede Zsigligeti's "Rauschgold" for the Viennese Burgtheater and Mór Jókais "Held Pálffy" for the "Carltheater". After the sale of his share in the "Neue Pester Journal" he moved back to Vienna in 1881 and worked mainly as a librettist and translator. Schnitzer was particularly acclaimed for his translations and poems of the works of Sándor Petőfi into German . His friendship with Johann Strauss II led him to the libretto of his "Zigeunerbaron" and the cultural-historical and partly biographical work "Bunte Geschichten aus der Johann-Strauß-Zeit". As co-owner of the amusement park Venice in Vienna founded by Gabor Steiner, he organized the financing and operated the construction of new sights, such as the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel. In 1894 he had the idea of commissioning a circular painting entitled "Kaiser Franz Joseph und seine Zeit" (Emperor Franz Joseph and his Time) for the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1898. It  was executed by the history painter Philipp Fleischer, and exhibited at the Ausstellungsstraße 143 in a circular building specially designed for this purpose by Oskar Marmorek. Schnitzer was married to the daughter of a doctor, Gabriele, née Laszky (10 April 1846 in Gyöngyös - 28 September 1913 in Vienna). His grave is at the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest. Awards. Honorary memberships in the literary societies of Hungary, namely the Petőfi- and the Kisfaludy Society, and the Vienna Hungarian Society.