Joseph Kosma

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Joseph Kosma (born Kozma József October 22, 1905 in Budapest, died August 7, 1969 outside Paris) was a Hungarian composer, of Jewish background. His parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy.

Kosma started to play the piano at age 5, and later took piano lessons. After completing his education at the Gymnasium Franz-Josef, he attended the Academy of Music in Budapest, where he studied with Leó Weiner. He also studied with Béla Bartók in Academy Liszt. He earned diplomas in composition and conducting. He won a grant to study in Berlin in 1928. There, he met Lilli Apel, another musician, whom he later married. Kosma also met and studied with Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He also became acquainted with Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel.

Kosma and his wife emigrated to Paris in 1933. Eventually, he met Jacques Prévert, who introduced him to Jean Renoir. During World War II and the Occupation of France, Kosma was placed under house arrest in the Alpes-Maritimes region, and was banned from composition. However, Prevert managed to arrange for Kosma to contribute music for films, with other composers fronting for him. Among his credits are the scores to these classic French films: The Testament of Doctor Cordelier (telefilm, 1959), La Grande Illusion, Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), and The Rules of the Game (1939). He was also known for writing the standard classical-Jazz piece "Les feuilles mortes" "Autumn Leaves" (with French lyrics by Jacques Prevert, and later English lyrics by Johnny Mercer), which was derived from music in Carne's film Les Portes de la Nuit (1946).

Kosma's mother and brother were killed by the Arrow Cross Nazi auxiliaries in 1944. Kosma himself was wounded in an explosion in August 1944 in France. Kosma's father survived the war, and died in 1957. Joseph Kosma died in 1969 and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.