Miklós Vig


Miklós Vig was a Hungarian cabaret and jazz singer, actor, comedian and theater secretary in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Born in Budapest on July 11, 1898, he was murdered there on December 19, 1944 by members of the Arrow Cross.

Background and biography

Early life

He was born Miklós Voglhut in 1898 to a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. Although he went to acting school, he had better success as a cabaret singer. In 1924 as his career was picking up he changed his surname to Vig. He changed his name because Voglhut was a Jewish-sounding name and antisemitism was growing at the time. Vig means cheerful or merry; it is a nice, short, typically Hungarian name that also made a great stage name.

Family

Other musicians from the Vig family include saxophone and clarinet player György Vig and jazz musician Tommy Vig.
A nephew of Miklós Vig, Dr. John R. Vig, was president of the IEEE in 2009.

Murder

The fact that he was married to a Catholic woman, Kató Szőke, and the fact that he changed his name did not save him from the Holocaust. On December 19, 1944, Miklós was among a group of Jews who were bound, lined up along the banks of the Danube and machine-gunned into the river by Hungarian Nazis, members of the Arrow Cross Party. The Shoes on the Danube Promenade honors the memory of those who were murdered in this fashion.

Music and comedy

He was a student of and his talent was discovered by and .
He had his first major successes at the as a soloist, and later performed frequently in other cabarets including the and :de:Budapester Orpheum|Budapest Orfeum. Although he made many recordings, he became most famous as a singer of popular music on the radio. A 1935 article in Színházi Élet describes Miklós as a singer of popular sentimental songs.
According to , Miklós was considered part of the first generation of recorded Hungarian musicians. When Deutsche Gramophone found themselves falling behind the competition, they signed Miklós who ultimately became their first dance-music star "beloved all around the country."
As a comedian, he performed in the early 1920s at various cabarets including the Rakéta Kabaré - occasionally with female partner Annus Nagy.

Discography