Hilda Gobbi

Hilda Emília Gizella Gobbi (6 June 1913 – 13 July 1988) was an award-winning Hungarian actress, known for her portrayals of elderly women.

A resistance member during World War II, she attempted to facilitate the reconstruction of the National Theatre by sponsoring a fundraising drive.

[1] When she was a child, her family was well-to-do, as her father ran a paper-towel factory, but they became impoverished due to his gambling and spending money on other women.

[1] To continue her education, Gobbi was able to secure loans and enter the National Theater Academy as a scholarship student, attending from 1932 to 1935.

Remembering her early struggles and time of homelessness,[2] Gobbi had a strong social conscience and was involved in creating many organizations to assist actors.

After the actress's untimely death, Gobbi purchased Bajor's villa and created a museum named in her honor to feature Hungarian performers in 1952.

She launched a nationwide fundraising drive which garnered collections of 3.3 billion forints, but the theater was never constructed and there were accusations of governmental misuse of the funds.

She performed in a wide range of productions from comedy to tragedy, and was noted for her humor and caricatures, creating many memorable roles.

[10] Some of her most noted performances were as Gertrude in József Katona's Bánk bán; as Gertrud in Shakespeare's Hamlet, in the title role of Mihály Csokonai Vitéz's Karnyóné, as Sagittarius Misi in Zsigmond Móricz's Légy jó mindhalálig (Be faithful until death), as Rizi in István Örkény's Pisti a vérzivatarban (Pisti in the bloodstream), the mother in György Schwajda's A szent család (The holy family) and the old woman in György Spiró's Csirkefej (Chicken Head).

With Imre Apáthi in 1942.
Statue of Hilda Gobbi outside of the National Theatre .