Background

László EdeHugyecz was born in 1893 ina small town of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, a master-builder, tookan active part in constructing the first European subway in Budapest. His mother was one of the directdescendants of John Huss, forefather of the Protestant movement. Throughout hislife, he would draw from both family backgrounds – both the architectural andthe spiritual.

His life followsthe upheavals of the 20th century: L.E. Hudec considered himself Hungarian, andhis allegiances where to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - which would soon fallapart in 1920. He finished his studies in architecture and engineering in 1914- and was immediately drafted into the army. He was taken prisoner of war in1916 by the Russians and spent almost two years at a POW camp in Siberia. In May of 1918, through an incredible act ofcleverness and bravery, he escaped from his POW camp and headed East on footthrough Russia.He worked for a number of months on the trans-Siberian railway under a falseRussian passport, trying to make enough money to return to Hungary, but whenCzech legionnaires came looking for Austro-Hungarian POWs, he was forced toflee again on foot into neighboring China. After a short stay in Harbin, he realized his best chance to find work was inthe boomtown portof Shanghai to the South.Like today, Chinawas then, at the beginning of the 20th century, the place to be for those wholooked for fortune and a new kind of future.

Hugyecz arrivedto Shanghai inlate 1918. He soon changed his name into L.E. Hudec, because it had a more‘international’ feel. He joined theAmerican architectural firm R.A. Curry & Co. as a draftsman. At that time, Shanghai had more than amillion inhabitants. Curry and Co.’s firm was busy because of internationalconcessions from the French, British and American sectors. Foreign architectsplayed an important role in Shanghaiat that time – which was prospering under its division into international zonesand foreign investment. And L.E. Hudec would be one of the mostfamous of his time.

He marriedGisela Meyer in 1922, the daughter of a wealthy German businessman in Shanghai. They had threechildren: Martin in 1923, Theo in 1925 and Alessa in 1928.

Hudec’sarchitectural work was extremely wide-ranging and his clients included not onlythe members of the international expatriate community, but also members of theChinese National Government, which took power in 1927. Among his projects from this era was the Country Hospital(1925), which was in the European neo-classical style and featuredair-conditioning and elevators (novelties in Chinaat the time).

1925-1937 wasthe most interesting period of Hudec’s architectural work in Shanghai. It was during that time that hedesigned the first skyscraper and the tallest building in the Far East, a22-story building on Shanghai’smarshy ground. He was also charged with designing and constructing the city’slargest theater, the 2,500-seat Grand Theater, in prime Art Deco style. Another major work by Hudec was Dr. Woo’shouse, a signature piece of originality that combined both European and Chinesestyles. In addition to these major projects, he designed some hundred buildingsand supervised their construction. He was also active in the city’s French district, as well as theChinese areas attached to the city.

Hudec’s successwas based on his ability to work in all the international zones – he was ableto work for the British, French and Americans because he knew European stylesand trends and also knew how to actually build structures – because of hisengineering background and his study trips to Europe. But he was alsosuccessful because he could work for the new wealthy Chinese clients of ChaingKai Shek’s government, because of his extra-territorial citizenship – he didn’tbelong to any of the colonial powers, and thus could be sued in Chinese courtsif he didn’t fulfill his contracts. When working for the Chinese, he was oftenentrusted with the design – but it had to be modern and reflect the new wealthof the city’s new Chinese bourgeoisie. It was in these buildings, like Dr.Woo’s house, that his original style left a mark on Shanghai.

But soon, darktimes loomed. After the Japanese occupied Shanghaiin 1937, he built less and was more involved with helping and protecting theAustro-Hungarian community as well as the international community (his motherwas half-British). He was named Hungarian Consul in 1942, during WWII. TheJapanese, under pressure from Germany,created a ghetto for the more than 30,000 European Jews that Shanghai took in after the war began. Hudectook bold steps to save as many Jews as he could from having to live in theghetto by issuing them Hungarian passports, and he also took an independentstand against the Hungarian Arrow-Cross (Nazi) government that came to power in1944 – issuing a statement that the Hungarian consulate no longer pledgedallegiance to Hungary in that time. A risky move for which he was nearlyarrested himself, but it was a step that brought him on the right side ofHistory.

After the war isover, he was again imprisoned, but through the help of an old Chinesecolleague, he still managed to flee with his family in early 1947. The familywas planning to return to Chinain 1949, but by then the Communist government had taken over and he knew hewould be arrested if he returned. All of his work and finances were seized (hehad become quite wealthy in Shanghaihimself) and only his investments abroad were saved.

His family spentthe next year in Lugano, Switzerland -- hoping for a chance to move to Hungary after so many years. Butwhen the communist government took control there in 1947, it became clear thathe would never be able to move back ‘home.’ In the meantime, because he hadbuilt a number of churches pro bonofor Jesuits in Shanghai, he was invited by thePope to take part in the excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome – in order to verifythe existence of St. Peter’s tomb.

Because of hiswork in Rome, he was invited by a religiousarcheological society in Berkeley, California, to hold seminars on the work being done in Rome. He and his family,as Hungarian political refugees, were granted asylum into the U.S. in 1948.For the next ten years, Hudec rarely designed or built anything; he lived in Berkeley, traveled andwrote religious and archeological works. He died in 1958, at the age of 65, ofa sudden heart attack.

Hudec is not just a storyabout an interesting and famous architect whose eye-catching Modernist and ArtDeco buildings still reign over today’s Shanghaiskyline. His story is also worth telling because it illustrates all the majorpolitical-historical and design-architectural events of the 20th century. His emblematic life story opens a windowonto the previous century’s dramatic events – and through real-life, yet rightout of Hollywood style scenes. From narrow escapesto creative success to wartime bravery (twice) to religious introspection, thisfilm about L.E. Hudec will be about a man who was a multi-faceted artist and aninspiringly humble and principled human being. A life that gives rare insightinto some of most fascinating times of the past century.