Lorant, Stefan (1901-97), Hungarian-American journalist and editor, and a founder of modern photojournalism. Lorant left Hungary in 1919 to escape right-wing repression, one of a talented generation of émigrés that included the Capa brothers, Brassaï, Gabor, Kertész, and the film-maker Alexander Korda. After working in the Viennese film industry he moved to Germany and in 1930 became editor-in-chief of the liberal Münchener illustrierte Presse. Forced to emigrate by the Nazis, he eventually reached London and ran a succession of illustrated journals: Weekly Illustrated (formerly Clarion) in 1934; Lilliput (1937), which he sold to the press magnate Edward Hulton; and, published by Hulton, Picture Post from October 1938. Assisted by Tom Hopkinson, Lorant pushed circulation up to 1, 350, 000, while pursuing a leftish, anti-fascist, and anti-appeasement line. Though his idiosyncratic editorial style put a strain on colleagues he had a keen design sense and excelled at juxtaposing images—most famously, Neville Chamberlain and a llama—for maximum polemical effect. After the fall of France in 1940 he left for the USA, and subsequently devoted himself to the production of illustrated books.
— Robin Lenman
