Béla Babai
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| Born | (1914-04-27)April 27, 1914
Graz, Austria-Hungary
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| Died | October 1, 1997(1997-10-01) (aged 83)
Nesconset, New York, U.S.
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| Occupation | Violinist |
Antal Béla Babai (April 27, 1914 – October 1, 1997) was a Romani-American violinist, and interpreter of Romani music. Babai was born in Austro-Hungarian Empire and emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s, where he became famous as "The King of the Gypsy Violin".[1]
Babai was born in Graz, Austria-Hungary[2] and grew up in Kaposvár near a large community of Romani. He learned to play the violin at a young age. At age 12 he would play in a local cafe, and in later years he would keep a clipping about those performances.
After he emigrated to the United States in 1937, he noticed that the music from his country was played in Hungarian restaurants. Babai started an orchestra in which he played the violin, accompanied by a kontras (second fiddler), a bratchas (violist), a bogos (double bass), a cimbalom-player, and a cellist.
In 1953, he left Chicago for New York, where he performed in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Babai was married to Emma Horvath, who was of Bashalde Romani descent, and had a son and two daughters. He died in Nesconset, New York on October 1, 1997.[1]
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