He “fell asleep peacefully and pain-free” on Friday at the age of 73, as his wife Angelika Horowitz told the APA. Horowitz not only got to see icons from Mick Jagger to Andy Warhol, but also wrote numerous books – such as biographies about Heimito von Doderer, Karl Kraus, Otto Schenk and Helmut Qualtinger. He also founded the “leisure” weekend supplement of the “Kurier”.
The mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), was “deeply touched” by Horowitz’s death. With Horowitz, “an important personality in the media industry” and “a disgraceful brother” had been lost, said Ludwig in a broadcast in which he also highlighted his “passion for photography and enjoyment”: “He always had a feel for the right moment .” Horowitz received the Gold Medal of Honor for services to the State of Vienna in 2007. “The people of Vienna and the newspaper readers will not forget Michael Horowitz. My condolences go out to the bereaved,” said Ludwig.
‘Real Viennese’
Vienna City Councilor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler also expressed her condolences to the bereaved. “Michael Horowitz was a ‘real Viennese’ with many talents. In addition to his formative work as a journalist and publisher, he will also be remembered as a photographer with a keen eye for the essentials. Horowitz was not only a passionate singer and great lover of the Viennese song, but also “Even as a biographer and author, Vienna is often the focus of his work,” said Kaup-Hasler.
Horowitz, born on December 1, 1950 in Vienna, pursued his passion for photography as a teenager. The list of celebrities he has photographed over the decades is quite impressive. He photographed Arnold Schwarzenegger with his bare torso in a coffee house, visited Kiki Kogelnik in New York as an 18-year-old, caught Andy Warhol during his visit to Vienna in 1981 and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger at a concert in the federal capital in 1967.
He captured local artists in sometimes unusual settings. You could marvel at Arnulf Rainer with his face painted black, Thomas Bernhard on a bicycle or Fatty George, Al Fats Edwards and Helmut Qualtinger as the Three Wise Men. “The most important thing then and now is that you build trust in people before you portray them,” said Horowitz in 2020 on the occasion of an exhibition at the Albertina about his photographic life’s work: “The camera was not just an accomplice, but a friend. “
Moving life
As a journalist, Horowitz made his mark in local media history primarily by founding the Kurier’s weekend supplement “freizeit”. He also served as editor-in-chief for a quarter of a century, from 1989 to 2004. Later he wrote several series in the “Presse am Sonntag” about “Poets & Thinkers”, great Austrian artists and “Viennese Originals”, which were also published in collected form as books.
Horowitz started writing books in the 80s. His first book, a biography of Heimito von Doderer – with a guest article by Peter Handke – was published in 1983. This was followed by biographies of Egon Erwin Kisch, Karl Kraus, Leonard Bernstein and personal friends such as HC Artmann, Otto Schenk and Helmut Qualtinger. In addition, he remembered his childhood and youth in “The Golden Vienna” and looked back to the darkest times in Austria in “Repress – Forget – Forgive”.
Horowitz also repeatedly wrote scripts for television documentaries, for example. His screenplay for the film “Caracas” won the “Prix de la Jeunesse” at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989. Other awards he received included the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic, the Gold Decoration of Honor for Services to the State of Vienna and the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class.
