Amerigo Tot (born Imre Tóth; 27 September 1909 – 13 December 1984) was a Hungarian sculptor and occasional actor. Born in

Fehérvárcsurgó Fehérvárcsurgó is a village in Fejér county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

he moved to Rome towards the end of the 1920s, where he lived for the rest of his life. He studied in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

under Ferenc Helbing and György Leszkovszky from 1926 until 1928, and then at the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. As the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s came to power he moved to Rome where he worked sculpting memorials on a grant from the Roman-Hungarian Academy, where he eventually became an advisor. He fought in the Italian resistance movement starting in 1943. He first received international recognition for his work on the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

in Roma Termini station in 1950. He began doing abstract works in the 1950s. He returned home to Hungary several times, including 1937, 1939 and in 1969 in what was a carefully-prepared trip by the Hungarian communist culture-buro. In Hungary he was celebrated as a "world famous" artist and had big exhibitions. He did traditional works, including a Madonna sculpture in his native Fehérvárcsurgó, as well as abstract sculptures and public monuments, including ''Microcosm in Macrocosm'' (a tribute to Béla Bartók), ''His Majesty'' and ''The Kilowatt'' in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's th ...

. The Amerigo Tot Museum in

is named after him. In the 1960s and 1970s he made small appearances in films. He is perhaps best-known to English-speaking audiences for his role as Bussetta,

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. In the three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominate ...

's bodyguard and

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or order ...

of Johnny Ola in ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

''. According to George S. Larke-Walsh, Tot's character in the film had to be brutal so that Michael's authority was retained. He also appeared in '' The Most Beautiful Wife'' and ''

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

'' (1972). The latter was directed by

Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), '' The Terminal Man'' (197 ...

for United Artists and featured Tot as Sotgio. Tot died in Rome in 1984. He is interred in the

Farkasréti Cemetery Farkasréti Cemetery or Farkasrét Cemetery ( hu, Farkasréti temető) is one of the most famous cemeteries in Budapest. It opened in 1894 and is noted for its extensive views of the city (several people wanted it more to be a resort area than a c ...

in Budapest.

Filmography

Notes and references

Sources

- new website by Peter Nemes

amerigotot.hu - website by Peter Nemes

- Official Amerigo Tot Museum, Pécs

- Amerigo Tot memorial room, Budapest

exhibition in Ludwig Museum Budapest
* * Sinkovits P. (1982): Az érintések öröme. (The joy of touch.) Report with Amerigo Tot. Művészet, XXIII, No. 7. p. 10-14. (In Hungarian) * Nagy Z. (1982): Szemelvények egy életműből. (Section of an ouvre.) Exhibition of Amerigo Tot in Budapest, in the Vigadó Galéria. Művészet, XXIII, No. 7. p. 14-19. (In Hungarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tot, Amerigo 1909 births 1984 deaths Hungarian sculptors 20th-century sculptors Bauhaus alumni Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian emigrants to Italy People who emigrated to escape Nazism Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery