How did Cornell Capa come to use the Capa surname?

[Trask]

It just struck me that Cornell Capa, Robert Capa's brother, was not born with the surname "Capa" any more than Robert was. I know that Andre Friedmann (Robert's true name) and Gerda Taro made up the story of their photos being made by famous-but-unseen American photographer "Robert Capa", and then by dint of self-creation Andre actually became the man he invented.

But how did Andre's brother come to call himself Cornell Capa? Andre renaming himself seems outrageous yet wonderful, but his brother taking the same made-up last name seems somehow sadly derivative. But that's why I'm asking the question, so I don't mentally malign Cornell if in fact there's another side to the story.

 

[2F/2F]

He got the name from his brother. That much is pretty obvious. As to when it took hold, or became a legal name change, I do not know for sure. According to Magnum, he moved from Hungary and printed for his brother in Paris before the war. I imagine he got the name at about that time.

 

[Steve Roberts]

Without having Googled or attempted to read up on the matter, I suppose there's also the issue of when Cornell adopted his brother's name. If it was in Robert's earlier days before he was really well known, Cornell could well have adopted it for family unity, for want of a better expression. If he adopted the name after Robert became famous, then perhaps it's more of a case of hanging on to his brother's coat-tails! I'm sure the answer is out there somewhere.

Steve

 

[wayne naughton]

It wasn't unusual for 'mittel' Europeans to anglicise or simplify their names when they moved to the west to study or work. I dont think it would have been any big deal that CC followed the lead of his older brother. BTW Cornell Capa was a fine documentary photographer in his own right and it wasn't until later in his life that he dedicated himself to preserving his brother's work. Hope the link works

www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/05/capa.html