Yvette Biro: key obituary facts
Is Yvette Biro dead? Yes. Yvette Biro died on October 17, 2026, at age 96.
Cause of death: Yvette Biro's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Yvette Biro known for?
She was a Hungarian-American essayist and film writer.
More about Yvette Biro
Born: 3 April 1930.
Place of birth: Budapest.
Place of death: Paris.
Gender: female.
Occupation: screenwriter, film critic, playwright, university teacher.
Nationality: Hungary, United States.
Employer: New York University, Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University.
Awards: Parallel Culture Awards, Béla Balázs Award.
Also known as: Yvette Ungár, Yvette Bíróné Ungár, Yvette Biro.
Yvette Biro, a Hungarian–American screenwriter and essayist, died in Paris on October 17, 2026, aged 96.
Born in Budapest on April 3, 1930, she worked as a film critic, playwright and university teacher, and was professor emerita at New York University’s Graduate Film School. Biro’s early books on film aesthetics were first published in Hungary, where they became handbooks for film schools.
Her writing about cinema developed alongside screenwriting: she worked on a dozen prizewinning films with directors including Miklós Jancsó, Zoltán Fábri and Károly Makk. Her screenwriting credits included Johanna and Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project. Biro also founded Filmkultura, the magazine of the Hungarian Film Institute and Film Archive, and served as its editor-in-chief. Her teaching and academic work extended beyond NYU to Paris-Sorbonne University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. Her honors included the Béla Balázs Award and the Parallel Culture Awards. Her career encompassed books on film aesthetics, essays and criticism, screenwriting, editorial work and university teaching, bringing together several forms of work in film and its study.