{{short description|Hungarian writer}} {{about||the American businessman from New York|George Urban Jr.}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2008}} {{Infobox person | name = George Urban | image = | caption = | birth_name = Gyorgy Robert Ungar | birth_date = {{birth-date|12 April 1921}} | birth_place = Miskolc, Hungary | death_date = {{death-date and age|3 October 1997|12 April 1921}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = Eötvös Loránd University | employer = | occupation = Writer | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = | boards = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = }} '''George Robert Urban''' (born '''Gyorgy Robert Ungar'''; 12 April 1921, in Miskolc, Hungary – 3 October 1997) was a Hungarian writer, best known as a broadcaster for Radio Free Europe (RFE).

==Early life== Gyorgy Robert Ungar was born on 12 April 1921 in Miskolc, Hungary. He attended Budapest University and left Hungary for the United Kingdom in 1948, where he took up further studies at London University. On 1 April 1955 he was naturalised as a British subject under the name George Robert Urban.<ref>https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40475/page/2735/data.pdf The London Gazette, 10 May 1955</ref>

==Career== Urban began work for the BBC Hungarian service. He was a radio broadcaster for a number of years for the BBC World Service, leaving and joining RFE in 1960, and becoming its director for a period in the 1980s.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=43226477&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI2MDg3MDEyNywiaWF0IjoxNjE1MTk4NjI3LCJleHAiOjE2MTUyODUwMjd9.EmTSPIY-Dryv3O21Jpj5W6Lv-WLMFZEDAMr8LZcWAto The Guardian, 20 Oct 1997</ref>

Urban is known also for his writing for ''Encounter'' magazine. His journalism and book writing drew heavily on long dialogues, in effect extended interviews, from his work at RFE, involving major intellectual and political figures who were prepared to engage with the Cold War. He also published a study of the Georgekreis, an early enthusiasm, and continuing shaper of his attitudes. In 1985, he signed a petition in support for the far-right paramilitary Contras (Nicaragua).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/document/bhlnicaragua|title = Quand Bernard-Henri Lévy pétitionnait contre le régime légal du Nicaragua|date = October 2009}}</ref>

==Personal life== Urban was twice married.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=43226477&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI2MDg3MDEyNywiaWF0IjoxNjE1MTk4NjI3LCJleHAiOjE2MTUyODUwMjd9.EmTSPIY-Dryv3O21Jpj5W6Lv-WLMFZEDAMr8LZcWAto The Guardian, 20 Oct 1997</ref>

==Works== *''Kinesis and stasis; a study in the attitude of Stefan George and his circle to the musical arts'' (1962) *''The Sino-Soviet Conflict'' (1965) with Leo Labedz *''Toynbee on Toynbee: A Conversation between Arnold J. Toynbee and G. R. Urban'' (1974) *''Détente'' (1976) *''What is Eurocommunism?'' (1977) editor *''Eurocommunism: Its Roots and Future in Italy and Elsewhere'' (1978) *''Communist Reformation: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Change in the World Communist Movement'' (1979) *''Can the Soviet System Survive Reform?: Seven Colloquies About the State of Soviet Socialism Seventy Years After the Bolshevik Revolutio''n (1989) *''End of Empire: The Demise of the Soviet Union'' (1992) *''Diplomacy and Disillusion at the Court of Margaret Thatcher: An Insider's View'' (1996) *''Radio Free Europe and the Pursuit of Democracy: My War Within the Cold Wa''r (1997)

==References== <references />

== External links ==

* [https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1881 The Papers of George Urban] held at Churchill Archives Centre {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, George}} Category:1921 births Category:1997 deaths Category:People from Miskolc Category:Hungarian writers Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom