Marcell Horace Frydmann Prawy

Marcell Horace Frydmann Prawy
Personal details
Birth name	Marcel Prawy Marcell Horace Frydmann Ritter von Prawy
Born	29 December 1911 Vienna, Austria
Died	23 February 2003 Vienna, Austria
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Known for	Opera dramaturge; Vienna Volksoper / Staatsoper; ORF Opernführer
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32968379
Rank	Master Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 12 (27 September – 25 November 1943)
Section	5A
Specialty	Military intelligence; cultural / information work

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Marcell F. Prawy (29 December 1911 – 23 February 2003), born Marcell Horace Frydmann Ritter von Prawy and widely known as Marcel Prawy, was a Viennese opera dramaturg and broadcaster who trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 12) and returned to Austria with the U.S. Army after the war.

Biography

Marcell Horace Frydmann Ritter von Prawy was born in Vienna on 29 December 1911. He studied law and music, frequented the standing room of the Vienna State Opera from his teens, and worked as secretary to the Polish tenor Jan Kiepura. After the Anschluss he fled Nazi rule; Kiepura helped extract him from a Vichy French internment camp, and the party reached the United States in 1939, where Prawy continued as Kiepura’s secretary in New York.

Prawy entered the U.S. Army in 1943, trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 12, and rose to master sergeant. He returned to Vienna in 1946 in U.S. service as a cultural / information officer (film and education work under the occupation administration), later describing himself as a film officer of the American military government for Austria.

In the 1950s he helped bring American musicals to European stages—notably Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate (Küss mich, Kätchen) at the Vienna Volksoper—and worked as dramaturge there before moving to the Vienna State Opera. From 1962 he presented more than two hundred television programs as Austria’s beloved “Opernführer.” He died in Vienna on 23 February 2003 and is buried in an honorary grave at the Zentralfriedhof; his archive is held by the Wienbibliothek im Rathaus.

Research notes

• Roster first name Marcell; public career almost always Marcel.
• Later Cold War cultural-networking claims in secondary essays are treated cautiously; published facts above follow the oepb memorial and Prawy’s own career record.

Gallery

• 
  Marcel Horace Frydmann Prawy identification portrait (RB Archive)
• 
  Marcel Prawy USIS portrait, 1953 (RB Archive)
• 
  Beverly Hills identification fingerprint card for Marcell Frydmann-Prawy, 20 February 1941 (RB Archive / Wienbibliothek)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	92
Nara ASN	32968379
Nara Name	PRAWY MARCELL H F
Nara State	23
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	110643
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N2
Nara Year of Birth	11
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	9
Nara Civilian Occupation	137
Nara Marital Status	1
Nara Height (inches)	0
Nara Weight (lbs)	0
Class_ASN	32968379
Class_Name	PRAWY, Marcell F.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 29 December 1911 — Born Marcell Horace Frydmann Ritter von Prawy in Vienna.
• 1930s — Law and music studies; secretary to Jan Kiepura.
• 1939 — Escapes to the United States (via France) with Kiepura’s help.
• 1943 — Enters U.S. Army; Camp Ritchie Class 12.
• 1946 — Returns to Vienna with U.S. forces; cultural / information work.
• 1950s — Volksoper dramaturge; introduces American musicals to Vienna.
• 1962 onward — ORF television “Opernführer” programs.
• 1970s — Chief dramaturge, Vienna State Opera (after Volksoper years).
• 23 February 2003 — Died in Vienna.

Sources

• Österreichisches Pressebüro — “MARCEL PRAWY – Erinnerungen an den Opernführer”
• Franz Krahberger / eJournal — “Marcel Prawy im Zeitraum von 1949 bis 1956”
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)