Béla’s Obituary

7 October 1918  –  20 June 2019

Béla (Albert) Somssich was a lover of music, art, literature and philosophy. He was a gentle, kind, honourable man, with an amazing intellect and an ever-unique philosophical perspective on life.

Béla is lovingly remembered by his family and friends including his daughter Anne (Ancsi) and partner Henk; son Béla (Bert) and wife Alison; grandchildren Harold, Lawrence, Kate, Marisa, Theodore and Natalie; Great-grandchildren Andréa, Sylvia, Lexie and Jervie; niece Teréz and nephew Miklós; and many friends including Anna, his housekeeper and carer for many years.  He is also survived by his Great-Great-Grand daughter Aurora.

Béla was born in Budapest on the 7th October 1918.  He was educated at his family home in Kivadár, Somogy county, and completed his secondary studies at the Pius College in Pécs. 

He went on to study at the Franz Liszt Music Academy and Pázmány Péter University and in 1939 attended summer school at the University of Perugia. Béla told amazing stories of his idyllic childhood on the country estate of this family.  As a young man, he loved to ride his black Arab horse “Koma”, play the piano and photograph his Cacti collection. He travelled widely through Europe and, in particular had very fond memories of his time in Rome. 

World War II turned his life upside down. There were many dangerous times particularly after he abandoned his post in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery, due to his objection to the war and the Nazi-sympathising forces in Hungary at that time. 

After the war, there was the emerging and equally challenging reality of living in Communist Hungary.  He worked in music publishing and then as a music education producer with Hungarian Radio.  It was around this time he met and fell in love with Irene (Panni), welcoming her young daughter Ansci as his own.  In 1949 together they fled Hungary, making the perilous journey across the snow-covered Alps into Austria. Their little boy Bert was born in 1950, as they slowly worked their way across Europe, all the way to “Terra Nullius”, as Béla called Australia.

Béla showed amazing resilience and unwavering strength in support of his family throughout these often, difficult years. After arriving in Melbourne in 1951, the family soon settled in Sydney.  It was a tumultuous time for Béla and his family.  As migrants to a new country, they had to build a whole new life.  He was forced into a range of jobs such as washing dishes, driving taxis, a travelling salesman - anything to keep food on the table and the family afloat. There are many colourful family memories of these times, many involving the Capri, the coffee shop they opened in Fairfield. Here customers could enjoy European café culture, new to Sydney, sometimes accompanied by a shot of liquor on the sly.

Béla eventually formed his own business “Omnisound” which brought together his love of music with his enterprising nature, business acumen and artful way with people.  The family remembers with fondness the daily trips to stockists of styli, cassettes and other HiFi products, which were seamlessly interspersed with visits to Manly beach and the trendy coffee shops downtown.

Béla’s offbeat, dry sense of humour, his love for the absurd and his idiosyncratic and eccentric ways were part of the Somssich Whitton Road Home of the late 1970s which was distinctly Bohemian in nature, teeming with a procession of interesting characters, beards, hats and monocles, Jung society members, surrounded by esoteric artworks some of which still inhabit places in his Daisy Street home.  The atmosphere may have seemed Fellini-Dali-Kafka-esque but the point of difference was Béla himself.

His family will remember his sometimes absent-minded behaviour, often mysteriously disappearing at family gatherings (with Panni urging us to look for him under the plum trees), or forgetting to take the cap off his camera when tasked with photographing his daughter Ansci’s wedding. 

For almost the last half of his life, Béla became “Gramps” for the next generation of this family, a role for which he showed great natural talent.  His grandchildren were always fascinated and entertained by all his quirks and stories of all manner of “very interesting” things; they would wait with anticipation for his (often very late) arrival at family events. There was something magical and otherworldly about being in his company. 

As he got older and Omnisound wound down, Béla’s zest for life, art, travel and culture continued unabated.  He cared lovingly for Panni when she became ill, until her death in 2005. Theirs had been a turbulent relationship spanning almost 60 years but characterised by a great and enduring love and respect. Béla himself showed little sign of slowing down and continued to be the strong Patriarch of the family, until the final year of his life. 

Béla’s life enriched us all and will have an enduring impact for generations to come.  Thank you - Béla, Apu, Gramps - for sharing it with us; for your love and support; and for your immeasurable contribution to our family. 

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Hová Megy Egy Ákác Levél - Szép Ernő