Joe Rosenthal
Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima.[1] His picture became one of the best-known photographs of the war, and was replicated as the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
For the Canadian sculptor and political figure, see Joe Rosenthal (sculptor). For the British war camera operator, see Joseph Rosenthal (camera operator). For the Hebrew writer, see Yosef Rosenthal. For the German rabbi, see Joseph von Maier.
Joe Rosenthal
August 20, 2006 (aged 94)
- Photographer
- reporter
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photograph
Early life[edit]
Joseph Rosenthal was born on October 9, 1911, in Washington, D.C. His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants; he converted to Catholicism during his youth.[2] He had four brothers. His interest in photography started as a hobby during the Great Depression. He graduated from McKinley High School in 1929, and after working as an office boy, he moved to San Francisco where he became a reporter-photographer for The San Francisco News in 1932.
Later years and death[edit]
In later years, when asked about the photo, he would say "I took the picture; the Marines took Iwo Jima."[3]
Rosenthal left the AP later in 1945 and became the chief photographer and manager of Times Wide World Photos. He later joined the San Francisco Chronicle. He worked there as a photographer for 35 years, before retiring in 1981.[3] His name was inscribed (across from the memorial sculptor Felix de Weldon's name) on the bottom right side of the front (west side) of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1982. On April 13, 1996, Rosenthal was named an honorary Marine by then Commandant of the Marine Corps General Charles C. Krulak.[8]
On August 20, 2006, at age 94, Rosenthal died of natural causes in his sleep at a center for assisted living in Novato, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County.[9][10] Rosenthal was cremated. A Marine Corps ceremony that was open to the public was held for him at the Marines' Memorial Club on September 15 and a Catholic funeral mass was held for him on September 16, 2006, at St. Emydius Catholic Church, both located in San Francisco, California.[11]
Citation:[8]