Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg Solti. He started to play the piano at age 5, and later took piano lessons. At the age of 11, he wrote his first opera, Christmas in the Trenches. After completing his education at the Gymnasium Franz-Josef, he attended the Academy of Music in Budapest, where he studied with Leo Weiner. He also studied with Béla Bartók at the Liszt Academy. He earned diplomas in composition and conducting. He won a grant to study in Berlin in 1928. There, he met Lilli Apel, another musician, whom he later married. Kosma also met and studied with Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He also became acquainted with Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel. Kosma and his wife emigrated to Paris in 1933. Eventually, he met Jacques Prévert, who introduced him to Jean Renoir. During World War II and the Occupation of France, Kosma was placed under house arrest in the Alpes-Maritimes region, and was banned from composition. However, Prévert managed to arrange for Kosma to contribute music for films, with other composers fronting for him. Among his credits are the scores to these classic French films: The Testament of Doctor Cordelier (telefilm, 1959), La Grande Illusion, Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), and The Rules of the Game (1939). He was also known for writing the standard classical-Jazz piece "Les feuilles mortes" "Autumn Leaves" (with French lyrics by Jacques Prévert, and later English lyrics by Johnny Mercer), which was derived from music in Marcel Carné's film Les Portes de la Nuit (1946). Kosma's mother and brother were killed by the Arrow Cross Nazi auxiliaries in 1944. Kosma himself was wounded in an explosion in August 1944 in France. Kosma's father survived the war, and died in 1957. Joseph Kosma died outside Paris in 1969 and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery.
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