Born in Hungary in 1887, he studied at the Academies of Budapest and Paris, ending up in Geneva at Ferdinand Hodler’s studio.
He married Paula Barmettler in 1924 and later painted and taught at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts.

He was the Director of the Municipal school of Applied Arts from 1931 and founding member and guest member of various art associations.
He traveled extensively abroad, also staying in Switzerland. He lived in Brè sopra Lugano from 1946 to 1974, moving to Lugano in 1975 where he later died.

Many of his works are found in museums throughout the world, in St. Louis (USA), Barcelona, Stockholm, Budapest, Esztergom, Bucharest, Lugano Museum of Art and LAC Lugano Contemporary Arts. He held individual and group exhibitions of his works both in his homeland and abroad, with his debut taking place in Zurich.

Joszef Birò designed the Brè Lugano town coat of arms and the Brè church is almost entirely embellished with his paintings and frescoes.