Biography

Frigyes Korányi (born as Kornfeld) was the first child of Sebald Korányi (1800–1885), a practicing physician in Nagykálló, and Anna Nyíri (née Kandel). He was born into a wealthy Jewish family of doctors on December 10, 1828, in Nagykálló. Later, he had eight more siblings. He attended high school with the Piarists in Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti) and began his medical studies at the University of Pest in 1844.

Career

On the morning of March 15, 1848, Frigyes Korányi was attending an internal medicine lecture by Ignác Sauer when he enthusiastically joined his fellow students in participating in the revolutionary events. As a medical student, he took part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49, first as a national guard, then as the commander of the pharmacy of the Szabolcs County volunteer battalion, and later as a lieutenant in the Nyíregyháza military hospital. By the end of the war, he served as the chief medical officer of the 104th Honvéd Battalion.In 1848, at his father's initiative, he (along with his entire family) converted to Catholicism and adopted the name Korányi. He began his medical practice in his hometown in 1852 and was one of the founders of the local hospital in 1859. Between 1857 and 1858, he undertook several study trips to the most renowned medical institutions and universities of the time, accompanied by Lajos Markusovszky, Ignác Hirschler, and József Török, a pharmacist from Debrecen.In 1866, Korányi was appointed as a professor of internal medicine at the University of Pest. On March 21, 1876, as a university professor in Budapest, he was awarded the title of Royal Counselor by the reigning monarch.