Michael Polanyi

Michael Polanyi, FRS (born Polányi Mihály) (March 11, 1891, Budapest – February 22, 1976, Northampton) was a Hungarian–British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. Polanyi was born into a Jewish family. His older brother was Karl the political economist. Their father was an engineer and railway entrepreneur, and h... more

Michael Polanyi, FRS (born Polányi Mihály) (March 11, 1891, Budapest – February 22, 1976, Northampton) was a Hungarian–British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. Polanyi was born into a Jewish family. His older brother was Karl the political economist. Their father was an engineer and railway entrepreneur, and his mother's salons were well known amongst Budapest's intellectuals. Polanyi graduated in medicine in 1913, and served as a physician in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. During a convalescence (after contracting diphtheria) in 1917 he wrote what became a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Budapest (supervised by Gusztáv Buchböck). In 1920, he emigrated to Germany, ending up as a research chemist at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut for Fiber Chemistry in Berlin. There, he converted to Christianity and married Magda... less