Polanyi, Karl, 1886-1964

Born in Vienna on 21 October, 1886, Karl Polanyi was the son of a Hungarian engineer and entrepreneur, Michael Pollacsek, and a Russian mother, Cecile Wohl, who was a figure in Hungarian intellectual and political society. His brother was the philosopher and chemist Michael Polanyi.

Raised in Budapest, Polanyi attended the University at Budapest and Kolozsvar, earning a doctorate of law in 1909. He was called to the bar in 1912. It was at University, in 1908, that Polanyi became engaged in Hungarian politics, helping to found the left-liberal Galilei Circle, a radical political movement that put Polanyi in touch with key figures of Hungarian politics. He would later edit the Circle's journal Szabadgondolat until its suppression in 1919. In 1914, he helped to form the Hungarian Radical Party.

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