Eugen Pólya

Jenö (Eugen) Alexander Pólya (April 30, 1876 - 1944) was an Hungarian surgeon who was a native of Budapest. He was the brother of George Pólya (1887-1985), who was a professor of mathematics at Stanford University.

He studied in Budapest, and in 1898 earned his medical doctorate. In 1909 he was habilitated for surgical anatomy at Budapest, and in 1914 attained the title of professor. Reportedly, he was murdered by the Nazis during the Siege of Budapest, however his body was never recovered.

Jenö Pólya is remembered for a surgical procedure known as the Reichel-Pólya operation, which is a type of posterior gastroenterostomy that is a modification of the Billroth II operation. This operation is named in conjunction with German surgeon Friedrich Paul Reichel (1858-1934). Between World War I and World War II, he was visited in Budapest by several American surgeons who came to observe his surgical technique, and in 1939 Pólya was elected an honorary member of the American College of Surgeons.

References

* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3885624 NCBI, Our surgical heritage: the tragic destiny of the surgeon, Eugen Alexander Pólya (1876-1944)]
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1896.html "Jenö (Eugen) Alexander Pólya"] @ Who Named It
* [http://archsurg.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/135/6/730 Archives of Surgery, Surgery in Hungary]