© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
In Memoriam |
Professor George Joseph Popják, MD, DSc, FRS
May 5, 1914–December 30, 1998
Family and friends learned with sadness that George Popják had died in his sleep on the evening of December 30th, 1998 at his home in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. Professor Popják will be remembered as a talented pianist and sculptor and as a brilliant scientist who was recognized internationally as one of the major investigators who defined the reactions involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol.
He was born May 5th, 1914, in Kiskundorozsma, Hungary. In his
unfinished biography, Professor Popják wrote that his childhood
was far from ordinary. After the Versaille Treaty, his village became
part of Yugoslavia. Because neither of his parents had Hungarian names,
the Treaty dictated that he go to a Serbian, and not Hungarian, school.
This proved difficult initially because he knew neither the Serbian
language nor the Cyrillic alphabet. His mother, a school teacher,
helped him learn the language. His father was an engineer, involved in
building roads, maintaining bridges, and mapping. In 1920, the family
moved deep into Serbia and subsequently into Macedonia, as his father
obtained new work. These areas had few Hungarians and different
cultures. In 1924, when he was 10, he and his mother moved back to
Szeged, in Hungary. When school finished for the day, he tutored other
children. With the money he earned, he was able to buy himself a piano
when he was 17 years old. At 18, since he loved physics and math, he
decided to go to the University in Budapest to become a physicist.
However,