The Hungarian Pocahontas [antikvár]

IntroductionThree generations of women, from the left, Laura Polanyi, Eva Strieker, and Cecile Pollacsek, posed for this photograph in Budapest, in the winter of 1937-38 (Fig. 1.). The photo's careful staging and the expression of two younger women suggest that they were fully aware of the significance of the occasion. What Laura and Eva knew (and may have kept from Cecile) was the fact that it was their last visit to Budapest before their imminent emigration to the United States; what none of them could possibly foresee was that it was to be their last meeting with Cecile who died within less than two years.The picture captured more than a memorable moment, the reunion of grandmother, mother and daughter: the three women, each remarkable and accomplished in her own right, represented three consecutive generations of the Polanyi family. As such, it provides a fitting introduction to the following biography of Laura Polanyi, located within the larger family history of the Polanyis.By the late 1930s, the family already earned legendary status by virtue of its contributions to early-twentieth-century's Hungary's political and cultural life and was well on its way to reach the highest echelons of Western European and North American academia. A look at the Polanyis' family tree gives some indication of the staggering extent of talent in the family.' Two of Laura's younger brothers, Karl and Michael Polanyi, were to achieve international renown and their ideas continue to inspire and provoke to this day. Their older brother, Adolf Polanyi, along with their eldest sister, Laura, had similarly brilliant starts in the early years of 20th-century Austria-Hungary. Along with members of the extended family, among them, most notably, their mother, the Polanyi siblings made vital contributions to the progressive political and cultural scene of the period. Taking into account the family's friends and acquaintances, it would not be entirely farfetched to state that a family history of the Polanyis would amount to a veritable cultural and intellectual history of this period, noted for its extraordinary cohort of social scientists, philosophers, and modernist artists.In addition, the family's history from the second half of the 19th century offers a valuable case study in the history of Jewish assimilation. The Polanyis