Education
He studied in Budapest, and in 1898 earned his medical doctorate.
He studied in Budapest, and in 1898 earned his medical doctorate.
He was the brother of George Pólya (1887–1985), who was a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Reportedly, he was murdered by the Nazis during the Siege of Budapest, although his body was never recovered. Jenö Pólya is remembered for a surgical procedure known as the "Reichel-Pólya operation", a type of posterior gastroenterostomy that is a modification of the Billroth II operation.
The operation is named in conjunction with German surgeon Friedrich Paul Reichel (1858–1934).
Between World War I and World World War II, he was visited in Budapest by several American surgeons who came to observe his surgical technique. Consequently.
In 1939, Pólya was elected an honorary member of the American College of Surgeons.