Lajos Méhelÿ (August 24, 1862 – February 4, 1953) was a Hungarian zoologist, herpetologist, professor, and author. He remains controversial due to his Social Darwinist and racialist publications. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, but renounced his membership.
Besides his zoological work, he increasingly dedicated his life to Hungarian racial theory and Turanism. As a result, he was imprisoned after the Second World War until his death in old age.
Early life
Méhelÿ was born in Kisfalud-Szögi (today: Bodrogkisfalud). His father served as a bailiff on the Dessewffy estates in Zemplén then Sáros County. He started elementary school in his birthplace and finished fourth grade in Kassa (today: Kosice, Slovakia). He began the first class of grammar school in Eperjes (today: Prešov, Slovakia) but graduated from Lőcse (today: Levoča, Slovakia).[1]
He studied chemistry, zoology, and botany at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME).
From 1896 to 1915 he worked for the Department of Zoology in the Hungarian National Museum, where he was the director of the collection of mounted specimens for three years.