Dr. med.
Laszlo Jakab
1875 - 1940

László Jakab was born as the youngest son of Hermann (Armin) Jakab and Rezi Teres, née Held, in Nagybarod, then part of the Austria-Hungary and today Borod in Romania. The Jakab family belonged to the Jewish religious community. His brother Dezső Jakab (1864 –1932) was a well-known architect, who designed numerous public buildings in Hungary (including the synagogue in Subotica). Dezső Jakab created numerous architectural plans for László Jakab’s sanatoria.

Education and Career

László Jakab attended the Royal State Secondary School in Oradea (formerly Großwarden, Hungarian Nagyvárad), which belonged to Austria-Hungary and eventually became part of Romania after World War I. From 1893 to 1898, he studied medicine at the University of Pest, Hungary.

He received his medical training in the Department of Internal Medicine of the clinic founded and directed by Baron Frigyes von Korányi in Budapest. Baron Frigyes von Korányi led this particular institution from 1880 until his death in 1919. Later, Korányi’s son Alexander von Korányi was among his father’s successors.

László Jakab married the physician Dr. Johanna Rácz, daughter of Ignaz and Etelka Rosenthal, on January 6, 1904.Their daughter Ágnes was born on December 12, 1904 and their daughter Erzsébet was born on July 15, 1909. The family converted to the Protestant Reformed Church on 20 January 1919 (as noted on their marriage certificate and documented as an addendum on Erzsébet’s birth certificate).

In 1903, László Jakab became the head of the hydrotherapy department of the Herzcel Sanatorium in Fasor (southern Hungary). In a building designed by his brother Dezső Jakab and his partner Marcell Komor, László Jakab opened the Liget Sanatorium on Nagy-János Street in Budapest in 1909. The Liget Sanatorium offered diagnostic work-up, dietary/nutrition therapy, physical therapy, and inhalation treatments. Paul Lukácz initially worked as an assistant physician and later became head of the internal medicine department at the Liget Sanatorium.

László Jakab expanded his enterprise in 1911 by founding the Park Sanatorium, which was designed by his brother on a neighbouring plot of the Liget Sanatorium. Following his service in various military hospitals during World War I, László Jakab built an additional sanatorium on the Svábhegy (Schwabenberg) in Budapest. Opening in 1927, the Svábhegy Sanatorium, which was luxuriously equipped, was considered one of the most modern medical facilities of its time.

Jakab aimed to compete with the famous spa resorts abroad. Numerous prominent guests and patients visited his facilities for rest and recovery. Jakab’s sanatoria enterprise went bankrupt in 1931 during the global economic crisis. In the following years, the Schwabenberg sanatorium served numerous functions as a luxury hotel, as police barracks, as a military hospital, and eventually as a medical sanatorium.

After the bankruptcy, László Jakab founded a small private hospital, the Jakab Sanatorium, located at 102 Szondi Street, which he directed until his death. The Jakab Sanatorium focused primarily on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Furthermore, Jakab established and edited the medical journal Orvosi Praxis and published papers on various topics related to dietetics, metabolic disorders, and nutrition.

László Jakab died in 1940 at the age of 64 years from complications of diabetes mellitus and a stroke. His wife Johanna died in 1957.