Hungary’s 100-year-old doctor: I condemn Orbán for his total lack of humanity

“I condemn Orbán because he completely lacks humanity.” These are the words of Hungary’s oldest practising GP.

“The job of a general practitioner is the same today as it was a hundred years ago, in my father’s time,” says István Körmendi. He is the oldest practising doctor in Hungary: he is 100 years old this year. In an interview with HVG, he described himself as a doctor with a “maniacal approach to prevention”. He says he does not only examine the body, but also tries to care for the future of his patients.

dr istván körmendi
Dr István Körmendi, Hungary’s oldest GP, still practising at the age of 100. Source: semmelweiskiado.hu

He also told HVG that he had collected a lot of information from his patients about how this political system destroys people psychologically, existentially. It does so without knives or guns. “If for no other reason, I condemn the prime minister personally because he lacks compassion and humanity for others,” he said when asked why he had twice refused the Orbán government’s Officer’s Cross.

hungary officer's cross
Hungarian Order of Merit Officer’s Cross (civil). Source: Wikimedia Commons/Domokdr

He says that the greatest experience of his life has been watching medicine develop. “When I graduated, in 1950, there were already X-rays and EKGs, but where were ultrasound, CT, MRI?”

Source: hvg.hu