Polanyi

Polanyi is a surname of Hungarian origin, often rendered Polányi, associated with several notable figures in economics, philosophy, and science.

Karl Polanyi (Károly Polányi) (1886–1964) was a Hungarian-born economist and social philosopher who spent much of his career in Canada. He argued that economic life is embedded in social institutions and culture, and he criticized laissez-faire market liberalism. His influential The Great Transformation (1944) examines the historical rise of market society and the tensions between market expansion and social protections, introducing ideas such as the embeddedness of economy and the concept of a double movement.

Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) was a Hungarian-British-Canadian physical chemist and philosopher of science. He is best known for articulating tacit knowledge—the idea that much knowledge cannot be fully articulated or codified—and for his exploration of personal knowledge and the social processes of scientific discovery. His work helped shape studies of scientific epistemology and how knowledge is produced and transmitted.

John C. Polanyi (born 1929) is a Canadian chemist who shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of chemical reaction dynamics. He is the son of Michael Polanyi and has continued to contribute to physical chemistry and science policy.

Together, the Polanyi surname is linked to influential discussions on the social dimensions of economy, the nature of knowledge, and advances in chemical science.