Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad

Koller Károly Pius OSB, dr

Koller Károly Pius OSB, dr
Left ministry
Birth data:
Nagykanizsa, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary — March 4, 1901
Death data:
Brushwood, United Kingdom — June 29, 1979
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
religious
Diocese / Order:
bencés (Ordo Sancti Benedicti)
Ordination level:
priest
Entry into religious life:
August 6, 1917
First (temporary) vows:
September 7, 1918
Perpetual vows:
September 10, 1922
Priestly ordination:
June 29, 1924
Biographical data
He entered the order on August 6, 1917. He took his solemn vows on September 10, 1922. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1924. In 1947, he left the order and married. His wife was Anna Edith Olsen. His work became significant in the fields of chromosome research, genetics, and cancer research; In 1937, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and his later research is still cited today in the history of cancer research for its early identification of chromosomal abnormalities in tumor cells.
After his death, his body was cremated at the Chilterns Crematorium in Amersham, England.
Domestic service locations
From To Place i Current name, country i Church / institution Position
1924 1928 Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary Hungary high school teacher
1930 1932 Tihany, Kingdom of Hungary Hungary Hungarian Biological Research Institute, research assistant, and later founding research biologist in the Department of Genetics at the same institute
Foreign service locations
From To Place Current name, country Church / institution Position
1928 1930 Cambridge, United Kingdom on a study trip
1932 1940 circa Cambridge, United Kingdom university professor, geneticist
1936 1937 Pasadena, CA, USA research fellow
1937 1944 Edinburgh, United Kingdom University of Edinburgh Professor at the Institute of Animal Genetics / Institute of Genetics
1944 1952 London, United Kingdom Chester Beatty Research Institute / Royal Cancer Hospital, Professor, then Head of Department
1952 1969 London, United Kingdom University of London teacher, cancer researcher, cytogeneticist
Literary activity
Faj és haj. Egy. doktori értek. Koller K. Pius néven. (Bp., 1926) Degenerációs és involúciós sejttípusok szövetkultúrákban. – Szövettenyésztés az Emys orbicularis szívének sinus venosusából. (A Magyar Biológiai Kutató Intézet II. Osztályának Munkái, 1928) Az örökléstan alkalmazásának néhány eredménye. (Természettudományi Közlöny, 1930); Örökléstani vizsgálatok a Drosophila obscura két rasszán. – Az inhibitor faktorok és a Morgan-faktor hypothesise. – Positio-eltolódások, duplicatio és „analog” gének hatása a Drosophila melanogaster bar locusában. Koller K. Pius néven. (A Magyar Biológiai Kutató Intézet II. Osztályának Munkái, 1931); A szellemi tulajdonságok öröklődése. (Pannonhalmi Szemle, 1931); A Drosophila obscura Pointed allelomorph mutációja s módosító faktorai. (A Magyar Biológiai Kutató Intézet munkái, 1932); Az ivarkromoszómák két típusai. (Búvár, 1937) A Palomar-csillagvizsgáló. – Expedíció a halál völgyébe. (Búvár, 1938) Két Apodemus-faj ivarkromoszómáinak differenciálódása. 1 táblával. (Mathematikai és Természettudományi Értesítő, 1939) Kromoszómák és gének. Az öröklődés biológiai alapjai. Koller, Peo Charles néven. Ford. Eckhardt Sándorné. 8 táblával. (Bp., 1971)
Life timeline
Birth
Nagykanizsa, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary
Entry into religious life
First (temporary) vows
Perpetual vows
Priestly ordination
Service in the homeland
19241928
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary
high school teacher
Service abroad
19281930
Cambridge, United Kingdom
on a study trip
Service in the homeland
19301932
Tihany, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary
Hungarian Biological Research Institute, research assistant, and later founding research biologist in the Department of Genetics at the same institute
Service abroad
19321940
Cambridge, United Kingdom
university professor, geneticist
Service abroad
19361937
Pasadena, CA, USA
research fellow
Service abroad
19371944
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
University of Edinburgh
Professor at the Institute of Animal Genetics / Institute of Genetics
Service abroad
19441952
London, United Kingdom
Chester Beatty Research Institute / Royal Cancer Hospital, Professor, then Head of Department
Service abroad
19521969
London, United Kingdom
University of London
teacher, cancer researcher, cytogeneticist
Death
Brushwood, United Kingdom
Sources
Images
Photo
Click an image to enlarge. Navigation: ← →, close: Esc.
Places related to this person on the map
birth priestly ordination domestic service foreign service death burial
Related persons
Similar and related clergy
Citation for this entry
Koller Károly Pius OSB, dr: personal record. In: Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad. Available at: https://www.diaszporalelkipasztorok.hu/persons_v2/view.php?id=560 (accessed: 2026-07-07).
Last modified: June 6, 2026 20:54 | Opened: 52 times