- Person
- 1825-1908
Born in Dukafalu, Sáros in the Kingdom of Hungary (now in Slovakia) to Francis De Duka and Johanna de Szechy. Studied at the Lutheran College at Eperjes and the University of Budapest. Served in the Hungarian government in 1848 before joining the National Army during the Hungarian War of Independence (1848-1849).
Student at St George's Hospital on his arrival to London in 1850. Taught German and studied English at the Birkbeck Institution.
Assistant surgeon in the Bengal Army, where he studied many Indian languages and collected natural history specimens to send to the Hungarian National Museum. Retired from the Indian Medical Service in 1877 and settled in England. Researched languages after his retirement. Member of Council of the Royal Asiatic Society. President of the Tropical Section of the Eighth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography in 1894. Vice president of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Married the daughter of Rev Charles Taylor in Calcutta [Kolkata] in 1855; they had two sons. Died 5 May 1908.