| István Rosztóczy | |
| Birth Date: | 17 November 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
| Death Place: | Mount Fuji, Gotemba, Japan |
| Nationality: | Hungarian |
| Fields: | Microbiology Interferon |
| Workplaces: | Department of Microbiology, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University, Szeged |
| Alma Mater: | Medical University of Szeged |
| Known For: | Interferon |
| Awards: | The Hungarian Red Cross Outstanding Work Award (1989) Laudation of the Minister of Social Affairs and Health (1989) |
| Spouse: | Zsuzsanna Czapf |
István Rosztóczy (17 November 1942 in Budapest, Hungary – 27 October 1993 in Mount Fuji, Gotemba, Japan)[1] was a Hungarian microbiologist, medical researcher, blood donor organizer, who devoted his life to research and science.
He graduated from the Gábor Bethlen Secondary Grammar School at Hódmezővásárhely in 1960. He took a degree at the Medical University of Szeged in 1966.[2] He started to work at the Department of Microbiology while studying at the university and continued his research with interferon after his graduation in Szeged. His supervisor was Imre Mécs. Meanwhile, he was awarded a scholarship to the Department ofMicrobiology in Birmingham, England and to the Johns Hopkins University OncologyCenter with Professor Paula M. Pitha-Rowe in Baltimore, the United States.[3] He is known for interferon, especially the mechanism of thepriming effect of interferon, then interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor.[4] He was a devoted hiker and made his last trip in Mount Fuji, Japan when he was wounded mortally while climbing down the mountain in the time of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR) Meeting in Tokyo.[5] He was buried in his native land.[6]
His father, Ernő Rosztóczy, senior (1899–1969) was a physician. His mother was pharmacist Ilona Nagy (b. 3 November 1903 in Szeged, and d. 28 December 1984). He had two siblings. His brother, Ernő Rosztóczy, junior taught at the Gábor Bethlen Secondary Grammar School at Hódmezővásárhely and his sister, Stefánia Rosztóczy (1934−1943) died as a child. On 17 September 1966 in Szeged he married Zsuzsanna Czapf, who gave birth to two sons. His elder son, András Rosztóczy (born 1967) is a gastroenterologist and medical researcher. His younger son, Péter Rosztóczy (born 1978) was graduated in Mathematics and Computer Science at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest.[7]