History is different than professional biography. So this page is dedicated to where Zoltan Istvan came from (and the people and places that influenced that). Below are pictures of his early years and lost relatives, those who helped create his world. Also shared are a few other pics at various stages of Zoltan’s life, like this one below of him with the family’s great dane dog, Simba.
Before going any further, please note: a detailed version of of Zoltan’s early history can be found in Dr. Ben Murnane’s biography on his life Transhuman Citizen: Zoltan Istvan’s Hunt for Immortality. Other early history and family relationships can be found in the feature documentary on Zoltan’s US presidential run Immortality or Bust. Further historical info can be found in The New York Times Magazine feature on his work, as well as the Times of London Magazine feature. Finally, a new Sony Music podcast recreates some of his childhood and early years. None of this aforementioned media was created by Zoltan, and therefore are other people’s interpretation of his life and work. Nonetheless, they come recommended, and Zoltan is grateful for the interest in his past.
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Above are Zoltan’s parents, Steven and Ilona Gyurko, in Budapest, Hungary. They’re pictured strolling his infant sister Gabriella. Later his mom and dad illegally escaped Communist Hungary in 1968 with the help of Zoltan’s uncle, Pityu (pictured below), a known anti-communist revolutionary.
Zoltan was born later in 1973 in Los Angeles, and is a dual citizen now (EU & the USA). During Zoltan’s childhood, he spent quite a bit of time in America with his uncle and his family. He also traveled to Hungary and met both sets of his grandparents before they died. Pictured below is his mom, her niece, and his mom’s parents. Her father was commercial painter and her mother a housewife.
Pictured below is again Zoltan’s mother, but this time with his dad’s parents, who were poor farmers.
In America, Zoltan’s father started a small plastic manufacturing company (Star Plastic Design) with about 10 employees; his mom was a housewife who helped the business. Their story was textbook American Dream stuff. Both his parents never went to college and only got high school certificates via night school in Budapest. His father was especially poor, coming from rural Hungary and working in the fields by age 5. But in America, his parents went from nearly penniless to solid middle class through their entreprenerial ingenuity and hard work. They enjoyed a life few could dream of in Hungary. Pic below of Zoltan’s entire immediate family when he waw about age 12.
Zoltan’s parents were married 52 years before his father died at age 72 from heart disease in 2017.
To recapture memories and understand where he came from, in 2022 Zoltan took his mom back to Hungary after she’d been away 20 years. Here’s a social media post about it below:
Zoltan and his mom also visited the bullet hole-ridden apartment she grew up in, which looked the same as it did 65 years ago when his uncle was throwing Molotov cocktails as Russian tanks policing Budapest.
Zoltan’s mom now lives near him in a small Scandenavian-styled oceanfront house he personally built in Southern Oregon, part of his ongoing real estate endeavors which have allowed him the financial freedom to pursue projects related to transhumanism, philosophy & politics. Zoltan’s real estate portfolio has now morphed into projects all around the world.
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Growing up in Los Angeles, Zoltan had my high hopes in his childhood of either being a writer or a scientist. His parents, however, pushed him hard to focus on competitive swimming. He eventually broke records and won various national championships in water sports, including waterpolo and Jr. Lifeguards.
Zoltan’s childhood was also dominated by his father’s great passion: dirt motorcycle riding. As a result, he grew to love engines and anything mechanical.
Later, as a teenager, Zoltan seriously took up surfing, which has become a lifelong passion and motive to travel widely internationally.
Here are a few other pics of Zoltan’s history. Below is from his middle school graduation.
Below is typical: Zoltan enjoying a beer and writing in a journal. High school weekend surf trip with friends to Baja, Mexico.
Here’s a pic of Zoltan as an undergrad in Philosophy at Columbia University.
During & after college, Zoltan bluewater cruised for many years on his sailboat The Way, sometimes using it as a base for some of his National Geographic journalism. He was also a treausure hunter for a season. Below he’s motoring on a windless day in the Solomon Islands, South Pacific.
After sailing, he moved to San Francisco, grew his hair out and formed a rock band with a friend. While Zoltan played some piano growing up, as an adult he played rhythm guitar and occasionally sang. The band didn’t succeed but some creative music was written and played.
One of Zoltan’s slow songs, written while sailing.
Throughout most of his adult life, he’d been involved with real estate development. However, in terms of business, one of his strangest investments was purchasing a 93-foot 1929 wooden schooner. From famous celebrities like Frank Sinatra sailing on it to its service in Hawaii during World War II, it was truly a classic.
Zoltan’s now lived 5 decades, and he’s as busy as ever between business, family, writing, and leading transhumanism forward. Here’s a few last images, as the circle of life completes itself. Below he’s getting ready for the birth of his daughter.
Then the exhilrating, tense birth (Zoltan took the photo).
And a family portrait with his physician wife, Lisa, and daughters, Eva and Isla.
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The entirety of this website zoltanistvan.com and its many pages covers Zoltan Istvan’s professional and public life, which began with his sail voyage in his 20’s and National Geographic work, then continues on to his transhumanism work and political runs. This page, the “History” section, aimed to fill in a few missing pieces of his early life as well as the impact of relatives born before him. Please visit the website’s menu to see the rest of the story.
