[1][2] Max Thorek was born in Budapest, where his father was a physician in a small town.

[3] Thorek's preparation for university training began in Budapest but was interrupted when his younger brother was killed in a pogrom and the family emigrated to Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago.

[3] Thorek later worked in obstetrics, general, and reconstructive surgery.

[3] In 1954, he founded the International Museum of Surgical Science in a Chicago Gold Coast mansion,[4] and was the founder of Thorek Memorial Hospital, as of 2019 still in operation in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.

[5] He became an internationally acclaimed amateur photographer during the pictorialist movement, and author of several books on the subject, including Camera Art as a Means of Self-Expression (1947) and Creative Camera Art (1937).