János was born in January 1814 in Makó and his baptism took place there on January 8th, 1814.1 János' father was Sámuel Körtvélyesi and his mother was Erzsébet Csala. His paternal grandparents were Sámuel and Erzsébet. He had three brothers and two sisters, named Sámuel, József, István, Erzsébet and Erzsébet. He was the third youngest of the six children.