Károly was born in 1876. Károly's father was Sándor Körtvélyessy and his mother was Zsuzsanna Bokor. His paternal grandparents were János Körtvélyesi and Erzsébet Nagy. He had a brother and a sister, named Sándor and Berta. He was the second oldest of the three children. He died at the age of 74 in 1950.