Corda was born in Reichenberg, Bohemia (now
Liberec, Czech Republic), on 15 November 1809. Corda's father was a textile seller. Both of Corda's parents died suddenly only a few weeks following his birth, and Corda was raised by his grandmother, attending the Normale School in Reichenberg. Corda's grandmother died in 1819 and Corda was sent to live with an "unacquainted family" for two years during which time he did not receive schooling. Two years later, Corda was transferred to the care of an uncle in
Prague where he attended the "Lyceum of New Prague". As a result of family difficulties, Corda left the Lyceum in 1824 to attend
polytechnical school. There, he studied physics under
Franz Ignatz Cassian Hallaschka, chemistry under
Josef Johann Steinmann, mineralogy under
Franz Xaver Zippe, and botany under
Ignaz Friedrich Tausch. Corda remained at the Polytechnic only 3 years, long enough to become proficient in chemistry. After leaving the Polytechnic in 1827, Corda took a job in a chemical factory in Prague for a brief time before returning to study surgery at the University of Prague. Shortly thereafter during an outbreak of
Vibrio cholerae, Corda served as an assistant surgeon at the General Hospital in Prague. He continued as a cholera doctor in
Rokitzan,
Reichstadt,
Niemes and
Zwickau. Late in 1832, dispirited by his seemingly endless struggle against
cholera, Corda quit the practice of medicine. ==Botanical career==