Eraclie Sterian

Eraclie Sterian (also known as Eracle or Eracli Sterian; November 23, 1872 – 1948) was a Romanian physician, writer, and political activist, known for introducing sexology and sex education in his country. Trained as a pathologist, he established his reputation as a popularizer of conventional and alternative medicine (primarily hydrotherapy), putting out the influential magazine Medicul Poporului. His early work also dealt with life extension practices and warnings about the effects of pollution. Sterian was additionally a publisher of textbooks and literary works, and author of dramas—including the pro-natalist propaganda play, Tout pour l'enfant, performed at the Théâtre Antoine in 1913.

As a doctor and a social critic, Sterian held unconventional views on eugenics, human evolution, and the social role of sexual experiences. These caused a lasting scandal for their challenging of ancestral taboos—although, overall, Sterian remained a conservative and an avowed Christian, who claimed to have found a cure for compulsive masturbation. His sex manuals, aimed at a young audience, enjoyed success nationwide, and went through several editions in the 1910s.

A Colonel in the Romanian Land Forces, Sterian was also an expert of typhus, having taken part in the World War I campaign against epidemics. In old age, Sterian focused on defending his status as a property owner in Bucharest, founding an Association of Mortgaged Owners and Debtors, and then joining the nation-wide League Against Usury. He was survived by his son, the writer-politician Paul Sterian, and the his daughter in law, painter Margareta Sterian.

Born in the port city of Galați, Eraclie Sterian was the son of Dimitrie and Maria. Both parents were natives of Craiova, and had participated in the Romanian War of Independence: Dimitrie as an officer in combat, Maria as a field nurse. His maternal uncle may have been the pioneering microbiologist Constantin Levaditi; on his paternal side, Eraclie was the nephew of actors Aristide Demetriade and Aristizza Romanescu, and of poet Mircea Demetriade. The Sterians were widely thought of as Jewish, and, more specifically, Eraclie was rumored to have been baptized a Christian from Judaism. The family rejected such claims.

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