Francisc Rainer
| Francisc Iosif Rainer | |
|---|---|
Rainer in 1914
|
|
| Born |
December 28, 1874 Rohozna, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | August 4, 1944 (aged 69) Bucharest, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Alma mater | University of Bucharest |
| Academic advisors | Victor Babeș |
| Notable students | G. Brătescu, Vintilă Ciocâlteu, Zalman Iagnov, Benedict M. Menkeș, Ștefan Milcu, George Emil Palade, Grigore T. Popa, Alfred Teitel, Ion Țurai |
| Known for | founding the Romanian anatomical and anthropological schools |
| Spouse | Marta Trancu-Rainer |
Signature
 |
|
Francisc Iosif Rainer (December 28, 1874 – August 4, 1944) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian pathologist, physiologist and anthropologist. From an immigrant family, he earned early recognition for his experimental work in anatomy, and helped reform Romanian medical science. He spent much of his youth training himself in anatomical pathology and the various areas of natural science, gaining direct experience as a microbiologist, surgeon, and military physician. With teaching positions at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, where he established specialized sections, Rainer became a noted promoter of science and an innovator in his field. He notably favored and introduced the anatomical study of "functional structures", and was in particular preoccupied with issues pertaining to ontogenesis and kinesiology. An intellectual influence on several generations of doctors, his wife was Marta Trancu-Rainer, Romania's first female surgeon.
In addition to his experimental approach, Rainer is remembered as a talented pedagogue and public speaker, who took public stances in defense of his social and cultural ideals. Vilified by the far-right for his left-wing stances, he blended progressivism with genetic determinism, and, although an adept of eugenics, condemned scientific racism. He was notably involved with Dimitrie Gusti's project of rural sociology, contributing an anthropological record of several isolated villages on the Carpathian slopes. During his lifetime, Rainer also set up a large collection of craniums and skeletons, which became the centerpiece of his Bucharest anthropology department.
Francisc Rainer was a native of Rohozna town, near Czernowitz, in Austrian-controlled Bukovina. His parents were Lutheran, but baptized their son Roman Catholic. His father, Gustav Adolf Ignatz Rainer, emigrated to the Romanian Old Kingdom as an employee of the Strusberg Company that built the Bucharest-Giurgiu railway, the country's first. Remaining there, he obtained a post in the administration of Căile Ferate Române. His mother Maria (or Ana) came from a clerical family, and was a housewife. The boy received his primary education at home from his parents, later attending Saint Sava National College. Among the teachers who were particularly helpful was Sabba Ștefănescu in natural sciences. Rainer read extensively, teaching himself Latin and Ancient Greek, and becoming passionate about the literary works of Goethe and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. He slowly discarded the latter's influence when he discovered Heraclitus, Ernst Haeckel, and classical materialistic thought. Such works diverted him from his original goal of becoming a Catholic missionary.
...
Wikipedia