Geza von Hoffmann
Geza von Hoffmann (1885–1921) was a prominent Austrian-Hungarian eugenicist and writer. He lived for a time in California as the Austrian Vice-Consulate where he observed and wrote on eugenics practices in the United States.
His best known book, Die Rassenhygiene in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika (Racial Hygiene in the United States of America) described his observations in America.
His reports on American eugenicist activity influenced German and especially Berlin eugenicists up to the first World War. He served as a key connection between American and German eugenics activities.
He shared his views with Germans and Hungarians “that eugenic policies should improve the racial qualities of the nation”. He was predominantly concerned with improving the biological quality of the population.
Published in 1913, Racial Hygiene in the United States in America discussed the similarities of eugenics theories such as negative and positive eugenics and so-called practical social policies like sterilization and immigration. He endorsed “negative” eugenic policies on the practical level, while simultaneously emphasizing their theoretical value, Negative eugenics programs included any activities that discourage or stop the reproduction or continuation of certain peoples deemed inferior. It could also include programs that simply limit certain people to the state. These programs would include sterilization, immigration bans, separate institutions for different groups, marriage restrictions and more. The people typically picked for negative eugenics were placed in racialized groups or somehow physically or mentally deemed "unfit". Positive eugenics entailed any programs that encourage reproduction, success or admittance into the state of certain groups considered superior. These programs could include restricting abortions, providing financial aid for additional children and more. According to his book, he viewed marriage limits, immigration laws, and forced sterilization as the best ways to practice eugenics as he observed it in the United States. They were all negative, which was the main criticism about both his work and United States' practice of eugenics.
His book Krieg und Rassenhygiene (War and Racial Hygiene) published in 1916 demonstrated his view of war as ultimately destructive to the "hereditary strength among European nations." According to Hoffman, the best young men, representing the strength of the European nations at war, either died or were injured in other lands which hurt the genetic strength of the population. This observation came after the outbreak of World War I, which resulted in catastrophic loss of life.
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