Grigore T. Popa
| Grigore T. Popa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 1, 1892 Șurănești, Vaslui County |
| Died | July 18, 1948 (aged 56) Bucharest |
| Other names | Gregor T. Popa |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Fields |
Morphology Endocrinology Neuromorphology |
| Institutions | |
| Alma mater | University of Iași |
| Academic advisors | Nicolae Hortolomei, Francisc Rainer |
| Notable students | Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici, George Emil Palade |
| Known for | research into the hypophyseal portal system |
| Children | Tudorel Popa |
Grigore T. Popa (sometimes Anglicized to Gregor T. Popa; May 1, 1892—July 18, 1948) was a Romanian physician and public intellectual. Of lowly peasant origin, he managed to obtain a university education and become a professor at two of his country's leading universities. An anatomist by specialty, Popa worked on popularizing modern science, reforming the medical and higher education systems, and, in war hospitals, as a decorated and publicly acclaimed practitioner. His work in endocrinology and neuromorphology was valued abroad, while at home he helped train a generation of leading doctors.
Ill-treated by successive fascist dictatorships, Popa adhered to moderate left-wing ideals and publicized them by means of his review, Însemnări Ieșene. He criticized Marxism as much as scientific racism, but condemned Romania's participation in the war against the Soviets, and, in 1944, joined a protest movement of high-profile academics. During his final years, his anticommunism and his Christian democratic stances brought him into conflict with the authorities. The Communist Romanian regime drove him out of his teaching position and harassed him until his death in middle age. Upon the restoration of democracy, his alma mater and the school where he taught for much of his career was named in his honor.
Born in Șurănești, Vaslui County, his parents Maria and Toader were poor răzeși, peasants who owned their own plot of land. The family was related to Emil Condurachi, future historian and archeologist. Grigore, the couple's eleventh child, was intellectually precocious. His mother noticed his aptitude early on, and despite great material difficulties, including selling off their land so he could finish high school, his parents managed to provide him with an education. As argued by historian Lucian Boia, Popa's lowly origin and his successful career stand as evidence of an "upward social mobility" in the pre-1944 Kingdom of Romania.
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