Francisc Rainer
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.
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