Robert Heindl (24 July 1883 - 25 September 1958) was a German criminologist and lawyer, most noted for his advocacy of

fingerprinting A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

. This began after he read an article in 1902 on

Edward Henry Sir Edward Richard Henry, 1st Baronet, (26 July 1850 – 19 February 1931) was the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police of London) from 1903 to 1918. His commission saw the introduction of police dogs to ...

's use of the method in India - he requested the relevant files from the British imperial authorities in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, studied them extensively and then proposed to all the main police authorities in Germany that they adopt the technique. He was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and died in Irschenhausen. In 1953 he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

References

People from Munich 1883 births 1958 deaths German criminologists 20th-century German lawyers Fingerprints Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{criminologist-stub