Sava Athanasiu (28 April 1861 – 8 April 1946) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n geologist and paleontologist. Born in Ruginești,

Vrancea County Vrancea () is a county ( județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 340,310 and ...

, he completed a private high school in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, where he was attracted to the natural sciences by his teacher

Grigore Cobălcescu Grigore Cobălcescu (September 22, 1831 – May 21, 1892) was a Moldavian, later Romanian geologist and paleontologist who is credited with introducing both fields into his country. Born in Iași, he graduated from the local Engineering and Arc ...

.''Analele...'', p. 132 He then entered the natural sciences faculty of the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

, where Cobălcescu continued as his professor. From 1888 to 1892, he was Cobălcescu's assistant at Iași University. Aside from teaching younger students, one of his tasks was to organize the extensive collections his mentor had purchased, with a view to setting up a museum. After the latter's 1892 death, he was selected as a substitute professor. In 1890, he was hired by his former high school, and in 1891, by the Iași commercial school. In 1895, he enrolled in the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, where his professors included Eduard Suess and Albrecht Penck. He obtained a doctorate in 1899 regarding geological studies of the northern

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

. From 1900 to 1909, he taught at Matei Basarab High School in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He was a professor at the University of Bucharest from 1910 to 1936, and also worked at the Romanian Geological Institute from 1906 to 1930. He undertook a wide array of field research, writing numerous books and studies about his discoveries. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in June 1920, he was made honorary member in June 1945. Ciprian Teodorescu
''Academicieni ieșeni''
p. 23, at the Gheorghe Asachi Iași County library site

Notes

References

*''Analele Academiei române'', 1921, Academia Română, Bucharest {{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasiu, Sava 1861 births 1946 deaths People from Vrancea County Romanian geologists Romanian paleontologists Romanian schoolteachers Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences