Gheorghe Banu (23 March 1889—15 August 1957) 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 hygienist and politician who served as

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

in the

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

government from 12 December 1937 to 10 February 1938. He was a leading promoter of

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

among academics in the national capital

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 born in Secuieni,

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

. He studied from 1919 to 1921 at the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, where he obtained in 1922 his doctorate with thesis ''Recherches physiologiques sur le développement neuro-musculaire chez l'homme et l'animal''. From 1931 to 1944 he was the editor of the ''Review for Social Hygiene'', which he founded. He died in Bucharest.

Notes

References

* Marius Turda, "Gheorghe Banu’s Theory of Rural Biology in the 1920s Romania", in Bărbulescu, C. and Ciupală, A. (eds), ''Medicine, Hygiene and Society from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Centuries''. Editura Mega, Cluj-Napoca, 2012, , pp. 125–140. {{DEFAULTSORT:Banu, Gheorghe 1889 births 1957 deaths People from Bacău County University of Paris alumni Romanian eugenicists Romanian Ministers of Health