Miklós Kretzoi (9 February 1907 – 15 March 2005) was a Hungarian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and

paleoanthropologist Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and biological anthropology, anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as wikt:hominization, hominization, throug ...

and

Széchenyi Prize The Széchenyi Prize (), named after István Széchenyi, is a prize given in Hungary by the state, replacing the former State Prize in 1990 in recognition of those who have made an outstanding contribution to academic life in Hungary. Recipients ...

winner. Exhibition in the Hungarian National Museum, 9 February - 24 May 2004 Kretzoi studied

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s at the then Pázmány Péter University, Budapest from 1925 to 1929. While still a student, he worked as a volunteer at the Geological Institute of Hungary. In 1930 he graduated from the

University of Pécs The University of Pécs ( , PTE; ) is one of the largest higher education institutions in Hungary. The history of the university began in the Middle Ages, when in 1367, at the request of Louis I of Hungary, King Louis I the Great, Pope Urban V gr ...

with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Palaeontology, Geology and

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. In 1933 he commenced work with the "Hungarian-American Oil Inc" as a geologist and

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

. He remained at Hungarian-American Oil until the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Kretzoi moved to the National Museum of Hungary where he was

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the

Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and Paleontology departments until he began work at the Geological Institute of Hungary in 1950. Kretzoi was the director of the Geological Institute of Hungary from 1956 to 1958. From the mid-1960s he led the " digs" at Rudabánya where a number of Anthropoid fossil remains were discovered. The genus '' Kretzoiarctos'' was named after Miklós Kretzoi. Its type species ''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'' was previously classified as a member of ''Agriarctos'', and ''Agriarctos'' was described by Kretzoi.

References

2005 deaths 1907 births Hungarian geologists Hungarian paleontologists Paleoanthropologists 20th-century geologists Scientists from Budapest Pázmány Péter Catholic University alumni University of Pécs alumni Evolutionary biologists {{Hungary-scientist-stub