Was a greatexplorerspeleologistRomanian biologist

He is considered the founder of biobio--spespeleleologologyy (the study of the underground fauna – caves and groundwater)

Emil Racovita was born in Iași in 1868 and he spent his childhood in Vaslui.

He studied in Iasi and had Ion Creanga as a teacher.

He studied Law at The University in Paris.

During the same period, he attended the lectures held by doctor Léonce Manouvrier at the Superior School of Anthropology. He also graduated from the Science faculty in Sorbonne and he studied for his doctorate in the Oceanologic Laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer.

He was elected academician and president of the Romanian Academy and, at only 25, he was also elected member of the Zoological Society of France.

After five years of research, he was awarded the title of Doctor of Sciences for his public presentation of the thesis on the cephalic lobe of polychaete annelids ( the most well-known sea warms).

„Belgica” in the heart of the ice bank.

Emil Racoviţă in the laboratory on board Belgica ship.

In 1897 he is chosen to go on an expedition to Antarctica, on board Belgica.

In two years, Emil Racovita researched and experimented on the flora and fauna and he wrote a study on whales, birds and penguins in Antarctica.

In 1904, during a visit in the famous cave Cueva del Drach in Mallorca, he discovered a crustacean, the first cave animal met up until then with many similarities to the sea animals known at that time.

In 1919 he was chosen to create a research institute and therefore the first Speleology Institude in the world was founded in The University of Cluj.

Emil Racoviţă in 1921

Emil Racoviţă in his study in The Institutute of Speleology.

In 1907, he published „Essai sur les problemes biospeologiques”, the first important research paper on bio-speleology in the world.

„Essai sur les problemes biospeologiques” (1907)

Cétacés. Voyage du S. Y. Belgica en 1897-1899. Résultats scientifiques. Zoologie. J. E. Buschmann, Anvers, 1903.

Énumération des grottes visitées, seriile 1-7. Archives de Zoologie expérimentale et générale, Paris, 1907-1929 (in collaboration with R. Jeannel).

Speleology. A new science of the old undergound mysteries. Astra, Popular Library, Cluj, 1927.

Evolution and its problems (1929)

During the expedition in Antarctica, Emil Racovita had the opportunity to study the life of the giant sea mammals and the penguins.

He discovered the lipped whale.

Belgica in Antarctida.

Emil Racovita was a major figure in the scientific world and as a recognition of his contribution, many schools, streets and institutions are named after him.

Created by IONIŢĂ Raluca