Juan Vucetich Kovacevich (born Ivan Vučetić; 20 July 1858 – 25 January 1925) was an Argentine - Croatian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and police official who pioneered the use of dactyloscopy (fingerprint identification).

Biography

Vucetich was born in

Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis (island), Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, with a high east–west ridge of M ...

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, and immigrated to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1884. In 1891, he began the first filing of fingerprints based on ideas of

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...

, which he expanded significantly. He became the director of the Center for Dactyloscopy in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. At the time, he included the Bertillon system alongside the fingerprint files. The first positive identification of a criminal was made in 1892, when Francisca Rojas killed her two children, then cut her own throat in an attempt to put the blame on an outside attacker. A bloody print identified her as the killer. Argentine police adopted Vucetich's method of fingerprinting classification and it spread to police forces all over the world. Vucetich improved his method with new material; he published ''Dactiloscopía Comparada'' ("Comparative Dactyloscopy") in 1904. Vucetich died in Dolores, Buenos Aires.

Legacy

The Buenos Aires Provincial Police academy near

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

is named the Escuela de Policia Juan Vucetich; an eponymous police museum was also founded. In Croatia, the Forensic Science Centre Ivan Vučetić in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

also bears his name. The city of

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

has a memorial marker to commemorate his service in the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', ) was the navy, naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated ''SMS'', for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'' (His Majes ...

while stationed there. There is a bust in his native

. In 2023, a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

was opened in Hvar, named in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vucetich, Juan 1858 births 1925 deaths Argentine anthropologists Argentine inventors Argentine people of Croatian descent Argentine police officers Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Argentina Burials at La Plata Cemetery Croatian emigrants to Argentina Croatian inventors Fingerprints Forensic scientists Naturalized citizens of Argentina People from Buenos Aires Province People from Hvar (city) People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia