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

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n geologist and paleontologist. He was born in

Ruginești Ruginești is a commune located in Vrancea County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Anghelești, Copăcești, Ruginești, and Văleni. The commune lies on the right bank of the Domoșița River. It is located in the northern part of Vr ...

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 (Siret), Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, 2 ...

(at the time in

Putna County Putna County was a county ( Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania, in southern Moldavia. The county seat was Focșani. The county was located in the central-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the south of Moldavia. Today, most of the t ...

), the first of Costachi and Paraschiva Athanasiu's four children. He first studied at the local school and at the Theological Seminary in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, and later completed a private high school in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, 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 Arch ...

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

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

, where Cobălcescu continued as his professor. From 1888 to 1892, he was Cobălcescu's assistant at the

. 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 (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where his professors included

Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 – 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and ...

and

Albrecht Penck Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck. Biography Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, ...

. 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 and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

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

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. He was a professor at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

from 1910 to 1936, and also worked at the Geological Institute of Romania 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. He died in Bucharest the next year. Ciprian Teodorescu
''Academicieni ieșeni''
p. 23, at the Gheorghe Asachi Iași County library site Two of his sons were also elected to the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

: Ion Atanasiu became a corresponding member in 1940 and became a titular member in 1963. An effort started in 2021 to name the school in Ruginești after him, but the proposal has not been approved as of 2023.

Writings

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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