ANTROPOLOGIJA JEDINKE, SPOLNOSTI I RASE U DJELIMA FRANA GUNDRUMA ORIOVČANINA (1856. – 1919.)

Abstract

By analysing his unpublished and published works, we have identified anthropological elements in the studies of Croatian physician Fran Gundrum Oriovčanin (1856-1919) that distinguish him as one of the rare researchers in Croatia who attempted to synthesize cultural and biological anthropology. Gundrum collected comparative data on biological characteristics of various ethnic groups, searched for a connection between biological structures and cultural development, and assessed certain social facts and customs from the perspective of medical teleology. This article presents the four most frequent anthropological issues raised in his work: anatomy and physiology of individuals, ethnic groups and “races”; attitudes on prostitution; Jews as a model of alcohol abstinence; and the “degeneration” of Western culture/civilisation. In spite of pronounced linear evolutionism, his work compares social and medical practices between Western and non-Western nations.