“Emil Racovită” Institute of Speleology: World’s First Research Unit Dedicated to Karst and Cave Studies

Abstract

The “Emil Racoviță” Institute of Speleology (ERIS), first of its kind in the world, performing research activity for more than 97 years, owns its existence to the initiative of the great scientist Emil G. Racoviță (1868–1947), a biologist, polar explorer, and founder of biospeleology. The establishment of the ERIS became official when the Law no. 19.11 from April 26, 1920, was published in “The Official Monitor of Romania” (in Romanian: “Monitorul Oficial”) no. 86 from July 20, 1920. The institute was founded as an independent research unit within the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Cluj, and E. G. Racoviță served as Director and Manager between 1920 and 1947. The research trends initiated by E. G. Racoviță were continued until 1949 by R. Jeannel and P. A. Chappuis, two close collaborators of the Romanian scientist. In 1951, within the Geological Committee of the People’s Republic of Romania, two research groups were assembled in Bucharest and Cluj, respectively. Their mission was to prospect and identify phosphate deposits, an opportunity that led to the exploration of a large number of caves, which were simultaneously surveyed and investigated for their fauna.