August
August
Rácz
Gábor
Life
Gábor Rácz was born on June 15th, 1928 in Arad. He graduated middle school in his hometown and was a student of the Bolyai University of Sciences, Faculty of Natural History and Pharmacy. From 1948 he continued his studies at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Târgu Mureș, where he graduated and obtained a doctorate in pharmacy.
He also started as a trainee at the University of Târgu Mureș in 1949 in the Department of Botany, and then continued his career as an assistant professor in the Department of Drug Science. In 1968 he became head of department and professor, then was elected dean of the university three times.
He was also involved in the establishment and management of the University Botanical Garden, and edited the Seed Catalogue published from 1959. At the same time, he was a member of several experimental herbal medicinal product manufacturing units and the establishment of the Pharmaceutical Factory in Târgu Mureș, as well as a member of several scientific societies in the country and abroad.
After his retirement he settled in Pécs, where he died in 2013.
Work
Gábor Rácz’s scientific activities mainly focused on study of the histology, chemistry, occurrence, cultivation, and effects of medicinal plants, as well as on folk medicine, natural history and the history of medicine. He has written several papers on the conservation and data on the Transylvanian medicinal plant flora, and on the training of pharmacists and pharmaceutical literature in Transylvania. He also frequently lectured and published on renowned pharmacists and botanists.
Gábor Rácz’s favorite topics were the plants of folk/traditional medicine, and the knowledge of treatments used outside the health network, based on observations, experience and traditions. He took part in several ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal collecting journeys, documented the knowledge he gained and tried to incorporate it into the research group’s work in Târgu Mureș.
With his work and achievements, Gábor Rácz brought the scientific knowledge of Transylvanian medicinal plants of the 20th century to its peak.