Comprehensive, incisive, and authoritative, this ground-breaking book on

1900 1945
European Eugenics,
East-Central
The History of
East-Central European eugenics is essential reading. It establishes an entirely
new geography through which we can understand and analyse the most
important socio-scientific endeavour of the twentieth century. It will serve
historians of eugenics and public health well for generations.
Alison Bashford, University of Cambridge, UK

An invaluable resource for scholars . . . This new focus on East Central European
eugenics provides an important complement to the wealth of literature already
existing on western European, Anglo-American and Latin American eugenics . . .
a significant contribution to the primary source literature in an almost uncharted
area in the history of eugenics.
Garland Allen, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

This volume presents an eye-opening variety of eugenic ideas and visions.

of
It demonstrates the great range of eugenics as a factor in social, cultural and
political developments in the first half of the 20th century.
Nils Roll-Hansen, University of Oslo, Norway

H i story ,
e
Essential reading for historians of eugenics.
William deJong-Lambert, City University of New York
T h e ntral e n i cs
-C
East p e an Eug
This book redefines the European history of eugenics by exploring the ideological

Edited by Marius Turda

transmission of eugenics internationally and its application locally in East-Central Europe.
It includes 100 primary sources translated from the East-Central European languages into
English for the first time and key contributions from leading scholars in the field from around
Europe. This volume examines the main eugenic organisations, as well as individuals and
Euro 194 5 e nta r i e s

policies that shaped eugenics in Austria, Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, the former
Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania. It also explores the ways in which ethnic minorities
interacted with national and international eugenics discourses to advance their own

19 0 0 dC o m m
an
aims and ambitions, whilst providing a comparative analysis of the emergence and
development of eugenics in East-Central Europe more generally.
es
Complete with a glossary of terms, a list of all eugenic societies and journals in the region, S o u rc
as well as a comprehensive bibliography, The History of East-Central European Eugenics,
by a
T ur d
1900-1945 is a pivotal reference work for students, researchers and academics interested in
d
Ed i te
East-Central Europe and the history of science and national identity in the 20th century.

i us
M ar
Marius Turda is Reader in 20th Century Central and Eastern European Biomedicine in the
Department of History at Oxford Brookes University, UK. He is the author of Modernism and
Eugenics (2010) and Eugenics and Nation in Early 20th Century Hungary (2014).

history www.bloomsbury.com
Cover design by Catherine Wood
Cover image: Eugenics and Heredity Exhibition by Gyrgy. Gortvay Wellcome Library, London
ISBN 978-1-4725-3175-9
90100

Also available
9 781472 531759 from Bloomsbury