Archibald Reiss
Encyclopedia
Dr. Archibald Rudolph Reiss (8 July 1875 Hechtsberg, Baden
, Germany
- 7 August 1929 Belgrade
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
) was a publicist
, a chemist
, a professor
at the University of Lausanne
and a famous forensic scientist.
His family was in the agriculture
and wine
business. He was 8th child of 10, son of Ferdinand Reiss, landowner and Pauline Sabine Anna Gabriele Seutter von Loetzen.
After finishing highschool in Germany, he went to Switzerland
for his studies. He had received a Ph.D.
in chemistry
at the age of 22 and was an expert in photography
and forensic science. In 1906 he was appointed a professor of forensic science at the University of Lausanne. In 1909, he was the founder of the first academic forensic science programme and of the "Institut de police scientifique" (Institute of forensic science) at the University of Lausanne. He published two major forensic science books "Photographie judiciaire" (Forensic photography), Mendel, Paris, in 1903 and the first part of his major contribution "Manuel de police scientifique. I Vols et homicides" (Handbook of forensic science. I Thefts and homicides), Payot, Lausanne and Acan, Paris, in 1911. The Institute he created is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009 and has grown to become a major school, Ecole des sciences criminelles, that includes forensic science, criminology
and criminal law within the Faculty of Law and Criminal Justice of the University of Lausanne.
Upon the invitation of the Serbia
n Government he carried out an inquiry on Hungarian
, German
and Bulgaria
n atrocities in Serbia during World War I
and published the reports in European papers. He went as a member of Serbian Government at the Peace conference
in Paris
. He found postcards for propaganda of the Austrian-Hungarian Army showing atrocities against Serbian people.
When Serbia was overrun in 1915 he joined the Serbian Army in its retreat across Albania
to return with the victorius Serbian Army when it liberated Belgrade in the final days of the war. He was known as a great friend of Serbia and the Serbian people and after the war he stayed to live in Kingdom of Yugoslavia
.
After the war he tried to modernize the Belgrade police. Over time he seems to have become somewhat disillusioned and withdrew from public life but continuing to live in Belgrade.
He was one of the founders of the Red Cross of Serbia. As a legacy to the Serbian people, he left an unpublished manuscript "Ecoutez les Serbes!". It was finished on 1 June 1928, and in 2004 was printed in Serbian in large number of copies and distributed for free.
He became honorary citizen of Krupanj
in 1926. In several cities of Serbia, particularly in Vojvodina
, streets carry his name.
After his death his body was buried in the cemetery Topcidersko groblje and, at his own request, his heart on the hill Kajmakčalan
, later demolished as a revenge by Bulgarians in World War II
.
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- 7 August 1929 Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
) was a publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
, a chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the University of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
and a famous forensic scientist.
His family was in the agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
business. He was 8th child of 10, son of Ferdinand Reiss, landowner and Pauline Sabine Anna Gabriele Seutter von Loetzen.
After finishing highschool in Germany, he went to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
for his studies. He had received a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at the age of 22 and was an expert in photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and forensic science. In 1906 he was appointed a professor of forensic science at the University of Lausanne. In 1909, he was the founder of the first academic forensic science programme and of the "Institut de police scientifique" (Institute of forensic science) at the University of Lausanne. He published two major forensic science books "Photographie judiciaire" (Forensic photography), Mendel, Paris, in 1903 and the first part of his major contribution "Manuel de police scientifique. I Vols et homicides" (Handbook of forensic science. I Thefts and homicides), Payot, Lausanne and Acan, Paris, in 1911. The Institute he created is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009 and has grown to become a major school, Ecole des sciences criminelles, that includes forensic science, criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
and criminal law within the Faculty of Law and Criminal Justice of the University of Lausanne.
Upon the invitation of the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n Government he carried out an inquiry on Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n atrocities in Serbia during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and published the reports in European papers. He went as a member of Serbian Government at the Peace conference
Peace conference
A peace conference is a diplomatic meeting where representatives of certain states, armies, or other warring parties converge to end hostilities and sign a peace treaty....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He found postcards for propaganda of the Austrian-Hungarian Army showing atrocities against Serbian people.
When Serbia was overrun in 1915 he joined the Serbian Army in its retreat across Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
to return with the victorius Serbian Army when it liberated Belgrade in the final days of the war. He was known as a great friend of Serbia and the Serbian people and after the war he stayed to live in Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
.
After the war he tried to modernize the Belgrade police. Over time he seems to have become somewhat disillusioned and withdrew from public life but continuing to live in Belgrade.
He was one of the founders of the Red Cross of Serbia. As a legacy to the Serbian people, he left an unpublished manuscript "Ecoutez les Serbes!". It was finished on 1 June 1928, and in 2004 was printed in Serbian in large number of copies and distributed for free.
He became honorary citizen of Krupanj
Krupanj
Krupanj is a town and municipality located in the Mačva District of Serbia. The municipality has a total population of 17,398, while the town has a population of 4,455 .-Geography:...
in 1926. In several cities of Serbia, particularly in Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, streets carry his name.
After his death his body was buried in the cemetery Topcidersko groblje and, at his own request, his heart on the hill Kajmakčalan
Kajmakcalan
Kajmakčalan or Kaimaktsalan is a mountain on the border between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. It is the southernmost and highest peak of a range known in Greek as the Voras Mountains and in Slavic Macedonian as Nidže. The national frontier between the two countries runs across the summit...
, later demolished as a revenge by Bulgarians in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Literature
- Quinche, Nicolas, Crime, Science et Identité. Anthologie des textes fondateurs de la criminalistique européenne (1860-1930). Genève: Slatkine, 2006, 368p.
- Quinche, Nicolas, « Les victimes, les mobiles et le modus operandi du criminaliste suisse R.-A. Reiss. Enquête sur les stratégies discursives d’un expert du crime (1906-1922)", in Revue Suisse d’Histoire, 58, no 4, décembre 2008, pp. 426–444.
- Quinche, Nicolas, « L’ascension du criminaliste Rodolphe Archibald Reiss », in Le théâtre du crime : Rodolphe A. Reiss (1875-1929). Lausanne : Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2009, pp. 231–250.
- Quinche, Nicolas, « Reiss et la Serbie : des scènes de crime aux champs de bataille, l’enquête continue », in Le théâtre du crime : Rodolphe A. Reiss (1875-1929). Lausanne : Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2009, pp. 289–306.
- Quinche, Nicolas, « Le tatouage dans l’œil du criminaliste », in Le théâtre du crime : Rodolphe A. Reiss (1875-1929). Lausanne : Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2009, pp. 307–310.
- Quinche, Nicolas, « Bombes et engins explosifs sous l’œil du criminaliste : le travail de l’expert à l’Institut de police scientifique de l’Université de Lausanne (1904-1919) », Revue historique vaudoise, 2010, pp. 175-191.
- Rodolphe A. Reiss, pionnier de la criminalistique, publié par Jacques Mathyer, ancien directeur de l’IPSC - Lausanne.
- Report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian army during the first invasion of Serbia Rodolphe Archibald Reiss - Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., London en 1916.
- Les infractions aux règles et lois de la guerre / R.-A.Reiss. - Ed.Payot - 1918.
- Manuel de police scientifique (technique) : I. vols et homicides / R.-A. Reiss ; préf. de Louis Lépine. - Ed.Payot - 1911.
- Reiss sort en 1903 La photographie judiciaire qui lui vaut sa renommée internationale.
- Rodolphe Archibald Reiss - Zdenko Levental - Editions L'Âge d'Homme.
- Dernière lettre aux serbes - Alexandre Milinkovic - éditions Zlaja - Belgrade 2005.
- From the Austrian-Hungarian Wehrmacht to the German Wehrmacht - Herbert GantschacherHerbert GantschacherHerbert Gantschacher is an Austrian director and producer and writer.- Education :...
- edition ARBOS - Arnoldstein-Klagenfurt-Salzburg-Vienna 2009