PETRE GÂŞTESCU: FOUNDER OF THE ROMANIAN LIMNOLOGICAL SCHOOL

Ion ZĂVOIANU¹, Basarab Victor DRIGA²

¹“Spiru Haret” University, Faculty of Geography Bucharest, Romania, ionzavoianu@yahoo.com
² Institute of Geography Bucharest, Romania, driga_basarab@yahoo.com

Abstract

Professor dr. Petre Gâştescu was born in Moldavia-Romania on November 13, 1931 in the village of Soci, Miroslăveşti commune, Iasi County. His high school education was completed in Iaşi (the Theological High School “Veniamin Costachi”) and Paşcani (the Theoretical High School of Paşcani), and was followed by university studies at the Faculty of Geology-Geography, the department of Geography of the University from Bucharest, from where he graduated in 1955 obtaining a merit diploma. He defended his doctoral thesis on the topic “Lacurile din România - geneză şi regim hidrologic” (The Lakes of Romania – Genesis and Hydrological Regime) at the University of Cluj in 1961 and obtained the title of PhD (dr.habil) defending the thesis “Lacurile din România - limnologie regională” (The Lakes of Romania – Regional Limnology) in 1971 at the same University. During the over 50 years of scientific and teaching activity, the university professor PhD, Petre Gâştescu has consistently promoted the scientific research in the domain of hydrology, and especially in limnology, diversifying at the same time the preoccupations related to the Danube river, the Danube Delta and Black Sea coast. Being a very good organizer, first of the research team and of the physical geography laboratory and then of the Institute of Geography, and at the same time a good researcher, he managed to extend the array of scientific preoccupations and at the same time to competently and professionally continue and valorize the already existing research. The numerous issues he has researched can be grouped into several important directions.

Keywords: Petre Gastescu, limnology, Romania