Salvator P. Cupcea (also known as Salvador Cupcea; August 8, 1908 – 1958) was a Romanian psychologist, physician, and political figure. From beginnings as a researcher for the Victor Babeș University of Cluj, alongside his friend Alexandru Roșca, he became noted as a pioneer of experimental psychology and psychoanalysis, studying in particular the social marginals. He later immersed himself in the social hygiene and eugenics movement, also specializing in genetic medicine, biological anthropology, and criminology. A collaborator of Iuliu Moldovan, he taught classes at the latter's Institute for much of World War II, when he focused on studying the intelligence of various body types.
During those years, Cupcea flirted with fascism, and endorsed a biopolitical "national hygiene" program. In 1944, he reemerged as a supporter of the Romanian Communist Party and liberal eugenics, serving as Health Minister and representative to the World Health Organization. A founder of the Cluj Medical University and administrator of its Psychiatric Clinic, his final work was in human ecology, food science, and cardiology.
Biography Origins and family Salvator was born in Carei (Nagykároly),"106 ani de la naşterea renumitului medic Salvator Cupcea, fiu al Careiului", in Buletin de Carei, August 8, 2014 Szatmár County, at the time part of Austria-Hungary. His was a family of importance in the Romanian Eastern Catholic community of Crișana region. His father, Petru Cupcea (1875–1940), was a priest, later the Protopope of Supur and honorary Archdeacon, who was active in the Romanian National Party from 1909. Although ethnically Romanian, his paternal and maternal ancestors, the Cupceas and the Rednics, had been received into the Hungarian nobility of Partium, tracing their aristocratic titles to 1609 and 1349 respectively.Câmpean (2010), pp. 144–148 Petru's wife, Augusta, was the distant descendant of peasants from Tiream, and daughter of George Pteancu.Câmpean (2010), pp. 98–100, 145 A Romanian educator and honorary citizen of Carei, Pteancu was also leader of the Marian Congregation branch in Năsăud. Vasile Iancu, "Al. Husar: 'Caracterul dă autoritate sacerdoțiului critic' ", in România Literară, Nr. 24/2005 Augusta's brother, Alexandru Coriolan Pteancu (1878–1956), was a theologian, antiquarian, schoolteacher, political figure, and honorary Protopope.Câmpean (2008), pp. 243–245
The couple, who moved frequently in keeping up with Father Cupcea's successive assignments, had six children born in various localities, of whom Salvator and three sisters reached maturity.Câmpean (2010), pp. 100, 144–146, 148, 270 The eldest, Maria (1903–1980), was an educator, composer, and celebrated stage and film actress. She was for a while married one of Salvator's physician colleagues, Victor Munteanu, and had a son by him, Dan Munteanu, who became a noted biologist.Câmpean (2010), pp. 148, 270–272 Another sister, Lucia, became the wife of Leontin Ghergariu (1897–1980), a philologist, adult educator, museum curator and sports enthusiast.Câmpean (2008), pp. 118–121; (2010), p. 148 The youngest of the Cupcea siblings, Emilia, taught at the Biological Institute of Cluj.Câmpean (2010), p. 148
Cupcea's early childhood saw the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the region's incorporation with Romania. Directly involved in the process, Alexandru Pteancu was appointed chief inspector of secondary schools by the Romanian-led Regional Directorate.Câmpean (2008), pp. 112, 244 There followed an interlude of Hungarian Soviet rule, during which Inspector Pteancu narrowly escaped execution.Câmpean (2008), p. 244; Teodor Neș, Oameni din Bihor: 1848–1918, Tipografia Diecezană, Oradea, 1937, pp. 522–523 Father Cupcea, who had pledged Carei's support for the Great Assembly, was also targeted, being kidnapped and sent to Debrecen, where he was reportedly tortured.Câmpean (2010), pp. 146–147; Valer Hossu, , in Caiete Silvane, January 2009 Rescued by his coreligionists, he made his way to Oradea, which fell to the Romanians in the military operations of 1919.Câmpean (2010), p. 147
Early career In 1925, when Crișana had been secured for Greater Romania, Salvator graduated from Carei's Lucaciu High School, where he had become best friends with his schoolmate, Alexandru Roșca.Jurcău & Roșca, p. 89 They both had a keen interest in psychology, and were urged on by their schoolteachers to pursue studies in the field.Jurcău & Roșca, p. 88 Enlisting at the University of Cluj (known back then as "Upper Dacia University"), they attended the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, specializing under Professor Florian Ștefănescu-Goangă at the Cluj Institute of Psychology. Together, they worked on Ștefănescu-Goangă's applied psychology teams, alongside various other young men who became figures of importance on the scientific, political, and literary scene: Nicolae Mărgineanu, Mihai Beniuc, Liviu Rusu, Lucian Bologa, and Teodor Bugnariu.
Taking a degree in Psychology, Pedagogy and Aesthetics (February 1931),"Chemări la catedre universitare", p. 10870 Cupcea also attended the Faculty of Medicine, where he earned a diploma in psychiatry, after which he took a position on the staff of the Mental Hospital in Sibiu. In early 1935, he was among the founders of the Romanian Psychoanalytic Circle and an editor of its magazine, Revista Română de Psihanaliză, with which he sought to promote a more complete understanding of Sigmund Freud and his work."Revista Revistelor. Revista Română de Psihanaliză", in Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Nr. 5/1935, pp. 477–478 Together with fellow Freudians Ioan I. Popescu-Sibiu, G. Preda, and Anastase Dosios, he worked on Cercetări de psihologie experimentală la alienați ("Studies in Experimental Psychology among the Insane")."Din lucrările autorului", in Ioan I. Popescu-Sibiu, Psihanaliza (Doctrina lui Freud), Tip. Cav., Sibiu, 1936, p. 323
In 1938, Cupcea became a contributor to Ștefănescu-Goangă's academic journal, Revista de Psihologie, where he wrote an introduction to psychological evaluation techniques."Cronică — Recensii — Spicuiri. Revista de Psihologie", in Revista Generală a Învățământului, Nr. 3–4/1938, p. 160 Also that year, together with Ștefănescu-Goangă and Roșca, he published a study on Adaptarea socială ("Social Adaptation"), which looked into the social careers of misfits: 3,300 criminals, 9,636 victims of suicide, and 434 mental patients. The authors found that maladaptation was critical among women and Székelys, that most homicides occurred in Oltenia, southern Moldavia and Ciuc, and that most suicides were reported in Transylvania.Ada Dogaru, "Recenzii. Realitatea românească. Fl. Ștefănescu-Goangă, Al. Roșca, Salvator Cupcea: Adaptarea socială", in Sociologie Românească, Nr. 10–12/1938, pp. 587–588 With Mihai Kernbach and Vasile Hurghișiu, he co-authored other work in medical jurisprudence, presenting his findings at the 21 Congress of Legal Medicine, in Bonn.Iosif Friedmann-Nicolescu, "Un precursor al criminologiei moderne românești – Prof. dr. Mihai Kernbach", in Criminologie, Criminalistică și Penologie. Studii, Nr. 4/2015, p. 10 Cupcea ultimately became a Doctor of Medicine in March 1939.
Moldovan's aide While Bugnariu affiliated with the underground Romanian Communist Party (PCdR), Cupcea and Roșca were drawn into fascist politics. As noted by author Nicolae Balotă, who was also an employee of the Psychology Institute, they "contributed discreetly (and, what is more, prudently)" to the Iron Guard. Nicolae Balotă, "În laboratorul minotaurului ideologic (II). Fragment din Abisul luminat – Cartea a doua" , in Apostrof, Nr. 11/2010 Cupcea's father, meanwhile, was a leader of the mainstream National Peasants' Party in Sălaj County and a figure of importance in local democratic circles, especially active in the propaganda effort against Hungarian irredentism.Câmpean (2010), p. 147; Marin Pop, "Alegerile comunale și județene din anul 1930 în județul Salaj și o radiografie a orașului Zalău în anii 30", in Caiete Silvane, March 2010; "Corespondență și scrieri inedite sub lupa Securității. Corneliu Coposu către profesorul Ion Ivănescu", in Caiete Silvane, October 2010
In 1940, at the height of World War II, Northern Transylvania, including Cluj, was ceded by Romania to Hungary following the Second Vienna Award. The entire university and its logistics moved to Sibiu. Cupcea remained in contact with his colleagues, publishing in Revista de Psihologie: in 1941, Constituția morfologică la bolnavii mintal ("The Morphological Built of the Mentally Ill"); in 1944, Încercarea unui sistem de psihopatologie constituțională evolutiv ("Sketching a System of Progressive Bodily Psychopathology").Jurcău & Roșca, pp. 94–95 He based these studies on the impact of health on intelligence, and the theories of Ernst Kretschmer, by examining the body types of university students, industrial workers and mental patients in relation to their intelligence quotient and state of mind, describing various correlations."Chemări la catedre universitare", p. 10871 A disciple of physician and eugenicist Iuliu Moldovan, he frequented ASTRA Society and published in its paper the 1941 tract Ce este Eugenia ("What Eugenics Is"). It discussed "the improvement of the genetic dowry" through both positive and negative measures.Butaru, pp. 25–26 Quoting Moldovan and Francis Galton, Cupcea tried to delimit his field of interest from Nazi racial science (too radical) and euthenics (too mild), preferring Moldovan's term "hygiene of the nation".Vornica, pp. 221–223 At the time, he expressed himself as a supporter of strict biological determinism, and demanded the universal introduction of prenuptial examinations to filter out the dysgenics.E. Pocrean, "Metode de eugenie, aplicabile în Banat", in Revista Institutului Social Banat–Crișana, Vol. XI, 1943, pp. 138–141; Vornica, pp. 223–224
Cupcea later became editor of Revista de Psihologie, also serving on the staffs of Medicina Românească review and the Romanian Psychiatric Society. Described by his friends as a "gentleman of imposing stature" and a fine public speaker, he was attracted into teaching. From 1942, he hosted a seminar of "mental hygiene" and medical genetics, under Moldovan's guidance."Chemări la catedre universitare", pp. 10870–10871 In 1943, the university assigned him a lecturer's position in his alma mater, the Faculty of Medicine, where his oratorical skill drew in crowds. Cupcea also affiliated with Moldovan's Institute of Hygiene and Biopolitics, as a researcher, and, taking a diploma in Public Health and Hygiene in 1944, as a section leader. His studies merged psychiatry and criminology, investigating the role of emotional instability disorder as a gateway to other psychiatric conditions in the general population, and its supposed presence as "impulsiveness" among the criminal population."Chemări la catedre universitare", pp. 10871–10872