author
Fritz Lenz
1887–1976
A German physician and geneticist, he became one of the most influential advocates of eugenics and so-called “racial hygiene” in Germany. His career is now remembered less for scientific achievement than for the role his ideas played in supporting Nazi racial policy.
2 Audiobooks
Grundriß der menschlichen Erblichkeitslehre und Rassenhygiene (1/2) Menschliche Erblichkeitslehre
by Erwin Baur, Eugen Fischer, Fritz Lenz
About the author
Born on March 9, 1887, in Pomerania, Fritz Lenz trained as a physician and went on to work in genetics, anthropology, and human heredity. He became widely known through academic writing and teaching on heredity and eugenics, helping shape debates in Germany during the Weimar era and the rise of National Socialism.
Lenz was one of the leading figures behind the movement that promoted “racial hygiene,” and he was associated with the Nazi Party. His ideas and publications gave scientific-sounding support to racist and eugenic policies, making him an important intellectual influence in that period.
He died in Göttingen on July 6, 1976. Today, he is chiefly studied as a warning example of how science can be misused when it is tied to racism, ideology, and state power.