Anastasie Obregia (1864-1937) – chemist, Romanian professor, founder of the School of Organic Chemistry in Iasi
He was born in Iasi. He attended high school in Iasi at The National High School. After graduation, he went to Zürich to study engineering. In 1891, he defended his doctoral thesis – “On the Action of Potassium Cyanide on Monohalogenate Ketones”, that brought original contributions to the synthesis of certain heterocyclic compounds. When he finished his studies, in 1892, he returned to Iasi and became professor of the Organic Chemistry Department, created as a result of splitting Professor Petru Poni`s Department of Chemistry. In 1903, he began teaching the lecture “Oil Technology” and in 1906 a lecture on technological chemistry.
Professor Obregia studied numerous organic chemistry matters from various fields, including stereoisomery, dye synthesis and technological chemistry. He developed a theory on atom incatenation, based on the variability of the affinity with which different elements come together in a molecule, and he imagined a series of new appliances and laboratory equipments. In 1897, when the University was relocated to the new building, Professor Obregia set up a new, up-to-date laboratory.
