Erich Geiringer

{{Short description|New Zealand activist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Infobox medical person

| name = Erich Geiringer

| image =

| occupation = Medical education

| known_for = Founder of the New Zealand Medical Association, anti-nuclear and abortion rights advocacy

| work_institutions =

| birth_date = 31 January 1917

| birth_place = Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)

| death_date = 24 August 1995

| death_place = New Zealand

| relations = Tom Shand (father-in-law)

| spouse = Carol Shand

| children = Claudia Geiringer, Felix Geiringer

}}

Erich Geiringer (31 January 1917 – 24 August 1995) was a New Zealand writer, publisher, broadcaster, Fulbright scholar 1953, a leading member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), and the founder of the New Zealand Medical Association. George Salmond described him in a memorial tribute as, 'one of the most significant public health figures in New Zealand in the last half century'.{{cite web| title = Tribute to Erich Geiringer (1917–1995)| first=George |last=Galloway| author-link=George Galloway |date=August 1995|url = http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/otago064545.pdf| access-date = 31 July 2016}}

Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary in 1917, Geiringer escaped Nazi Germany in 1938, going first to Belgium and later the United Kingdom, attending medical school in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He gained a PhD in adreno-cortal transplantation from the University of Edinburgh in 1954.{{Citation|last=Geiringer|first=Erich |title=Adreno-cortical homo-transplantation as a method of endocrine research|date=1954|url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/32260}} In New Zealand he became a researcher at Otago Medical School in the 1960s.{{cite web| title = Portrait of Dr Erich Geiringer, 1974| publisher =National Library of New Zealand| url = http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=44495&l=en| access-date = 31 July 2016}} In the same period his pamphlets on advocating cervical smears were banned by a university for, 'being obscene'. According to The Independent he dragged New Zealand medicine into the modern world. He was the founder of the New Zealand Medical Association.{{cite news| last1 = Spiegl | first1 = Fritz| title = Obituary: Dr Erich Geiringer|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dr-erich-geiringer-1600029.html |work = The Independent| date = 7 September 1995}} Geiringer held a radical stance in the abortion rights lobby, campaigning in the early 1970s for solidarity with jailed abortion providers.{{cite news| last1 = Redmer | first1 = Yska| title = Flo Never Said No|url=http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/historical/flo-never-said-no/ |publisher = New Zealand Listener| access-date = 31 July 2016| date = 13 March 2014}}

Geiringer was the author of a book on nuclear disarmament entitled Malice in Blunderland.{{cite book| last1 = Geiringer | first1 = Erich| title = Malice in Blunderland: An Anti-Nuclear Primer| publisher = Benton Ross| date = 1985| isbn = 978-0908636037}} He was instrumental in the IPPNW's campaign in seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice questioning the legality of nuclear weapons.{{cite web|title=A brief history of IPPNW (NZ) |publisher=International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War |url=http://www.ippnw.org.nz/history.html |access-date=31 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130504181419/http://www.ippnw.org.nz/history.html |archive-date=4 May 2013 }} Archived 4 May 2013. He died the same year in which the IPPNW managed to gain a hearing at the International Court of Justice.{{cite journal| title = Erich Geiringer 1917–1995| journal = Medicine and War| volume = 12| issue = 2| page = 188|first=Pat |last=Craig |date=20 December 1995| doi = 10.1080/13623699608409279| doi-access = free}}

Geiringer was accused of raping a young female patient during a gynecological exam in 1976,{{cite web |last1=Baylis |first1=Claire |title=Justice done and justice seen to be done - the public administration of justice |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/1991/12.pdf |publisher=Justice done and justice seen to be done - the public administration of justice |access-date=7 February 2023}} the case was thrown out by the court.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dr-erich-geiringer-1600029.html In 2014, conservative politician Deborah Coddington wrote that she recalls she was required to undergo a gynaecological inspection by Geiringer to be prescribed the contraceptive pill, which she said made her 'ashamed'. 30 years later she discovered that several of her colleagues shared similar concerns with his conduct as a doctor.{{cite web |last1=Coddington |first1=Deborah |url=https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/sunday-star-times/20140824/281814282035280 |title=White-coated predators still hold power |website=PressReader |publisher=Sunday Star Times |access-date=7 February 2023}}

Erich Geiringer died in Wellington on 24 August 1995, and is survived by his wife Dr Carol Shand (the daughter of Tom Shand), his daughter Claudia and his sons Karl and Felix.{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dr-erich-geiringer-1600029.html |title=Obituary : Dr Erich Geiringer|first=Fritz |last=Spiegl|date=7 September 1995|work=The Independent}} {{Registration required}}{{cite news |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7415536/More-than-a-lawman |title=More than a lawman|first=Adam |last=Dudding|work=Sunday Star Times|date=5 August 2012}}