Hans Gross (1847–1915) was an Austrian criminal jurist and criminologist widely regarded as the "Founding Father" of criminal profiling and modern forensic science. He is credited with creating the field of criminalistics, which applies scientific methods to crime investigation
. Gross was born in Graz, Austria, and earned his law degree in 1870. He served as an examining magistrate (judge and prosecutor) where he noticed significant shortcomings in the justice system, particularly the lack of scientific rigor in investigations. This inspired him to develop systematic methods for crime scene analysis and evidence collection
. In 1891, Gross published his seminal work Handbuch für Untersuchungsrichter (translated as Criminal Investigation), the first comprehensive textbook on forensic science and criminal investigation. This book laid the theoretical foundation for criminology and introduced protocols such as securing crime scenes, meticulous documentation, and the use of scientific disciplines like chemistry, physics, and microscopy to analyze trace evidence
. He also pioneered the use of crime scene photography and fingerprint analysis and emphasized understanding criminal psychology and behavior as part of investigations. Gross founded the world's first criminological institute at the University of Graz in 1912, further institutionalizing criminology as an academic discipline
. His methods transformed criminal investigations from guesswork and reliance on confessions to a rigorous, scientific approach. Today, his principles underpin modern forensic practices worldwide, including crime scene preservation, evidence analysis, and criminal profiling
. In summary, Hans Gross was a pioneering Austrian legal scholar whose innovations established forensic science and criminalistics as essential tools in the pursuit of justice
