Alexandru Papiu Ilarian

Alexandru Papiu Ilarian
Minister of Justice of the United Romanian Principalities
In office
11 October 1863 – 27 February 1864
Prime MinisterMihail Kogălniceanu
Preceded byDimitrie P. Vioreanu
Succeeded byPetre Orbescu
Personal details
Born(1827-12-27)December 27, 1827
DiedOctober 23, 1877(1877-10-23) (aged 49)
Resting placeChurch between the Fir trees, Sibiu, Romania
Alma materUniversity of Vienna
University of Padua

Alexandru Papiu-Ilarian (27 September 1827 – 23 October [O.S. 11 October] 1877) was a Romanian revolutionary, lawyer and historian.[1]

Papiu Ilarian was born in Bezded (Hungarian: Bezdédtelek), Kingdom of Hungary (today part of Gârbou, Romania) on 27 September 1827.[2] His father was the Greek-Catholic priest Ioan Bucur Pop, also a Romanian revolutionary, who was executed at Turda (Torda) by hanging, at 54 years old, by the Hungarian authorities in March 1849.[2][3] In 1832 he moved with his family to Budiu de Câmpie (Mezőbodon), near Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), the native village of his father,[2] where he attended primary school. In the autumn of 1838 he entered the Catholic secondary school in Târgu Mureș.[2] He finished high school in Cluj (Kolozsvár) and obtained a doctorate of laws at the University of Padua.[2][4] He was active in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

He was a founder and president of the Transylvania Society, between 1867 and 1874. He was elected to the Romanian Academy in 1868.[5] As member of the Bar in Bucharest, he pleaded in court the case of the oxcart drivers from Giurgiu, in 1873.[6] He died in Sibiu (Nagyszeben) on 23 October 1877, and is buried at the Church between the Fir trees.

Budiul de Câmpie commune was renamed Papiu Ilarian in 1925.[7] The Alexandru Papiu Ilarian National College in Târgu Mureș[8] as well as high schools in Dej and Zalău are named after him.

References

  1. ^ Vasile Pârvan. Corespondență și acte
  2. ^ a b c d e Liviu Botezan. Dicționar al personalităților Revoluției de la 1848–1849 din Banat și Transilvania
  3. ^ Sorin Mitu. National Identity of Romanians in Transylvania
  4. ^ Kellogg, Frederick (13 June 2020). "A history of Romanian historical writing". Academia.edu. p. 27. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  5. ^ Anuarul Institutului de Istorie și Arheologie "A.D. Xenopol
  6. ^ Memoriile Secției de Științe Istorice (Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1978)
  7. ^ Papiu Ilarian, Alexandru, Istoria Românilor din Dacia Superioară (I) (PDF) (in Romanian), p. 19, retrieved January 30, 2026
  8. ^ "Colegiul Național "Alexandru Papiu Ilarian"". papiu.ro (in Romanian). Alexandru Papiu Ilarian National College. Retrieved January 30, 2026.