Octavian Utalea (11 February 1868 – 9 May 1932) became mayor of the municipality of

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 1 May 1923. He served as mayor until 14 March 1926. Among the accomplishments of his term in office were the opening of an Army Club (''Cerc Militar'') in the Reduta Palace and the founding of a School of Fine Arts (today's School of Plastic Arts) in the

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. He was born in

Maieru Maieru (; ) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, H ...

, at the time in

Beszterce-Naszód County Beszterce-Naszód was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Romania (north-eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Beszterce (now Bistrița). ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, now in

Bistrița-Năsăud County Bistrița-Năsăud () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as ''Beszterce-Naszód megye'', and in German language, German as ''Kreis Bistritz-N ...

, Romania. He attended primary school in

Sângeorz-Băi Sângeorz-Băi (also spelled ''Sîngeorz-Băi'', ; Hungarian: ''Oláhszentgyörgy''; ) is a spa resort and town in the mountain region of Bistrița-Năsăud County in Transylvania, Romania. The town administers two villages, Cormaia (''Kormája ...

and secondary school at the Romanian Higher Secondary School in

Năsăud Năsăud (; , ''Nußdorf''; ) is a town in Bistrița-Năsăud County in Romania located in the historical region of Transylvania. The town administers two villages, Liviu Rebreanu (until 1958 ''Prislop''; ''Priszlop'') and Lușca (''Szamospart'' ...

, and from 1889 to 1893 he took classes at the Faculty of Law of Cluj's

Franz Joseph University Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University () was the second modern university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Founded in 1872, its seat was initially in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). After World War I, it first moved to Budap ...

. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree in Cluj in 1905, then the certificate of free practice of law in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

in 1906, after which he settled in

Rodna Rodna (formerly ''Rodna Veche''; ; ) is a Commune in Romania, commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Rodna and Valea Vinului (''Radnaborberek''). Its name is derived from a Slavic word, ''wikt ...

. At the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was mobilized into the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

and sent to the front with the rank of officer. In the fall of 1918, he was a military engineering captain in the Cluj garrison. He then became very active in the national liberation movement of Transylvania's Romanians, being present at the Great National Assembly of 1 December 1918. Aside from being mayor of Cluj, he held other administrative functions, for instance being

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

for a short time. Utalea was awarded the

Order of the Crown of Romania The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

in the rank of Officer in 1922, and in the rank of Commander in 1925. In 1929, he was elected to the permanent delegation of the Cluj County organization of the National Liberal Party. He was a member of

ASTRA Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

and of the ''Virtus Romana Rediviva'' lecture society in Năsăud. He died in 1932 in Cochiș, Cluj County, and was reinterred in 1938 in the church cemetery at Sângeorz-Băi.

References

See also