Alexandru Roman (November 26, 1826 – September 27, 1897) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

ethnic Romanian The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Romanian ...

cultural figure and journalist, as well as a founding member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...

. Born in

Aușeu Aușeu ( hu, Kisősi, sk, Aušeu) is a commune in Bihor County, Crișana, Romania with a population of 3,033 people. It is composed of six villages: Aușeu, Cacuciu Vechi (''Kiskakucs''), Codrișoru (''Szekatura''), Gheghie (''Körösgégény''), ...

Bihor County Bihor County () is a county (județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. Toponymy The origin of ...

, in the

Crișana Crișana ( hu, Körösvidék, german: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Ro ...

region, he attended primary and secondary school at

Beiuș Beiuș (; hu, Belényes) is a city in Bihor County, Romania near the Apuseni Mountains. The river Crișul Negru flows through Beiuș, and the city administers a single village, Delani (''Gyalány''). Between the late 18th and very early 20th ...

and

Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the western par ...

. He then studied philosophy, mathematics and theology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich h ...

. After graduation, Roman returned to his home region, and was hired at the Romanian gymnasium in Beiuș in 1849, during the Hungarian Revolution. He became its first teacher to hold classes in Romanian.Neamțu, p. 77 In 1851, he became a Romanian-language professor at the Oradea law academy. In 1862, following numerous petitions, he began teaching Romanian at the

Royal University of Pest Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

, founding the Romanian language and literature department. Maria Berényi
"Doine despre personalități istorice"
in ''Izvorul: Revistã de etnografie și folclor'', nr. 33/2012, p. 15 He prepared a Romanian-language manual for village schools, and contributed articles on philology and politics to ''Bucovina'', '' Gazeta Transilvaniei'' and ''Naționalul'', the last based in Bucharest, capital of the nascent Romanian state. In 1866, Roman became a founding member of the Romanian Literary Society, later the

. He also helped found the Reading Society of Studious Romanian Youth (1851) and the Petru Maior Society (1862). He edited the gazettes ''Concordia'' (founded at Budapest in 1861 in collaboration with Sigismund Pap, until 1866) and ''Federațiunea'' (1868-1876), which he also founded at Budapest. Roman published unusually virulent articles in these organs, causing him to be brought to trial a number of times. The culmination came in 1868, when he reprinted the

Blaj Pronouncement The Blaj Pronouncement ( ro, Pronunciamentul de la Blaj, hu, balázsfalvi kiáltvány) is an 1868 document that expresses the reaction of its Transylvanian Romanian backers to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which established a dual monarc ...

. As a result, he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment at

Vác Vác (; german: Waitzen; sk, Vacov; yi, ווייצען) is a town in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''. Location Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank o ...

. From 1865 to 1888, Roman sat in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

at Budapest, where he advocated on behalf of the Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary. He died in

Sebeș Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania. Geography The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the r ...

Notes

References

* Gelu Neamțu
"Alexandru Roman și Academia Română (1866-1897)"
in ''Anuarul Institutului de Istorie «G. Barițiu» din Cluj-Napoca'', vol. XLVI, 2007, p. 77–84 {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Alexandru 1826 births 1897 deaths People from Bihor County University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University Romanian newspaper editors Romanian schoolteachers Romanian textbook writers Founding members of the Romanian Academy Members of the House of Representatives (Hungary) Ethnic Romanian politicians in Transylvania Prisoners and detainees of Austria-Hungary