Alexe Procopovici (March 14, 1884 – June 22, 1946) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

Biography

Born in

Cernăuți Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

, in the

Duchy of Bukovina The Duchy of Bukovina (; ; ) was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1849 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until 1918. Name The name ''Bukovina'' came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation ...

, his father was the Orthodox priest Ioan Procopovici. After graduating from the state gymnasium in his native city in 1902, he studied at the philosophy faculty of

Czernowitz University The Chernivtsi National University (named after Yuriy Fedkovych, full official title Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, ) is a public university in the city of Chernivtsi in Western Ukraine. One of the leading Ukrainian institution ...

, where one of his professors was

Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France ...

. He specialized in classical philology and Romanian phonetics. His 1908 PhD thesis dealt with nasalization and rhotacism. He taught at a Cernăuți gymnasium from 1906 to 1919, and at a similar institution in

Siret Siret (; ; ; ; ) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 6,708 ...

from 1909 to 1910. In late 1918, he helped found '' Glasul Bucovinei'' newspaper, joined the Romanian National Council and voted at the congress that endorsed the union of

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

with Romania. In the months that followed, he was intensely active at his newspaper. In June 1919, he was elected a corresponding member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) 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 bylaws, the academy's ma ...

;

, who considered him Bukovina’s pre-eminent philologist, proposed the nomination, which greatly irritated

Eugen Lovinescu Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the ...

and others.Dan Horia Mazilu, "Alexe Procopovici", in ''Dicționarul general al literaturii române. P/R'', pp. 458-59. Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2006. In September, he joined the Democratic Union Party, which merged into the National Liberal Party in 1923.Satco and Niculică, pp. 202-03 From 1922 to 1938, Procopovici was a full professor at Cernăuți University, serving as dean in 1924–1925. In 1927, he became an adviser to the Education Ministry on secondary schools in Bukovina. In 1933, he was elected to the Assembly of Deputies, where he represented

Câmpulung Moldovenesc Câmpulung Moldovenesc (; formerly spelled ''Cîmpulung Moldovenesc'') is a municipiu, city in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Câmpulung Moldovenesc is the fourth largest urban settleme ...

for the

National Liberal Party–Brătianu The National Liberal Party–Brătianu (, PNL; also known as Georgiști - "Georgists", from the name of their leader, Gheorghe I. Brătianu) was a right-wing political party in Romania, formed as a splinter group from the main liberal faction, ...

. He founded ''Revista filologică'' (1927-1928). He contributed to ''Dacoromania'', ''Arhiva'' (Bucharest) and ''Făt-Frumos'' (Cernăuți) magazines. He transferred to

Cluj University 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 ( ...

in 1938, and in 1940 took over Pușcariu's professorship and his leadership of the

Museum of the Romanian Language A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. From February to June 1941, he was acting rector of the university. This occurred after Pușcariu was fired due to his

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

affiliation (in the wake of a failed rebellion by the organization) and before

Iuliu Hațieganu Iuliu Hațieganu (April 14, 1885 – September 4, 1959) was a Romanian internist doctor particularly recognized for research done in the field of tuberculosis. He founded in Cluj a valuable school of internal medicine. Today, Cluj University of ...

was appointed on a permanent basis. At the time, the university was temporarily located in

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 ...

due to the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

Anneli Ute Gabanyi Anneli Ute Gabanyi (born 18 October 1942) is a German political scientist, literary critic, journalist, and philologist of Romanian background, especially known for her research on the society and culture of the Cold War period in Romania and th ...

“Universitatea ‘Regele Ferdinand’ în exil la Sibiu”
in Apostrof, year XXXII, nr. 5/2021 His studies focused on early writings in Romanian and on old Romanian literature. He contributed to the academy's encyclopedic dictionary. He edited old texts such as

Coresi Coresi (also known as Deacon Coresi; d. 1583, Brașov) was one of the first Romanian printers of the sixteenth century. He was the editor of some of the earliest printed books in the Romanian language. Biography Very little is known about his li ...

’s sermon (1914) or

Ion Neculce Ion Neculce (1672–1745) was a Moldavian chronicler. His main work, ''Letopisețul Țărâi Moldovei e la Dabija Vodă până la a doua domnie a lui Constantin Mavrocordat' (''The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia Constantin Mavrocordat'') ...

’s chronicle (1932). Arrested after the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

came to power in 1945, he was held at the

Târgu Jiu internment camp The Târgu Jiu internment camp was a detention facility in Târgu Jiu, Romania. It was a regular prison from 1895 to 1939 and again after 1945, but is best known for its role as an internment camp for various categories of individuals during World ...

, where he became seriously ill. Once released, he returned to teaching; his final course was on the philosophy of the phrase. He died in Cluj. He was a knight of the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...

Notes

References

*Emil Satco, Alis Niculică (eds.), ''Enciclopedia Bucovinei'', Vol. III. Suceava: Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Procopovici, Alexe 1884 births 1946 deaths People from Chernivtsi Romanian Austro-Hungarians Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Chernivtsi University alumni Academic staff of Chernivtsi University Academic staff of Babeș-Bolyai University Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Romanian schoolteachers Romanian magazine founders Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) National Liberal Party-Brătianu politicians Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp Linguists from Romania Linguists of Romanian Romanian philologists