Aurel Suciu (1853 – February 14, 1898) 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 ...

lawyer and political activist. Born in

Kétegyháza Kétegyháza (; ro, Chitighaz) is a large village in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. It is one of the main centres of Hungary's Romanian minority. Jews lived in the village in the 19th century and in 1 ...

(''Chitighaz''), a village that today lies in

Békés County Békés (, , ro, Județul Bichiș) is an administrative division (county or ''megye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

, his father Petru was a notary there and in nearby Pusztaottlaka (''Otlaca''). His grandfather Nicolae, a priest in Gyula, was the brother-in-law of

Moise Nicoară Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a surname, Moisè and Mo ...

. After completing primary school, Suciu attended gymnasium in

Békés Békés (; ro, Bichiş; sk, Békéš) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. It lies about north of Békéscsaba and east of Budapest. History The area of the present town has been inhabited since ancient times, due to its good soil and pr ...

(''Bichiș''),

Szarvas Szarvas (; sk, Sarvaš; german: Sarwasch) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. Name Placename Szarvas originated from the old Hungarian word ''szarvas'', which means deer. Deer also can be found in the coat of arms of the town. Locat ...

and

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 ...

. He completed the study of law in

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 ...

, passing the bar in 1879 and settling in Arad. Initially working under

Mircea V. Stănescu Mircea is a Romanian masculine given name, a form of the South Slavic name Mirče (Мирче) that derives from the Slavic word ''mir'', meaning 'peace'. It may refer to: People Princes of Wallachia * Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418), a ...

, he developed a good reputation as a lawyer.Berényi, p. 310 A pious member of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchat ...

, he represented

Șiria Șiria (german: Hellburg; hu, Világos) is a commune in Arad County, Romania. According to the 2002 census it had 8,140 inhabitants. The commune is situated at from Arad, its administrative territory covers , and it lies in the contact zone of ...

in the national synod and had a deep sense of the church's historic mission. He was a life member of ''Asociația națională arădană pentru cultura poporului român'', frequently sitting on its leadership. He also belonged to the local women's association, which he helped financially, and to the theater society. He contributed to village schools, cultural societies and libraries, and in 1886 helped found a bank.Berényi, p. 317 Suciu joined the

Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party ( ro, Partidul Național Român, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the ...

(PNR) after its establishment in 1881, sitting on its executive from 1892 to 1894. He became a prominent advocate on behalf of Transylvania's Romanians. In 1892, he helped draft the

Transylvanian Memorandum The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' ( ro, Memorandumul Transilvaniei) was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians, ...

. In May 1892, he was part of a delegation to Vienna that aimed to submit the document to

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

Francis Joseph, who refused to receive the petitioners. A year later, together with the PNR's entire executive, he was indicted by the Hungarian authorities; the trial was held at

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

in May 1894. He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison and initially returned to Arad with his co-defendant

Mihai Veliciu Mihai () is a Romanian given name for males or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Michael. A variant of the name is Mihail. Its female form is Mihaela. As a given name *Mihai I of Romania (1921–2017), King of Romania until 1947 * Mi ...

; the two received a hero's welcome. In early August, once the sentence was upheld, they were arrested and led to the train station by local peasants, soldiers and intellectuals. When the train passed through

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, a crowd of Romanians greeted them. Finally, the two arrived at their destination, the prison 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 ...

. All the signatories were released in September 1895, following a pardon from Franz Joseph.Berényi, p. 315 Suciu had become ill during his detention, and unsuccessfully sought treatment in Vienna. His health gradually declined until he died at Arad in early 1898; the funeral served as an occasion for a patriotic demonstration by the hundreds of Romanians who attended.

Notes

References

* Maria Berényi, "Memorandistul Aurel Suciu (1853-1898), originar din Chitighaz", i
''Personalități marcante în istoria și cultura românilor din Ungaria (Secolul XIX)''
pp. 309–21. Gyula: Institutul de Cercetări al Românilor din Ungaria, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Suciu, Aurel 1853 births 1898 deaths People from Kétegyháza Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanians in Hungary Romanian Austro-Hungarians 19th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian activists Prisoners and detainees of Austria-Hungary