Corneliu Șumuleanu (November 4, 1869–December 15, 1937) was a

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 ...

n chemist and

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

politician.

Biography

Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, he attended the city's National College, following which he enrolled in the Faculty of Physical and Chemical Sciences at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

. There, his professors included

Petru Poni Petru Poni (4 January 1841 – 2 April 1925) was a Romanian chemist and mineralogist. Born into a family of ''răzeși'' (free peasants) in Săcărești, Iași County, he attended primary school in Târgu Frumos. In 1852, he enrolled in '' Acade ...

and

Grigore Cobălcescu Grigore Cobălcescu (September 22, 1831 – May 21, 1892) was a Moldavian, later Romanian geologist and paleontologist who is credited with introducing both fields into his country. Born in Iași, he graduated from the local Engineering and Arch ...

. In 1891, he was named assistant to Poni, and he earned his degree in 1894. In 1895, he was hired at the city's recently established food chemistry laboratory, where he showed a talent for organization. In late 1896, he married Clemansa Climescu, a 19-year-old student and the daughter of a university professor. In 1897, Șumuleanu left for the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. There, after working in the laboratory of

Emil Fischer Hermann Emil Louis Fischer (; 9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry, 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fisch ...

and

Robert Pschorr The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

and distinguishing himself as a student, he earned a doctorate in 1901.Lițu, p.345 The same year, having returned to Iași, he was named head of the city's chemistry institute, under the

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...

. He would remain there for eleven years. Meanwhile, in November 1907, he was named associate professor in the medical chemistry and biology department of the Iași Medical Faculty, and was promoted to full professor in July 1913. Subsequently, he led the department until his death. As director of a medical and biochemical laboratory, Șumuleanu shaped a school of young chemists. His lectures were usually accompanied by demonstrations and were known for their clear and thorough presentation. His published work focused on organic chemistry. One article that appeared at Berlin in 1901 dealt with the synthesis of dimethylmorpholine and aminoaniline. Together with his assistants, he performed a series of analyses on domestic mineral water, at

Bălțătești Bălțătești is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bălțătești, Valea Arini, and Valea Seacă. It also included Ghindăoani village until 2003, when it was split off to form Ghindăoani C ...

, Budachi,

Covasna Covasna (, , , ) is a town in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania, at an altitude of . It is known for its natural mineral waters and mofettas. The town administers one village, Chiuruș (). The village has a population of 451 and has an abs ...

and Slănic-Moldova. He also devised several micro-analytic methods applied to

Romanian wine Romania is one of the world's largest wine producers and sixth-largest among European wine-producing countries, after Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Portugal. It produced more wine than New Zealand and Austria but is lesser-known on the world ...

. He became active in politics in 1910, when he joined the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND) founded by

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

and

A. C. Cuza Alexandru C. Cuza (8 November 1857 – 3 November 1947), also known as A. C. Cuza, was a Romanian far-right politician and economist. Early life Cuza was born in Iași into a family of mixed Armenian-Greek origins. He was the grandson of Moldav ...

. Together with Ion Zelea Codreanu, he belonged to the party's radical nationalist wing. He briefly gained notoriety in 1919, when, as vice president of the

Romanian Senate 2012–2016 2008–2012 In December 2008, the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the political alliance established between the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Conservative Party (PC) formed a coalition government. 2004–2008 In the ...

, he read the decrees proclaiming the union of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia with Romania.Nastasă, p.219 When Cuza announced his definitive break with Iorga in March 1920, Șumuleanu followed him into

Alexandru Averescu Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and Populism, populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as List of Prime Ministers of Romania, Prime Minister of thr ...

's People's Party. In early 1922, Cuza founded the National Christian Union, together with

Nicolae Paulescu Nicolae Constantin Paulescu (; 30 October 1869 (O.S.) – 17 July 1931) was a Romanians, Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, and politician, most famous for his work on diabetes, including patenting ''pancreine'' (a pancreatic extract ...

, Codreanu and Șumuleanu. This organization evolved into the

National-Christian Defense League The National-Christian Defense League (, LANC) was a far-right political party of Romania formed by A. C. Cuza. Origins The LANC had its roots in the National Christian Union, formed in 1922 by Cuza and the famed physiologist Nicolae Paulescu. ...

the following March. Also in 1922, student protests demanding a

Jewish quota A Jewish quota was a discriminatory racial quota designed to limit or deny access for Jews to various institutions. Such quotas were widespread in the 19th and 20th centuries in developed countries and frequently present in higher education, o ...

began at the Iași Medical Faculty; these were inspired by Cuza, Șumuleanu and Ion Găvănescul. He later became a leading member of the

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 ...

, whose leader

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938), born Corneliu Zelinski and commonly known as Corneliu Codreanu, was a far-right Romanian politician, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion of ...

would recall this trio as the only professors at Iași who did not espouse "anti-Romanian ideas". Șumuleanu ran for and won a seat in the Assembly of Deputies in 1937, but died five days before the vote took place.Sandache, p.318

Notes

References

* Teohari Antonescu (ed. Lucian Nastasă)
''Jurnal (1893-1908)''
at the George Barițiu History Institute site * Horia-Florin Bozdoghină
"Relațiile politice dintre N. Iorga și A. C. Cuza (1900–1920)"
in ''Transilvania'', Nr. 10/2003, p. 68-74 *Corneliu Ciucanu, ''Dreapta politică românească. Politică și ideologie: 1919-1941''. Ed. Mica Valahie, Bucharest, 2009, 978-973785-863-4 *Armin Heinen, ''Legiunea "Arhanghelul Mihail" - mișcare socială și organizație politică: o contribuție la problema fascismului internațional'', Ed. Humanitas, Bucharest, 1999, *Mihai Lițu, "Corneliu Șumuleanu", in Eugen Târcoveanu, Constantin Romanescu, Mihai Lițu (eds.), ''125 de ani de învăţământ medical superior la Iași''. Ed. Gr. T. Popa, Iași, 2004, *Lucian Nastasă, ''Antisemitismul universitar în România (1919-1939)''. Ed. Institutului pentru Studierea Problemelor Minorităților Naționale, Cluj-Napoca, 2011, * Marta Petreu, ''Cioran sau un trecut deocheat''. Ed. Polirom, Bucharest, 2011, *Cristian Sandache, ''Istorie și biografie: Corneliu Zelea Codreanu''. Ed. Mica Valahie, Bucharest, 2011, 978-973785-892-4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumuleanu, Corneliu 1869 births 1937 deaths Scientists from Iași Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Romanian chemists Democratic Nationalist Party (Romania) politicians People's Party (interwar Romania) politicians Members of the Iron Guard Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Romanian nationalists Politicians from Iași Antisemitism in Romania People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia