Simion Bărnuţiu

Infobox Scientist
box_width = 300px
name = Simion Bărnuţiu


image_width = 300px
caption = Simion Bărnuţiu
birth_date = birth date|1808|7|21|df=y
birth_place = Bocşa (Transylvania, Austria)
death_date = death date and age|1864|5|28|1809|2|12|df=yes
death_place = Sânmihaiu Almaşului (Transylvania, Austria)
residence = Austria, Moldova, Romania
citizenship = Austria, Romania
nationality =
ethnicity = Romanian
fields = juridic, philosophic, politic, pedagogic
workplaces = Blaj Greek Catholic Church,
University of Iasi
alma_mater = University of Vienna
University of Pavia
doctoral_advisor =
academic_advisors =
doctoral_students =
notable_students =
known_for = "Revolution of 1848"
"Discursul de la Blaj"
juridical works
author_abbrev_bot =
author_abbrev_zoo =
influences = Immanuel Kant
influenced = political thought in Austria and Romania
awards =
religion = Greek Catholic


footnotes =

Simion Bărnuţiu (July 21 1808, Bocşa – May 28 1864, Sânmihaiu Almaşului) was a Transylvanian-born Romanian philosopher, liberal politician, jurist, historian and academic.

He was leader of the 1848 revolutionary movement of Transylvanian Romanians and represented its Eastern Rite Catholic wing.

Simion Bărnuţiu played a role as the spirit of the Romanian national movement similar to that of Joseph Mazzini for the Italians, František Palacký for the Czechs, Miklós Wesselényi for the Hungarians.

Early activities

Simion Bărnuţiu was born into a Greek Catholic family, his father, Ioan Bărnuţiu, being a modest Greek Catholic clergyman and a village school teacher. His mother, Ana Oros, was the daughter of a Greek Catholic priest. Like the rest of Transylvania, Bocşa was at the time part of the Austrian Empire.

At the age of 6 years, he attended the school from Bocşa. After completing this school, he attended elementary school at Şimleu Silvaniei (1817-1820). Then (October 1820-1825), at Carei, he attended a Jesuit high school (The Apiarist High School, which started in 1727 with a teaching programme in Latin). He intended to prepare for a legal career, but because of lack of financial possibilities, he chose Blaj schools.

At Blaj

After 1825, he completed his high school at Blaj, the principal religious and cultural center of Greek Catholics in Transylvania. Bărnuţiu studied theology between 1826 and 1829 at the seminary in Blaj. At Blaj, Bărnuţiu became a Greek Catholic priest [Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică, "Viaţa şi ideile lui Simion Bărnuţiu", Bucureşti 1924.] . Choosing not to follow a career in the church, he remained at Blaj as a teacher of philosophy and history. On November 4, 1829 he was named as a teacher of syntax at the secondary school of Blaj, and since 1831 he pass to the department of philosophy and history.

On May 16, 1834 Bărnuţiu became layer of Greek Catholic Church (notar consistorial), being the second in rank after bishop Ioan Lemeni.

Bărnuţiu was influenced early-on by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant ("Kantianism"), in which he saw the means to reform society in opposition to traditional theological views, while supporting a presence of laity in the administrative structures of his own church. [Hitchins, p.271, 277]

He was especially critical of the way in which Bishop Ioan Lemeni had conducted the affairs of the Greek Catholic Church. He was particularly incensed by the failure of church authorities to modernize the curriculum of the schools of Blaj, and he demanded that less time be devoted to religion and related subjects and more to science, modern languages, agriculture and business, all to prepare students to take their places in the real world.

Bărnuţiu became involved in one of the most divisive issues in Transylvania public life: the efforts of Hungarian liberals to introduce Magyar as the official language throughout Transylvania. In 1842 the Transylvanian diet enacted a law embodying these aims and going so far as to mandate the use of Magyar in Romanian Greek Catholic and Orthodox schools. An active contributor to "Foaie pentru minte, inimă şi literatură", the literary supplement of George Bariţ' journal "Gazeta de Transilvania", he became noted after 1842 for virulently opposing the decision of the Magyar-dominated Transylvanian Diet to give Hungarian status as a semi-official language in local administration ("see History of Transylvania"). [Hitchins, p.275] Although the language law never came into force, the controversy had put Bărnuţiu on guard against Magyar liberalism.

In 1842-1843, Ioan Pamfilie is involved in a conspiracy against Simion Bărnuţiu.

Bărnuţiu remained at Blaj as a teacher of philosophy until 1845, when Bishop Ioan Lemeni, the head of the church, dismissed him after a long dispute. According to an ordin from February 23, 1845 of the archbishop of Esztergom, Bărnuţiu is dismissed from Blaj. He is sent as priest at Beiud, but Bărnuţiu refused to accept the ordin.

At Sibiu

He moved to Sibiu, the principal religious and cultural center of Orthodox Christians in Transylvania.

Until 1844 there was no "university" in Transylvania, the first one being founded at Sibiu, the Faculty of Law [Juristischen Fakultät (Rechtsakademie)] , with courses taught in German. Bărnuţiu studied at "Rechtsakademie" until the spring of 1848, when his energies became absorbed by the Revolution. In 1846, he translated, into Romanian, the United States Declaration of Independence.Rechtsakademie in Hermannstadt 1844

Revolution of 1848

Simion Bărnuţiu was a leader of the revolutionary movement, he gave the clearest expression to intellectuals aspirations. Barnutiu played a role as the spirit of the Romanian national movement similar to that of Joseph Mazzini for the Italians, František Palacký for the Czechs, Miklós Wesselényi for the Hungarians and so on...

When news of revolution in Vienna and Budapest in March 1848 reached Transylvania, many Romanian intellectuals embraced the liberal program proclaimed by Magyar intellectuals. In the enthusiasm of the moment they overlooked the fact that the Magyars also demanded the union of Transylvania with Hungary. Barnutiu, almost alone, sounded the alarm. In a letter to friends on March 24 1848 he warned that the union would strengthen Magyar rule and thus, he implied, bring forth new language laws and other devices to assimilate the Romanians. He therefore appealed to all Romanians not to accept the union until the Romanian nation had achieved constitutional equality with the Magyars and had had the opportunity to express its will at a national congress. He call for self-determination of Romanians inside Transylvania, viewing it as a necessary step in matching Magyar success in obtaining rights from Emperor Ferdinand I, and professing that Romanians should reject the projected union of the region with the Kingdom of Hungary until ensured proportional representation and the official condemnation of serfdom. [Hitchins, pp.311-312]

Blaj Assemblies and National Committee

1^th Assembly of Romanians

The Blaj Assembly convened in April on the basis of such proclamations gathered together intellectuals, clergy, and commoners.

Bărnuţiu gave several speeches in front of the Assembly, calling for patience and moderation while continuing to campaign against all unilateral change in Transylvania's government and disagreeing with more skeptical political leaders, such as Bariţ and Andrei Şaguna, and finally being persuaded to include an oath of allegiance to the Emperor in his political strategy. [Hitchins, p.312-313]

Following a month of feverish activity Romanian intellectuals held a preliminary national congress at Blaj on April 30 and invited Barnutiu, whose influence was at its height, to deliver the principal address. Before some 6,000 persons, the majority peasants, he declared that the time had come for the Romanian nation to recover its ancient rights and to sweep away serfdom, which had held it in bondage for centuries.

2^th Assembly

Just before the Second Assembly in May, he agreed to moderate his tone further, taking in view the points made by Bariţ in regard to the fragile situation facing Romanians in the region, and partly reformulated his program on self-determination. [Hitchins, p.315] On May 14 1848, on the eve of the grand national congress at Blaj, Barnutiu spoke to the intellectuals. He give the speech well known as "Discursul de la Blaj" at Blaj Cathedral ["Românii şi ungurii". Discurs rostit în Catedrala Blajului, 2/14 mai 1848, cu introducere şi comentar de G. Bogdan-Duică, Cluj 1924.] . In the speach, his main preoccupation was the union of Transylvania with Hungary. He flatly rejected it on the grounds that it would relegate the Romanians to the status of mere "appendages" of a greater Hungary and would thus in time assure their destruction as a nation. It was not enough, he argued, to assure the freedom of individuals, as the Magyar liberals proposed. He was convinced that individual freedom could have meaning only within an equally free collectivity, and he entrusted to his colleagues the solemn duty to assure the existence of the Romanian nation. His frequent references to Switzerland could not compensate for an evident wish to see the Romanians rule over Hungarians.

On May 17, he was elected vicepresident of the "Permanent Committee" formed by Blaj delegates as a supervising body (one presided by Andrei Şaguna), later the basis of the "National Romanian Committee". [Hitchins, p.316] . During the next year Barnutiu engaged in intense political activity.

The rapid succession of events after the proclamation of Transylvania's union with the Hungarian Kingdom (July 11) and of Hungary's independence (September 27), with an Austrian military debacle in Transylvania, saw a rapprochement between the loyalist Austrian Anton Freiherr von Puchner, nominal governor of the region, and Bărnuţiu's Committee. From the Committee's perspective, this was an Austrian recognition of Transylvania's self-government as a Romanian region, which was to be advanced to the new emperor Franz Josef. [Hitchins, p.319]

3^rd Assembly

In September he presided over another national congress at Blaj, which reaffirmed opposition to the union and undertook to form an autonomous civil administration for Romanian-inhabited areas. In the last days of meetings, was prepared a memorandum addressed to Parliament from Vienna.

He also became president of a new national committee which, in effect, assumed the attributes of a provisional government. This has contributed to worsening relations between Romanians and Hungarians revolutionaries.

In Wallachia and Ottoman Empire

When in March 1849 Hungarian revolutionary armies captured Sibiu, where the committee had its headquarters, Bărnuţiu and other members were forced to take refuge in neighboring Wallachia.

At Râmnicu Vâlcea, he was arrested, but is eliberated after intervention of austrian consul Huber from Galaţi.

At Vienna, Dresden and Pavia

Departing fron İstanbul on June 6 1849 - via İzmir, Syra, Corsica, Trieste -, Bărnuţiu arrived at Vienna on June 23 1849. Then, because of his poor health, he spent a period at Dresden and comeback in September 1850 at Vienna. Despite his old age (he was 45) and of his poor health, he complete, after 1851, his law studies at University of Vienna until 1852, when he was forced to quit as a result of imperial police interventions.

It moves at Pavia (Lombardy), then part of Austria, where he attended the Law Faculty courses. Bărnuţiu chose to study at the University of Pavia because this was unique for its continuity since the Roman Epoch to those days and because it was the first state-run school that introduced the diploma of "laureate" with the academic title. University of Pavia was famous in Europe even before the Renaissance and attracted from an early era students of different nationalities. Leaving from Vienna, Simion Bărnuţiu arrives in Trieste on October 13^th, 1852, from where, passing through Venice, Verona, Milan, he headed to Pavia, the town of his studenthood. On June 6 1854 he takes his doctorate at University of Pavia, with the thesis: "Argomenti di giuresprudenza e di scienze politiche".

Then returned to Vienna, where August Treboniu Laurian - general inspector of Moldova's schools - makes him a proposal (September 1854) to teach at Iaşi, Moldova's capital.

In Moldova and Romania

Arrived at Iaşi in December 1854, Simion Bărnuţiu remained there for a decade. As a professor at Academia Mihăileană (1855-1860) and then at the University of Iaşi (1860-1864), Bărnuţiu teaches people who later demanded democratic reforms.

In May 1855, became assistent of general inspector of schools from Moldova.

He wrote several treaties on law and philosophy (including a passionate defense of Roman law), [Panu, p.16] and, before and after the union of the Danubian Principalities under "Domnitor" Alexander John Cuza advocated radical reforms which were a direct inspiration to the Moldavian liberal dissidents grouped as "Fracţiunea liberă şi independentă". [Ornea, in Panu, p. VI] In the 1850s, Bărnuţiu wrote against the popular project of electing a foreign prince as ruler of the Principalities, an opposition which "Fracţiunea" carried into the Consituent Assembly following the toppling of Cuza two years after Bărnuţiu's death. [Panu, pp.16-17] "Junimea", a conservative literary society created during that period, criticized him along with other Transylvanian intellectuals (such as Timotei Cipariu, Gheorghe Şincai, and August Treboniu Laurian) for having supported a Romanian grammar and alphabet based on Latin ethymologies instead of one reflecting the spoken language (at the time, "Latinist" influences following Transylvanian guidelines had come to be favoured by the Romanian Academy). [Panu, pp.142-143, 321, 493]

In that period he became Freemason in a Masonic Lodge from Iaşi.

In September 1863, he visit Bocşa, in Transylvania; he visited his relatives, including Ioan Maniu.

The Death of Simion Bărnuţiu

Last months of his life are dark. After having fallen gravely ill, was imposible to work as professor after December 1863. In January 1864, he is hosted by Ştefan Miele. But Simion Bărnuţiu asked to be allowed to return in Transylvania, to his native village, Bocşa.

He died on the way, in Transylvania, at "Fântâna Gorgana" (Gorgana Draw Well), not far from Sânmihaiu Almaşului, in the morning of May 28 1864. Because he died in a wagon, in the outskirts of Sânmihaiu Almaşului, there is some confusion about localisation of his death. Hida and Tresnea are close localities, too. On June 3 1864 he is buried in the front of the church of Bocşa. Between Sânmihaiu Almaşului and Românaşi, on the place where Simion Bărnuţiu died, was erected an monument.

Was a "romantic" death, like that of Miklós Wesselényi, his ideological oponent who died on the way to Hungary.

Legacy

For Karl Marx, Simion Bărnuţiu's political thought represent only old fashioned ideas. But, for the majority of the intellectuals, Simion Bărnuţiu was a intellectual hero of his time, a monument erected later for his commemoration included the words: Liberty, Fraternity, Egality, Nationality.

Long time after his death, Bărnuţiu's ideas were a very powerfull intellectual reference. Towards the end of 19^th century, active anti-Semites intellecuals and politicians used Bărnuţiu's ideas to promote anti-Jewish policies and university pogromism in Moldova and Romania. The chief of the Junimists (Junimea was the most influent intelectual and political association from Romania in the second half of 19th century), Titu Maiorescu, was very virulent against Simion Bărnuţiu.

Finally, his "latinist" perspective had come to be favoured by the Romanian Academy. Now is a fundamental part of Romania's culture.

Starting on August 11 2008, the National Bank of Romania released for collection purposes, a silver coin dedicated to the anniversary of 200 years since the birth of Bărnuţiu. The coin has a face value of RON 10, a weight of 31.130 grams, is round, has a diameter of 37 mm and a milled edge. The circulation of the coin is 500.

Time line

Major works of Simion Bărnuţiu

* "Dreptul public al românilor" (Iaşi, 1867)
* "Dreptul natural privat" (Iaşi, 1868)
* "Dreptul natural public" (1870)
* "Dreptul ginţilor natural şi poziţia politică (doctrina constituţiunii)"
* "Constituţiunile statelor principale cu introducţiuni"
* "Antropologia"
* "Psihologia empirică"
* "Enciclopedia filozofiei teoretice"
* "Logica"
* "Metafizica"
* "Estetica"
* "Ştiinţa virtuţii"
* "Pedagogia"
* "Românii şi ungurii". Discurs rostit în Catedrala Blajului, 2/14 mai 1848, cu introducere şi comentar de G. Bogdan-Duică, Cluj, 1924
* "Discursul de la Blaj şi scrieri de la 1848 ", prefaţă de Ion Raţiu, ediţie îngrijită de Ioan Chindriş, Cluj-Napoca, 1990
* "Istoria filosofiei", ediţie princeps după manuscris inedit coordonată de Ioan Chindriş, I-II, Editura România Press, Bucureşti, 2000-2002 (colaboratori: Ioan Chindriş, Mihai-Teodor Racoviţan, Gavril Matei şi Ionuţ Isac)
* "Flosofia dpă W. T. Krug", ediţie princeps după manuscris inedit, studiu introductiv de Ionuţ Isac, text îngrijit, cronologie şi notă asupra ediţiei de Ioan Chindriş, Editura Napoca Star, Cluj-Napoca, 2004
* Bărnuţiu, Simion. Filosofia după W.T. Krug. Ediţie după manuscris inedit (La philosophie d'apres Krug. Edition princeps d'apres un manuscrit inédit). Studiu introductiv de: Isac, Ionuţ. Text îngrijit, cronologie şi notă asupra ediţiei de: Chindriş, Ioan. Cluj-Napoca, Ed. Napoca Star, 2004, 439 p.
* Bărnuţiu, Simion. Istoria filosofiei. Vol. I-II (L'histoire de la philosophie). Coordonator: Chindriş, Ioan. Ediţie princeps după manuscris realizată de: Chindriş, Ioan; Teodor Racoviţan, Mihai; Matei, Gavril. Bucureşti, Ed. România Press, 2000, 256 p ; 2002, 224 p.
* Bărnuţiu, Simion. Suveranitate naţională şi integrare europeană (Souveranité nationale et integration européenne). Ediţie de: Chindriş, Ioan. Cluj-Napoca, s.n., 1999, 400 p.

References

*Keith Hitchins, "Românii, 1774-1866", Humanitas, Bucharest, 1998 (translation of the English-language edition "The Romanians, 1774-1866", Oxford University Press, USA, 1996)
*George Panu, "Amintiri de la "Junimea" din Iaşi", Ed. Minerva, Bucharest, 1998 (with an introduction by Z. Ornea)
* G. Bogdan-Duică, " Notesul de însemnări al lui Simion Bărnuţiu", în „Anuarul Institutului de Istorie Naţională”, II, 1923, p. 205-232.
* G. Bogdan-Duică, "Viaţa şi ideile lui Simion Bărnuţiu", Bucureşti, 1924.
* Alexandru Marcu, "Simion Bărnuţiu şi Pietro Monti. Cu o scrisoare inedită", în "Omagiu lui I. Bianu", Bucureşti, 1927, p. 251-256.
* Alexandru Marcu, "Simion Bărnuţiu, Al. Papiu Ilarian şi Iosif Hodoş la studii în Italia", Bucureşti, 1935.
* Petre Pandrea, "Filosofia politico-juridică a lui Simion Bărnuţiu", Bucureşti, 1935.
* Enea Hodoş, "Din corespondenţa lui Simeon Bărnuţiu şi a contemporanilor săi", Sibiu, 1944.
* D. D. Roşca, "Europeanul Bărnuţiu", Sibiu, 1944 (ed. mai recentă în vol. "Oameni şi climate", Cluj, 1971, p. 73-101.
* Radu Pantazi, "Simion Bărnuţiu. Opera şi gândirea", Bucureşti, 1967.
* Iosif Pervain şi Ioan Chindriş, "Corespondenţa lui Alexandru Papiu Ilarian", I-II, Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1972 (vol. II, p. 7-112).
* George M. Marica, "Discursul lui Simion Bărnuţiu l 2/14 mai 1848", în vol. "Studii de istoria şi sociologia culturii române ardelene din secolul al XIX-lea", I, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1977, p. 121-138.
* George M. Marica, "Scrierile mărunte ale lui Simion Bărnuţiu după 1850", în vol. "Studii de istoria şi sociologia culturii române ardelene din secolul al XIX-lea", I, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1977, p.137-215.
* Ioan Chindriş, " Simion Bărnuţiu, istoric al filosofiei", în "Manuscriptum", XVI, 1985, nr. 3, p. 124-137.
* Ioan Chindriş, "Simion Bărnuţiu. Suveranitate naţională şi integrare europeană ", Cluj-Napoca, 1998.
* Ioan Chindriş, "Hermeneutica istorică a discursului lui Simion Bărnuţiu", în vol. "1848. Blajul şi amintirea Revoluţiei", volum coordonat şi ilustrat de Ioan Chindriş, Blaj, 1998, p. 33-40.
* Ioan Chindriş, "Simion Bărnţiu la 1848", în vol. "Transilvanica", Editura Cartimpex, Cluj-Napoca, 2003, p. 420-424.
* Ioan Chindriş, "Discursul lui Simion Bărnuţiu", in vol. "Transilvanica", Editura Cartimpex, Cluj-Napoca, 2003, p. 425-431.
* Câmpeanu, Remus. Perspectiva lui Simion Bărnuţiu asupra Unirii religioase a românilor din Tansilvania cu Biserica Romei (Perspective de Simion Bărnuţiu sur l'Union religieuse des Roumains de Transylvanie a l'église de Rome). In: AIICN, 2003, 42, p.251-257.
* Chindriş, Ioan. Monolit történelmi diskurzus- Simion Bărnuţiu (Discours historique monolithe). In: Europa-Annales, Budapesta, 1998, 3, p.28-36.
* Curticăpeanu, Vasile. Personalitatea naţiunii române în gândirea istorică a lui Simion Bărnuţiu (La personnalité de la nation roumaine dans la pensée historique de Simion Bărnuţiu). In: AUDC ist., 2003, 5, p.91-99.
* Dinu, Cristina. O evocare: Simion Bărnuţiu (iunie 1942, Bucureşti). In: Sargeţia, 1999-2000, 28-29, nr. 2, p.565-568.
* Dogaru, Maria. Documente inedite privind omagierea lui Simion Bărnuţiu la Iaşi (1864-1866) (Documents inédits relevant l'hommage de Simeon Bărnuţiu a Iaşi). In: Hrisovul, 2002, 8, p.183-198.
* Hâncu, Ana. Date privind activitatea notarială a lui Simion Bărnuţiu (1834-1838) (Dates concernant l'activité notariale de Simion Bărnuţiu). In: Marisia, 2000, 26, p.239-261.
* Mesaroş, Claudiu. Consideraţii asupra logicii lui Simion Bărnuţiu. Cursul de logică tipărit la Iaşi, în 1871 (Considérations sur la logique de Simion Bărnuţiu. Le Cours de Logique imprimée a Iaşi en 1871). In: AMP, 2000, 13, nr. 2, p.463-483.
* Camil Mureşanu, Simion Bărnuţiu - gânditor politic (Simion Bărnuţiu - penseur politique). In: VR, 2003, 98, nr. 1-2, p.21-25.
* Neamţu, Gelu. A fost sau nu Simion Bărnuţiu un francmason (Simion Bărnuţiu franc-maçon). In: Inorogul. Caiete masonice. Bucureşti, 2001, p.121-146.
* Pop, Marin. Simion Bărnuţiu (1808-1864) comemorat de către sălăjeni în anii 1908, 1930 şi 1933 (Fęte a la mémoire de Simion Bărnuţiu, en Sălaj). In: Silvania, 2004, 3, nr. 1-4, p.71-78.
* Maniu Ioan, Corespondenta lui Ioan Maniu cu Simeon Barnutiu: 1851-1864, Blaj: Tipografia Seminarului teologic Greco-Catolic, 1929.
* George Lăzărescu, Prezenţe româneşti în Italia (Bucureşti Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, 1995), 41-43; see also Isopescu 1932, 20-27.
* Titu Maiorescu, Contra şcoalei Bărnuţiu (1868).
* Mândruţ, Stelian. Simion Bărnuţiu, student la Universitatea din Viena (1851-1852) (Simion Bărnuţiu, étudiant a l'Université de Vienne). In: AMP, 1995, 19, p.203-211.
* Itic Svart-Kara, Contributions to the History of Jews in Iaşi [Contributii La Istoria Obstii Evreilor din Iasi] , (Bucharest, 1997).
* The Professor George Em. Marica about the Activity of Simion Barnutiu as a Publisher, Publication: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Sociology (1/2005), Issue: 1/2005, Page Range: 25-29.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/ac/barnutiu.htm "Simeon Barnutiu(1808-1864)"] , by Keith Hitchins and Apostol Stan, September 3, 2004, at the Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions.