Chesarie Căpățână (born Constantin Căpățână; 1784–November 30, 1846) was a
Wallachian bishop.
Biography
Origins and ascension
Born in
Bucharest to a poor couple, Efrem Cavafu and his wife Dragna, he attended the Greek school at
Domnița Bălașa Church, then studied
psaltic music under
Dionisie Fotino
Dionisie Fotino ( el, Dionysios Foteinos, 1769–1821) was a Wallachian historian and high ranking civil servant of Greek origin.
Born in Patras, Fotinos (Photeinos, Gr. Φωτεινός ) hailed from the so-called Phanariote families within the ...
, with
Anton Pann as a classmate. After finishing school and encouraged by his protector,
Iosif Sevastos, the first
Bishop of Argeș, he entered
Antim Monastery, taking the name ''Chesarie''. In 1823, his honesty and dedication led Grigorie Miculescu, the
Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia, to take on Chesarie as supervisor at
the cathedral.
In 1824, the
Diocese of Buzău fell vacant. Two candidates emerged, but Grigorie rejected them both in favor of Chesarie, recommending the proposal to
Prince Grigore IV Ghica. As a result, he was elected in April 1825. In his enthronement speech, Chesarie struck a patriotic note, in tune with the nascent national awakening of Romania, praising the
Wallachian uprising of 1821 and its leader
Tudor Vladimirescu.
Achievements as bishop
Over the course of his reign, Chesarie restored or founded (as ''
ktetor
''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ...
'') tens of sacred buildings, including the
Buzău Cathedral
The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Car ...
; the monasteries of
Râmnicu Sărat,
Rătești,
Ciolanu and
Cheia
Cheia is a mountain resort, north of Ploiești in Prahova County, Romania. Situated in the Teleajen Valley, it is surrounded by the Ciucaș Mountains. Administratively, Cheia is a village, part of Măneciu commune. Cheia Monastery
Cheia Mo ...
; the churches of
St. Demetrius–Poștă and
Holy Angels. Chesarie also valued learning and education, especially focusing on the training of knowledgeable priests. He resounded the diocesan printing press, dormant since 1768, printing his first book in 1834. In his enthusiasm for the project, he bought a new press and
Romanian Cyrillic letters from the
University of Buda, hiring workers from
Neamț Monastery. He printed not only religious books, but also secular school textbooks. By 1846, some sixty titles had emerged from the press, including the first Romanian church newspaper, ''Vestitorul Bisericesc'' (1839-1840); future bishop
Dionisie Romano played an increasingly active role in the enterprise.
From Metropolitan Grigorie's death in June 1834 until a successor was chosen in 1840, Chesarie was one of three ''locum tenentes'' holding the leadership of the metropolis. Meanwhile, he opened schools for church singers, sculptors and painters, the last founded in 1831. In 1832, he founded the first Romanian-language school in
Buzău; Romano was the teacher, with fifty students in three grades. In every school he founded, Chesarie insisted on hiring qualified, well-trained faculty, and the students would go on to become prominent priests, bishops and painters. He selected
Nicolae Teodorescu as art teacher,
and financed student
Gheorghe Tattarescu’s academic stay in Italy.
He paid particular attention to sacred music, promoting the printing of books in the domain, pushing Pann to publish various collections of hymns, requiring each monastery in the diocese to send one student to train at the school; among its students was future metropolitan
Iosif Naniescu.
[Ciobotaru, pp. 115-16]
Chesarie was the founder of the Buzău seminary, which opened in August 1836 with twenty students on scholarship from the diocese and eight paying students. Its goal was for each graduate to become a priest or deacon, and was animated by the bishop’s belief that anyone with important responsibilities had a primary duty for educating the youth. The first director was
Gavriil Munteanu
Gavriil Munteanu (February 1812 – December 17/29, 1869) was a Romanian scientist and translator. He was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy.
He was born in Vingard, Principality of Transylvania, and studied philosophy and ...
. Other faculty included
Damaschin Bojincă and
Iosafat Snagoveanu. A dedicated seminary building opened in late 1838; this 16-room neoclassical palace, in a town of poor dwellings and unpaved roads, drew notice from many visitors. Chesarie established the seminary library from his own funds, endowing it with Romanian as well as foreign books.
[Ciobotaru, pp. 116-17] In addition, he was attentive to the issues of monastic life, authoring a rule for the monks of Ciolanu.
Chesarie died in 1846, after lying ill with pneumonia for a week.
[Ciobotaru, p. 118] He was buried outside the Buzău Cathedral.
[Ciobotaru, p. 119]
Notes
References
*Liliana Ciobotaru, “Episcopul Chesarie Căpățână (1825-1846)”, in ''Analele Buzăului'', vol. V/2013, pp. 109–24
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capatana, Chesarie
1784 births
1846 deaths
Clergy from Bucharest
19th-century Romanian clergy
19th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops
Bishops of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Ktetors
School founders
Romanian printers
Deaths from pneumonia in Romania