Dimitrie C. Isopescu (October 3, 1839 – May 1, 1901) was an
Austro-Hungarian teacher and politician.
Biography
Born into an ethnic Romanian family in
Frătăuții Vechi
Frătăuții Vechi (german: Alt Fratautz, Alt-Frautautz, Alt-Deutsch-Fratautz) is a commune located in Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania. It is composed of two villages: namely Frătăuții Vechi and Măneuți ( hu, Andrásfalva).
...
, in the
Bukovina region of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
, his parents were the
Romanian Orthodox
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 patriarchates ...
priest Constantin and his wife Ana (''née'' Brăilean), a native of nearby
Bilca. He had two brothers, Gheorghe and Nicolae. After attending primary school in
Rădăuți
Rădăuți (; german: Radautz; hu, Radóc; pl, Radowce; uk, Радівці, ''Radivtsi''; yi, ראַדעװיץ ''Radevits''; tr, Radoviçe) is a town in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Buko ...
, he enrolled in the high school at
Czernowitz
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...
(''Cernăuți'');
one of his teachers there was
Aron Pumnul.
[Grigoroviță , p. 305] Initially studying theology according to the family tradition, he abandoned this discipline after a year, due to a lack of vocation. In 1860, he entered the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
with a wish to pursue a career as a teacher. He graduated from the history and geography faculty in 1864. The same year, he was hired as a teacher in those subjects at the
Greek Orthodox Gymnasium in
Suceava
Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...
, remaining there for five years. In 1869, he transferred to the Czernowitz Gymnasium, and was elected a member of the provincial school council.
A year later, thanks to his managerial talent, he was named director of a newly established state normal school.
The school was initially for boys, but Isopescu opened a section for girls in 1872. He was the first teacher in the area to offer classes on pedagogy in Romanian.
In 1875, Isopescu joined a Vienna-based committee for the preservation of historical and artistic monuments in Bukovina. In 1877, he became inspector for the province's Romanian-language primary schools. In 1880, he was elected a member of the city council, and from 1890 headed the local museum. He was involved in promoting the establishment of Romanian schools in the villages,
including the province's first kindergartens,
and the drafting of textbooks.
From 1873, he edited ''Bukowinaer Pädagogische Blätter'', the province's first pedagogical magazine,
which advocated on behalf of Romanian schools and teachers.
[Bejinariu, p. 247] In addition to textbooks, his writings include pedagogical and historical works; some were published, while others remain in manuscript.
[Grigoroviță , p. 306]
In the summer of 1900, some months before the
Austrian election of 1900-1901, there was a split among the Romanian politicians of Bukovina. One faction, led by the youthful firebrands
Iancu Flondor and
George Popovici, favored confrontation with the authorities; another, headed by Ioan von Volcinschi, was made up of older men who preferred accommodation. The latter group ran Isopescu as its candidate against Popovici, and he won the contest for a seat in the
Austrian House of Deputies. He died of heart disease in Vienna shortly thereafter.
He was married to Aglaia Constantinovici-Grecu. The couple had a daughter and four sons, including
Constantin Isopescu-Grecul.
[Bejinariu, p. 248]
Publications
* ''Beziehungen
Karls des Großen zu den Saracenen in Spanien und zu den abbasidischen Chalifen von Bagdad''. Czernowitz, 1869.
* ''Das Theorem der Fourier'schen Reihen''. Czernowitz, 1873.
* ''Schematismus der Bukowiner Volksschulen und Lehrer, zusammengestellt auf Grundlage amtlicher Daten''. Bukowiner Landeslehrerverein, Czernowitz, 1894.
Notes
References
*''Analele Bucovinei'', Vol. VIII, Part 2, 2001. See:
**Petru Bejinariu, "Dimitrie C. Isopescu — profesor și manager al învățământului", pp. 247–248.
**Mircea Grigoroviță, "Pedagogi din Bucovina", pp. 303–318.
*Mihai-Ștefan Ceaușu, "Iancu Flondor. Omul politic și epoca sa", in ''Anuarul Institutului de Istorie „A. D. Xenopol“'', Iași, vol. XLII, 2005, p. 221-234
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isopescu, Dimitrie
1839 births
1901 deaths
People from Suceava County
Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Ethnic Romanian politicians in Bukovina
Members of the House of Deputies (Austria)
Romanian schoolteachers
Romanian textbook writers
Romanian magazine editors
Romanian museologists
Heads of schools in Romania
University of Vienna alumni