Emanuil Gojdu ( Hungarian: ''Gozsdu Emánuel'', mostly referred as ''Gozsdu Manó''; 9 February 1802,

Nagyvárad Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...

, Hungary (now Oradea, Romania)—3 February 1870, Pest-Buda, Hungary) was a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

lawyer in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

and patriot. Emanuil Gojdu was born to an Aromanian family that originated in

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...

. He attended high school in his native town. After completing the high school studies, he studied law at the Academy of Law in Oradea (Nagyvárad, 1820-1821), then in Pressburg (1821-1822) and

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 ...

(1822-1824), becoming both a lawyer and a politician in 1824. He was a supporter of the rights of the Romanians in the

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. In his will, dating from 1869, he left his wealth to "''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 ...

people of Hungary and Transylvania''" and it was administered by a foundation which bore his name and functioned between 1870 and 1917, one which awarded thousands of scholarships to Transylvanian Romanians. Among the students who received such scholarships were

Traian Vuia Traian Vuia or Trajan Vuia (; August 17, 1872 – September 3, 1950) was a Romanian inventor and aviation pioneer who designed, built and tested the first tractor monoplane. He was the first to demonstrate that a flying machine could rise into the ...

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

, Ioan Lupaş,

Constantin Daicoviciu Constantin Daicoviciu (; March 1, 1898 – May 27, 1973) was a Romanian historian and Archaeology, archaeologist, professor at the Babeș-Bolyai University, University of Cluj, and titular member of the Romanian Academy. He was born in Constant ...

Petru Groza Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of the Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Commu ...

and

Victor Babeş The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. In 1918, the headquarters of the foundation was moved to

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

(Hermannstadt/Nagyszeben) which became part of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, although its assets (mostly buildings) remained in Hungary. According to the 247th article of the 1920

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

, Hungary was supposed hand over the assets to Romania. However, and despite several agreements between Hungary and Romania in 1924, 1930 and 1937, this was never done. The assets, consisting mostly of

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

in Budapest and of bank accounts which held the income from the buildings, was confiscated by the Hungarian Communist government in 1952, and in 1990 became the property of

Erzsébetváros ---- Erzsébetváros (german: link=no, Elisabethstadt, both names meaning ''Elizabethtown'') is the 7th district of Budapest, situated on the Pest side of the Danube. The inner half of the district was the historic Jewish quarter of Pest. The ...

, the 7th District of the Budapest Municipality. In 1999, the Budapest Municipality leased the buildings to a Hungarian-

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

company. The assets are currently estimated to be worth between $812 million and $1.1 billion. In 2006, an agreement was signed between the two governments, through which the Romanian side would withdraw all claim in favor of a newly established Hungarian-Romanian foundation. However, it is not yet known whether the Romanian parliament would approve this. 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 patriarchates ...

has made public its disagreement with any such compromise, and warned that it would use all legal means to get the assets, as it pretends to be the recipient according to Gojdu's will.

References

* '' Jurnalul Naţional''
"Moştenirea Gojdu, pierdută cu acte"
* Ministerul Afacerilor Externe
"Emanuil Gojdu şi moştenirea sa"
8 February 2002 * '' Gazeta de Oradea''
"Guvernul încalcă testamentul lui Gojdu"
7 November 2005 * ''

Bucharest Daily News ''Bucharest Daily News'' was an English-language newspaper operating out of the Romanian capital city, Bucharest, and was frequently cited as a source by the sudden influx of Romanian news articles on Wikinews. It covered world and local news, pol ...

''
"Orthodox Church wants to get back Gojdu Foundation patrimony"
* '' Adevărul''
Curţile Gojdu, pentru averea reformaţilor
6 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gojdu, Emanoil 19th-century Hungarian lawyers People from Oradea Romanian Austro-Hungarians Romanian people of Aromanian descent Hungarian people of Aromanian descent Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church 1802 births 1870 deaths