Gheorghe Sion (May 22, 1822 – October 1, 1892) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

n, later

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 ...

n poet, playwright, translator and memoirist. He was born in Mamornița to ''

paharnic The ''Paharnic'' (plural: ''Paharnici''; also known as ''Păharnic'', ''Paharnec'', or ''Păharnec''; Moldavian dialect: ''ceașnic'', el, παχαρνίκοσ, ''pakharnikos'', russian: пахарник, ''paharnik'') was a historical Romanian ...

'' (royal

cup-bearer A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person must have been regarded as ...

) Ioniță Sion and his wife Eufrosina (''née'' Schina), the daughter of

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''ret ...

member Gheorghe Schina. His uncles included Constantin Sion, author of a semi-fictitious noble genealogy (''Arhondologia Moldovei''); and '' spătar'' Antohi Sion, the rumored author of ''Izvodul lui Clănău'', an outright forgery. After spending two years (1837-1839) at

Saint Sava College Saint Sava College was one of the earliest academic institutions in Wallachia, Romania. It was the predecessor to both Saint Sava National College and the University of Bucharest. History It was the continuator of the Princely Academy from Buchare ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, the capital of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

, he returned to his native Moldavia. Entering the Iași-based provincial administration, he became a copyist at the Justice Department in 1842, followed by work as a clerk at the Interior Department. He became a wanted man for his participation in the

1848 revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, and so fled to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-ruled

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 ...

. He returned to Iași in 1849, working as bureau chief at the Department of Church Property and Public Education. From 1855, he worked at the State Archives. Subsequently, around the time of the Union of the Principalities, Sion moved to Bucharest, where his posts included membership in the Appeals Court and, from 1866, head of the Tobacco Monopoly Company. In 1868, he was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy.Membrii Academiei Române din 1866 până în prezent
at the Romanian Academy site In Bucharest, he founded ''Revista Carpaților'' in 1860 and, together with

V. A. Urechia V. A. Urechia (most common version of Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia, ; born Vasile Alexandrescu and also known as Urechiă, Urechea, Ureche, Popovici-Ureche or Vasile Urechea-Alexandrescu; 15 February 1834 – 21 November 1901) was a Moldavian, ...

, published ''Transacțiuni literare și științifice'' starting in 1872. His volumes included poetry (''Ciasurile de mulțămire a lui Gheorghe Sion'', 1844; ''Din poeziile lui Gheorghe Sion'', 1857), plays (''Influința morală'', 1869; ''La Plevna!'', 1878; ''Dramatice'', 1879; ''Sărutarea'', 1888), a travel book (''Suvenire de călătoria în Basarabia meridională'', 1857), and memoirs (''Suvenire contimpurane'', 1888).Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 572. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sion, Gheorghe 1822 births 1892 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast Romanian male poets Romanian travel writers Romanian memoirists Romanian civil servants Romanian archivists Romanian magazine founders Romanian magazine editors People of the Revolutions of 1848 Titular members of the Romanian Academy 19th-century Romanian poets 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century male writers 19th-century memoirists