Grigore Turcuman (20 October 1890 – 28 May 1942) was a

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

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

n politician. As a member of

Sfatul Țării ''Sfatul Țării'' ("Council of the Country"; ) was a council that united political, public, cultural, and professional organizations in the greater part of the territory of the guberniya, Governorate of Bessarabia in the disintegrating Russia ...

(the

n Parliament), he voted the Union of Bessarabia with the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

on 27 March 1918.

Biography

Turcuman was born in a

n (

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

n) family from Tătărăuca Nouă, Soroksky Uyezd,

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

. He served as Navy officer in the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

(

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

naval force), during World War I. After the beginning of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, he came back to Bessarabia, being elected on 21 November 1917 Member of

(the

Moldovan Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period of 4 years. Parliamen ...

), as representative of the Bessarabian Romanian soldiers and officers, serving until 1918. Representing the opinion of the majority, he voted the Union of

with the

on 27 March 1918. Later he advanced in rank to Navy Captain (in reserve), in the Black Sea Division of the Romanian Royal Navy. As member of the Romanian National Liberal Party, Turcuman served in the administration of Soroca County, being

sub-Prefect A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

between 1933 and 1937. After the

Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina The Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina took place from June 28 to July 3, 1940, as a result of an ultimatum by the Soviet Union to Romania on June 26, 1940, that threatened the use of force. Bessarabia had been part of the Kin ...

in June 1940, he was arrested by the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

on July 2, 1940. Prosecuted for his political activity as Romanian Unionist, he was sent to the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

, where he perished in May 1942 at the hospital of Prison No. 1 in

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...

Gallery

Image:Stamp of Moldova 227.gif, Moldovan stamp, 1998 Image:Sfatul Tarii, 10 December 1918.jpg,

, December 10, 1918; Turcuman is in the middle, standing in the last row, on stairs Image:Bessarabia Sfatul Tarii arrest.jpg, 1940s persecutions against Sfatul Țării members

Notes

Bibliography

* ''Sărbătoarea Basarabiei. Deschiderea celui dintâiu Sfat al Țării, la Chișinău, în ziua de 21 Noemvrie 1917''. Extras din Gazeta "Ardealul" Nr. 9. Chișinău, Tipografia Soc. Culturale a Românilor din Basarabia, 1917 (p. 17, 126). * Dimitrie Bogos, ''La răspântie. Moldova de la Nistru între anii 1917-1918''. Chișinău, Editura Soc. "Glasul Țării", 1924 (p. 72, 84, 112). * Chiriac, Alexandru, ''Membrii Sfatului Țării. 1917-1918''. Dicționar, Editura Fundației Culturale Române, București, 2001. * Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, ''Sfatul țării: itinerar'', Civitas, Chișinău, 1998, * Mihai Tașcă, ''Sfatul Țării și actualele autorități locale'',

Timpul de dimineață ''Timpul de dimineață'' (Romanian language, Romanian for "The Morning Times") or, in short, ''Timpul'' ("The Time"), is a Moldovan newspaper founded in 2001 by Constantin Tănase (journalist), Constantin Tănase. Overview The director of ''T ...

, no. 114 (849), June 27, 2008 (page 16). *

Iurie Colesnic Iurie Colesnic (born 12 August 1955 in Dereneu, Călăraşi) is a technical literature corrector, former publishing director, literary historian, politician and writer of the Republic of Moldova. Biography Iurie Colesnic was born on 12 August ...

, ''Sfatul Țării. Enciclopedie'', Chișinău, Casa Cărții "Petru Movilă", Editura Museum, 1998, p. 292. * "Eliberați" pentru a fi nimiciți (grupaj): ''Grigorii Turcuman'', in "Moldova suverană", nr. 96, 24 iunie 1993, p. 3.

External links

Arhiva pentru Sfatul Țării

Deputații Sfatului Țării și Lavrenti Beria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcuman, Grigore 1890 births 1942 deaths Romanian people of Moldovan descent People from Soroca District Moldovan MPs 1917–1918 People who died in the Gulag National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians People from Soroksky Uyezd