Ioan Barac (1776–July 18, 1848) was an Imperial Austrian ethnic Romanian translator and poet. Born in Alămor,

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben ...

, his father Ioan was a priest. Barac attended the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

Aiud Aiud (; la, Brucla, hu, Nagyenyed, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Straßburg am Mieresch) is a city located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The city's population is 22,876. It has the status of municipality and is the 2nd-largest c ...

, followed by law studies in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

. In 1801, he taught at 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 i ...

school in

Avrig Avrig (; german: Freck/Fryck, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Freck/Fraek'', hu, Felek) is a town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. It has a population of 12,815 and the first documents attesting its existence date to 1346. It officially ...

. The following year, he became a teacher at the

First Romanian School The First Romanian School ( ro, Prima școală românească) is located on the grounds of the 16th-century St. Nicholas Church, itself located in the historic district of Șcheii Brașovului, in what is now Brașov, Romania. This is the first s ...

Șcheii Brașovului Șcheii Brașovului ( hu, Bolgárszeg, german: Belgerei or more recently ''Obere Vorstadt''; traditional Romanian name: ''Bulgărimea'', colloquially ''Șchei'') is the old ethnically Bulgarian and Romanian neighborhood of Brașov, a city in southe ...

, itself attached to St. Nicholas Church. He was a magistrate at the same time, and in 1805 took on the role of Romanian-language interpreter for the

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

city hall, which he held for the rest of his life.

Alexandru Piru Alexandru Piru (August 22, 1917 – November 6, 1993) was a Romanian literary critic and historian. Born in Mărgineni, Bacău County,Alex. Ștefănescu"Al. Piru", in ''România Literară'', nr. 10/2002 his parents were Vasile, a notary, and ...

, ''Istoria literaturii române: Epoca premodernă'', pp. 134. Bucharest: Editura didactică și pedagogică, 1970 In 1837, he edited ''Foaia Duminecii'', the first illustrated magazine in Transylvania. His first published work, ''Istorie despre Arghir cel Frumos și despre Elena cea Frumoasă și pustiită crăiasă'' (1801), was among the most widely read and appreciated Romanian books of the first half of the 19th century, appearing in many editions. He was one of the first to translate ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' into Romanian, working from the German version by

Friedrich Ludwig Schröder Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (3 November 1744 – 3 September 1816) was a German actor, manager, dramatist and prominent masonic leader. He was born in Schwerin. Shortly after his birth, his mother, Sophie Charlotte Bierreichel (1714&nda ...

. Between 1836 and 1840, he published eight volumes of stories from ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'', and also rendered stories featuring

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is ...

and Mattie the Goose-boy. His original work included ''Adevărul'' and ''Cercul timpului''. His prefaces featured interesting literary ideas in the spirit of a pre-modern aesthetic. Barac was a folk poet not just in the style of his verses, but also in conception. Unusually laborious and renowned in his day, he was a representative figure of the

Transylvanian School The Transylvanian School ( ro, Școala Ardeleană) was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church (). The ...

, alongside Vasile Aaron and .Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 105. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Barac's 17th-century house, located at 3 Piața Unirii in

, is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Brașov

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barac, Ioan 1776 births 1848 deaths People from Sibiu County Romanian people in the Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867) Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian poets Translators of William Shakespeare Romanian translators Romanian magazine editors Romanian civil servants Romanian schoolteachers