I. C. Massim (or Ioan C. Massimu; 1825–1877) 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, traditional ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and a founding member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

. I. C. Massim was born Ion Floricel in the village of

Gropeni Gropeni is a commune located in Brăila County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Gropeni. The Balta Mică a Brăilei Natural Park is partly situated on the administrative territory of the commune. Natives * I. C. Massim ...

, near the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

port of

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

as the son of a country priest. He changed his name to Maxim, derived from the name of his birthplace, and signed his books as I. C. Massimu. The crowning achievement of Massim's linguistic career was the 1875 publication, together with

August Treboniu Laurian __NOTOC__ August Treboniu Laurian (; 17 July 1810 – 25 February 1881) was a Transylvanian Romanian politician, historian and linguist. He was born in the village of Hochfeld, Principality of Transylvania, Austrian Empire (today Fofeldea as part ...

, of the first complete

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

of the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

, a monumental work that included two volumes of words of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

origin and a comprehensive glossary of words "of foreign, dubious or unknown origin".

References

Romanian philologists Founding members of the Romanian Academy People from Brăila County 1825 births 1877 deaths {{romania-linguist-stub