Iosif Blaga (July 1, 1864–June 2, 1937) was an Austro-Hungarian-born

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 literary theorist, aesthetician, priest, politician and educator. Born in Lancrăm, near

Sebeș Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania. Geography The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the rive ...

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 studied at the local high school and in

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historica ...

, where he obtained a baccalaureate in 1884. He then studied 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 ...

theological seminary in

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 ...

(1884-1887) and at the Faculty of Letters of the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(1887-1891), earning a doctorate in philosophy with a thesis on the problem of attention from a psychological and pedagogical viewpoint. He was a teacher and later principal at Andrei Șaguna High School in

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 pop ...

. From 1901 to 1912, he headed a society for promoting Romanian-language theater. While traveling in Norway, Sweden and France from 1916 to 1919, he advocated on behalf of his native province, as well as for Romania, then under occupation by the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

. He took part in a press committee in Stockholm, while in Paris, he helped draw an ethnographic map of Transylvania as part of the National Council for Romanian Unity. He was an elected member of the

Great National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to: * Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania * Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of ...

that proclaimed the

union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a national holiday in Roman ...

at Alba Iulia.Rodica Pandele, ''Marea Adunare Naţională întrunită la Alba Iulia în ziua de 1 Decembrie 1918'', p. 47. Bucharest: Editura Ars Docendi, 2018, ISBN 978-606-9980-552 He returned to Brașov in 1919, and served as chief school inspector in the area from 1924 to 1925. Blaga was ordained archpriest of Brașov in 1924; his parish was St. Nicholas Church in

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 south ...

.Description
at the Brașov archpriest’s district site Blaga represented

Săcele Săcele (; German: ''Siebendörfer''; Hungarian: ''Négyfalu'', between 1950 and 2001 ''Szecseleváros'') is a city in Brașov County, Romania, in the Burzenland area of southeastern Transylvania, with a population of 30,798 inhabitants in 201 ...

in the

Romanian Senate ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...

, of which he was vice president. He was part of the ASTRA national council and of the metropolitan council. He published several didactic, oratorical and psychological works, as well as literary theory: ''Teoria dramei'' (1899) and ''Din estetica tragicului'' (vol. I-II, 1900-1901). He was the uncle of

Lucian Blaga Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He was a commanding personality of the Romanian culture of the interbellum period. Biography Blaga was born on 9 May 1895 ...

. Late in life, he belonged to the

Romanian Front The Romanian Front ( ro, Frontul Românesc, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' Part ...

. He died in Brașov in 1937,Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 168. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. and was buried in the city’s Groaveri cemetery."†Protopop Iosif Blaga", in ''

Gazeta Transilvaniei ''Gazeta de Transilvania'' was the first Romanian-language newspaper to be published in Transylvania. It was founded by George Bariț in 1838 in Brașov. It played a very important role in the awakening of the Romanian national conscience in Trans ...

'', Issue 43/1937, p. 1

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaga, Iosif 1864 births 1937 deaths People from Sebeș Romanian Austro-Hungarians Eötvös Loránd University alumni Romanian Orthodox priests Representatives of the Alba Iulia National Assembly Members of the Senate of Romania Romanian Front politicians Romanian schoolteachers Heads of schools in Romania Romanian literary theorists Burials at Groaveri cemetery ro:Iosif Blaga