Ioan Gheorghe Savin (December 19, 1885 – February 22, 1973) was a Romanian theologian, within the

Romanian Orthodox Church 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 ...

. A professor and a widely published writer, he spent several years in prison under the early

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

Biography

A native of

Jorăști Jorăști is a Commune in Romania, commune in Galați County, Western Moldavia, Romania with a population of 1,929 people. It is composed of three villages: Lunca, Jorăști and Zărnești. Natives *Ioan Gheorghe Savin References

{{DEFAU ...

, Galați County, he was the eleventh of thirteen children born to parish priest Gheorghe Savin and his wife Zoița. He began primary school in his native village in 1891, continuing in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a municipiu, city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river S ...

. He entered a seminary at

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in 1892 and at Iași in 1895.

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 ...

"Unul dintre intelectualii care a dat culoare Chișinăului intervalic"
''Timpul'', September 9, 2013 He attended seminary in Iași, followed by the theology faculty of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

from 1905 to 1909. Upon the proposal of his professor

Irineu Mihălcescu Irineu is the Portuguese version of the name Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regio ...

, he was selected for a scholarship that allowed him to take specialized courses in philosophy and theology at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

from 1910 to 1915. He obtained a doctorate under the supervision of

Ernst Troeltsch Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (; ; 17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician. He was a member of ...

. Savin saw combat as a second lieutenant in World War I. Afterwards, he taught Romanian and German at

Bolhrad High School The Georgi Sava Rakovski Bolhrad High School ( uk, Болградська гімназія імені Г.С. Раковського, ''Bolhrads′ka himnaziya im. H.S. Rakovs′koho''); bg, Болградска гимназия „Георги С ...

in the newly acquired Bessarabia province. In 1920, he was called to the national capital

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 ...

to become inspector general at the Religious Affairs and Arts Ministry. He also accepted an invitation from his friend the minister,

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

, to help edit ''Cuvântul'', a magazine the ministry published and distributed free to every parish. His only other government experience came from the end of 1937 to early 1938, when Goga, then prime minister, named him undersecretary of state at the

Education Ministry An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. His first university post was at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University ( Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia M ...

, where he taught at the theology faculty. From 1927 to 1941, he was a professor of philosophy of religion and

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...

at the theology faculty in Chișinău, serving as dean for a period. From 1941 to 1947, he taught at the University of Bucharest's apologetics department. In 1936, he took part in the Orthodox theology professors' congress at Athens. Through his efforts, introductory theology became a recognized branch of Romanian Orthodox theological education."Savin, Ioan Gh."
, entry in

Mircea Păcurariu Mircea Păcurariu (30 July 1932 – 13 January 2021) was a Romanian theologian, historian and priest in the Romanian Orthodox Church. Biography Born in Ruși, Hunedoara County, he was the son of the village priest. He enrolled in the History ...

, ''Dicționarul Teologilor Români'', Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 1996 He wrote numerous books, studies, and articles, with a particular focus on apologetics. Savin's works sought to defend religious and moral values, addressing issues relevant to his day. He was also interested in dialogue between religion and science, as well as culture. The author of several anti-Bolshevik works, he was forced to retire in 1948, at the onset of the

. Nicolae Achimescu
"Ioan Gheorghe Savin"
at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University site Arrested in May 1950 by the

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

secret police, he was charged with "intensive activity against the workers' movement" and sent to

Sighet Prison The Sighet prison, located in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Maramureș County, Romania, was used by Romania to hold criminals, prisoners of war, and political prisoners. It is now the site of the Sighet Memorial Museum, part of the Memorial ...

, from which he was released in July 1955. In 1962, he was permitted to publish under his brother's name, and under his own name in 1970. Also in 1962, he was denied a pension because, as a theology professor, he had combated

historical materialism Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

. He died in 1973 and was buried in

Cernica Cernica is a commune in the southeast part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 9,425 as of 2002. It is composed of five villages: Bălăceanca, Căldăraru, Cernica, Poșta and Tânganu. The commune lent its name to the Ce ...

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

. His first wife was poet

Natalia Negru Natalia Negru (December 5, 1882 – September 2, 1962) was a Romanian poet and prose writer. Although her literary contributions were relatively minor, she is noted for being at the center of a love triangle involving her first husband, Ștef ...

, followed by Lucia Avramescu, who divorced him after his arrest. Upon his release, he married Cornelia Rădulescu, a native of the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

. One of his many disciples was the Orthodox Metropolitan of Transylvania, Antonie Plămădeală, who curated in 1996 two posthumous volumes of Savin's works.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savin, Ioan Gheorghe 1885 births 1973 deaths People from Galați County Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Romanian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Christian apologists Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian magazine editors Romanian schoolteachers Romanian anti-communists Inmates of Sighet prison Romanian prisoners and detainees Burials at Cernica Monastery Cemetery