Nicolae Cotos (October 10, 1883–May 15, 1959) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

-born

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 theologian, within the Romanian Orthodox Church. Born in

Straja Straja resort is an Eastern European ski and snowboarding resort, situated at an elevation of 1,440 m in the Vâlcan Mountains Carpathian Mountains, in the Jiu Valley region of Hunedoara County, Romania. Access to the resort can be made from Lu ...

, in

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

-ruled

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

, he attended high school in Suceava from 1897 to 1905. He then studied at the theology faculty of

Czernowitz University Chernivtsi National University (full name Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, uk, Чернівецький національний університет імені Юрія Федьковича) is a public university in the City o ...

from 1905 to 1909, and obtained a doctorate in 1911. Between 1910 and 1914, he took specialty courses in theology at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Breslau, Tübingen,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

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 ...

. During World War I, he crossed into the Romanian Old Kingdom and volunteered for service in the Romanian Army. From 1918 to 1919, he was substitute professor at the theological seminary in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

, rising to teaching assistant in 1919. In 1920, he was hired as associate professor at his alma mater, which had become Cernăuți University under the new Romanian administration. Working within the fundamental theology department of the theology faculty, he became a full professor in 1924 and retired in 1941. He also offered courses on the psychology of religion, Christian philosophy and sectology, and for a time was substitute professor in the department of dogmatic and symbolic theology. He was faculty dean three times: 1924-1927, 1935-1937 and 1938-1940, and served as university rector in 1926-1927. Cotos edited ''Candela'' magazine from 1935 to 1938; he also founded and edited ''Credința'', a magazine where numerous articles of his on spiritual guidance appeared. In 1944, upon the definitive integration of Northern Bukovina into the Soviet Union, he settled 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 ...

. In 1951-1952, he was a substitute lecturer on Greek language at the city's theological institute."Nicolae Cotos"
entry in Mircea Păcurariu, ''Dicționarul Teologilor Români'', Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 1996

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotos, Nicolae 1883 births 1959 deaths People from Suceava County Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian Austro-Hungarians Romanian military personnel of World War I Chernivtsi University alumni Academic staff of Chernivtsi University Romanian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Rectors of King Carol I University Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders