Monument - Pantelimon Halippa - Alba Iulia

Pantelimon "Pan" Halippa (1 August 1883 – 30 April 1979) was a

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

n and later

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 journalist and politician. One of the most important promoters of Romanian nationalism in Bessarabia and of this province's union with Romania, he was president of

Sfatul Țării ''Sfatul Țării'' ("Council of the Country"; ) was a council that united political, public, cultural, and professional organizations in the greater part of the territory of the Governorate of Bessarabia in the disintegrating Russian Empire, w ...

, which voted union in 1918. He then occupied ministerial posts in several governments, following which he underwent political persecution at the hands of the Communist régime and was later incarcerated in

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 ...

Biography

Halippa was born to the poor peasants Nicolae and Paraschiva Halippa in

Cubolta Cubolta is a commune in Sîngerei District, Moldova. It is composed of two villages, Cubolta and Mărășești.Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and now in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

's Raionul Sîngerei. Married to the teacher Eleonora Circău, he had one son. His Chișinău home is preserved as a monument today.

Education

Pan Halippa attended primary school in his native village and then took courses at the Yedintsy Spiritual School and the Kishinev Theological Seminary. After graduating from seminary in 1904, he enrolled in the Faculty of Physics and Medicine of the University of Yuryev (today

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

), but a year later the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

broke out and he was forced to quit university. Back in Kishinev, he became involved with young Romanian intellectuals, working on '' Revista Basarabia'', the first

Romanian-language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in t ...

publication in Bessarabia in that period. In its pages he printed the revolutionary hymn "

Deșteaptă-te, române! "" ("Awaken Thee, Romanian!"; ) is the national anthem of Romania and former national anthem of Moldova. The lyrics were composed by Andrei Mureșanu (1816–1863), and the music was popular (it was chosen for the poem by Gheorghe Ucenescu, as ...

", which caused the Tsarist authorities to seek his arrest. Taking refuge in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, he enrolled in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of 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 Mih ...

, where he took classes from 1908 to 1912. At this time he worked on the magazine ''Viața românească'', in which he published "Scrisori din Basarabia" ("Letters from Bessarabia"). In 1908, he published ''Pilde și novele'' ("Proverbs and Novels") in Chișinău (using

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

), the first Bessarabian fiction novel, while in 1912 "Basarabia, schiță geografică" ("Bessarabia, Geographic Sketch") appeared. Returning to Chișinău in 1913, he published, together with Nicolae Alexandri and with the assistance of

Vasile Stroescu Vasile Vasilievici Stroescu (russian: Василий Васильевич Строеско, ''Vasily Vasilyevich Stroesko''; November 11, 1845 – April 13, 1926), also known as Vasile de Stroesco,"Vasile de Stroesco" and ""Scrisoarea dlui V. de ...

, the newspaper '' Cuvânt moldovenesc'', which he directed after April 1917. He wrote unceasingly in favour of union with Romania.

Political activity

Halippa's political activity intensified as the 1910s wore on and in 1917 he founded the Moldovan National Party. The year 1918 found him at the head of the unionist wave, for which he was elected first vice-president, then president of Sfatul Țării, the assembly which voted for the union of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March 1918. He also took parts in the assemblies at

Cernăuți Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...

and

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 historical ...

(

Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia The Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia ( ro, Marea Adunare Națională de la Alba Iulia) was an assembly held on 1 December 1918 in the city of Alba Iulia in which a total of 1,228 delegates from several areas inhabited by ethnic Romanians de ...

), where, respectively, the acts of union of

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 ...

and

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 ...

with Romania were proclaimed. After 1918 he held a number of government posts: Minister and Secretary of State for Bessarabia (1919–1920), Minister of Public Works (1927), Minister of Public Works and Communications (1930) interim Minister of Work, Health and Social Protection (1930), Minister Secretary of State (1928–1930, 1932, 1932–1933),

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(1918–1934). He was a member of the

National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...

after its founding in 1926. Throughout his time in office, Halippa sought to further Bessarabia's cultural development. He founded the

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 ...

Popular University (1917), the Moldovan Conservatory, the Society of Bessarabian Writers and Journalists and the Luceafărul Editorial Society and Bookstore in Chișinău (1940). In 1932 he edited and headed the magazine ''Viața Basarabiei'' ("Bessarabian Life") and the eponymous daily newspaper. In 1918 Halippa was chosen corresponding member of the Romanian Academy; removed in 1948, he was restored to its ranks posthumously in 1990. In 1950 he was arrested and imprisoned without trial at

, in

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; german: Marmaroschsiget or ''Siget''; hu, Máramarossziget, ; uk, Сигіт, Syhit; yi, סיגעט, Siget), until 1960 Sighet, is a city (Municipalities of Romania, municipality) in ...

. Two years later he was handed over to the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, taken to Chișinău, tried and sentenced to 25 years' hard labour in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. Brought back to Romania, he was held at

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 ...

until 1957.

Death

He died in

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 ...

in 1979 at the age of 95 and is buried in the cemetery of

Cernica Monastery 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 ...

Gallery

Image:Bessarabia Sfatul Tarii arrest.jpg Image:Sfatul Tarii, 10 December 1918.jpg,

Sfatul Țării Palace The Sfatul Țării Palace is a building in Chișinău, Moldova. Overview The building is located near Central Chișinău. It served as a meeting place for the Sfatul Țării, the assembly which proclaimed the independence of the Moldavian Democ ...

, 10 December 1918 Image:Stamp of Moldova 129.gif, Pan Halippa and

Image:Stamp of Moldova 045.jpg, His brother

Ion Halippa Ion Halippa (January 4, 1871, Cubolta – June 25, 1941) was a theologian, historian, archeologist, archivist and Romanian editor in Bessarabia, the elder brother of Pantelimon Halippa. Biography Ion Halippa was born to Nicolae and Paraschiva ...

(1871–1941)

Works

Halippa wrote over 280 poems, articles, sketches, translations and memorials, managing to edit a single volume of poetry during his lifetime: ''Flori de pârloagă'' ("Flowers of a Fallow Field", 1921, Iași), prefaced by

Mihail Sadoveanu Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; November 5, 1880 – October 19, 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communis ...

. He also wrote a few historical studies: ''Bessarabiâ do prisoedineniâ k Rossii'' ("Besarabia before Annexation to Russia") (Russian, 1914); ''Basarabia sub împăratul Aleksandr I (1812–1825)'' ("Bessarabia under Emperor Aleksandr I"), '' B. P. Hasdeu'' (1939). Posthumous works include ''Povestea vieții mele'' ("The Story of My Life", ''Patrimoniu'', Chișinău, 1990) and a volume of newspaper writings (2001). He also collaborated on the work ''Testament pentru urmași'' ("Last Will", 1991).

Bibliography

*Dorina N. Rusu, ''Membrii Academiei Române 1866-1999'', Editura Academiei Române, Bucharest, 1999 *Biblioteca Națională a Republicii Moldova,
Calendar Național. 2003

External links

Halippa's file at the Sighet Memorial

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halippa, Pan Romanian people of Moldovan descent Anti-Russification activists Inmates of Aiud prison People from Sîngerei District Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Romanian magazine editors Members of the Senate of Romania Inmates of Sighet prison Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) National Peasants' Party politicians 20th-century Romanian politicians University of Tartu alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni 1883 births 1979 deaths National Moldavian Party politicians Moldovan MPs 1917–1918 Presidents of the Moldovan Parliament Deputy Presidents of the Moldovan Parliament Bessarabian Peasants' Party politicians Romanian journalists Romanian socialists Moldovan journalists Male journalists Ministers for Bessarabia Romanian Ministers of Communications Romanian Ministers of Public Works Romanian Ministers of Labor Romanian Ministers of Health People extradited from Romania People extradited to the Soviet Union Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Peasants' Party (Romania) politicians Romanian nationalists 20th-century journalists Burials at Cernica Monastery Cemetery