Vasile Tarnavschi (December 16, 1859 – February 4, 1945) was an Imperial Austrian-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. Born in Mihoveni, 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 Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central and Eastern E ...

from 1870 to 1878, followed by 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 1878 to 1882. After earning his doctorate there in 1886, he undertook specialized studies in the Old Testament and

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

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 and

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 ...

from 1898 to 1900. He served as a priest in Stroiești from 1887 to 1889, as a priest and religion teacher in Suceava from 1889 to 1896 and as a priest in

Czernowitz 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 ...

(''Cernăuți'') from 1896 to 1898. After the death of Isidor Onciul in 1897 and resulting vacancy of the Old Testament and Hebrew language professorate in the Czernowitz theology faculty, Tarnavschi was hired as a teaching assistant for those subjects in 1900. In 1903, he was promoted to substitute professor, and was full professor from 1906 to 1932. For a time, he was a substitute in the practical theology department, and taught non-mandatory courses on Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic. He served five terms as faculty dean and, from 1918 to 1920, was the first rector of the university after Bukovina passed under Romanian administration. He directed and edited ''Candela'' magazine from 1923 to 1932 and, from 1923 to 1924, was president of the Bukovina clergy association. His teaching and particularly his published work places him at the forefront of Romanian Orthodox Old Testament theologians. His research into exegesis and theology culminated in two books: ''Întroducere în sfintele cărți ale Testamentului Vechi'' (1928) and ''Arheologie biblică'' (1930); the latter remained in use as a general reference for decades. Petre Semen
Vasile Tarnavschi
at the

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University 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 ...

site Tarnavschi 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 ...

."Valerian Șesan"
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

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnavschi, Vasile 1859 births 1945 deaths People from Suceava County Romanian Orthodox priests Romanian Austro-Hungarians Chernivtsi University alumni Academic staff of Chernivtsi University Romanian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Old Testament scholars Romanian Hebraists Romanian university and college faculty deans Rectors of King Carol I University Romanian magazine editors Romanian schoolteachers