Ștefan Micle (25 September 1820 – 4 August 1879) was an Imperial Austrian-born and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n physicist and chemist. Born into a poor family in

Feleacu Feleacu (; ) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Casele Micești (''Kaszoly''), Feleacu, Gheorghieni (''Györgyfalva''), Sărădiș (''Seregélyes''), and Vâlcele (''Bányabükk''). Demographics A ...

, then in Imperial Austrian-ruled

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

and now in

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

, he attended primary school in nearby

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

(''Kolozsvár''). He went to high school in Cluj,

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 17,816 inhabitants as of 2021. The city administers eight villages: Deleni-Obârșie ('' ...

, and

Bistrița (; , archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , ) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of 78,877 inhabitants as of 2021 and administers s ...

, and began work as an apprentice during that time in order to support himself. In 1843, he graduated with high marks from the Cluj Academy of Law (later incorporated in

Franz Joseph University Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University () was the second modern university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Founded in 1872, its seat was initially in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). After World War I, it first moved to Budap ...

). He was an active participant during the Transylvanian Revolution of 1848. In 1850, after receiving a scholarship, he left for the Vienna Polytechnic. There, he proved an able experimenter, and a professor allowed him to live in the physics institute's building. In 1856, invited by August Treboniu Laurian, he came to

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, where he was named professor of physics and chemistry at the newly founded institute of higher education that evolved from '' Academia Mihăileană''. His hiring at Iași formed part of a wider educational reform initiated by ''

domnitor ''Prince Domnitor'', in full ''Principe Domnitor'' (Romanian pl. ''Principi Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince regnant" in English and most other languages, ...

Grigore Alexandru Ghica Grigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika (1803 or 1807 – 24 August 1857) was a Prince of Moldavia between 14 October 1849, and June 1853, and again between 30 October 1854, and 3 June 1856. His wife was Helena, a member of the Sturdza family and da ...

in 1849. In 1858, in order to popularize science, he initiated a free physics course which drew large audiences. When the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

was founded in 1860, he was named full professor in the physics and chemistry department. He taught both subjects until 1878, when the department split and he was left with only the physics section. Together with

Petru Poni Petru Poni (4 January 1841 – 2 April 1925) was a Romanian chemist and mineralogist. Born into a family of ''răzeși'' (free peasants) in Săcărești, Iași County, he attended primary school in Târgu Frumos. In 1852, he enrolled in '' Acade ...

, he pushed for the establishment of a chemistry laboratory. This began to take shape in the 1864–1865 academic year, when 2000 lei were allocated in the university budget for said purpose. He served as the university's rector between 1867 and 1875. In August 1864, at Cluj, he married Veronica Câmpeanu. His scientific activity primarily consisted of astronomical and meteorological observations. Although his lecture notes are lost, Constantin Istrati reported seeing manuscripts of Micle's on mineralogy; agricultural mechanics; astronomy; botany; zoology; and analytic, inorganic, organic and experimental chemistry. He died in Iași in 1879.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Micle, Stefan 1820 births 1879 deaths People from Cluj County 19th-century Romanian people in Transylvania Immigrants to the Principality of Moldavia Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to Romania Romanian physicists Romanian chemists Romanian revolutionaries People of the Revolutions of 1848 Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Rectors of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University TU Wien alumni Franz Joseph University alumni 19th-century Moldavian people