Rubin Patiția
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Rubin Patiția (–June 13, 1918) was an
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
ethnic Romanian lawyer and political activist. A native of the
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 ...
region, he trained as a lawyer, settling in
Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...
in the 1870s and using his position to advance the local Romanian community. Patiția achieved prominence as a signatory of the
Transylvanian Memorandum The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' () was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians, and demanding an end to perse ...
in 1892, an act that eventually led Patiția to spend time in prison. Soon after 1900, he began to withdraw from politics, dying near the close of World War I, shortly before the
union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...
.


Biography


Origins and education

Born in
Câmpeni Câmpeni (German: ''Topesdorf''; Hungarian: ''Topánfalva'') is a town in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The town administers 21 villages: Boncești, Borlești, Botești (''Botesbánya''), Certege (''Csertés''), Coasta Vâscului, Dănduț ...
,
Alba County Alba County () is a county (judeÈ›) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...
, in the
Țara Moților Țara Moților (), also known as ''Țara de Piatră'' ("The Stone Land") is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the upper basin of the Arieș and Crișul Alb River rivers. It covers parts of the Alba, Arad, Bi ...
region of
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 ...
, Patiția's father Ioan was a
Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...
priest, and his younger sister went on to marry a priest.Bologa, p. 360 In the spring of 1848, in the family home, Patiția met
Avram Iancu Avram Iancu (; ; 1824 – September 10, 1872) was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especiall ...
, who had arrived to discuss participation by the ''moți'' in the upcoming Blaj Assembly. The ensuing Transylvanian Revolution of 1848 deeply marked Patiția's development.Bologa, p. 361 Patiția attended primary school in Neagra, the
Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...
school in
Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
for three grades, the Romanian gymnasium in
Beiuș Beiuș (; ) is a municipiu, city in Bihor County, Romania near the Apuseni Mountains. The river Crișul Negru flows through Beiuș, and the city administers a single village, Delani (''Gyalány''). Between the late 18th and very early 20th centu ...
and the Lutheran gymnasium in Sibiu (with instruction in German), and a final year of gymnasium in Beiuș, where he perfected his Romanian. He took the graduating examination in 1862. In September 1852, Patiția again met Iancu, imprisoned in
Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...
. In 1866, he graduated from Sibiu's Saxon law academy. Metropolitan
Andrei Șaguna Andrei Șaguna (; 20 January 1808, Miskolc, Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungary – 28 June 1873, Nagyszeben, Kingdom of Hungary (1867–1918), Hungary) was a Metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania, and one of ...
refused to grant Patiția a scholarship for the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
. As a result, he became a lawyer's apprentice at the appeals court in
Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...
. In 1866, Patiția took a job as deputy clerk at the court in
Abrud Abrud (;Ștefan Pascu: A History of Transylvania, Dorset Press, 1990, , ; ) is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river Abrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat (''Abrudfalva''), Gura C ...
, later rising to clerk. In 1872, his contract was not renewed, possibly because Romanian rivals accused him of anti-Hungarian agitation. The same year, he was hired as a magistrate's assistant in Alba Iulia; while there, Patiția led a strident effort to maintain Romanian as one of the office's languages, which drew the ire of the mayor, a Magyarized Slovak. These unfavorable conditions, coupled with the
Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...
efforts undertaken by the
Kálmán Tisza Kálmán Tisza de BorosjenÅ‘ (archaic English: Coloman Tisza, or Koloman Tisza; 16 December 1830 â€“ 23 March 1902) was a Hungarian politician during the Austro-Hungarian empire who served as the Hungary, Hungarian prime minister between 18 ...
government beginning in 1875, prompted Patiția to enter private practice in 1878. He sought to defend Romanian peasants, declining to take up lawsuits that "kikes and usurers" brought against them. Patiția married Ana Rațiu (1850–1918) in 1870. Her father was a priest in Alba Iulia, and Patiția moved into his in-laws' home. The couple had two sons (later a military officer and a jurist, respectively) and a daughter;Bologa, p. 362 the latter married Zaharia Munteanu, himself a lawyer and participant in the national movement of Romania's Transylvanians. Ioan Dorin Popescu
"Memorandistul Rubin Patiția, un luptător pentru libertatea românilor și unitatea lor națională"
in ''Dacoromania'', nr. 44/2009


Political involvement

Patiția played an important role in the 1870 foundation of an
Astra Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...
chapter for Alba Iulia. He became its secretary in 1872 and a life member in 1887. The organization held annual conventions, where he would speak about the importance of education. The city's residents chose him as a delegate to the national conference of Romanian electors, held at Sibiu in 1881. Patiția was also sent to the second such conference, which took place in 1884 and discussed the program of political passivism adopted by Transylvania's Romanians. In 1887, he founded a public library in the building of Alba Iulia's Orthodox school; to Patiția's disappointment, it was later shut down by Nicolae Ivan. Determined to mark the February 1885 centenary since Horea, Cloșca and Crișan died, Patiția paid a hotel band to play Romanian patriotic songs one evening. The following morning, in spite of a telegraphed order from Metropolitan Miron Romanul to his priests barring them from holding liturgies and thus ensuring no demonstrations would occur, Patiția arrived in church intending to hold a
memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...
. Learning there would be no service, he sent word to the priest that he would ring the bells continuously, which would summon a crowd. The latter relented, and although only one bell was rung, many still showed up. From that point, the authorities considered Patiția a dangerous agitator and placed him under surveillance. In September, he was sent to prison for six weeks: three copies of the novel ''Horia'', published in the Romanian city of
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 ...
by Ioan Pop-Florantin, were found during a search of his home, and it was determined he had distributed a further seventeen copies. Patiția took part in the
Transylvanian Memorandum The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' () was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians, and demanding an end to perse ...
movement and was a strong supporter of sending the document immediately to
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Francis Joseph. In mid-1892, he accompanied a delegation to Vienna with the purpose of submitting the petition to the emperor, who refused to receive it; Patiția's writing on the episode is an important first-hand account. Patiția was a member of the executive committee of the
Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...
(PNR) from 1892 to 1905. As such, he was indicted and interrogated in May 1893, and tried and sentenced at
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 ( ...
a year later for his participation in the process. Patiția was held at
Vác Vác (; ; ; ) is a thousand-year old city in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''. Location Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank of the Danube river, below t ...
prison until September 1895, an experience he amply documented in writing. While there, he was visited by his younger son, then a student at Budapest University. After being released, Patiția continued as a lawyer and defender of those charged with "agitation", including the founders of a choir that performed Romanian patriotic music. Official harassment continued: he was charged with violence against state authorities but acquitted. However, his signing of a manifesto led to an eight-day prison sentence, carried out at Alba Iulia in September 1896. A supporter of PNR president Ioan Rațiu and of the outspoken newspaper '' Tribuna'', he criticized the Magyarization policy of the
Dezső Bánffy Baron Dezső Bánffy de Losonc (; 28 October 184324 May 1911) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1895 to 1899. Biography Born into the old Hungarian House of Bánffy, Dezső Bánffy was the son of Baron D ...
government.Bologa, p. 363 After Rațiu's death in 1902 and the PNR's shift toward an activist stance, which became party policy in 1905, the aging Patiția gradually withdrew from politics. In 1906, with the occasion of the jubilee exhibition held at
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
in honor of
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (born Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 20 April 1839 – ), was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as ...
, he fulfilled a longstanding wish to visit the
Romanian Old Kingdom The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...
. During the trip, Patiția went to
Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...
and saw the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
. In 1911, he was at
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 ('' ...
for the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Astra. Patiția authored a manuscript, around a thousand pages in length and kept at the National Museum of the Union. Autobiographical and historical in character, it deals with the events he experienced and the people he met over the course of his life. Patiția died and was buried at Alba Iulia less than six months before the
union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...
was proclaimed there. His home, which was inherited by his son-in-law Munteanu, is listed as a
historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Alba
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Notes


References

* Alexandru S. Bologa
"Memorandistul Rubin Patiția (1841–1918)"
in ''NOEMA'', XI/2012, pp. 359–65 1841 births 1918 deaths People from Câmpeni Romanian Austro-Hungarians Lawyers from Austria-Hungary Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church 19th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian activists Prisoners and detainees of Austria-Hungary {{Authority control