Valerian Șesan
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Valerian Șesan (June 28, 1878–May 10, 1940) 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 ...
-born
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 theologian. Born in Slobozia Rarancei, in Austrian-ruled
Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
, his father 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. From 1888 to 1896, he attended the Romanian gymnasium in
Czernowitz Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivtsi serv ...
(''Cernăuți''), followed by the theology faculty of Czernowitz University from 1896 to 1900. After receiving a doctorate from that institution in 1901, he studied at the law faculties of Czernowitz,
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, obtaining a law doctorate at Prague in 1916. Meanwhile, in 1906-1907, he took specialty courses at
Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...
and in Jerusalem. Then, from 1907 to 1908, he studied at the theological academies of
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
,
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and
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. From 1909 to 1918, he served as a deacon at Czernowitz Cathedral. In 1918, the year Bukovina was integrated into
Greater Romania Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...
, Șesan was ordained a priest; in 1920, he was made an archpriest. From 1911 to 1939, he served as Czech translator for the local appeals court.Satco and Niculică, p. 590 Șesan joined the Czernowitz University faculty in 1913 as a teaching assistant in church law at the theology faculty. He became a substitute professor in 1918 and was full professor from 1919 until his death. He was faculty dean for 1921-1922 and university rector from 1923 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1930. Additionally, he was on the law faculty. Within the church, he sat on the higher-level consistory (1919-1925); played an important role in organizing the church hierarchy in the enlarged Romanian state; was economic adviser to his bishop (1925-1931), a member of the national church congress, delegate to an ecclesiastical congress held at Prague in 1928; and, from 1936 to 1940, presided over the Bukovina Orthodox clergy association. From 1922 to 1925, he directed the government's religious affairs department for Bukovina. He founded the Friends of Czechoslovakia Cultural Association at Cernăuți and belonged to the Bukovina society for Romanian culture and literature. Șesan published a number of works on canon law, of interest both to Orthodox in general and to the Romanian church in particular. He wrote a textbook published posthumously and drafted legislative proposals for unifying church administration after 1918. He was an opponent of allowing the laity to exercise power within the church. His studies, articles, reviews and speeches appeared in ''Candela'' and ''Glasul Bucovinei'' at Cernăuți and in ''Cuvântul Preoțesc'' at
Rădăuți Rădăuți (; ; ; ; , ''Radivtsi''; ''Radevits''; ) is a town in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. According to the 2021 census, Rădăuți is the second largest urban settlement in the ...
."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


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References

*Emil Satco, Alis Niculică (eds.), ''Enciclopedia Bucovinei'', Vol. III. Suceava: Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sesan, Valerian 1878 births 1940 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast Romanian Orthodox priests Romanian Austro-Hungarians Chernivtsi University alumni Academic staff of Chernivtsi University Romanian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Canonical theologians Rectors of King Carol I University