Vasile Burlă (February 9, 1840–January 9, 1905) was an Imperial Austrian-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 philologist. Born in Opăițeni, a village in the District of Bukovina that today is part of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, he attended primary school in nearby Storojineț. He then went to the gymnasium in the provincial capital

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''), taking his degree at

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 ...

Crișana Crișana (, , ) is a geographical and historical region of Romania named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Romania, the term is sometimes extended to include areas ...

. He attended the universities of

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

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, graduating in Greek and Latin philology. In 1873, he settled at

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 ...

, in 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 ...

, and was named teacher of Greek and Latin at the

National College National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He taught at the school for many years, and was director for a period. His students included

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

and

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

. In 1925, on the 20th anniversary of his death, his former students dedicated a bronze bust in front of the school. From 1880 to 1890, he taught at a girls' high school, and from 1898 to 1901 taught classics at the Boarding High School. From 1875 to 1876, he was substitute professor at

Iași University 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 ...

. Late in life, he was a school inspector. Burlă had to retire in 1901; he died four years later, and was buried at Eternitatea cemetery. His textbooks include ' (1873), ' (1888) and ' (1895). Burlă joined ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...

'' society in 1870; he was considered a leading member and an important collaborator of its magazine, ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' () is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by Titu Maiorescu in 1867. The ma ...

'', where he published a number of articles on philology, as well as polemics. Together with Miron Pompiliu and Pavel Paicu, he formed part of a "Latinist" group from Transylvania and Bukovina that had been steeped in the Latin language as the basis of its cultural outlook. He was considered a specialist in the classical languages by his colleagues, and nicknamed the philologist of Junimea. After the departure for

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 ...

of society patron

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Culture of Romania, Romanian culture in ...

, Burlă formed part of a circle (together with

Ștefan Vârgolici Ștefan G. Vârgolici (October 13, 1843–) was a Moldavian, later Romanian poet, critic and translator. Born in Borlești, Neamț County, he attended secondary school at '' Academia Mihăileană'' in Iași, followed by the literature and phi ...

, Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol, Alexandru Lambrior and Pompiliu) that met at the home of

Iacob Negruzzi Iacob C. Negruzzi (December 31, 1842 – January 6, 1932) was a Moldavian, later Romanian poet and prose writer. Born in Iași, he was the son of Constantin Negruzzi and his wife Maria (''née'' Gane). Living in Berlin between 1853 and 1863, he a ...

in order to simplify the orthographical standards of 1865. Burlă published his articles on linguistics as ''Studii filologice'' (1880). He became notorious for a running debate with ''Junimea'' rival

Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (; 26 February 1838 – ) was a Romanian writer and philologist who pioneered many branches of Romanian philology and history. Life He was born Tadeu Hâjdeu in Cristineștii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi ...

on the etymology of the word ''rață'' ("duck").Ionel Maftei, ''Personalități ieșene'', vol. II, pp. 58-59. Comitetul de cultură și educație socialistă al județului Iași, 1975 Burlă married Matilda Cugler in 1872. After the couple divorced, he married Ecaterina Mavrogheni, considerably raising his social and financial standing.Lucian Nastasă, ''Intelectualii și promovarea socială'', p. 41, 110. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Limes, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burla, Vasile 1840 births 1905 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast Romanian Austro-Hungarians Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Romania University of Graz alumni Romanian philologists Romanian Latinists Romanian schoolteachers Romanian textbook writers Junimists Burials at Eternitatea cemetery