Andrei Saguna
Encyclopedia
Andrei Şaguna was a Metropolitan bishop
of the Romanian Orthodox Church
in Transylvania
, and one of the Romanian
community political leaders in the Habsburg Monarchy
, especially active during the 1848 Revolution
. He was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy
.
in origin, his family having settled with Naum Şaguna (Andrei's father) in Hungary
from Moscopole
, now Albania
. With the guidance of local Jesuits, Şaguna's parents had opted to convert to Roman Catholicism, seeking to obtain a better status than the second-class
one reserved for most Eastern Orthodox
subjects of the Habsburgs. However, the Şagunas most likely continued to practice their original religion in secret - the future Metropolitan was probably never a practising Catholic.
After he rejoined the Eastern Church while living and studying in Pest
, Andrei Şaguna became a monk and started his ecclesiastical career in the Banat
region. As he was becoming a convinced nationalist
, Şaguna refused to join the Serbian Orthodox Church
hierarchy in Sremski Karlovci
(at the time, the Serbian Church was the governing body of local Orthodox denominations). Instead, he left for Transylvania - where he was able to integrate within a Romanian-dominated clergy.
ing Emperor
Ferdinand I of Austria
and the Vienna
government.
As the Hungarians effectively imposed the union project at the end of the same month, Andrei Şaguna joined the side that still sought a compromise. The Romanian envoys led by him negotiatied with the Hungarian side until September, when the conflict between Hungary and the Habsburgs erupted, coupled with an understanding between the Romanians and Vienna (the former were allowed to create a loyalist administration in Transylvania). In October, as Transylvania became a battleground, Şaguna and the rest of the Romanian leadership took refuge in Sibiu (where the Austrian army still held some ground).
Austrian General Anton Freiherr von Puchner, who had taken refuge to the Wallachia
n region of Oltenia
, pressured Şaguna and other leaders to openly demand that Imperial Russian occupiers of Wallachia protect his last contingents as they evacuated Transylvania. His commanders were hoping to turn the tide by attacking Hungary from the west, and a Russian presence was not requested officially. However, as the troops in Transylvania were on the brink of destruction (and the rest of Puchner's army was being decimated by a cholera
epidemic), a Romanian request was judged honorable. Prolonged negotiations led to a compromise, through which the Romanians agreed to appeal to the Russians through an unsigned petition issued by "Sibiu citizens". The Russians did respond, and helped Austrians into Wallachia - the refugees were to be followed by all the Romanian leaders.
The Hungarians leadership reacted with anger at the outcome (since it prolonged the war and created a precedent). Information got out about Şaguna's involvement, which leader Lajos Kossuth
feared to be a confirmation that the Eastern Orthodox Romanians had accommodated Pan-Slavism
. In offers of peace he sent to Romanian insurgent Avram Iancu
, Kossuth singled out Şaguna as an enemy, specifying that no offer of amnesty
would include the cleric.
In February 1849, as the tide of a second and decisive Russian military action grew near, Andrei Şaguna left for Austria, where he drew suspicion by trying to reanimate a previous project, which asked for a common Romanians-in-Austria realm (Transylvania together with the Banat and Bukovina
). Such demands proved decisive after the crushing of Kossuth's movement: Austria steadily withdrew its offers to Romanians, as it feared that encouragement of their cause would lead to a Hungarian-like crisis.
In 1850, Şaguna was again leader of a delegation to Vienna, asking Franz Joseph I of Austria
for an institution of higher learning to be approved by the Austrian leadership, and further liberties and education rights for the Romanian community. As the Austrians were highly skeptical of Romanian goals, most of these remained unanswered, and further Romanian attempts were made useless after the 1867 Ausgleich
cut off communication with Austria. Although Şaguna's activities had assured the recognition of a Romanian Transylvanian Orthodox Church, the new administration meant the absorption of Transylvania into the Hungarian and centralized
half of Austria-Hungary
(with the disappearance of the Transylvanian Diet
). Şaguna and other mainstream Romanian leaders found themselves forced to limit their activities to the cultural field. The cleric was the main activist of the 1861-founded ASTRA cultural society, and remained focused on its activities up until his death.
Still committed to parliamentarism, Andrei Şaguna radicalized his views on ethnic representation and sanctioned all attempts at trans-ethnical policies (he was especially harsh on Romanians that voted for Hungarian candidates in elections to the Hungarian Parliament).
A large number of institutions bear the name Andrei Şaguna, most of them educational ones in and around Sibiu.
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, and one of the Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
community political leaders in the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, especially active during the 1848 Revolution
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
. He was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
.
Early life
He was AromanianAromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
in origin, his family having settled with Naum Şaguna (Andrei's father) in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
from Moscopole
Moscopole
Moscopole was a cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians, and now a small municipality in Korçë District, modern southeastern Albania. At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it hosted the first printing press in the Balkans outside Istanbul, educational institutions and numerous churches...
, now Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. With the guidance of local Jesuits, Şaguna's parents had opted to convert to Roman Catholicism, seeking to obtain a better status than the second-class
Second-class citizen
Second-class citizen is an informal term used to describe a person who is systematically discriminated against within a state or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there...
one reserved for most Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
subjects of the Habsburgs. However, the Şagunas most likely continued to practice their original religion in secret - the future Metropolitan was probably never a practising Catholic.
After he rejoined the Eastern Church while living and studying in Pest
Pest (city)
Pest is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two thirds of the city's territory. It is divided from Buda, the other part of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable parts are the Inner City, including the Hungarian Parliament, Heroes' Square and...
, Andrei Şaguna became a monk and started his ecclesiastical career in the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
region. As he was becoming a convinced nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, Şaguna refused to join the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
hierarchy in Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci is a town and municipality in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, situated on the bank of the river Danube, 8 km from Novi Sad...
(at the time, the Serbian Church was the governing body of local Orthodox denominations). Instead, he left for Transylvania - where he was able to integrate within a Romanian-dominated clergy.
In the Revolution
Şaguna got involved in the movement that sought increased rights for Romanians and demanded that Transylvania would become an autonomous entity of the Monarchy after the 1848 Revolution in Hungary (as opposed to the Hungarian plans for a Union of the two). As such, Şaguna was present at the Blaj Assembly in May, where he argued for a moderate position. The respect he enjoyed, as well as his will for mediation got him elected to the executive of the Romanian movement, and soon after he was to be the main delegate petitionPetition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
ing Emperor
Emperor of Austria
The Emperor of Austria was a hereditary imperial title and position proclaimed in 1804 by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until the last emperor relinquished power in 1918. The emperors retained the title of...
Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...
and the Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
government.
As the Hungarians effectively imposed the union project at the end of the same month, Andrei Şaguna joined the side that still sought a compromise. The Romanian envoys led by him negotiatied with the Hungarian side until September, when the conflict between Hungary and the Habsburgs erupted, coupled with an understanding between the Romanians and Vienna (the former were allowed to create a loyalist administration in Transylvania). In October, as Transylvania became a battleground, Şaguna and the rest of the Romanian leadership took refuge in Sibiu (where the Austrian army still held some ground).
Austrian General Anton Freiherr von Puchner, who had taken refuge to the Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
n region of Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
, pressured Şaguna and other leaders to openly demand that Imperial Russian occupiers of Wallachia protect his last contingents as they evacuated Transylvania. His commanders were hoping to turn the tide by attacking Hungary from the west, and a Russian presence was not requested officially. However, as the troops in Transylvania were on the brink of destruction (and the rest of Puchner's army was being decimated by a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic), a Romanian request was judged honorable. Prolonged negotiations led to a compromise, through which the Romanians agreed to appeal to the Russians through an unsigned petition issued by "Sibiu citizens". The Russians did respond, and helped Austrians into Wallachia - the refugees were to be followed by all the Romanian leaders.
The Hungarians leadership reacted with anger at the outcome (since it prolonged the war and created a precedent). Information got out about Şaguna's involvement, which leader Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
feared to be a confirmation that the Eastern Orthodox Romanians had accommodated Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
. In offers of peace he sent to Romanian insurgent Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especially active in the Ţara Moţilor region and the Apuseni Mountains...
, Kossuth singled out Şaguna as an enemy, specifying that no offer of amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
would include the cleric.
In February 1849, as the tide of a second and decisive Russian military action grew near, Andrei Şaguna left for Austria, where he drew suspicion by trying to reanimate a previous project, which asked for a common Romanians-in-Austria realm (Transylvania together with the Banat and Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
). Such demands proved decisive after the crushing of Kossuth's movement: Austria steadily withdrew its offers to Romanians, as it feared that encouragement of their cause would lead to a Hungarian-like crisis.
Later activities
In 1850, Şaguna was again leader of a delegation to Vienna, asking Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
for an institution of higher learning to be approved by the Austrian leadership, and further liberties and education rights for the Romanian community. As the Austrians were highly skeptical of Romanian goals, most of these remained unanswered, and further Romanian attempts were made useless after the 1867 Ausgleich
Ausgleich
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire...
cut off communication with Austria. Although Şaguna's activities had assured the recognition of a Romanian Transylvanian Orthodox Church, the new administration meant the absorption of Transylvania into the Hungarian and centralized
Centralized government
A centralized or centralised government is one in which power or legal authority is exerted or coordinated by a de facto political executive to which federal states, local authorities, and smaller units are considered subject...
half of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(with the disappearance of the Transylvanian Diet
Transylvanian Diet
The Transylvanian Diet was the constitutional and political body of Principality of Transylvania, and later of the Grand Principality of Transylvania...
). Şaguna and other mainstream Romanian leaders found themselves forced to limit their activities to the cultural field. The cleric was the main activist of the 1861-founded ASTRA cultural society, and remained focused on its activities up until his death.
Still committed to parliamentarism, Andrei Şaguna radicalized his views on ethnic representation and sanctioned all attempts at trans-ethnical policies (he was especially harsh on Romanians that voted for Hungarian candidates in elections to the Hungarian Parliament).
A large number of institutions bear the name Andrei Şaguna, most of them educational ones in and around Sibiu.