Christian Tell was a 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...

n-born 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 and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n politician.

Early life

Born in Braşov

Brasov

Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....

, Tell studied at Gheorghe Lazăr

Gheorghe Lazar

Gheorghe Lazăr , born and died in Avrig, Sibiu County, was a Transylvanian-born Romanian scholar, the founder of the first Romanian language school - in Bucharest, 1818.-Biography:...

's school, and then at the Saint Sava Academy in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, and became close to Ion Heliade Rădulescu

Ion Heliade Radulescu

Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade was a Wallachian-born Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician...

's version of Radicalism

Radicalism (historical)

The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...

. He entered the Military forces

Military of the Ottoman Empire

The history of military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years between 1300 and 1453 , the classical period covers the years between 1451 and 1606 , the reformation period covers the years between 1606 and 1826 ,...

 of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 and fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829

Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829

The Russo–Turkish War of 1828–1829 was sparked by the Greek War of Independence. The war broke out after the Sultan, incensed by the Russian participation in the Battle of Navarino, closed the Dardanelles for Russian ships and revoked the Akkerman Convention....

, earning the rank of Captain; in 1830, he entered service in the newly-founded Wallachian Army, and, as a nationalist

Romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

 and Freemason

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, began his participation in the subsersive secret society Frăţia ("Brotherhood").

In the revolution

Alongside Gheorghe Magheru

Gheorghe Magheru

General Gheorghe Magheru was a Romanian revolutionary and soldier from Wallachia, and political ally of Nicolae Bălcescu.-A Pandur and radical conspirator:...

, Tell was leader of the military component of the 1848 Wallachian revolution. Present at the reading of the Islaz Proclamation on June 9, he became a member of the Revolutionary Committee (alongside his fellow conspirators, including Nicolae Bălcescu

Nicolae Balcescu

Nicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...

 and Ion Ghica

Ion Ghica

Ion Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...

), and, after the June 11 revolt in Bucharest, a member of the Provisional Government of Wallachia.

After the brief reactionary

Reactionary

The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...

 coup attempt of June 19, he helped organize the defense of the revolutionary power. He was charged with the creation of national guards - although his attitudes of the time indicate that he was moving towards Conservatism

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

, an attribute which was used by the Wallachian revolutionaries in August, when the threat of an Ottoman intervention made the Provisional Government nominate a body of three moderate regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

s (alongside Tell, it included Ion Heliade Rădulescu

Ion Heliade Radulescu

Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade was a Wallachian-born Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician...

 and Nicolae Golescu

Nicolae Golescu

Nicolae Golescu was a Wallachian Romanian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Romania in 1860 and May–November 1868.-Early life:...

).

Later life

When the Ottomans ultimately interevened against the revolution (September 1848) in order to satisfy the Russian request for order, Tell and most other revolutionaries fled the country; the former regents remained leaders of the moderate faction.

He returned in 1857, when the decrease in Russian influence after the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 made possible a call for a union of the Danubian Principalities

Danubian Principalities

Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...

, and was consequently an activist in the unionist camp prior to the election of Alexander John Cuza

Alexander John Cuza

Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...

 as ruler of both Wallachia and Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

 (Tell was a deputy to the Ad hoc Divan of Wallachia and a member of the Common Commission in Focşani

Focsani

Focşani is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the shores the Milcov river, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population of 101,854.-Geography:...

). He served as minister in several cabinets under Cuza and Prince Carol

Carol I of Romania

Carol I , born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup...

, and was Mayor of Bucharest

Mayor of Bucharest

The Mayor of Bucharest , sometimes known as the General Mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for city-wide affairs, such as the water system, the transport system and the main boulevards...

between November 1870 and January 1871.