Ion Nistor
Encyclopedia
Ion Nistor was a prominent Romania
n historian and politician. He was a member of the Romanian Academy
after 1911, and served as administrator of its Library.
— in Austria-Hungary
at the time, it is now included in Suceava County
, Romania. He studied at the local school in Vicovul de Sus, then at Elementary School of Rădăuţi
and at the Rădăuţi German
High School, getting his Matura
in 1897.
He then studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Czernowitz and between 1898 and 1900, he completed his military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army
(serving in Polei
and in Vienna
), and graduated from the University in 1902, after which he was named teacher of history and geography at the Suceava Classic High school. Together with some of his friends, Nistor edited a magazine titled Junimea Literară between 1904 and 1914, first published in Rădăuţi and then in Suceava.
In 1904, Nistor married Virginia Puliuc, daughter of the Gheorghe Pauliuc (a Romanian Orthodox
priest from Burla
), and, one year later, on July 5, 1905, Oltea, his only child, was born. He then moved to teach at the Orthodox High School, making use of the institution's library, better suited to his studies into the history of Moldavia
.
In 1908-1909 and 1910–1911, he studied at the University of Vienna
and completed his PhD
under Konstantin Josef Jireček
, with a thesis on Moldavia's aspirations regarding Pokuttya
. After that, he furthered his studies at the Universities of Munich
, Leipzig
and Berlin
, receiving (1911) his Docent
title and the Venia legendi, which allowed him to teach at the University of Vienna, where he gave lectures on the history of the Romanians.
A year later, in 1912, he moved to Czernowitz, to hold the chair of Southeastern European history, but after the start of World War I
, he moved to the Romanian Old Kingdom
, where he published various studies on the history of Bukovina
. He was elected a member of the Romanian Academy
in 1915. He also authored an ethnographic
map of Bukovina under Austria
n domination (see Cisleithania
), based on the census of 1910.
Living in Iaşi
by the time Romania entered the war on the Entente side
, Nistor left Romania at the climax of the Romanian Campaign
(when troops of the Central Powers
threatened the region). In July 1917, he moved to Odessa
, in territory held by the Russian Provisional Government
, and began teaching Romanian history to the (mostly Bessarabia
n) students at the University of Novorossiya. He interrupted the course in November 1917, after a group of armed Russian revolutionaries
broke into the University building. Nistor was, however, safely escorted outside by some of the Bessarabian soldiers who were part of his audience.
In February 1918, together with other Austro-Hungarian refugees (including Octavian Goga
), Nistor departed for Ovidiopol
, Cetatea Albă and then finally reached Chişinău
. He stayed in the city, where he argued for the founding of a Moldavian University, and soon began lecturing on the History of the Romanians. He used the data gathered from the Chişinău Archives to write the History of Bessarabia, published in 1923. Nistor also witnessed the Sfatul Ţării
session which voted the union with Romania.
After the war ended, he returned to his native Bukovina and he was one of the members of the National Assembly of Bukovina in Cernăuţi
, which voted for the union with Romania on November 28, 1918. Nistor was also one of the fifteen Bukovinans who presented the Union Act to Romania's King
Ferdinand I
.
Nistor presided upon the Democratic Union Party
, which had a centralist
agenda. Between December 18 and May 2, he was a member of Greater Romania
's Ion I. C. Brătianu
government, as a Minister for Bukovina, and, between February 14 and February 27, also held the rank of minister for Bessarabia, while the nominal minister was delegated to the Paris Peace Conference
. Between May 1920 and January 1922, Nistor was a Senator
in the Parliament of Romania
.
In the interwar period
, Nistor wrote many historical works, including The Origin of Romanians
and the Vlachs
of Thessalia and Epirus
and The History of Romanians in Transnistria
(1925). He was also the director of the historical magazine Codrii Cosminului, which was published between 1924 and 1939.
Elected rector
of the University of Cernăuţi
in 1920, at the same time when he joined the National Liberal Party
(PNL), Nistor was again the Minister of State for Bukovina in the fourth Brătianu cabinet (1922–1926), Minister of Public Works in the fifth Brătianu cabinet (1927–1928), and Minister of Labour in the first Gheorghe Tătărescu
cabinet (1934). In 1938, he broke with the PNL and sided with the National Renaissance Front
regime established by King Carol II
, and was Minister of the Cults and Arts in the second Tătărescu cabinet (November 24, 1939–May 12, 1940).
Starting October 1940, under the National Legionary State
, Nistor taught at the University of Bucharest
, becoming the target of Iron Guard
persecutions for the support he had given to King Carol. Following the Guard's defeat during the Legionnaires' Rebellion
of 1941, he sent a congratulatory telegram to Conducător
Ion Antonescu
. He was pensioned in the same year, and, starting 1943, he was in charge of Library of the Romanian Academy
. Nistor kept the latter office until after the establishment of a Communist regime
, when the purge of anti-communists
in the Academy began (1948).
His house was nationalized
, and Nistor had to live in the attic of his daughter's house (which was also nationalized). On the night of May 5/6, 1950, Nistor was arrested for political reasons by the Securitate
, being incarcerated in Sighet prison
. Originally sentenced to 24 months in prison, his sentence was subsequently raised to 60 months.
He was freed five years and two months later. After that, he continued writing, completing his works, History of Bukovina
and The History of Romanians.
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 historian and politician. He was a 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....
after 1911, and served as administrator of its Library.
Biography
Nistor was born into a family of peasants in the Bivolărie hamlet of Vicovul de Sus, BukovinaBukovina
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...
— in 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...
at the time, it is now included in Suceava County
Suceava County
Suceava is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia and few villages in Transylvania, with the capital city at Suceava.- Demographics :...
, Romania. He studied at the local school in Vicovul de Sus, then at Elementary School of Rădăuţi
Radauti
Rădăuţi is a municipality in Suceava County, Romania with a population of 27,759 inhabitants.-Geography and demographics:Rădăuţi is situated in Bucovina, northern Moldavia, on a plain between the Suceava and Suceviţa rivers, north from Suceava, at 375 m altitude...
and at the Rădăuţi German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
High School, getting his Matura
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
in 1897.
He then studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Czernowitz and between 1898 and 1900, he completed his military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
(serving in Polei
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
and in 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...
), and graduated from the University in 1902, after which he was named teacher of history and geography at the Suceava Classic High school. Together with some of his friends, Nistor edited a magazine titled Junimea Literară between 1904 and 1914, first published in Rădăuţi and then in Suceava.
In 1904, Nistor married Virginia Puliuc, daughter of the Gheorghe Pauliuc (a Romanian Orthodox
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...
priest from Burla
Burla, Suceava
Burla is a commune located in Suceava County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Burla, part of Volovăţ Commune until 2004, when it was split off....
), and, one year later, on July 5, 1905, Oltea, his only child, was born. He then moved to teach at the Orthodox High School, making use of the institution's library, better suited to his studies into the history of 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...
.
In 1908-1909 and 1910–1911, he studied at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and completed his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
under Konstantin Josef Jireček
Konstantin Josef Jirecek
Konstantin Josef Jireček , son of Josef Jireček, was a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.He entered the Bulgarian service in 1879, and in 1881 became minister of education at Sofia...
, with a thesis on Moldavia's aspirations regarding Pokuttya
Pokuttya
Pokuttya or Pokuttia is a historical area of East-Central Europe, between upper Prut and Cheremosh rivers, in modern Ukraine. Historically it was a culturally distinct area inhabitated by Ukrainians and Romanians on the previously unpopulated borderlands between the lands of Lviv and Halych...
. After that, he furthered his studies at the Universities of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , commonly known as the University of Munich or LMU, is a university in Munich, Germany...
, Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
and Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
, receiving (1911) his Docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
title and the Venia legendi, which allowed him to teach at the University of Vienna, where he gave lectures on the history of the Romanians.
A year later, in 1912, he moved to Czernowitz, to hold the chair of Southeastern European history, but after the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he moved to the Romanian Old Kingdom
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Danubian Principalities—Wallachia and Moldavia...
, where he published various studies on the history of 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...
. He was elected a 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....
in 1915. He also authored an ethnographic
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
map of Bukovina under Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n domination (see Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
), based on the census of 1910.
Living in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
by the time Romania entered the war on the Entente side
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
, Nistor left Romania at the climax of the Romanian Campaign
Romanian Campaign (World War I)
The Romanian Campaign was part of the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917, across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian...
(when troops of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
threatened the region). In July 1917, he moved to Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, in territory held by the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
, and began teaching Romanian history to the (mostly Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n) students at the University of Novorossiya. He interrupted the course in November 1917, after a group of armed Russian revolutionaries
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
broke into the University building. Nistor was, however, safely escorted outside by some of the Bessarabian soldiers who were part of his audience.
In February 1918, together with other Austro-Hungarian refugees (including Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
), Nistor departed for Ovidiopol
Ovidiopol
Ovidiopol is a coastal town in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine. It is located at around .The town was named after Ovid, the Roman poet, based on the claim of Dimitrie Cantemir in his Descriptio Moldaviae that a local lake near Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi was named in Romanian Lacul Ovidului Ovidiopol is a...
, Cetatea Albă and then finally reached Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
. He stayed in the city, where he argued for the founding of a Moldavian University, and soon began lecturing on the History of the Romanians. He used the data gathered from the Chişinău Archives to write the History of Bessarabia, published in 1923. Nistor also witnessed the Sfatul Ţării
Sfatul Tarii
Sfatul Țării was, in 1917-1918, the National Assembly of the Governorate of Bessarabia of the disintegrating Russian Empire, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917, and then union with Romania in April 1918.-Russian participation in World War I:In August...
session which voted the union with Romania.
After the war ended, he returned to his native Bukovina and he was one of the members of the National Assembly of Bukovina in Cernăuţi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
, which voted for the union with Romania on November 28, 1918. Nistor was also one of the fifteen Bukovinans who presented the Union Act to Romania's King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand was the King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death.-Early life:Born in Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany, the Roman Catholic Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, was a son of Leopold, Prince of...
.
Nistor presided upon the Democratic Union Party
Democratic Union Party (Bukovina)
The Democratic Union Party was a political group in Romania, one of the political forces which claimed to represent the ethnic Romanian community of Bukovina province. The PDU was active in the wake of World War I, between 1919 and 1923, having for its leader the historian and nationalist militant...
, which had a centralist
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...
agenda. Between December 18 and May 2, he was a member of Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
's Ion I. C. Brătianu
Ion I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
government, as a Minister for Bukovina, and, between February 14 and February 27, also held the rank of minister for Bessarabia, while the nominal minister was delegated to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
. Between May 1920 and January 1922, Nistor was a Senator
Senate of Romania
The Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian...
in the Parliament of Romania
Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
.
In the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
, Nistor wrote many historical works, including The Origin of Romanians
Origin of Romanians
The origin of the Romanians – the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people – can be traced back to the region’s Romanized inhabitants living, within the Roman Empire, in the lands north of the Jireček Line The origin of the Romanians – the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people (speakers of a Romance...
and the Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
of Thessalia and Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
and The History of Romanians in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
(1925). He was also the director of the historical magazine Codrii Cosminului, which was published between 1924 and 1939.
Elected rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the University of Cernăuţi
Chernivtsi University
The Chernivtsi National University is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina, in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine....
in 1920, at the same time when he joined the National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Romania)
The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...
(PNL), Nistor was again the Minister of State for Bukovina in the fourth Brătianu cabinet (1922–1926), Minister of Public Works in the fifth Brătianu cabinet (1927–1928), and Minister of Labour in the first Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
cabinet (1934). In 1938, he broke with the PNL and sided with the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
regime established by King Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
, and was Minister of the Cults and Arts in the second Tătărescu cabinet (November 24, 1939–May 12, 1940).
Starting October 1940, under the National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
, Nistor taught at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, becoming the target of Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
persecutions for the support he had given to King Carol. Following the Guard's defeat during the Legionnaires' Rebellion
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
of 1941, he sent a congratulatory telegram to Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
. He was pensioned in the same year, and, starting 1943, he was in charge of Library 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....
. Nistor kept the latter office until after the establishment of a Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, when the purge of anti-communists
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
in the Academy began (1948).
His house was nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
, and Nistor had to live in the attic of his daughter's house (which was also nationalized). On the night of May 5/6, 1950, Nistor was arrested for political reasons by the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
, being incarcerated in Sighet prison
Sighet prison
The Sighet prison, located in the town of Sighetu Marmaţiei, Maramureş county, Romania, was used by the communist regime to hold political prisoners...
. Originally sentenced to 24 months in prison, his sentence was subsequently raised to 60 months.
He was freed five years and two months later. After that, he continued writing, completing his works, History of 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...
and The History of Romanians.