Ion Popescu was a Romanian

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...

 teacher and writer. He was born in northern 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 attended school in Baia Mare

Baia Mare

Baia Mare is a municipality in northwestern Romania and the capital of Maramureş County. The city is situated about 600 kilometres from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, 70 kilometres from the border with Hungary and 50 kilometres from the border with Ukraine...

 and Cluj

Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...

.

Forced to flee from 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...

 because of his involvement in the 1848 Revolution, in 1849 Ion Popescu settled in Bârlad

Bârlad

Bârlad is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Bârlad River, which waters the high plains of eastern Moldavia....

 where he first occupied a position of teacher in a primary school, the only school existing at that time in the city. After the founding of the Gheorghe Roşca Codreanu High School

Gheorghe Rosca Codreanu High School

The Gheorghe Roşca Codreanu National College is a high school in the city of Bârlad, Romania.The school was established by Gheorghe Roşca Codreanu as a gymnasium in 1858, being upgraded to a complete high school in 1864. It is the fourth high school established in Romania, after ones in Bucharest,...

 in Bârlad, Ion Popescu was appointed professor of Latin, keeping his position till he retired in 1892. Ion Popescu was also one of the founders of the "Normal school

Normal school

A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 for Boys" of Bârlad

Bârlad

Bârlad is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Bârlad River, which waters the high plains of eastern Moldavia....

 for the training of elementary teachers.

In 1870 he was one of the founders of the cultural society "Unirea" and on September 27, 1870 established the magazine Semănătorul. He also founded the "Associated Professors' Printing Press" of Bârlad where the magazine and other teaching books were printed.

Ion Popescu died of diabetes on July 11, 1901 in Bârlad.

A bust of Ion Popescu was completed by sculptor Ion Dimitriu-Bârlad and is located in front of the "Normal school" in Bârlad.