39 Facts About Alexandru Lapedatu

Alexandru I Lapedatu was Cults and Arts and State minister of Romania, President of the Senate of Romania, member of the Romanian Academy, its president and general secretary.

Alexandru Lapedatu was the son of Ioan Alexandru Lapedatu, with a Ph.

Alexandru Lapedatu had a twin brother, Ion Lapedatu, economist, politician and Governor of the National Bank of Romania.

Alexandru Lapedatu married Victoria Pana on 1 June 1911; a widow with two children from her first marriage, Mircea and Maria Lipaneanu.

Alexandru Lapedatu started 1883 the primary school in the village in which he was born, then he continued school in Brasov, moved from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania, in Iasi, came back to Brasov to start his college, but then returned to Iasi and received his bachelor's degree from the Central College in Iasi.

Alexandru Lapedatu studied at the Faculty of Philology and Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, graduating in 1904 and getting a Diploma in Geography and History in 1910.

Alexandru Lapedatu sustained himself financially during his studies by giving private lessons or getting various jobs, like night corrector, then as columnist with the journal "Romania Juna " and as a teacher for the Romanian language at the French College and the Lolliot College.

Alexandru Lapedatu was appointed Secretary of the Historic Monuments Commission in 1904, becoming a member on 12 August 1919, being then nominated President of its Transylvania section and elected President of the Historic Monuments Commission on 15 October 1941, performing this function until the commission has been disbanded by the communist regime in 1948.

Alexandru Lapedatu was active in a great number of commissions and associations.

Alexandru Lapedatu was nominated secretary of the Romanian Historical Commission in 1909, and became member from 1911 to 1919, re-confirmed by royal decree in 1924.

Alexandru Lapedatu was the secretary of the Committee of the "Steaua" Association established by Spiru Haret, editing its last 27 monographs, from No 20 to No 47, mostly with historical content.

Alexandru Lapedatu was the general director of the State Archives of Romania.

In parallel with his academic activities, Alexandru Lapedatu gave history conferences in Folk High Schools: in the Summer School in Valenii de Munte, initiated in 1914 by Nicolae Iorga; in the University Extension in Cluj, 1925, where he was elected Honorary President; and in Free University or Folk University Association under director Sabina Cantacuzino.

In 1910 Alexandru Lapedatu was elected correspondent member, then in 1918 active member of the History Section of the Romanian Academy.

Alexandru Lapedatu was elected vice-president, then President of the Romanian Academy, and at the end of his mandate was elected its Secretary General.

The list of the scientific publications by Alexandru Lapedatu contains 424 titles.

In 1920, Alexandru Lapedatu was nominated as member of the Coronation Commission to organize the festivities consecrating Ferdinand I as the King of all Romanians, formally closing the political process of the Union of Transylvania with Romania.

Alexandru Lapedatu joined the National Liberal Party in 1920, when he was elected a member of the Central Committee and of the Permanent Delegation, becoming the undeniable leader of the liberals in Transylvania.

At the foundation of the new University of Cluj, Alexandru Lapedatu was elected as the first professor to represent it in the Romanian Senate from 1919 to 1920.

Alexandru Lapedatu's first elected office as a member of the National Liberal Party was in 1922 as a member of the Assembly of Deputies from Ceica.

Alexandru Lapedatu was Arts and Cults Minister in the six Governments and State Minister in four Governments; from 9 June 1934, while State Minister in the Tatarescu Government, he was in charge of the Cults and Arts Department and the Minority Under-Secretariat; in addition to his mandate, he was as ad-interim Minister of Labour, Cooperation and Social Assurance in the Barbu Stirbei Government.

Alexandru Lapedatu's functions are listed in detail in the following table.

Alexandru Lapedatu entered in some circumscriptions in Transylvania in an electoral cartel with the Peasants' Party obtaining a modest and ephemeral electoral success in the elections from 19 November 1946, when two candidates were elected: Lapedatu in Cluj and Vasile Netea in Satu Mare, in spite of the tremendous pressure and falsifications perpetrated by the so-called Bloc of Democratic Parties dominated by the Communists.

Alexandru Lapedatu soon recognized that the communist repression would prevail, but did not give up hope: on 30 September 1949, it was reported to the Securitate that Alexandru Lapedatu "believes in the future of the nation and in the capitulation of Russia and of communism".

Alexandru Lapedatu's vision has been confirmed more than 50 years later, with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Alexandru Lapedatu left Iasi for Moscow on 28 July 1917, and stayed there until 19 December 1917, experiencing the arrival of the Bolshevik revolution.

Alexandru Lapedatu engaged politically in working for the Romanian unity in 1918, as President of the National Committee of the Romanian Refugees from Austria-Hungary, established in Odessa on 21 January 1918, then moved to Iasi.

In recognition to his competence, Alexandru Lapedatu was nominated between 1919 and 1922 as an expert in the Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference ; the documents he authored were submitted by Romania to the Conference and were used by the Romanian Delegation as basis for the negotiations.

Alexandru Lapedatu had cultural activities in various associations and foundations, such as in the Asociatia Transilvana pentru Literatura Romana si Cultura Poporului Roman that proclaimed him honorific member, then elected him member of the "demographic and ethnology-politic section".

Alexandru Lapedatu expressed his conviction that promoting the cultural development is an essential mission of the State and the nation, and proposed and implemented policies pursuing the enhancement of the cultural and artistic prestige of all cities, and of the country as a whole.

Alexandru Lapedatu formulated the principles of the monument preservation and restoration already in 1911.

Since the two exceptions mentioned in the Constitution were no more in the position to challenge State prerogatives, it was now possible for Alexandru Lapedatu to submit to the Parliament, after animated consultations and debates, a project that obtained almost the unanimity of votes both in the Chamber of Deputy and in the Senate; it was adopted on 22 April 1928 and remained in power until 1948.

In 1950, the communist regime cancelled the pension of Alexandru Lapedatu, leaving him without any revenue.

Alexandru Lapedatu died on 30 August 1950 in the Sighet Prison and was buried in an unmarked common grave.

Alexandru Lapedatu's cenotaph is in the "Groaveri" cemetery in Brasov.

Alexandru Lapedatu donated his library to the Central University Library of Cluj-Napoca; he is listed in the Golden Book of donors and the Professors' Reading Hall is named after him.

Alexandru Lapedatu's bust is placed in front of the house he built in Cluj-Napoca, where today functions the "Alexandru Lapedatu" Cultural Establishment and the European College Foundation.

Alexandru Lapedatu's name is on plaques on his native house in Sacele, in the National College Andrei Saguna and in the National College Saint Sava.

In 2019, a double monument dedicated to the Alexandru Lapedatu brothers was unveiled under the aegis of the Romanian Academy, the National Bank of Romania and the City of Brasov.