This page refers to the historical figure.

For other uses, see Avram Iancu

(disambiguation)

Avram Iancu - portrait by Barbu Iscovescu

The former Piarist College of Cluj, today the Bthory Istvn Liceum

Avram Iancu (Romanian pronunciation: [avram jaku]; 1824 September 10, 1872)
was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local
chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 18481849. He was especially
active in the ara Moilor region and the Apuseni Mountains. The rallying of
peasants around him, as well as the allegiance he paid to the Habsburg got him
the moniker Criorul Munilor ("The Little Prince of the Mountains").[1]

Early life[edit]
Avram Iancu was born in Vidra de Sus (currently Avram Iancu, Alba
County), Transylvania, then part of the Austrian Empire into a family of peasants
that had been emancipated from serfdom. His father was Alisandru Iancu (17871855) and his mother was Maria Gligor. He had one elder brother, Ion (born
1822), who became a priest.

Avram Iancu's grandfather was Gheorghe Iancu (deceased before 1812), who had
seven children (four girls and three boys): girls - Sntioana, Maria, Zamfira and
Ana; boys - Alisandru (the father), Avram and Ioan.
Little is known today about Avram Iancu's childhood. It is known, by local
tradition, that he had a typical mo character, joyful and witty and he played well
the leaf, alphorn, flute and violin.
Avram Iancu attended primary school in his village, in the "Trsa" hamlet. His was
Mihai Gombo. After a while, he was sent by his parents at the school
in Neagra village. Further, he attended the school from Cmpeni, Alba county, his
teacher being Mihai Ioanette. He graduated the Cmpenischool at age 13.
After this, he went to school in Zlatna, where he studied in a Hungarian school, in
the Latin language, as Romanian schools didn't exist in this area. His teachers
were Iozephus Stanken (1837-1838), Gregorius Iakabus (1838-1839) and
Ludovicus Kovcs (1839-1840 and 1840-1841). He graduated at age 17.
He studied humanities from 1841, in the Piarist College of Cluj, graduating law
school.

Initial stages of 1848 Revolutions[edit]

Avram Iancu became a law clerk in Trgu Mure, and it was there that he learned
about the events of March 1848 of Vienna and Pest. His attitude at the time
showed the nature of the conflict that was to engulf Transylvania: while Iancu
welcomed the transition, he was indignant at the fact that Hungarian
revolutionaries (many of whom were landowners) refused to debate the abolition
of serfdom (which at the time was the state of the larger part of the Romanian
population in Transylvania).[2]
In the Apuseni mountains, he started rallying peasants in Cmpeni. The protests
he organized were recognized as peaceful by the authorities, but nevertheless
worried them. Iancu and his associate Ioan Buteanu quickly became the main
figures of the Romanian-led actions in the area, especially after they took part in
the Blaj Assemblies starting in April, where over 40,000 Romanians met to
protest against Transylvania becoming a part of Hungary.[3] In Blaj (formerly
known as Balzsfalva/Blasendorf) both opted for the main, radical wing of the
movement. Centered on Alexandru Papiu Ilarian, the group opposed the
Hungarian revolutionary option of uniting Transylvania and Hungary. It got into
conflict with the minority wing around Greek-Catholic Bishop Ioan Lemeni, one
which chose not to boycott the elections for the Hungarian Parliament.
While the union was carried of on May 30, 1848, the majority of Romanian
activists looked towards Vienna and Emperor Ferdinand, sharing the cause of
the Transylvanian Saxons. Things became heated after July 11, when Hungary

declared its independence. Austria started to open itself to the Romanian

demands, while bloody conflicts ensued between the Hungarian nobles and their
Romanian serfs. The last Assembly in Blaj saw the Habsburg governor, Anton
Freiherr von Puchner, approve of the arming of National Guards for Romanians
and Saxons. On September 27, the lynching of Austrian plenipotentiary Count
Lemberg by a Pest crowd cut off any dialogue between the two centers. The new
Emperor Franz Joseph and the Austrian government granted the Romanians
numerous liberties and rights; although Lajos Kossuth's government abolished
serfdom, this was no longer a match for the Imperial offer.

Conflict[edit]
Outbreak[edit]
The Austrians clearly rejected the October demand that the ethnical criteria
become the basis for internal borders, with the goal of creating a province for
Romanians (Transylvania grouped alongside Banat and Bukovina), as they did not
want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with the potential of
Romanian separatism. Yet they did not declare themselves hostile to the rapid
creation of Romanian administrative offices within Transylvania, one which
prevented Hungary from including the region in all but name.
The territory was organized in prefecturi ("prefectures"), with Avram Iancu and
Buteanu as two prefects in the Apuseni. Iancu's prefecture, the Auraria Gemina (a
name charged with Latinsymbolism), became the most important one as it took
over from bordering areas that were never really fully organized.
In the same month, the administrative efforts were put to a halt, as Hungarians
under Jzef Bem carried out a sweeping offensive through Transylvania. With the
discreet assistance ofImperial Russian troops, the Austrian army (except for the
garrisons at Alba Iulia and Deva) and the Austrian-Romanian administration
retreated to Wallachia and Wallachian Oltenia (both were, at the time, under
Russia's occupation).

Attrition[edit]
Avram Iancu's remained the only resistance force: he retreated to harsh terrain,
mounting a guerrilla campaign on Bem's forces, causing severe damage and
blocking the route to Alba Iulia. He was, however, challenged by severe
shortages himself: the Romanians had few guns and very little gunpowder. The
conflict dragged on for the next months, with all Hungarian attempts to seize the
mountain stronghold being overturned.[4][5]
In April 1849, Iancu was approached by the Hungarian envoy Ioan Drago (in
fact, a Romanian deputy in the Hungarian Parliament). Drago appeared to have
been acting out of his own desire for peace, and he worked hard to get the

Romanian leaders to meet him in Abrud and listen to the Hungarian demands.
Iancu's direct adversary, Hungarian commander Imre Hatvany, seems to have
taken profit on the provisional armistice to attack the Romanians in Abrud.[5] He
did not, however, benefit from a surprise, as Iancu and his men retreated and
then encircled him. In the meanwhile, Drago was lynched by the Abrud crowds,
in the belief that he was part of Imre Hatvany's ruse.
Hatvany also angered the Romanians by having Buteanu captured and murdered.
While his position became weaker, he was permanently attacked by Iancu's men,
until the major defeat of May 22. Hatvany and most of his armed group were
massacred by their adversaries, as Iancu captured their cannons, switching the
tactical advantage for the next months.[2][5] Kossuth was angered by Hatvany's
gesture (an inspection of the time dismissed all of Hatvany's close collaborators),
especially since it made future negotiations unlikely.
However, the conflict became less harsh: Iancu's men concentrated on taking
hold of local resources and supplies, opting to inflict losses only through
skirmishes. The Russian intervention in June precipitated events, especially
since Poles fighting in the Hungarian revolutionary contingents wanted to see an
all-out resistance to the Tsarist armies. People like Henryk Dembiskimediated for
an understanding between Kossuth and the Wallachian migr revolutionaries.
The latter, understandably close to Avram Iancu (especially Nicolae
Blcescu, Gheorghe Magheru, Alexandru G. Golescu, and Ion Ghica) were also
keen to inflict a defeat on the Russian armies that had crushed their movement
in September 1848.

Negotiations[edit]
Blcescu and Kossuth met in May 1849, in Debrecen. The contact has for long
been celebrated by Romanian Marxist historians and politicians: Karl Marx's
condemnation of everything opposing Kossuth had led to any Romanian initiative
being automatically considered "reactionary". In fact, it appears that the
agreement was in no way a pact: Kossuth meant to flatter the Wallachians, by
getting them to champion the idea of Iancu's armies leaving Transylvania for
good, in order to help Blcescu in Bucharest. While agreeing to mediate for
peace, Blcescu never presented these terms to the fighters in the Apuseni. His
personal documents (commented by Liviu Maior) show that the un-realistic
assumptions of Kossuth had made him view the Hungarian leader as a
"demagogue".[4]
Even more contradictory, the only thing Avram Iancu agreed to (and which no
party had asked for) was his forces' "neutrality" in the conflict between Russia
and Hungary.[4] Thus, he secured his position as the Hungarian armies suffered

defeats in July, culminating in the Battle of Segesvr (Sighioara), and then the
capitulation of August 13.

Later years[edit]
Avram Iancu agreed to disarm as soon as the Austrians took over, and wrote a
detailed report to the new governor of Transylvania, General Ludwig von
Wohlgemuth (in 1850). In order to avoid suspicion of Romanian separatism, the
document does not mention the contacts with the Wallachians. As the Austrians
granted the abolition of serfdom, they also forbade all representative institutions
in Transylvania. While Hungarian nationalism was slowly fitting in the pattern that
would make the Ausgleich acceptable for both sides involved, the Romanian
option raised more and more irritation. The revolutionary zeal it had found under
Iancu, although profiting the Monarchy, could also prove to be a weapon used for
very different goals (the Austrians were especially fearful that the Eastern
Orthodox faith of the Romanians would accommodate itself with Pan-Slavism,
completing the gap between Serbia and the Russian Empire).
It is very possible that Iancu was not able to properly observe the changes. While
decision for his initial arrest (in December 1849) was quickly overturned after
local protests (and explained as an abuse), he was censored throughout his life,
had his library confiscated, and was placed under surveillance. He was even
arrested a second time, in 1852, after it was presumed that his presence alone
served to inflame local sentiments. Soon after his release, Iancu visited Vienna
and attempted to petition the Emperor. He was prevented to do so by the police,
a public humiliation which provoked a nervous breakdown from which he never
recovered. Avram Iancu died on September 10, 1872 at Baia de Cri. His body
was buried, according to his wish, under Horea's tree in ebea (by tradition, the
place where the Revolt of Horea, Cloca and Crian had started).[1]