(1805-1870) Born in the Banat, the son of an officer in a
Habsburg military border regiment, Murgu was a true
rabble-rouser, national militant, and a man in almost continuous
motion and trouble from 1839 to 1848. He studied philosophy at
Seghedin and law at Pest, where he completed a doctorate in 1834.
He was appointed to teach philosophy at the Academia Mihaileana
in Iasi, but moved to Bucuresti's St. Sava School in 1837 after
conflict with Prince Mihail Sturdza. He was part of a
revolutionary plot in Muntenia in 1840 (along with Dimitrie
Filipescu, J. A. Vaillant, Nicolae Balcescu, and Cezar Bolliac),
arrested, and expelled. Back in the Banat, he became a feared
spokesman for national and social reform, and even union of Banat
with Muntenia. This led to a lengthy prison term from 1845 to
1848.
Released in April 1848, Murgu picked up where he had left off.
He was elected deputy to the Pest Parliament, called and presided
over the Lugoj Romanian assembly in June, 1848, and tried to
establish a Romanian army in the Banat. He also tried to
establish links with the Muntenian revolution. He was one of the
most intransigent Romanian leaders in 1848 and particularly
militant on questions involving the national language. At the
same time, he attempted in 1849 to reach an accord with the
Magyars As a consequence of his radical activities, he was once
more imprisoned, from 1849 to 1853. He returned to politics in
1861, but his popularity had peaked.
G. Bogdan-Duica, Eftimie Murgu Bucuresti, 1937.
Cornelia Bodea, Lupta Romanilor
pentru unitatea nationala
18343-1849 Bucuresti, 1967.
I. D. Suciu, Revolutia de la 1848-1849 in Banat
Bucuresti, 1968
Eftimie Murgu, Scrieri edited by I. D. Suciu
Bucurest, 1969.
JGC revised this fil
e
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/murgu.htm) on
October 22, 2004.
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1999, 2004 James Chastain.
Paul E. Michelson
Bibliography