Polgármesterek a dualizmuskori Erdélyben
Mayors in Dualist Era Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: The text presents the partial results of the research dedicated to the mayors of the cities/ towns of Transylvania, Banat, and Partium during the time of the Dual Monarchy. The research was commenced in 2023 and aims to address a significant deficit of Romanian historiography, considering that very scarce systematic analysis has been produced to date regarding the urban political elite of regions that now belong to Romania, but once were part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The investigation rests on a tripartite methodological foundation: (1) identification and categorization of 53 settlements that held urban status during the Dual Monarchy, (2) collective biographical (prosopographical) analysis of mayors, and (3) examination of the urban political context surrounding mandate-succession mechanisms. The initial phase of the research conducted on Transylvania resulted in the identification of 190 mayors across 40 towns and cities. The preliminary prosopography presented herein applies only a few criteria: ethnic diversity, socio-professional positions prior to assuming office, parliamentary experience or subsequent involvement in national politics, the number of mayors who simultaneously served as local party leaders, and how many came under disciplinary investigation. As a preliminary result, and by generalizing the situation from Kolozsvár, we can conclude that at least one-third of the mayors had a decisive influence over the development of their cities, successfully combining political consensus-building with effective municipal administration. The research findings will hopefully help to understand more deeply the political dimensions of urbanization processes during the time of the Dual Monarchy, and enrich the historical memory of local communities.

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