Vasile Maniu și contribuția sa la cercetarea și cunoașterea istoriei Banatului medieval
Vasile Maniu and His Contribution to the Research and Knowledge of the Middle Ages of Banat

Summary/Abstract: Among the prominent Romanian scholars who have devoted special interest and passion to researching the past of the Romanian province of Banat is the valuable publicist, historian, writer, lawyer, politician, revolutionary, and Romanian academic, originally from Banat, Vasile Maniu. A prominent figure in Romanian social and cultural life in the second half of the 19th century, Vasile Maniu was born on December 18, 1824 (this year marks the 200th anniversary of his birth), in Lugoj, a town to which he would remain spiritually linked throughout his life. He attended the Romanian school in his hometown, then the German school there, and he probably completed his secondary education at the new gymnasium, founded in Lugoj in 1836. Some biographers claim that he continued his education in Arad and Timişoara (Ioan B. Mureşianu, Vasile Maniu, in “The Star”, Timişoara, March 1940). But the name of Vasile Maniu does not appear in the matriculation records of the only gymnasium (the Piarist one) in Timişoara (Eusebiu Narai, Banat Academician Vasile Maniu, in the volume People of the Banat - Proceedings of the Uzdin Symposium, April 21, 2001, Augusta Publishing House, Timişoara, 2002). It is certain that he attended the Caransebeş Normal School (Traian Topliceanu, Vasile Maniu, in “The West”, Timişoara, no. 52, July 3, 1930). He completed his university studies at the University of Pest, where he studied law and philosophy, and received his diploma in 1846. After completing his studies, he returned to Lugoj. Here, he joined the group of young progressives, influenced by the revolutionary ideas of Eftimie Murgu. In the autumn of 1847, Vasile Maniu settled in Bucharest. Being communicative and brilliant, nourished by a rich culture in the capital, he soon met the most important figures of Romanian culture. Being liked by them, he was well received in the intellectual circles of progressive orientation. In 1848, he joined Nicolae Bălcescu, C. A. Rosetti, and other militants for freedom and social progress, in line with the European revolutionary spirit of the era. A special moment in his biography is the fact that, in 1849, he established the connection between Eftimie Murgu and Nicolae Bălcescu. Because he had been involved in the revolutionary movement in Banat, Vasile Maniu was forced to leave Wallachia and move to Transylvania. Here, he worked with the National Defense Committee in Sibiu, which supported Avram Iancu's military action. After the defeat of the Revolution of 1848-1849, Vasile Maniu returned to Banat, where the Austrian authorities appointed him district commissioner in Caraş, and in 1855, he held the position of notary in the Herendeşti district. In 1859, he settled permanently in Bucharest. During the period spent in Banat after the Revolution of 1848-1849, Vasile Maniu developed and published the fundamental work of his life, through which he made an important contribution to the development of Romanian historiography. This is entitled Historical-critical and literary Dissertation on the origin of the Romanians in Traian Dacia and was published in Timişoara in 1857. In 1876, Vasile Maniu was elected a full member of the Romanian Academic Society. He died on March 10, 1901.

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