Un iluminist transilvănean – Barcsay Ábrahám (1742-1806)
A Transylvanian Enlightenment Representative – Barcsay Ábrahám (1742-1806)

Summary/Abstract: Barcsay Ábrahám (1742-1806) is an outstanding representative of the Hungarian Enlightenment from Transylvania. He is the descendant of an important aristocratic family, which also gave prince Barcsay Ákos (1658-1660). He was given a Puritan education at the Protestant College in Aiud, and belonged to the Viennese guardhouse, led by Bessenyei György (1747-1811). He enlisted in the army (1766). He was a freemason. He took part in the Jacobean movement, being investigated and arrested. Judged in the context of his epoch, Barcsay Ábrahám’s personality developed under the direct influence of the Enlightenment ideology. His evolution from a moderate position to a radical one can be explained on the one hand by the Viennese “offer”, and, on the other hand, by his intellectual structure considerably influenced by Rousseau’s ideas. We also believe that his affiliation to the Masonic movement also increased these tendencies. His activity and work reflect the spirit of the epoch, the tendency to replace at any cost the old values by new ones, even in a revolutionary way.

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