A VRAM I ANCU B ECOMES O FFICIALLY N ATIONAL : THE C ENTENARY IN 1924

CEUeTDCollection

more correctly, created in the meantime. The new Cuza Vod Square, in which the founding stone of the Orthodox Cathedral had been laid in 1923, was designed specifically to accommodate the Iancu monument as well, in agreement with Bishop Ivan, and George Cristinel, the architect of the Cathedral. On August 22, 1924, Cristinel submitted the plans for the new square to Ivan.⁴²⁸ The architect’s sketches, also published in Arhitectura,the official review of the Society of the Romanian Architects, proposed an intelligent solution of urban design.⁴²⁹ According to his letter, the main problem of the square was its reduced dimensions, being situated in-between relatively high buildings. Therefore, Cristinel attempted to open the space and create a wider perspective for the Cathedral. The monument was to be placed in front of the church, at a distance of about a hundred meters from the building, being surrounded by concentric lawns that created the illusion of a larger space. In this way, both the building and the statue would enjoy the maximum of visibility, while the monumentality of the ensemble was preserved. At least on paper, the new Romanian square in Cluj was prepared for the visit of the King as part of the Iancu Centenary festivities in 1924.

CEUeTDCollection

from every district of Wallachia, Moldavia, Bessarabia, Transylvania and Bucovina were expected to attend the event. A small, yet significant change appeared in the schedule: the visit of the royal family in Cluj and the laying of the founding stone of Iancu statue was finally postponed for the last day of the celebrations, namely September 2^nd.⁴³¹

The celebrations in the Apuseni Mountains were described in the press as “a national pilgrimage” made by “the devoted crowd [motivated by] the same piety, almost mystical, the same feeling and the same logic: the injustice had been corrected”.⁴³² According to the Committee’s plans, “the hero was celebrated by the entire Romanian nation, from the hut to the palace.”⁴³³ The festivities comprised a number of symbolical ceremonies, aimed to connect the main actors – the Monarchy, ASTRA and the Orthodox Church – to Iancu’s memory. In addition, this memory was also associated with war commemorative practices.

For example, in the cemetery in ebea, all the bodies buried around Iancu’s grave were purposefully exhumed, and their place was taken by the remains of soldiers who had died on the battlefields of the First World War: eighteen on the left and seventy-two on the right. Read together, the two numbers composed the year of Iancu’s death: 1872.⁴³⁴

The numerous speeches addressed by various celebration participants at Iancu’s grave, house and at the crucifix that was placed on his memory on the top of G ina Mountain traced a comprehensive version of the hero’s portrait. Although for Transylvanians he would remain

“the martyr of our national freedom”⁴³⁵, in the context of Greater Romania Iancu was meant to become a full right member of the national pantheon since, according to Transylvanian

431 “Comemorarea lui Avram Iancu. Programul official al serb rilor” (The Commemoration of Avram Iancu. The Official Program of the Festivities),inÎnfr tirea, August 19, 1924.

432 “Sarbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu- 100 de ani de la na terea lui’’ (The Commemoration of Avram Iancu. A Hundred Years since his Birth),Transilvania, 55, nr. 8-9 (1924):281.

433 ‘’Sarbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu,” 283.

434“Sarbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu , 287-288.

435 “Sarbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu, 284.

CEUeTDCollection

historian Ioan Lupa , “the 1848 Revolution was the prelude of the emancipation war carried by His Majesty [Ferdinand I]”.⁴³⁶

Iancu’s Centenary was the second symbolical major event patronized by the Liberal government, after the Coronation Ceremony for the King held in 1922 in Alba-Iulia. In 1924, just like in 1922, the Romanian National Party refused to participate in the official celebrations.⁴³⁷ The Party’s newspaper in Cluj, Patria, published extensively on Iancu’s life and his importance in the national history, while it also gave a detailed account of the festivities.⁴³⁸ In a letter addressed to all party members, Iuliu Maniu declared that the RNP would celebrate the memory of Iancu in a separate meeting organized in Câmpeni. The members of the Transylvanian-based National Romanian Party perceived the initiative of the Liberal Party to orchestrate the festivities connected with the Centenary as a clear interference in ‘Transylvanian affairs”. In their opinion, the Liberals aimed to use the image of Iancu in order to make political propaganda and gain popularity among Transylvanians. Although the party members would participate in the ASTRA’s meeting and would salute the Royal House and the representatives of the Parliament, the attendance of any reception or official ceremony organized by the government would be avoided.⁴³⁹ The tone of the letter was sober and determined. Although he again felt that a Transylvanian event had been confiscated by Bucharest, Maniu decided to use the festivities as a form of protest against the government’s policy.

The ceremony in Cluj, the one that the local ASTRA Committee had tried in vain to postpone, eventually took place on September 2. The local administrative institutions,

436 “Sarbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu, 341.

437 The protest of the Transylvanian-based party was connected to the integrationist policies promoted from Bucharest . In 1920, the Directing Council (Consiliul Dirigent), a regional administrative body created especially for administrating Transylvania’s gradual integration into Romania and constituted mostly from members of the Romanian National Party, was unexpectedly dissolved by the Averescu government. Generally, the members of the National Romanian Party were dissatisfied with the centralization measures imposed by the new Liberal government, which in their opinion were aimed to promote a forced integration of the new provinces.

438Patria,August 27 and 29 and September 2 and 3, 1924.

439 “Partidul National si Serb rile de Comemorare a lui Avram Iancu” (The National Party and the Festivities for the Commemoration of Avram Iancu), inPatria, August 26, 1924.

CEUeTDCollection

controlled by the governing Liberals, assumed the organization of the festivities. The Royal Family arrived in Cluj at 10:30 a.m. and met the representatives of all religious confessions, foreign guests, and various associations in the Festive Hall of the Prefecture. Then, the assembly moved to the front of the National Theatre, near the place reserved for the statue of Iancu. A religious service was celebrated by the Orthodox clergy: the Metropolitan Bishop Nicolae B lan, the Bishop of Cluj Nicolae Ivan, the Bishop of Chi in u Gurie Grosu and the Bishop of the Army.⁴⁴⁰

In his speech, minister Lapedatu appreciated “the praiseworthy efforts of founding [here] a center of Romanian cultural life”. The Iancu statue was for him one of the monuments designed to express this new character of the city. Moreover, a clear association between Orthodoxy and the memory of Iancu was established. Placed “in the shadow of the church of our ancestor’s faith, the monument [was] designed to praise the virtues and the sacrifices through which our people could resist above all the others”. Lapedatu emphasized the meaning of pairing the two monuments of the Romanian nation in the same square, arguing that they symbolized the two elements through which the Romanian people had survived in Transylvania: the Christian [read Orthodox] faith and the heroic resistance. In the presence of the King, the minister stated that the royal patronage was a guarantee of the fact the monument would be unveiled in the same time with the consecration of the Cathedral.

According to Lapedatu, the Romanian square represented the victory of the Romanian nation, which had preserved his soul untainted.⁴⁴¹

The second speech, which concluded the ceremony, was held by Petal who believed that through this monument the Romanian nation in Transylvania finally came to terms with its unfavorable past. A symbol of the fight for national emancipation during his lifetime, Iancu was seen to become the symbol of peace and accomplished justice. Such optimistic

440 ‘’S rb torirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu- 100 de ani de la na terea lui’’ inTransilvania 55, nr. 8-9 (1924) : 343-344.

441 “S rbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu , 343-345.

CEUeTDCollection

words could not avoid touching upon the religious connotations embodied in Iancu’s historical personality: More than a martyr, Iancu was the prophet of a revived national religion “born in blood and tears”.⁴⁴² Symbolically speaking, the “crown of thorns” that he had carried during his lifetime was finally replaced after his death by the hero’s laurel wreath.

The sacrifice was there, but so was the victory. As Petal suggested, The transformation of Iancu from a martyr into a hero was implicitly due to the war fought by Ferdinand and the Romanian army. Therefore, the popularity enjoyed by Iancu among Transylvanian Romanians could partially be transferred to and appropriated by the Monarchy, reinforcing the claims of legitimacy on the territory of the new province.

Hungarian press also recorded the celebration of the Centenary. The articles published in Keleti Ujság (Eastern Press), the main Hungarian newspaper in Cluj, gave detailed accounts on the ceremonies. Far from any criticism or nationalist remarks, Hungarian journalists presented a down-to-facts overview of the events. Although the memory of Iancu was associated with negative connotations for Hungarians, since he had fought against the Hungarian army during the 1848 revolution, they declared that they would not interfere into the Romanians’ celebration. Furthermore, Keleti Ujság’s front page article on Iancu reminded of the attempts of reconciliation between him and Lajos Kossuth, the renowned leader of the Hungarian revolution and war of independence (including the ethnic-civil wars with pro-Habsburg Serbs, Romanians, partly Slovaks) of 1848-49.⁴⁴³ In the following days, the newspaper presented detailed accounts on the festivities organized in the Apuseni Mountains⁴⁴⁴ and dedicated two pages to the visit of the Royal Family in Cluj.⁴⁴⁵ Hungarian journalists emphasized the presence of the representatives of all religious cults at the arrival of the King, but also the crowds of peasants from neighboring villages that filled the streets on

442 “S rbatorirea memoriei lui Avram Iancu, 345-347.

443Keleti Ujság (Eastern Press),September 1, 1924.

444Keleti Ujság,September 2, 1924.

445Keleti Ujság,September 3, 1924.

CEUeTDCollection

this occasion. In what concerns the statue, the same publication wrote a dry art critique about the models presented in the competition in May.⁴⁴⁶ The laying of the founding stone was described in equally neutral and laconic terms, without any additional commentaries.

Romanian newspapers also reported that Cluj’s other ethnic groups received the news about the planned monument well.⁴⁴⁷ Therefore, it can be assumed that no official negative reaction was registered from the part of Hungarians and Jews living in Cluj, only sober indifference.

The Centenary festivities concluded on September 2 with an army parade and the official dinner organized by the Municipality. A neutral observer might have remarked that the symbolic importance of the ceremony heavily contrasted with messy appearance of the new Romanian square, which after the departure of the officials still looked like a neglected park. However, Romanian elites attending the event could look beyond appearances and admire the first Romanianized piece of public space in the city.