Gheorghe șincai, one of the most prominent members of the Transylvanian School (“școala Ardeleana”), an important promoter of Romanian culture through his erudition and his preoccupation for the education of the general public, was born in Raciu de Campie, Mureș County.

He started his studies at the Reformed College of Tîrgu-Mureș with teacher Toth Kovaszani, whom he would remember for the rest of his life. Between 1768 and 1772 he attended the Jesuit Seminar of Cluj Napoca. followed by a year at the Piarist Highschool of Bistrița. He obtained his PhD in philosophy and theology at the De Propaganda Fide College in Rome, where he was joined by Petru Maior and where he would remain until 1779. He worked as librarian of the College and thus had access to a large number of documents that facilitated his ample research of the origin and history of the Romanian people and helped found his theory of the Romanians”™ latinity. Between 1779 and 1780 he studied public and church law in Vienna. Upon his return, he taught at the Gymnasium of Blaj, and in 1884 was appointed general director of all Greek-Catholic schools in Transylvania. In this capacity, he established numerous parochial schools in rural areas and translated basic teaching materials.

His career was interrupted in 1794 when he spent a year in the prison of Aiud as a result of intrigues. His series of misfortunes continued with the loss of his family properties in Raciu de Campie following several lawsuits, which led to a precarious financial situation.

Between 1797 and 1803 șincai was the private tutor of the children of Count Daniel Vass of Å¢aga (Cluj County), then he worked as proof reader of Romanian publications for the Museum of Diplomacy, History and Law of Martin Gheorghe Kovachich, in Buda. Toward the end of his life, he retired to Sinea (today in Slovenia) where he was hosted by the children of Count Vass, his former pupils, and where he remained until his death on November 2, 1816.

His connections with Tîrgu-Mureș were rather scarce as an adult. In 1895, after he was freed from the prison of Aiud, Sincai spent some time in Raciu de Campie at his sisters' home, and visited Tîrgu-Mureș several times. The records of the time show that Sincai had filed a complaint for theft against the landlord of the house he spent a night in on December 2, 1795.  After a two year long trial, șincai lost his case and never returned to the city. *** His intellectual activity and studies prove Gheorghe Sincai to be a polyvalent cultural personality, a true representative of the illuminist spirit that dominated his age.  He was a historian, pedagogue, theologian and linguist. Among his most important works are: „Hronica românilor și a mai multor neamuri în cât au fost ele amestecate cu românii, cât lucrurile, întâmplările și faptele unora față de ale altora nu se pot scrie pre înțeles, din mai multe mii de autori, în cursul a treizeci și patru de ani culese”,(The Chronicle of the Romanians and of other peoples insofar as they were mixed with the Romanians, as the things, events and facts of the one regarding the other cannot be written as if everyone understands them, from several thousand authors, gathered over the course of thirty-four years), „Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachie”, written with Samuel Micu, „Catehismul cel mare cu întrebări și răspunsuri alcătuit și întocmit pentru folosul și procopseala tuturor școalelor normalicești a neamului românesc”(The Large Catechism with Questions and Answers Prepared for the Use and Advantage of All Regular Schools of the Romanian People”) or „Învățătură firească spre surparea superstiției norodului” (Regular Teachings for the Destruction of Popular Superstitions”).

Bibliography:

Traian Popa, Monografia orașului Tîrgu-Mureș, Fundația Culturală "Vasile Netea", 2005 (prima ediție 1932), pp. 272-277.

Melinte șerban, Cultura mureșeană în memoria cărților, Ed. Ardealul, Tîrgu-Mureș, 2006, pp. 9-25.