Nagy Szabó Ferencz, one of the most important chroniclers of Tîrgu-Mureș at the beginning of the 17th century, was born in Tîrgu-Mureș in a family of rich merchants who were actively involved in the politics of Transylvania. His father, Nagy Szabo Janos, was a captain in the army of Sigismund Bathory in 1595. After 1600 he joined Mihai Viteazu at the battle of Selimbar which lead to the city being awarded privileges. His uncle, Borsos Tamas, was judge of the city and the envoy of Gabriel Bethlen in Constantinople. Nagy Szabó Ferencz studied Latin with professor Joannes Decius Barovius at the Schola Particula, the Reformed School in the fortress. Between 1599 and 1601 he was a taylor”™s apprentice in Cluj. In 1604 he married a local woman named Rosas Erzsebet. Besides his own trade, that of taylor, Nagy Szabo made most of his fortune from commerce. The house he inhabited in Tirgu Mures can be found next to the Roman-Catholic Church and was built around 1623, as shown in the plaque of the facade. Between 1639 – 1642, he was administrator the fortress of Gurghiu and was charged with re-building the protective walls of the fortress by prince Rakoczi. He started writing his memoirs at an old age, in1653. He included in his work the chronicles of his grandfather Benczedi Szekely Istvan, narrating the events that occurred as of 1490. Most of his writings are based on personal events and refer to the period in which he lived. As he narrates the events of 1601, Nagy Szabó Ferencz describes the Reformed Church of the fortress as one of the most beautiful of all fortified Transylvanian cities. The value of his memoirs lies in the fact that he conveys a general view of the mentalities of his time as well as an image of the private life in Tîrgu-Mureș. The historiographycal approach of Nagy Szabó Ferencz is different from those of his contemporaries. Most of his fellow chroniclers were noblemen, while Nagy Szabó Ferencz presents a town man”™s point of view, expressing the mentality of Transylvanian craftsmen and merchants, a developing social category. Bibliography: Ladislau Kocziany- Ferencz Nagy Szabó în vol. Profiluri mureșene, vol. I, Tîrgu-Mureș, 1971, pp. 19-24