Teleki Sámuel was born in Gornești, near Tîrgu-Mureș, on November 17, 1739. The Telekis belonged to the Hungarian Calvinist nobility with deep roots in Transylvania. Samuel”™s grandfather, Mihaly Teleki, one of the wealthiest people in Transylvania at that time, had been given the title of count by emperor Leopold I, which meant the entire family was raised to a higher rank. His father, Sandor Teleki, stood out as an important financial supporter of schools. This preoccupation would reflect on his son, who was to be highly educated. Samuel Teleki was privately tutored, as was the custom in aristocratic families, and later, between 1759 and 1763, attended universities abroad. He completed his education in Budapest, Vienna, Basel, Strassburg, Karlsruhe, Köln, Utrecht and Leiden. He was even in Paris, the year before returning home. The purpose of his perambulations was to have access to information in all fields: philosophy, literature, history, mathematics, physics, natural sciences. He brought back to Transylvania an impressive number of books which would make up the core of the library he later established in Tîrgu-Mureș. In 1768 he married Zsuzsanna Bethlen de Iktar. The young spouses moved to the count”™s mansion in Dumbrăvioara. Being relatively isolated from the intellectuals of Western Europe, he maintained his connections with them through a rich correspondence. Teleki became actively involved in the cultural and educational life of Transylvania upon his appointment as curator of the College of Aiud. He imposed a reorganization of studies based on a rationalist orientation. Starting with 1774, Teleki entered a new stage in his life, that of political involvement, by holding various public functions. He was, at first, supreme county chief of the county of Târnava. In 1777 he held the position of counselor of the Government of Transylvania. Between 1780 and 1790, Teleki was a private counselor of Emperor Joseph II. Following the emperor”™s administrative reforms, the province”™s territorial structure was altered. Teleki was, thus, appointed county chief of the unified counties of Bihor, Săbolciu, Arad, Bichiș and Csongrad. His political ascension continued, as he held the position of vice-chancellor of the Aulic Chancellery. He was the first nobleman of Protestant religion to hold such an important position in the Hapsburg Empire. After the death of Emperor Joseph II and re-instatement of the previous political and administrative structure, as Transylvania had its own chancellery separate from that of Hungary, Teleki was appointed chancellor of Transylvania. He held this position until his death in 1822. His active involvement in politics did not diminish his cultural activity. At the end of the 18th century he established in Tîrgu-Mureș the first public library of Transylvania which includes the thousands of volumes that Teleki gathered throughout his life. Bibliography: Sebestyén Spielmann Mihály, Telekiana vol. Tîrgu-Mureș, oraș al artelorvolum editat de Primăria Tîrgu-Mureș în colaborare cu revista "Vatra", pp.171-184.