Petru Maior | |
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 Petru Maior | |
| Born | 1756 |
| Died | (1821-02-14)February 14, 1821 |
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| Era | |
| Movement | Transylvanian School |
| Writing career | |
| Language | Romanian |
| Notable works |
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Petru Maior (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈpetruˈmajor]; 1756 inMarosvásárhely(now Târgu Mureș, Romania) – 14 February 1821 inBuda) was aRomanian writer who is considered[1] one of the most influential personalities of theAge of Enlightenment inTransylvania (theTransylvanian School). Maior was a member of theGreek-Catholic clergy, a historian, philosopher, and linguist.
His family originated fromDiciosânmartin. His father, George Maior, was a protopop inMarosvásárhely, and then inCăpușul de Câmpie. He studied at Seminary ofBlaj and became a monk taking the name Paul at 14 years. Along withSamuil Micu-Klein and Ioachim Pop he received a scholarship atPontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide where he studied philosophy and theology for five years, between 1774 and 1779. He completed his education in Vienna, learning about thecanon law of the Catholic Church.[2] Petru Maior took a stand and responded, in 1812, by writing the "History of the Beginnings of the Romanians in Dacia" against all those who questioned the origin, character, and the becoming of his people.[3]
Among his works are
He was a prolific writer, who published everything he wrote during his lifetime except for two theological works: "Procanon" (1783) and "Protopopadichia" (The power of the archpriests) (1795).[4]
The Lexicon of Buda, a book published in 1825, included two texts by Petru Maior,Orthographia romana sive latino-valachica una cum clavi andDialogu pentru inceputul linbei române, in which he introduced the letters ș for/ʃ/ and ț for/ts/, which have since been in use in theRomanian alphabet.[5]
Among the ideas vehiculated by him was that before theCouncil of Florence Romanians used the Latin alphabet to write[6] and thatRomanian language evolved from Vulgar Latin, being, in his words, "a predecessor of the Latin language of the books".[7]
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