Traian Bratu (October 25, 1875 – July 21, 1940) was anAustro-Hungarian-bornRomanian scholar ofGerman language andliterature. A native of theMărginimea Sibiului region in present-daySibiu County, southernTransylvania, he left for theRomanian Old Kingdom, where he attended university, followed up by a doctorate at theUniversity of Berlin.
In 1907, he became a professor at theUniversity of Iași, where he taught until his death; over time, his research interests gradually shifted from literature to linguistics. Meanwhile, he fought inWorld War I and twice led his university in the postwar period: in the early 1920s and during the 1930s. Aleft-leaning member of theNational Peasants' Party, he served as president of theRomanian Senate between 1928 and 1931. He actively opposed thefar-right, clashing with the followers ofA. C. Cuza and with theIron Guard; the latter organization made two unsuccessful attempts on his life.
Born inRășinari,Sibiu County, in theMărginimea Sibiului area ofTransylvania, at the time part ofAustria-Hungary, he grew up in a peasant family.[1] He attended primary school in his native village, followed by the Hungarian-language state high school inSibiu.[2] Right after finishing high school in 1894,[3] Bratu left for theRomanian Old Kingdom, without emigration papers.[4] There, he studied literature at theUniversity of Bucharest and graduated in 1898.[1] He then taught German at a gymnasium and a seminary inRâmnicu Vâlcea between 1900 and 1902.[2][5]
Bratu's presence was attested in the village ofVoineasa, where, in September 1906, he became honorary president of a Reading Club, with publications that encouraged peasants to take an active part in political life. After thepeasants' revolt of February–March 1907, the authorities clamped down on such activities, and the club was outlawed.[6] He finally moved to theNational College inIași. There, his subjects were German and Latin, and he remained on the faculty until 1916.[2][5] Subsequently, Bratu specialized inGerman studies at theUniversity of Berlin from 1902 to 1907, earning a doctorate on the lyric poetry ofFriedrich de la Motte Fouqué. In October 1907, he was hired as a professor of Germanistics at theUniversity of Iași inWestern Moldavia; he would hold this post until his death.[1] Initially a lecturer, he rose to associate professor in 1913 and full professor in 1916.[3] In 1909, he married Gertrud Schmidt, who wasGerman.[3][7]
At first, his academic interest tended toward literature; a volume on German language and literature in Romanian universities appeared in 1908. He was very active over the next few years, publishing a study of classical German poetry in 1909 and an analysis ofErnst Zahn's work in 1912. Moreover, in 1905, he had written a study ofFriedrich Schiller's fragmentary play aboutPerkin Warbeck. He sent a work on the reception of popular German books to a conference atLeipzig University; this would appear in volume form in 1936. Later, his interests shifted toward linguistics. He finished a study of word order inLow German in 1934, published inBeiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur in mid-1938.[1]Karl Kurt Klein [ro], aTransylvanian Saxon, was a collaborator of his at Iași from 1923; together, the two devised a new method for teaching German.[8]
Although an avowed admirer of Germany, Bratu was a second lieutenant in theRomanian Land Forces, and when his countryentered World War I on the side of theAllies in 1916, he served with distinction on the front. He initially saw action in August inDobruja, after which he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant. He then fought in Moldavia, atOituz and on theTrotuș River valley. He was demobilized in May 1918, and looked with scorn upon his pro-Allied colleaguesIoan Ursu,Orest Tafrali [ro], andIon Găvănescu [ro], who spent the war in Paris advocating on Romania's behalf.[3] After their return from France, he would clash with the latter two, who pushed for dismissingIlie Bărbulescu from the faculty due to his "unpatriotic attitude".[9] Together with faculty colleaguesGarabet Ibrăileanu,Dimitrie Gusti, andIon Petrovici, Bratu displayed left-wing tendencies in the war's aftermath.[10]
Following the creation ofGreater Romania in 1918, he advocated amelting pot approach toward the country'sethnic minorities, which would respect their civic rights and ensure their loyalty. This position brought him into conflict withA. C. Cuza and his disciples.[11] He became dean of the Iași literature faculty in October 1920,[12] and served as universityrector twice: from October 1921 to December 1922 and from December 1932 to June 1938.[7][1] His first term as rector ended with his resignation: an anti-Semitic student movement had gripped the university, and when protesters continued to block Jewish students from entering its buildings, he quit in protest at government inaction. His interim successor, as the most senior dean, was his nemesis Cuza.[13]
Bratu was a member of theNational Peasants' Party (PNȚ) from March 1928.[7][1] He represented his university in theSenate of Romania, serving as the body'spresident from 1928 to 1931.[11] He held this office following the landslide PNȚ victory in the1928 election, which produced the first Parliament led by that party.[14]In 1932, he was again elected senator, this time representingBaia County.[15] He opposed political extremism, particularly as embodied by theIron Guard. This led to two attempts on his life, in 1936 and 1937;[7] the latter attack left him with an earlobe cut off.[11]
He died of lung cancer in Bucharest, although official historiography under thecommunist regime would assert his demise was brought on by the Guardist attacks.[16]
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