Andrei Șaguna

For the village bearing his name, seeZimandu Nou.

St. Andrei Șaguna
Metropolitan bishopof theOrthodox ChurchinTransylvania
Born	20 January 1808 Miskolc,Hungary
Died	28 June 1873 Nagyszeben,Hungary
Venerated in	Romanian Orthodox Church
Canonized	2011-10-29,Sibiubythe Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Majorshrine	Holy Trinity Cathedral, Sibiu
Feast	30 November (NS)
Patronage	Romania

Andrei Șaguna(Romanian pronunciation:[anˈdrejʃaˈɡuna];20 January 1808,Miskolc,Hungary– 28 June 1873,Nagyszeben,Hungary) was aMetropolitan bishopof theRomanian Orthodox ChurchinTransylvania,and one of theRomaniancommunity political leaders in theHabsburg monarchy,especially active during the1848 Revolution.He was an honorarymember of the Romanian Academy.

Early life

He wasAromanianin origin, his family having settled with Naum Șaguna (Andrei's father) inHungaryfromGrabova,nowAlbania.With the guidance of localPiarists,Șaguna's parents had opted to convert toRoman Catholicism,seeking to obtain a better status than thesecond-classone reserved for mostEastern Orthodoxsubjects of the Habsburgs. However, the Șagunas most likely continued to practice their original religion in secret - the future Metropolitan was probably never a practising Catholic.

After he rejoined the Orthodox Church while living and studying inPest,Andrei Șaguna became a monk and started his ecclesiastical career in theBanatregion. As he was becoming a convincednationalist,Șaguna refused to join the "Serbian"Patriarchate of Karlovci's hierarchy inSremski Karlovci(at the time, the Orthodox Christians in Banat were under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Church). Instead, he left for Transylvania - where he was able to integrate within a Romanian-dominated clergy.

In the Revolution

Șaguna got involved in the movement that sought increased rights for Romanians and demanded that Transylvania would become an autonomous entity of the Monarchy after theHungarian Revolution of 1848(as opposed to the Hungarian plans for a Union of the two). As such, Șaguna was present at theBlaj Assemblyin May, where he argued for a moderate position. The respect he enjoyed, as well as his will for mediation got him elected to the executive of the Romanian movement, and soon after he was to be the main delegatepetitioningEmperorFerdinand I of Austriaand theViennagovernment.

As the Hungarians effectively imposed the union project at the end of the same month, Andrei Șaguna joined the side that still sought a compromise. The Romanian envoys led by him negotiated with the Hungarian side until September, when the conflict between Hungary and the Habsburgs erupted, coupled with an understanding between the Romanians and Vienna (the former were allowed to create aloyalistadministration in Transylvania). In October, as Transylvania became a battleground, Şaguna and the rest of the Romanian leadership took refuge in Sibiu (where the Austrian army still held some ground).

Austrian GeneralAnton Freiherr von Puchner,who had taken refuge to theWallachianregion ofOltenia,pressured Șaguna and other leaders to openly demand thatImperial Russianoccupiers of Wallachia protect his last contingents as they evacuated Transylvania. His commanders were hoping to turn the tide by attacking Hungary from the west, and a Russian presence was not requested officially. However, as the troops in Transylvania were on the brink of destruction (and the rest of Puchner's army was being decimated by acholeraepidemic), a Romanian request was judged honorable. Prolonged negotiations led to a compromise, through which the Romanians agreed to appeal to the Russians through an unsigned petition issued by "Sibiu citizens". The Russians did respond, and helped Austrians into Wallachia - the refugees were to be followed by all the Romanian leaders.

The Hungarians leadership reacted with anger at the outcome (since it prolonged the war and created a precedent). Information got out about Şaguna's involvement, which leaderLajos Kossuthfeared to be a confirmation that the Eastern Orthodox Romanians had accommodatedPan-Slavism.In offers of peace he sent to Romanian insurgentAvram Iancu,Kossuth singled out Şaguna as an enemy, specifying that no offer ofamnestywould include the cleric.

In February 1849, as the tide of a second and decisive Russian military action grew near, Andrei Şaguna left for Austria, where he drew suspicion by trying to reanimate a previous project, which asked for a common Romanians-in-Austria realm (Transylvania together with the Banat andBukovina). Such demands proved decisive after the crushing of Kossuth's movement: Austria steadily withdrew its offers to Romanians, as it feared that encouragement of their cause would lead to a Hungarian-like crisis.

Later activities

Andrei Șaguna - statue in front of the ASTRA Palace in Sibiu

In 1850, Șaguna was again leader of a delegation to Vienna, askingFranz Joseph I of Austriafor an institution of higher learning to be approved by the Austrian leadership, and further liberties and education rights for the Romanian community. As the Austrians were highly skeptical of Romanian goals, most of these remained unanswered and further Romanian attempts were made useless after the 1867Ausgleichcut off communication with Austria. Although Șaguna's activities had assured the recognition of a independent Romanian Transylvanian Orthodox Church in 1865 when the newautocephalousMetropolitanate of Sibiu was created by Imperialletter patent,the new administration meant the absorption of Transylvania into the Hungarian andcentralizedhalf ofAustria-Hungary(with the disappearance of theTransylvanian Diet). Șaguna and other mainstream Romanian leaders found themselves forced to limit their activities to the cultural field. The cleric was the main activist of the 1861-foundedASTRAcultural society, and remained focused on its activities up until his death.

Still committed toparliamentarism,Andrei Șaguna radicalized his views on ethnic representation and sanctioned all attempts at trans-ethnical policies (he was especially harsh on Romanians who voted for Hungarian candidates in elections to the Hungarian Parliament).

A large number of institutions bear the name Andrei Șaguna, most of them educational ones in and around Sibiu.

References

• Keith Hitchins,The Rumanian National Movement in Transylvania, 1780–1849.,Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard University Press,1969
• Liviu Maior,1848–1849. Români și unguri în revoluție,Bucharest:Editura Enciclopedică,1998
• https://web.archive.org/web/20060831000801/http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/rz/saguna.htm