Elite of month – Tăslăuanu, Octavian Codru (1876‒1942), politician, writer and publicist
Octavian Codru Tăslăuanu (1876‒1942) ‒ a politician, writer and publicist
Octavian Tăslăuanu
Octavian Codru Tăslăuanu was born on 1 February 1876 in the village Bilbor, Ciuc County. His father, Ioan Tăslăuanu (?–1927), was a priest, and his mother, Anisia Stan (1859–1933), came from a peasant family. Tăslăuanu attended secondary school in Năsăud (1889), Brașov (1890 –1892) and Blaj (1892–1895). Due to disagreements with his father about his career, as his father wanted him to become a priest, Tăslăuanu left for Bucharest in the Old Kingdom of Romania, where he worked as a teacher at a private school. At the same time, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Bucharest (1898–1902), supporting himself by teaching.
Taslauanu in his office
In 1902, on the recommendation of Ion Bianu (1856–1935), one of his professors and director of the Romanian Academy Library, he was appointed secretary of the Romanian Consulate General in Budapest. There, in addition to his duties, Tăslăuanu became involved with the magazine “Luceafărul”, first as a proofreader and later as an editor. Published successively in Budapest (1902 –1906), Sibiu (1906–1916) and Bucharest (1919–1920), “Luceafărul” promoted national culture and the political unity of the Romanians in Transylvania.
In his private life, in 1906, Tăslăuanu married Adelina Olteanu-Maior from Sibiu (1877–1910), who came from an old and prestigious family of intellectuals. She was also a writer and author of several books of children's stories. Godparents to their marriage were the family of Constantin Argetoianu (1871–1955), one of the most influential Romanian politicians of the inter-war period.
Adelina Taslauanu 1st wife of Octavian Taslauanu
Adelina with Octavian Taslauanu 1907
After the marriage, Tăslăuanu settled in Sibiu, where he served (until 1914) as an administrative secretary of the Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People (ASTRA) in Sibiu. ASTRA was the most important and influential cultural and political association of Romanians in Transylvania.
From 1907, Octavian Codru Tăslăuanu took over the direction of the journal “Transilvania” (published by ASTRA), first as an editor and later as a director, transforming it into a true reflection of Romanian culture and science. His work was particularly fruitful, especially through the reorganisation of the ASTRA Popular Library, which included the monthly publication of a new volume of this collection, together with an annual calendar distributed to all the members of the branch, reaching almost every locality in Transylvania. Between 1911 and 1914, under his supervision, 49 issues within this collection were published, including various history books and anthologies of classical authors. The print run of a single issue reached 15,000 copies in 1912, with 11,861 sent to subscribers. However, this period was marked by the death of Adelina Tăslăuanu in 1910 from heart disease.
In 1914, Tăslăuanu was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army and sent to the front in Galicia, but he deserted to Romania and volunteered for the Romanian army, where he served in intelligence throughout the war. He became a Romanian citizen in July 1917 and was promoted to lieutenant and later captain.
Taslauanu as an officer
In 1918, Tăslăuanu married Fatma Alisa Sturdza (1893–1964), whom he had met as a nurse at the front. She came from an old aristocratic family of politicians and large landowners. Tăslăuanu had two children: Ioan Radu (born 1920), who died at the age of one, and Dafina (1921–2000). Dafina's godfather was the Primate Metropolitan of Romania, Miron Cristea (1868–1939).
Octavian C. Tăslăuanu also had a remarkable political career. In the parliamentary elections of November 1919, he was elected deputy of Tulgheș, standing for the People's League. In the government led by Alexandru Averescu (1859–1938), he served as Minister of Trade and Industry (13 March – 16 November 1920) and Minister of Public Works (16 November 1920 – 1 January 1921). In these roles, he initiated a number of important laws and reforms for the reorganisation of the national economy in the post-World War I period. His achievements include the establishment of the explosives factory in Făgăraș, the nationalisation of the Reșița factories, the organisation of the oil industry through the creation of the Romanian Oil Industry, the drafting of laws for the monopolisation of the oil trade and the organisation of the grain trade, the founding of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara and the securing of funds for the construction of the Commercial Academy in Bucharest. Between 1926 and 1927 he was senator for Mureș, where he proposed the participation of Romanian parliamentarians in the first Pan-European Congress in Vienna.
Octavian Tăslăuanu died in Bucharest on 22 October 1942. His career is remarkable, considering that he rose from the position of a rural priest's son to that of a parliamentarian and minister. He achieved this primarily through personal merit, but also by successfully building social connections with influential families, first through his marriage to Adelina and later to Fatma. Unlike him, his brothers Petru Tăslăuanu (1880–1957) and Cornel Tăslăuanu (1889–1974) did not experience such a significant social rise, although they were more than just peasants and had successful careers. Petru Tăslăuanu was a teacher and the headmaster of the primary school in Bilbor, while Cornel Tăslăuanu was a craftsman who eventually became the mayor of their native village, Bilbor.
References :
Octavian C. Tăslăuanu, Spovedanii, Ediție îngrijită de George-Bogdan Tofan, prefață de Filip-Lucian Iorga, Editura Mega, 2023.
Cornelia Luminița Radu, Revista Luceafărul, în Revista Română de Istorie a Cărții; Bucharest Iss. 3/4, (2006/2007): 40–46, 304–305, 317–318.
The source for pictures: George-Bogdan Tofan, The “Octavian C. Tăslăuanu” Foundation.
