Fr. Iosif Coriolan Buracu and the life of Almăj
The priest and historian Coriolan Buracu, descendant of an old Grănicerească family, was born on 15 May 1888 in the village of Prigor, Valea Almăjului. He acquired his intellectual wealth in elementary schools in Budapest and Vienna, in high schools in Blaj and Brașov, and at the Theological Institute in Caransebeș.
From the very beginning, through his speeches and writings, he fought for the political and social rights of the Romanians, for the liberation of Banat from Habsburg domination and for its unification with Romania. Since his youth, he was also concerned about the cultural situation of the Romanians in Banat in general and of the people of Almăj in particular, on whose behalf he spoke at the opening of Nicolae Iorga’s courses in Vălenii de Munte in 1912.
However, as the development of culture, education and enlightenment of the people cannot be achieved without the development of education in the national language, he was against the use of a foreign language in Romanian schools and, through his articles published in the newspapers “Drapelul” (Lugoj) and “Românul” (Arad), he harshly criticised teachers who taught children in Hungarian, calling them “lost sheep” and urging them to organise with young children “celebrations in Romanian with church and secular songs”. This activity did not please the Hungarian authorities, who accused him of sedition, since he was considered “an enemy of Hungary and an agitator against the state” and was accused of “maintaining foreign relations with Romania”, charges that led to his arrest on 26 July 1914 and imprisonment in Caransebeș, together with General Nicolae Cena, one of his mentors.
In the stormy autumn of 1918, in the midst of the exhilarating days of Romanian patriotism, Coriolan Buracu was elected President of the Romanian National Council of Mehadia County on 18 November, and at the same time Commander of the National Guard of the same county. In this capacity, through the National Guard, he organised the Romanian administration in the Mehadia area and ensured public order and security.
In 1924, in recognition of his socio-political and cultural activities, he was elected Director of the Turnu-Severin Palace of Culture, fulfilling all the conditions required by the Palace administration, as stated in a letter from President T. Costescu: “We feel very honoured to offer you this very important and honorary post and we kindly ask you to inform us of your decision (…)”. In 1927, he was also appointed director of the I.G. Bibicescu Library in Turnu-Severin. At the head of these institutions, he carried out an intense activity of mass education, training the population of Mehedinți and of his native and beloved Almăj, organising numerous events, conferences on various topics, with speakers from the country, such as Liviu Rebreanu, Rădulescu Motru, Valeriu Braniște, L. Nistor (Cernăuți), Nicolae Iorga, G. Țițeica, etc., illustrious names of Romanian culture and spirituality.
Looking at the state of education in Almăj, he calls on all teachers to fight to reduce the large number of illiterates: “It is the duty of teachers to deal with this serious problem. It is unacceptable that now, when the language of instruction is Romanian, we are still recording such disastrous data,” he wrote in “Școala Cărășană” in March 1933. To this end, he provided schools with libraries, sending 400 volumes and oak cupboards to 14 villages in Almăj. A kindergarten was set up in Bozovici, and new school buildings were built in Prigor, Pătaș and Șopotu-Nou, the school in Prigor being particularly noteworthy for the beauty of its construction. Within the framework of the literacy courses for the population of Almăj, in order to encourage and stimulate the teachers, the cultural association “Astra” introduces prizes of 50 lei each for the training of 10 illiterates and the special prize of 1000 lei for the Almăjan intellectual who will train the highest number of illiterates. His concern for literacy is also expressed in his words: “One of the happiest days of my life will be the day of the examination of these illiterates, which will reduce their number”.
An important place in C. Buracu’s activity is also occupied by the collection of relics of the material and spiritual culture of Banat, within the framework of organised museums: in 1921-1922, the museum “N. Cena” – Băile Herculane; in 1924-1925, the museum “C. I. Istrati” museum; in 1929, the “Almăjului” museum, with various pieces from the Stone Age, photographs, Romanian and Hungarian coins from the 15th century; and in 1933, the “Museum of the Community of Property” in Caransebeș. In 1929-1930, he obtained from the “Cultul Eroilor” Society in Bucharest the stone trophies for the communes of Rudăria, Teregova and Mehadia, and the oak trophies for the communes of Prigor, Cornea and Obreja, erected in memory and in honour of the deeds of the fallen heroes of the First World War. For the same purpose, in 1930, he was in charge of the construction of the famous monument in Bozovici (800 stones). C. Buracu was a researcher and a good man, who made substantial steps for the construction of a hospital and a public bath in Bozovici, and in Prigor he formalized a modern medical dispensary, equipped with a bath.
As a good propagator and cultivator of the spirit, on 29 October he founded the cultural association “Astra” – Almăjului branch – with agents in every village of Almăj. Coriolan Buracu was elected president, and another of the luminaries of his homeland, the professor and poet David Blidariu, was elected secretary general. The Society, under the care of the President, receives a library of 480 volumes from the “I.G. Bibicescu” Library. Library. Under the patronage of “Astra”, cultural circles are created, in which numerous artistic groups are formed, such as brass bands, choirs, dance groups, theatre groups, etc. Thus, between 1929 and 1931, at the invitation of Professor T. Costescu – a friend of I.C. Buracu – brass bands were founded in all the villages of Almea, especially in Bozovici and Prilipeți, which gave concerts in Mehedinți County as a model for the establishment of such bands in the villages of Mehedinți.
During the inter-war period, Almăjul was the object of study of several sociological teams from Bucharest and Timișoara. We remember the team of students from the Sociology Department of Professor D. Guști, led by one of the most zealous researchers in the “study of all aspects of the Almăjul Valley” – Iosif Coriolan Buracu – about whom Colonel Virgil Economu said: “He is the only man in whom I have found such a perfect identity between word and deed”. Questionnaires were used to research economic, cultural, social, ethnographic, folkloric and historical aspects. The results of this research were intended to provide the material for a comprehensive monograph on the Almăj region, but unfortunately little use was made of them.
The dedication and hard work he put into the whole practice of culturalising the villages of Banat and raising the economic, social and cultural level of Banat and Almăj can be summed up in the characterisation of him by Professor Teodor Costescu: “In my long career as a teacher and politician, I have had the opportunity to meet many people imbued with patriotic love, bronze characters who served the common good. One of these good Romanians is undoubtedly Father Buracu, whose beautiful work, dedicated to our country and our nation, has allowed me to draw your attention to him, with the pure thought that such a valuable element, who has worked for the common good at the risk of his life and at the risk of leaving his numerous family in suffering, will be able to bring many benefits to the Romanian army and the Romanian nation”.
Convinced that his historical works would also contribute to the improvement of the cultural level of the villages of Banat, he researched the numerous archives of the border regiments, trying to make available to the public knowledge from the most diverse fields: history, education, army, church, social status: “Every beginning is difficult, but once begun under good auspices of zeal and enthusiasm, it will continue for the happiness of our people. I will be at the side of every worker”. Among the many works and articles that Buracu published, we would like to mention a few that are particularly related to his native Almăj region:
Almanac of Almăj, Tr. Severin, 1930
From the history of Banat Severin, Caransebeș, 1932
From the history of Almăj and Rudaria, Tr. Severin, 1932
From the history of the schools from Almăj, in the magazine “Școala Almăjului”, Oravița, 1932
From the past of the Almăj churches, in “Foaia Diecezană”, Caransebeș, 1932
As the culmination of a lifetime of research, between 1940 and 1943, he published History chronic of Almăj in the journal of the Banat-Crișana Social Institute. “It is one of the most beautiful treasures we can bring to this corner of heaven where we saw the light of day”, he confessed in one of the words “To the Cetitori”, as a sign of appreciation and love for his birthplace.
Coriolan Buracu was not only a priest, but also a valuable man of culture, a perfect organiser, a passionate preacher of Romanianism and of the unity of the nation, an exceptional scholar, a prolific writer and an ardent correspondent of the press of his time. He was a man worthy of his legend.
In the 76 years of his life, he had many successes, but he also suffered a lot: from obstruction, harassment, persecution and imprisonment, but all this was redeemed by the fulfilment of his great dream: the liberation of Banat and Transylvania from the Austro-Hungarian occupation and the unification of these Romanian provinces with their motherland, Romania. He died in Bucharest on 11 February 1964 and was buried in the “Izvorul Nou” cemetery. His remains were later transferred to the cemetery of his home town of Prigor. Through all that he did, Fr. Iosif Coriolan Buracu remains “one of the human structures far above the ordinary in culture and education of mind, heart and will”.
(Prof. Pavel Panduru)