Fr. Iosif Coriolan Buracu – biography of a great Romanian

Great, beautiful, full of grace, shattering are the deeds and the life of the servant of the Lord, the priest Iosif Coriolan Buracu. He was born on 15 May 1888 in Prigor, Caras-Severin County, the son of a Macedonian-Romanian family. He attended primary school, classes I-III in Budapest and IV-V in Vienna, high school in Brașov and the Theological Institute in Caransebeș. He married Mărioara M. Mocanu, a beautiful, educated girl from a wealthy family, who had been educated at the German Gymnasium in Brașov and then at the Notre-Dame de Sion boarding school in Galați.

Coriolan Buracu tried to continue his studies in Vienna, but Patriarch Miron Cristea appointed him parish priest of Mehadia. Here he carried out an astounding and mainly Romanian activity, which aroused many suspicions and led to an investigation and finally to his arrest by the Hungarian gendarmes. At his suggestion and insistence, the Romanian National Council was set up in Mehadia, of which he was president, and almost simultaneously the National Guard was set up under the National Council. Finally, he received his conscription order and reported to his military unit in Panciove, from where he was sent as a military priest to the Russian front in Galicia, during which time he served so competently and efficiently that the garrison commander, General Akoliesanayi, by order of the day, ordered: “A commendable gratitude to the priest Coriolan Buracu for the devotion that inspired him during the cholera epidemic that killed many of our comrades”.

From an anonymous poem that appeared during the fighting in Gaul, we reproduce a stanza:

In battle, Buracu
Father of the soldiers
Dohin, Bejan, Murariu,
Boc, guard Grădinariu
Keep them, holy Lord!

On his way from Galicia to the front in Italy, he met his uncle Boldea, who led the Orthodox military chaplaincy of 42 priests. He organised a library for the Romanian soldiers and, with much persuasion, managed to give them a cultural home.

In Turnu-Severin he organised the Bridge of Books, he was appointed director of the Palace of Culture, he ran to collect books which he sent to the Romanians in Yugoslavia on the right bank of the Danube. The priest Gugan in the neighbouring country thanked him for the books, which brought much joy to the Romanians stranded in a foreign country. At the same time he had close links with Bucovina, another former Austrian province, exchanging books. He was a tireless fighter for Romanian ethnicity and Christianity.

In 1924, the National Council “Theatre” of Turnu-Severin offered the post of the first director of the great cultural palace of the locality, stating that Mr. Coriolan Buracu was one of the great fighters of Banat, who contributed much to the preservation of Romanian ideals, was an outstanding intellectual and lecturer.

With great enthusiasm, he organised several cultural centres in Brașov, Oradea and Arad, printed and distributed 5,000 copies of the Book of the Romanian Soldier, and collected by voluntary collection: from the Transylvanian Gazette 13,000 crowns, from the Red Cross Arad 12,000 crowns, from the Romanian Newspaper 23,000 crowns. All these sums were donated to the Church of the Nation. He also collected 2110 crowns for poor students and 380 crowns for soldiers. For all these great and unparalleled deeds, the 105th Infantry Regiment issued the following order: “Praise and thanks to the priest, Captain Coriolan Buracu, for the conscientious way in which he understood his vocation”.

On 1 December 1918, in Alba Iulia, Father Buracu spoke in the name of the people of Banat and in the name of the Romanian National Council, pointing out that 1 December 1918 had become a holy day for all the Romanians of Banat, Crișana, Transylvania and Maramureș, who are forever united with the motherland: the Olteni, the Munteni and the Moldavians. He issued a circular with the following text Romanian brothers, we are forever united with our dear homeland, Romania. Long live Romania! Long live the Union! Long live the Tricolour!

On 19 August 1923, at the laying of the foundation stone of the Mausoleum and the Church of the Nation in Mărășești, the priest Iosif Coriolan Buracu, who had collected important sums for this great and holy cause, also spoke. In his speech he said: “The innumerable tombs, pierced by crosses, before which we worship, are the golden letters of the nation, which, with the blood of its most precious sons, wrote the pages of the country’s glory”.

During the King’s visit to Banat, accompanied by the Prime Minister and the Patriarch, the population welcomed them with cheers, bread and salt and tricolour flags. Finally, the Reverend Priest Buracu spoke on behalf of the Romanian National Council and the people of Banat:

Your Royal Highnesses,
Dear Ministers,
Most Holy Master,
Dear Gentlemen,

We assure you of our devotion and that of our children, that we will give our last drop of blood for the defence of Romania’s borders, that we will fight for the advancement of our nation and the welfare of our people.

Long live the King, long live Romania, long live the Tricolour,

Farewell to our master.

In 1928 he was elected as a peasant deputy representing Almăj: A new school in the commune of Prigor, a new hospital in Bozovici, three medical districts in Prigor, Bănia and Dolboșești, two veterinary districts, a bus from Bozovici to Iablanita, three postal couriers Rudăria-Dolboseti-Prilipeti, a kindergarten in Bozovici, local primary school in Stancilova and Sopotul Nou, brought the bones of Eftimie Murgu from Budapest to Lugoj, established the Museum of Almăjului, trophies for heroes in Prigor, Cernea, Obreja, distributed gifts to poor students (75.000 lei), obtained subsidies of 1.700.000 lei for the Bishopric of Râmnic, founded the Cultural Home in Prigor.

As a senator, he took steps to rebuild the Bozovici-Iablanita road, organised a course for conductors in the monastery of Cozia, in which 60 priests participated (Prof. Ion Vidu), inaugurated the school in Prigor and the hospital in Bozovici, spoke at the convention between Romania and Yugoslavia, intervened in the election of bishops, took part in the Astra Congress, the consecration of the cathedral, the consecration of the cathedral in Cluj, etc.

In the book of the great fighter Ion Gavrilă Ogoranu, „Brazii se frâng, dar nu se îndoiesc”, it is recalled that during the 1946 elections in Piatra Neamț for the Peasant Party, Father Buracu was in charge and whispered to Ogoranu: “If we don’t win the elections, Romania is lost”.

Father Buracu was also a good family man, he had 11 children and out of them 8 lived, all educated, all intellectuals, all in their professions as doctors, teachers, geochemists. Three of them were harshly condemned as anti-communists. Mihai also went through the hell of Pitești, where the executioner Țurcanu punished him with hunger, cold and thirst, and where he was stripped naked in damp prisons, then beaten and mutilated.

We stop here with a brief presentation of the worthy deeds described in Father Buracu’s “Memories”.

Honour and salute to this great Romanian and Orthodox preacher, an example of tireless work, humanity, devotion and love of country, and honour to the children of this great Christian.

(Gheorghe Bâgu – Permanențe Magazine, March 2008)