Aaron Florian

The son of Romanian Orthodox priest Ioan Florian, he was born in Rod, a village located in the Mărginimea Sibiului region which at the time belonged to the Austrian Empire’s Principality of Transylvania and is now in Romania.

In 1836, he was editor at Ion Heliade Rădulescu’s Muzeul național, while also making consistent contributions to the Brașov-based Foaie pentru minte, inimă și literatură, run by his friend George Bariț.

The fact that it was written in Romanian, as well as its progressive stance, made România the area’s most visible political periodical prior to the 1848 Revolution.

[2] In his textbooks on history, Florian emphasized the role of the masses in achieving change, anticipating his pupil Nicolae Bălcescu.

Writing to Bariț on June 12, 1848, he welcomed the “new era” based on principles of liberté, égalité, fraternité, and heralded the constitution as “an enchanted word, a joyous deed”.

He also tried to stop a messenger from Ottoman military commander Fuad Efendi to the pasha of the Vidin Sanjak, seeking reinforcements to crush the revolution in Oltenia.

[4] In 1853, Florian was chief editor of the Brașov Telegraful Român newspaper, where he launched a sustained campaign in favor of a national culture and of the Romanian language.

In 1858, on the eve of the union of the Principalities, he published a monograph on Michael the Brave, suggesting that the ruler had united all Romanians into a single state.