He rose to prominence during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848: he was a supporter of the House of Lorraine, trying to obtain increased autonomy for Banat Romanians in exchange for loyalism.

He then oscillated between ethnic federalism within a nominal Hungarian realm and full centralism in Austria's custody, while failing in his bid to promote election boycott as a political weapon.

The Mocionis were probably descended from Petru Mucină, an Aromanian (or "Macedo-Romanian") priest from Aspropotamos in Thessaly or Moscopole, who declared loyalty to the Habsburg monarchy and served in the Great Turkish War.

[4] His two sons Andrei and Mihai were raised into the nobility by King-Emperor Joseph II: the former in February 1783, the latter in June 1798, after distinguished service in the War of the First Coalition.

This was by contrast with Mihai's descendants, the armalist Mocionis, who did not hold a titular estate—although they built a manor at Marosberkes (now Birchiș, Romania), they were mostly based in Pest, where they founded the Kefala Library.

[11][15] Andrei the younger was a native of Pest, but grew up mostly in Foeni where, according to scholar Păun Otiman, he received "a profoundly Christian Orthodox education, inspired by Macedo-Romanian traditions and culture".

[18] Seen by his contemporaries as a man of outstanding culture and upbringing, Andrei had "perfect" command of Aromanian, Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, as well as Latin, French, and German.

[23] During his time in Pest, Andrei began frequenting the literary salon organized by Atanasiu Grabovski de Apadia in Terézváros, meeting with exponents of Aromanian and Romanian causes.

[24] While participating in Torontál's congregatio generalis, Andrei Mocioni sat with the "conservative-progressive" side of the Romanian caucus, taking his distance from the revolutionary liberals.

In 1847, he managed to obtain a seat in the Diet of Hungary, for his brother Petru, canvassing votes from conservative Hungarians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Armenians and Swabians.

"[48] In October 1861, Adolf Dobriansky, who aspired to creating a caucus for the Ruthenians of Carpathia, referred to Mocioni and Ján Francisci as his personal examples in politics.

[49] From about 1860, Mocioni had dedicated himself to the national awakening of Romanians, networking between the Austrian subjects in the Banat, Transylvania, and the Duchy of Bukovina, and those residing in the newly formed United Principalities.

In November 1860, as Count Mensdorff-Pouilly was sent over to report to Franz Joseph on the demands of Banat Romanians, Mocioni called in and organized a National Assembly.

"[51] In his Memorandum to the Throne, Mocioni also theorized that the Banat was an "individuality" distinct from the Serbian and Hungarian regions, and suggested that "never-ending problems" would result from its continued amalgamation.

He was an "extraordinary counsel", alongside Andrei Șaguna of Transylvania and Nicolae de Petrino of Bukovina, supporting regional autonomy and the reestablishment and a Romanian Metropolis.

[59] Proclaiming the equality of nations against demands for Hungarian hegemony, he found himself debating the issue with György Majláth, who accused him of fostering the rebellious doctrines of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

[60] In the end, Mocioni sided with the "centralists", who supported proportional representation within a centralized Austria; Petrino, a "federalist", wanted regional decentralization on the basis of old laws, which, while favoring Bukovinians, would have left Romanians in Hungary underrepresented as a group.

[70] In the parallel debate over church affairs, Șaguna, the designated Metropolitan, had Mocioni as one of his "most ardent supporters",[71] one "fighting like a virile lion for the hierarchic separation".

[76] That year, with Șaguna and Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu, Mocioni established ASTRA Society, which promoted Romanian identity and culture, created despite continued chicanery from Hungarian officials.

One such petition, circulated in December 1863, also asked Franz Joseph to surround himself with Romanian advisers, including "Andrea de Mocioni, lord of Foeni", a man distinguished by "political, patriotic, and national virtues".

According to Babeș, their effort was sabotaged by Abdolonyme Ubicini, István Türr, and Giovenale Vegezzi Ruscalla, who wanted a Hungarian–Romanian alliance against Austria; but also found backing from László Teleki of the Resolution Party.

[95] Later in 1866, echoes of Mocioni's "Captaincy" project were discernible in the radical proposal advanced in the Diet by Babeș, Hodoșiu, and Sigismund Popoviciu: it recognized subjection to the Hungarian crown and government, but sought to redefine Hungary on the basis of ethnic federalism and corporatism.

[97] The 1866–1867 interval was a great disappointment for all factions within the Romanian caucus: the return of Hungarian nationalism was unopposed following the Austro-Prussian War, and the Ausgleich of 1867 created Austria-Hungary, attaching most Romanian-inhabited to the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen.

[99] Brother Anton Mocioni, alongside Serbs Stevan Branovački and Svetozar Miletić, continued to back the campaign, proposing to divide Hungary into six ethnic-based provinces.

[107] An 1872 report to his partisans also claimed that Andrei and the other Mocionis were "disgusted" and "demoralized" by the behavior of Romanian electors in Lugoj and Krassó, who acted as "proselytes of the [Hungarian] government".

[108] Together with Visarion Roman and Partenie Cosma, the Mocioni brothers established in 1871 the Albina Bank of Sibiu, providing credit for Romanian businesses.

[116] According to a notice in the Arad Orthodox paper Biseric'a si Scóla, Mocioni was also driven away from religious affairs after "a mean gossiper libeled him, out of the blue and without a shred of truthfulness".

It cited texts which condemned the separation in death of husband and wife, but the Romanian press suspected that such resistance was proof of "intolerant" Serb nationalism.

[122] Most other assets were kept by the surviving family following the establishment of Greater Romania, when Anton Jr bought back the Foeni mansion, hoping to turn it into a cultural club.

Although a critic of "Mocionist" conservatism in Austria-Hungary, during the interwar he became noted for his work to preserve and shed light on the family's contribution as a "moral dynasty".