Iosif Vulcan

Iosif Vulcan (March 31, 1841 – September 8, 1907) was an ethnic Romanian Austro-Hungarian magazine editor, poet, playwright, novelist and cultural figure.

Vulcan often spent time in Létavértes during his student days, writing his first love poems there, about a sweetheart who lived in the town.

[9] The same year, "De-aș avea" ("If I Had"), a poem that marked the proper literary debut of sixteen-year-old Mihai Eminovici, appeared in Familia.

In 1869, in addition to a volume of short stories, he published a biography of Prince Carol, as well as an anthology of writings by Andrei Mureșanu, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Timotei Cipariu, August Treboniu Laurian, Mihail Kogălniceanu, George Bariţ and Vasile Alecsandri.

[15] In 1877, he collaborated on a Hungarian-language anthology of Romanian folk poetry, contributing twelve ballads, sixteen romances and a preface on the general subject.

[17] He made periodic trips to Bucharest, where he developed connections, gathered material for his writing but also savored the cultural and national atmosphere he found in the Romanian capital.

[17] Indeed, from 1891 until shortly before his death, he was present at every regular session, taking part in the Academy's activities and rigorously carrying out the assignments he received.

The late academician did not have the character of a great man, or of a fighter, or of an erudite personage, but few achieved more beautiful results than he did through perseverance and love of his work.

"[23] According to literary critic Cornelia Ștefănescu, Vulcan can be seen primarily as an enthusiast, a man who wrote for various magazines in Transylvania and several in Pest, having written two by hand in his schooldays, before devoting his energies to Familia; who travelled widely and wrote about his experiences; who helped initiate societies before organizing their activities, crisscrossing Transylvania (including stops in Gherla, Deva, Șomcuta Mare, Năsăud and Oradea) while promoting Romanian culture.

She observes that his writing lacks external stylization, "saccharine images, complaisant rhetoric or gratuitous elegies", instead drawing its essence from authentic, realist folk roots.

[26] Bistrița, Cluj-Napoca, Curtici, Salonta, Satu Mare, Săcueni, Timișoara and Valea lui Mihai also have streets named after him.