Zenovie Pâclișanu

After World War II, the new communist regime suppressed his Greek-Catholic Church and threw Pâclișanu in prison, where he died.

Born into a family of Greek-Catholic peasants in Straja, Alba County, in the Transylvania region, he attended the Romanian high school in Blaj.

Written in Latin and titled Relatio Rumenorum e terris coronae S[ancti] Stephani ad Reformationem saec[ulis] XVI et XVII, it dealt with interconfessional relations in Transylvania during the Reformation.

It was a pioneering work, both due to the archival investigations the author undertook (and which brought to light valuable documents) as well as to the new historiographical and cultural vision of Pâclișanu.

[3] Writing history at a constant pace for Cultura Creștină magazine from its first numbers in 1911–1912, Pâclișanu showed a firm grasp of his material while sharply criticizing both earlier and contemporary historiography.

[3] A committed supporter of the union of Transylvania with Romania,[1][3] ratified in December 1918 at Alba Iulia, he was present at the occasion as secretary of the Blaj Romanian National Council's executive committee.

Repeatedly arrested, Pâclișanu was brutally tortured by the Securitate secret police in the Interior Ministry building and at Jilava Prison.

One account suggests he was beaten to death as a result of his recantation;[6] another indicates that, weakened by torture, he died at Văcărești Prison during his second period of detention.

Studiu istoric cu anexe documentare (1923), Corespondența din exil a episcopului Inochentie Micu Klein, 1746 – 1768 (1924), Documente privitoare la istoria școalelor din Blaj (1930), Mișcările revizioniste în Statele europene în cursul anului 1931 (1932), Problema statutului minorităților (1935), Un vechi proces literar (Relațiile lui I.

Three late articles published in Revista Istorică Română retain their interest: "In jurul ierarhiei Românilor ardeleni în secolul XV" (1943), "Vechile districte românești de peste munți" (1943) and "Din corespondența doctorului Ioan Rațiu" (1944).

[8] With the onset of the Communist regime, Pâclișanu's work was banned in its entirety, and appeared only in fragmentary form in exile publications, particularly Catholic ones based at Rome.

[8] He left in manuscript form the monumental church history Istoria Bisericii Române Unite, published only in 2006, as well as a lengthy series of studies.

Although some historians began to cite his writings in more or less subversive manner after the slight cultural thaw in the early years of the Nicolae Ceaușescu era, his work never fully re-entered the academic mainstream.