Miron Cristea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miron Cristea (July 20, 1868—March 6, 1939) was the first Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Prime Minister of Romania for about a year (between February 11, 1938 and his death).
Born in Topliţa, he studied at the Saxon Gymnasium of Bistriţa (1879-1883), at the Greek-Catholic Lyceum of Năsăud (1883-1887), at the Orthodox Seminary of Sibiu (1897-1890). Finally, he studied Philosophy at the University of Budapest (1891-1895), where he was awaraded a doctorate in 1895 - with a dissertation about the works of Mihai Eminescu (given in Hungarian). Miron Cristea was elected bishop of Caransebeş in 1910.
After the end of World War I, he was (with Vasile Goldiş, Iuliu Hossu, and Alexandru Vaida-Voevod) a member of Austro-Hungarian Romanian delegation that called for the unification of Romania and Transylvania. In 1919, he became the Metropolitan of Wallachia and in 1925, after a Synod was held, he was named Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Between 1926 and 1930 he was one of the regents of King Ferdinand I of Romania and after Carol II rose to the throne and the government headed by Octavian Goga resigned, he became Prime Minister in 1938, in order to achieve political unity in an era when the Iron Guard's popularity was rising.
He died, while still in office, during a visit in Cannes, France.
| Preceded by None |
Patriarch of All Romania 1925 – 1939 |
Succeeded by Nicodim I |
| Heads of the Romanian Orthodox Church | ||
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan- Primates |
Nifon Rusailă | Calinic Miclescu | Iosif Gheorghidan (first time) | Ghenadie Petrescu | Iosif Gheorghidan (second time) | Atanasie Mironescu | Conon Arămescu-Donici | Miron Cristea | |
| Patriarchs | Miron Cristea | Nicodim Munteanu | Justinian Marina | Iustin Moisescu | Teoctist Arăpaşu | |
