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Scarlat Turnavitu

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Scarlat Turnavitu, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 11 August 202547 sources
Scarlat Turnavitu
Bornc.1818
Budișteni or Pitești, Wallachia
Died1876-11-30
Occupation(s)Educator, jurist, political figure
Known forTeacher training; participation in 1848 Wallachian revolution; political roles in Wallachia and Romania

Scarlat or Scarlatŭ Turnavitu (in the transitional Cyrillic alphabet: Скapлat Тȣpнaвitȣ; also referred to as Turnavitul, Charles Tournavito, or Tournavitou; – November 30, 1876) was a prominent educator, jurist, and political figure in Wallachia and later Romania. Originating from a wealthy boyar lineage in either Budișteni or Pitești, he and his two brothers embraced liberal nationalist ideals early on through their education at Golești and Bucharest. Turnavitu forged strong ties with the influential Golescu family, which facilitated his political ascent and his pioneering efforts in teacher training across the regions of Giurgiu, Buzău, and Craiova.

He was instrumental during the June 1848 liberal uprising in Wallachia, organizing the National Guard in Craiova and acting as a delegate to Bucharest. In Pitești, the Turnavitu family made a public demonstration by burning conservative texts such as Regulamentul and registers of boyar ranks. Amidst revolutionary turmoil, he played a part in thwarting Metropolitan Bishop Neofit II’s attempt to assume control of the national government. The revolutionary administration led by his Golescu allies appointed him Prefect of Râmnicu Sărat County, where he worked to suppress counterrevolutionary movements while keeping watch over Russian military movements in Moldavia. Despite efforts to resist the Russian incursion into Wallachia, he was eventually captured in Focșani.

While imprisoned at Văcărești alongside his brother Ștefan—who later renounced his cause—Scarlat earned recognition for his steadfast resistance. Although Prince Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei unsuccessfully petitioned the Ottoman authorities for his release, he ensured that Turnavitu's incarceration conditions were improved. After six years of imprisonment, Turnavitu resumed public service as a judge under Știrbei’s rule and was reinstated as a boyar with the rank of Serdar by Alexandru II Ghica in 1857. By this time aligned with the National Party, he advocated for the union of Moldavia and Wallachia and represented Argeș peasants in the ad hoc Divan following elections held in September 1857.

Turnavitu took part in the crucial 1859 Elective Assembly that led to the formation of the United Principalities. Initially a centrist supporter of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza—briefly serving as a prosecutor—he later opposed Cuza’s tax reforms and faced legal proceedings. After Cuza’s removal in 1866, he returned to political life as a member of the Assembly of Deputies, promoting leftist nationalist ideas and contributing to legislation restricting nationality rights. Although critical of bicameralism, he served in the Senate and transitioned from supporting Carol I to sympathizing with conspirators involved in the "Republic of Ploiești" before ultimately joining the National Liberal Party. Despite enduring prolonged illness and financial hardship toward life’s end, he remained celebrated as a liberal icon; novelist Camil Petrescu later revived his memory through a nuanced narrative centered on the events of 1848.

Early life and educational career

Scarlat was born as the second child among five siblings to Gligore and Tinca Turnavitu from Budișteni, located within Muscel County of Wallachia—now part of southern Argeș. The family surname suggests ties to Veliko Tarnovo, an Ottoman Bulgarian city; however, census data identify Gligore as an ethnic Romanian squire possessing boyar privileges. Nevertheless, C. A. Rosetti later characterized Scarlat as having been born into poverty and dying poor.

The exact year of Scarlat’s birth is uncertain—often cited as 1816 but more likely 1818 based on records. He and two brothers were natives of a residence at No. 25 Brâncoveanu Street in Pitești, which was once rumored to have served as Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu’s summer home but is more plausibly an 18th-century inn remodeled in neoclassical fashion. The neighborhood may have functioned historically as a marketplace for local tanners’ guild members.

One brother, Ștefan, was married by 1848 and connected through marriage to local boyar families. Scarlat along with Ștefan and Demostene attended schools at the Golești estate under progressive educators such as Aaron Florian and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. Scarlat continued his studies at Saint Sava College in Bucharest alongside future intellectual leaders including Nicolae Bălcescu and Ion Ghica, graduating with top honors by 1832. Rosetti recalled that around 1835 Scarlat supported his brothers financially by tutoring them and providing for their meals. While Ștefan pursued commercial law studies, Scarlat embarked on a career in teaching.

Beginning September 1, 1837, Scarlat held a teaching position in Giurgiu—one of few qualified educators within Vlașca County at that time. He observed significant teacher absenteeism and witnessed damage to his school caused by the earthquake of January 1838. Around this period, Prince Alexandru II Ghica inspected Turnavitu’s school; amused by Scarlat’s firm handling of an unruly student, Ghica remarked that no voivode could impose discipline like a dedicated teacher.

In 1839, Turnavitu increased student enrollment by training peasant substitutes as teachers, compensating them with food supplies despite resistance from villagers unwilling to provide provisions themselves. On May 20, 1842, he proposed appointing titled boyars to oversee local schools—a strategy implemented in some regions such as Brăila County. That same year he was transferred to Buzău amid conflicts reportedly involving publicans and tenant farmers; former pupils petitioned authorities for his reinstatement.

By 1845, Turnavitu had become headmaster of Buzău’s princely school where he organized local teacher training programs. In October 1846, Prince Gheorghe Bibescu paid him a visit.

Revolutionary ascent

During the late 1840s, Turnavitu alternated between teaching positions in Buzău and Craiova, while residing near Pitești, and was elevated to the boyar class with the title of Pitar. In the course of the June 1848 liberal uprising opposing Bibescu, he was employed as an educator in Craiova and played a role in establishing the local national guard. Acting as their representative, he traveled to Bucharest to advocate for the revolutionary administration.[1] Together with his brothers and fellow radicals, Turnavitu issued proclamations supporting the revolution in Pitești, producing Romanian tricolor flags and cockades. The siblings backed county officials appointed by committees in Bucharest, operating their local authority from the Turnavitu residence.[2] Ștefan oversaw propaganda initiatives and fulfilled duties as county commissioner.[3] In Pitești, he and Demostene organized a public event symbolically destroying the conservative, Russian-supported Regulamentul Organic, with Scarlat personally incinerating his own official rank register.[2]

By late June, following the suppression of Moldavia's concurrent revolution by the Imperial Russian Army and their establishment along Wallachia's border, revolutionaries in Bucharest either readied themselves for confrontation or fled.[4] Conservative narratives place Scarlat Turnavitu in Bucharest mobilizing crowds against reactionary military units led by officers Ioan Solomon and Ioan Odobescu. Despite his fervent calls for peace, hostilities intensified until revolutionary figure Ion Brătianu intervened alongside Metropolitan Bishop Neofit II Geanoglu to avert bloodshed.[5] Turnavitu contributed to securing the church’s compliance on June 30.[6]

Prior to July 12,[7] Scarlat Turnavitu was appointed commissioner (Prefect) of Râmnicu Sărat County by the revolutionary authorities, replacing Scarlat Filipescu who had been nominally succeeded by Brătianu.[8] Minister of Justice Ștefan Golescu commended him as an efficient administrator devoted to revolutionary principles.[9][2] Upon assuming office, Turnavitu was greeted by local residents eager to confirm the reestablishment of revolutionary governance.[10] Rosetti later reflected on Turnavitu’s personal remorse for having neglected his educational responsibilities.[11]

Based in Focșanii Munteniei, Turnavitu utilized Moldavian informants to keep track of Russian troop movements and reported on Ottoman Army activities near Brăila.[2] He voiced criticism towards Moldavian officials for prohibiting the Romanian tricolor in Putna County,[12][13] interpreting this ban as indicative of reactionary anxiety among Moldavian authorities.[13] On July 28, Demostene joined Gheorghe Magheru’s revolutionary forces resisting foreign incursion from Râmnicu Vâlcea; he recruited soldiers in Oltenia and attained the rank of Captain; Scarlat endorsed recruitment efforts from Buzău.[2] Additionally, he instructed recruiters to canvass rural areas for enlistment.[13] Simultaneously, he detained individuals inciting rebellion against the revolutionary regime. On July 7, alongside Nicu Șonțu, he arrested Zamfirache Sihleanu and Tudor Popescu for conspiring against the commissioner,[13] as well as others such as Oprișan Iorgulescu from Râmnicu Sărat and Iordache Râmniceanu from Chiojdeni.[14]

Defeat of the revolutionaries and subsequent incarceration

The determination of the revolutionaries was severely challenged in September when Ottoman forces, followed by Russian troops, invaded Wallachia. After the clashes at Pitești and Râmnicu Vâlcea, Demostene gathered the surviving fighters on Dealul Spirii.[2] Scarlat attempted to mount a limited defense against the Russians near Putna, assembling "a few tricolor flags and groups of villagers" and receiving some support from Russian deserters; however, he was instructed to avoid active resistance.[15] By September 15, his region fell under Russian control, with A. Borănescu appointed as county administrator. Meanwhile, Turnavitu endeavored to placate the Cossacks through a procession involving peasants and clergy.[16] Later accounts from revolutionary exiles revealed that despite sharing the Orthodox faith, the Russians imposed severe repression on the movement.[17] Turnavitu was among those most sought after by local authorities.[18] Although it was claimed he surrendered willingly to share his comrades' fate,[19] in reality he sought refuge at the French Republic’s consulate but was apprehended in breach of international protocols.[2][13]

In October, both Ștefan and Scarlat underwent interrogation by the Vornic, during which they reportedly endured public humiliation.[20] Their detention took place at Văcărești Prison and possibly at Plumbuita Monastery, though sources differ.[2][21] Ștefan minimized his revolutionary involvement by citing care for his ailing wife amid a cholera outbreak.[22] Diagnosed with tuberculosis, he was released prematurely to receive treatment at Colțea Hospital.[2] Felicia Racoviță recalled that "Charles Tournavitou" remained resolute during questioning, refusing to divulge information unless it was disclosed publicly.[23]

Rosetti noted that Scarlat gained respect among fellow detainees and foreign officials alike by dedicating himself to educational pursuits.[24] When a Russian guard roughly handled him, he retorted: Robule, nu pune mâna pe omul liber ("Slave, do not lay hands on a free man").[25] Detained initially at Plumbuita and subsequently at Mărgineni Monastery,[2] he faced a prompt trial before a Wallachian High Court established to adjudicate sedition charges. The court condemned him as a "high-grade accomplice," noting his lack of remorse and his justification of burning Regulamentul as an act reflecting popular will.[13] This tribunal operated under Ottoman-Russian influence and drew criticism from Wallachian Prince Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei, who ordered that prisoners be held at the comparatively lenient Mărgineni facility.[26] Știrbei petitioned Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I for clemency; most detainees were released except for Turnavitu and one other insurgent.[27]

On June 17, 1849, Turnavitu received a sentence of six years' penal labor in Giurgiu,[13][28] likely involving tasks such as dredging the Danube or quarrying stone in Snagov.[29] Following complaints about his health—probably linked to untreated dental infections—his family was eventually granted visitation rights.[30] Prince Știrbei facilitated the transfer of Turnavitu and other prisoners to Boldescului Hospital in Ploiești, but both Turnavitu and Scarlat declined these accommodations, offering their places to inmates with more severe illnesses.[31]

Arguments for and against Cuza

Constantin D. Aricescu, a fellow Muscel radical, observed that Știrbei and his collaborator Petrache Poenaru endeavored to alleviate the hardships faced by political detainees and to secure employment for "intelligent and patriotic youths." Turnavitu was freed on March 6, 1851, while imprisoned at Berca Monastery. By November of that year, he had established direct communication with Știrbei, who recommended Aricescu for a governmental appointment. According to Aron Florian, the ruler intended to reintegrate Turnavitu into public service; however, Turnavitu demanded the position of Prefect rather than accepting any subordinate role. Throughout Știrbei’s later reign, Aricescu kept Turnavitu updated on the tensions between progressive factions and boyar loyalists. In February 1855, Aricescu advocated for the appointment of former revolutionaries as judges to promote reform initiatives.

In the same year, after declining the Prefect position due to appeals grounded in patriotism, Turnavitu was appointed by Știrbei as chief judge in Argeș. During the late 1850s, Turnavitu aligned himself with liberal Romanian nationalists who supported the union of Moldavia and Wallachia—a cause Ungureanu described as one where Turnavitu took a leading role. Elevated to the rank of Serdar in 1857, he became a member of the National Party under Alexandru Ghica’s regency. That September, he was elected deputy representing Argeș’s peasant college. Serving on the validation committee of the ad hoc Divan, he confronted his 1848 adversary Solomon, who pressured peasant deputy Constantin Tănase to resign. Turnavitu commended the peasant electorate for resisting Solomon’s coercion. On October 20, the nationalist majority in the Divan appointed him secretary; he also endorsed one of its earliest manifestos. Meanwhile, his brother Ștefan maintained close ties with the Golescu family, acting as their political messenger.

Following Abdulmejid’s dissolution of the ad hoc Divan in January 1858, Turnavitu signed a protest letter marking a pivotal moment in the unionist campaign. A December 1858 correspondence from Zoe Golescu noted that Turnavitu openly challenged conservative regents. He was reelected as deputy for Argeș at the 1859 Elective Assembly by securing victory in the small landowners' college with a margin of 15 to 6 votes. This assembly was responsible for creating the United Principalities and appointing Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Wallachian prince after his election in Moldavia. Over the following year, Turnavitu criticized agrarian census efforts led by statistician Dionisie Pop Marțian, disputing assessments of his properties—a position scholar Gheorghe Stoica labeled as "grotesque."

The newly unified state centralized judicial authority through a Central Commission headquartered in Focșani. On February 13, this body appointed Turnavitu as prosecutor for the appellate chamber of commerce; however, facing opposition, he resigned on March 15 before the 1861 Wallachian parliamentary elections. Ștefan Golescu, once his patron, contended that Turnavitu’s moderate stance rendered him unpopular and insufficiently radical at a time when Cuza needed support from "far-left" liberals against conservative opposition.

Afterward, Turnavitu opposed Cuza’s administration by refusing to pay taxes. In July 1863, while residing in Budișteni, he was interrogated on charges of forging correspondence from tax collectors designed to imitate actions by a racketeering hajduk named Radu Anghel—allegations he denied. He also accused tax officials of levying illegal taxes. On July 6, Judge S. Alexiu sentenced him to four months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of 1,000 lei for tax evasion and contempt of court. The appellate review in Bucharest was delayed by Judge Alexandru Emanoil Florescu, causing procedural difficulties noted by Rosetti who emphasized that during this period Turnavitu needed to manage his estate—their main source of income.

Final endeavors and passing

Turnavitu reentered the political arena later in the decade, contesting the Assembly of Deputies seat for Muscel during the April 1866 elections. He sided with the monarchist faction that backed the establishment of a hereditary monarchy under Carol of Hohenzollern.[32] Successfully reclaiming his position in the subsequent elections, he was again reelected in December 1867.[33][34] As part of the radical liberal group, he was one of six deputies opposing the formation of a Senate.[35]

In February 1868, Turnavitu sparked debate by endorsing the resignation of Moldavian poet and politician Vasile Alecsandri, contending that Alecsandri’s return to literary pursuits better served the nation than his political involvement.[36] He also advocated for stricter Romanian citizenship laws, highlighting the necessity of full cultural integration prior to granting citizenship rights.[37]

Rosetti notes that Turnavitu held several terms in the Senate and continued his judicial duties despite deteriorating health, primarily residing on his estate near Pitești.[38] Renowned for his distilling skills, his vermouth and țuică were exhibited at the 1867 World’s Fair.[39] According to Emil Costinescu, Turnavitu offered solace to a dying veteran in 1868 by reflecting on their shared achievement of national unity and monarchy establishment.[40]

By August 1870, residing in Pitești, Turnavitu publicly endorsed an open letter supporting the Second French Empire during its conflict with Prussia.[41] That same month, he joined the defense counsel for radicals accused in the "Republic of Ploiești" conspiracy against Domnitor Carol.[42] In October, he was among those who co-signed a letter expressing gratitude to the jury for acquitting the defendants.[43]

During the mid-1870s, Turnavitu’s health severely declined, confining him mostly to a modest apartment near Antim Monastery in Bucharest.[44] In mid-1875, he affiliated with the newly unified National Liberal Party alongside Ștefan Turnavitu.[45] His final electoral attempt occurred in June 1876 when he narrowly lost to Petre Zamfirescu for the Muscel seat.[46] Turnavitu passed away in Bucharest on November 30, 1876; his funeral took place at Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church on Calea Craiovei and he was interred at Bellu cemetery.[47]

Legacy

The former deputy left behind several children, among them a daughter who was in a relationship with Tase Scărișoreanu. Their son, who took on the surname "Turnavitu," rose to the rank of Colonel in the Romanian Land Forces, distinguishing himself during the Romanian War of Independence and commanding the Calafat garrison until his passing in October 1904. The senior Turnavitu’s heritage continued to be esteemed by the longstanding members of the PNL. Following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania in 1881, internal divisions within the party surfaced; by 1898, Vasile Lascăr reproached his rivals for their attachment to "Turnavitu [and] '48" as obsolete emblems.

In literature, Turnavitu was later immortalized as a fictional persona in Camil Petrescu’s novel Un om între oameni, centered on the 1848 revolution and commissioned by the Romanian communist government to mark its centenary in 1948. According to literary scholar Mihai Zamfir, the work merges genuine ethnographic detail with themes from the interwar period and incorporates a "rudimentary fashioned" Marxist historical perspective. Within the novel, Turnavitu is depicted as an idealistic and somewhat dramatized youth, caught in an unreciprocated affection for Tincuța, daughter of priest Dumitru. Petrescu credits Turnavitu, rather than Neofit Geanoglu, with successfully dissuading soldiers from firing on demonstrators. The story concludes with Scarlat and Tincuța’s marriage following his appointment as revolutionary commissioner and includes conjecture about the Turnavitu family’s origins. Scholar Eugen Simion observes that this characterization partly draws inspiration from Rică Venturiano, a comic figure in Ion Luca Caragiale’s 1878 play A Stormy Night, which satirizes Romantic nationalism.

During the latter years of communism, urban redevelopment initiatives resulted in the demolition of the Turnavitu family residence in 1989. This occurred alongside other townhouses on Brâncoveanu Street under directives issued by Constantin Zanfir, head of the Communist Party’s Argeș branch—mere months prior to the Romanian Revolution.

References

  1. ↑ Pelimon, pp. 101, 168–169
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named octung
  3. ↑ Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, p. 274
  4. ↑ Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, p. 166
  5. ↑ Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, pp. 173–174
  6. ↑ Pelimon, pp. 168–169
  7. ↑ Fotino II, pp. 170–171
  8. ↑ Gaiță, pp. 207–208
  9. ↑ Fotino II, p. 171
  10. ↑ Burtoiu, p. 178; Gaiță, p. 208
  11. ↑ Rosetti (1876), p. 1081
  12. ↑ Burtoiu, p. 178
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dhnoiaspecte
  14. ↑ Burtoiu, pp. 178–179
  15. ↑ Pelimon, p. 196
  16. ↑ Gaiță, p. 210
  17. ↑ Les martyrs, p. 56
  18. ↑ Gaiță, p. 210
  19. ↑ Les martyrs, pp. 56–57
  20. ↑ Fotino II, p. 195
  21. ↑ Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, p. 274
  22. ↑ Brătescu & Cernovodeanu, pp. 154–155
  23. ↑ Fotino II, pp. 248, 313
  24. ↑ Rosetti (1876), p. 1082
  25. ↑ Rosetti (1876), p. 1082; Les martyrs, p. 57
  26. ↑ Nour, p. 207
  27. ↑ Nour, pp. 203, 207
  28. ↑ Fotino II, p. 171
  29. ↑ Les martyrs, p. 57
  30. ↑ Burtoiu, pp. 180–181
  31. ↑ Burtoiu, pp. 181–182
  32. ↑ Dimitrie Sturdza, Autoritatea faptului indeplinit executat in 1866 de cei indreptățiți, pp. 86–87, 109–110, 984
  33. ↑ "Deputații Camerii Legiuitore", Romanulu, November 13, 1866, p. 815
  34. ↑ "Deputatii ce s'au alesu pentru Camer'a legislativa a Romaniei. (Capetu)", Gazet'a Transilvaniei, Vol. XXX, Issue 102, December 1867, p. 407
  35. ↑ Marton, p. 129
  36. ↑ "Romani'a. Siedinti'a adunârei deputatiuloru de la 10. fauru", Federatiunea, Issue 21/1868, p. 80
  37. ↑ Marton, pp. 197–198
  38. ↑ Rosetti (1876), p. 1082
  39. ↑ Notice sur la Roumanie..., p. 335
  40. ↑ Emil Costinescu, "1816—1916", in Lui C. A. Rosetti (1816—1916)..., p. viii
  41. ↑ "Telegramma", Romanulu, August 5, 1870, p. 671
  42. ↑ Gh. Cristea, "Conspirația 'republicană' din august 1870", Studii..., Vol. 22, Issue 2, 1969, p. 244
  43. ↑ "Către jurațiĭ ce aú achitatu procesulu de la Ploiescĭ", Romanulu, October 29, 1870, p. 945
  44. ↑ Rosetti (1876), p. 1082
  45. ↑ "Programa partidelor naționale-liberale. Aderărĭ", Alegĕtorul Liber, August 20, 1875, p.3
  46. ↑ "Resultatŭ alegerilorŭ Colegiuluĭ IV", Telegraphulŭ, June 11, 1876, p.3
  47. ↑ "Scarlatu Turnavitu", Romanulu, December 1, 1876, p.1071

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