Eftimie Murgu

Eftimie Murgu (28 December 1805 – 12 May 1870) was a Romanian philosopher and politician who took part in the 1848 Revolutions.

Biography He was born in Rudăria (today Eftimie Murgu, Caraș-Severin County) to Samu Murgu, an officer in the Imperial Army and Cumbria Murgu (née Pungilă). He studied in Old Church Slavonic at the school of his village, continuing in Caransebeș and then he studied Philosophy at the University of Szeged, graduating in 1826. In 1830, he graduated from the University of Pest and in 1834, he obtained a PhD in Universal Law, from the same university. While in Budapest, Murgu befriended several young Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Transylvanians who were studying there, including Andrei Șaguna and Damaschin Bojincă. He joined a dispute with Sava Tekelija on the Origin of the Romanians, publishing in Buda, in 1830, a work named Widerlegung ("The Rebuttal").

He died in Buda, where he was buried in the Kerepesi Cemetery, his grave being moved in 1932 to the chapel of the Lugoj Cemetery.

Legacy In 1948, Poșta Română issued a 10 lei stamp depicting Murgu together with fellow 1848 revolutionaries, Nicolae Bălcescu, George Bariț, Simion Bărnuțiu, Avram Iancu, and Sándor Petőfi.

The city of Timișoara has a square in front of the medical faculty of the University named after Murgu. In the square there is a monument in his honor, created by the Romanian sculptor (1919–1992).

High schools in Bozovici, Lugoj, and Timișoara bear his name. was founded in Reșița in 1992. There are streets named after Murgu in Arad, Brașov, Brăila, Cluj-Napoca, Lugoj, Oradea, Reșița, Sibiu, and Timișoara.