Nicolae Drăganu

Nicolae Drăganu (18 February 1884 – 18 December 1939) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist, philologist, and literary historian.

Biography Born in Zagra, Bistrița-Năsăud County, he attended primary school in his native village, followed by the Gymnasium in nearby Năsăud. In 1902, he entered the literature faculty of Budapest University. There, he studied classical languages and Romanian language and literature. He soon earned a doctorate, in 1906, on the composition of Romanian words. He was an active participant within Sextil Pușcariu's Museum of the Romanian Language, where his research interests included early texts, toponymy and anthroponymy, lexicology and syntax. To each of these he devoted serious research and brought new advancements. Within ASTRA, he was president of the literary section and a member of the central committee. He was elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in June 1923, and advanced to titular member in May 1939. He died suddenly, following a brief illness.

His most important works are the 1933 Românii în veacurile IX-XIV pe baza toponimiei și onomastic ("The Romanians during the 9th to 14th Centuries on the Basis of Toponymy and Onomastics") and two posthumous 1945 volumes, Elemente de sintaxă a limbii române ("Elements of Syntax in the Romanian Language") and Istoria sintaxei ("The History of Syntax"). In Toponimie și istorie ("Toponymy and History") he sought to determine the linguistic origins of the toponyms in the Someș River valley. He contributed to numerous magazines, including Transilvania, Luceafărul, Pagini literare, Orientul român, Solia satelor, Revista Bistriței, Dacoromania, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie Națională, Revista filologică, Buletinul Societății numismatice and Arhiva Someșană. their son was the constitutional law expert Tudor Drăganu.