Ioan Maniu

Maniu was born in 1833 in Szilágybadacsony, Kingdom of Hungary, now the village of Bădăcin, in Pericei commune, Sălaj County, Romania. He studied law in Pest and Vienna. Maniu was deeply influenced by his uncle, Simion Bărnuțiu.

At the age of 6, in 1839, he started to study at Șimleu Silvaniei, the courses for the Franciscan Minorites gymnasium, where he graduated from the elementary school and 4 lower secondary classes. He spent 8 years under the strict discipline of the monks. In this place he met the vicar Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu and the Romanian language teacher Andrei Liviu Pop, who would later influence his life.

In the fall of 1849, he went to the Romanian schools in Blaj, where he was enrolled in the fifth grade. As a student in Blaj, Maniu lived very hard, with the "scream" (the Metropolis had shared free bread to the poor students) and also, they were given the poor "zeama" (the chicken soup) for free from the kitchen of the Theological Seminary, where on a daily basis the cooks made the soup for the poor students.

In 1850 he came home on Easter holiday, but due to shortages, he had to quit school. He remained here until his former teacher, Andrei Liviu Pop, intervened, telling his mother Ileana that it would be a shame for the boy to stay home, a peasant, seeing his excellent grades. From the annual reports of the high school it was observed that, in grades VI-VIII (there were missing those of the fifth grade), but the student Maniu was among the first, related to the marks and behavior. Starting with the 7th grade, uncle Bărnuțiu was able to send some modest help. One of his very good colleagues and friends was Ioan Micu Moldovan, who remained to the death his friend and the counselor of the family, passing the old friendship especially on Iuliu Maniu, who, at his proposal, was appointed the lawyer of the Metropolitan Church of Blaj.

He married in 1865 Clara Coroian, the daughter of the Greek-Catholic clergyman Demetriu Coroian. They had five children: Cassiu, Iuliu, Sabina, Cornelia, and Elena. Their second child, Iuliu Maniu, was a politician. He died in 1895 in his native village of Bădăcin.