Valeriu Gafencu
Valeriu Gafencu (24 January 1921 – 18 February 1952) was a Romanian Orthodox theologian and Legionnaire who was active during the Legionary Rebellion. He died in a Romanian Communist prison after being tortured for years.
Valeriu Gafencu | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Sîngerei, Kingdom of Romania (now in Moldova) | 24 January 1921
Died | 18 February 1952 31) Târgu Ocna, Romanian People's Republic | (aged
Denomination | Romanian Orthodox Christian |
Parents | Vasile Gafencu (father) |
Known as the Saint of the Prisons (a nicknamed bestowed upon him by Nicolae Steinhardt), the Romanian Orthodox Church is considering his canonization.[1]
Biography
Gafencu was born in 1921 in Sîngerei, at the time a city in Bessarabia, a region in the northeastern part of Romania (now in the Republic of Moldova). He attended high school in Bălţi, where Eugen Coșeriu, Sergiu Grossu, Vadim Pirogan, Ovidiu Creangă and Valentin Mândâcanu were his classmates.[2] Shortly after he graduated in 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and northern Bukovina; as a result, Gafencu and his family took refuge in Romania.
Gafencu is now an honorary citizen of the town of Târgu Ocna.[3]
References
- Valeriu Gafencu: “Elevii sunt un explozibil mai puternic decât dinamita!”. Consiliulul Local Tg. Ocna menține titlul de cetățean de onoare acordat acestuia post-mortem
- "Un apostol al Neamului Românesc". Literatura şi Arta.
- Alexandru Florian, Indiana University Press, 2018, Holocaust Public Memory in Postcommunist Romania, p. 194