At 98 years of the Great Union in Romania can be found only three albums with photos documentary made on December 1, 1918 at the Grand National Assembly of Alba Iulia.
The only man who immortalized the event, Samoilă Mârza (1886-1967), has assembled those historical frames in an album titled Great Assembly of Alba Iulia in chips.
After the Union, he offered copies of this album personalities including King Ferdinand, the Greek Catholic Bishop Iuliu Hossu, Ionel Bratianu, Nicolae Iorga, Maniu and French General Henri Berthelot.Drept gratitude, King accepted among suppliers of the Royal House, and General Berthelot sent a free travel pass on the French railways.
Today, the copy given by Iuliu Hossu is Greek-Catholic Diocese of Cluj, and two copies of Nicolae Iorga’s Maniu, is Romanian Academy Library, respectively, at the National Archives. The album is offered Nicolae Iorga Romanian Academy Library in Bucharest.
About other precious copies of the album nobody knows nothing, says grandson and biographer Samoilă Mârza, Aurel Sîntimbrean. He lives in Alba, in the village Sântimbru, of which the photographer and native village in 1918 – Galtiu.
In November this year, Sîntimbrean published a new biography of his uncle, entitled “Samoilă Mârza, 1886-1967. Photographer unification of Transylvania with Romania December 1, 1918, Alba Iulia”.
Aged 84 years, Aurel Sîntimbrean confesses that his uncle has inspired him since childhood and subsequently făcuto his passion for life. He spent years studying official documents to reconstruct the history of Marza and in 2003 published a biography of the legendary character. Also in memory of photographer Aurel Sîntimbrean unveiled a bust in Galtiu, Samoilă Mârza’s home village.
“Make a sketch to us!“
Aurel Sîntimbrean remembers that it was Mârza first met in 1938, when he was 7. He had come to their house to take a family photo, and he was impressed by the machine bellows that capture images on glass plates.
“We consider ourselves family. A mother’s brother was married to a sister of Samoilă Mârza.
When I met on the street, he said, ‘Grandson, you learn that your uncle, you get an engineer. “
Uncle who graduated unrelated Polytechnic in 1925. It was a great achievement then, “says Aurel Sîntimbrean. He says that before the war, being a photographer was very respected, as were writers or painters.“ There were people of means, seen in the city. Back then, Alba Iulia had only 15,000 inhabitants. “
Sîntimbrean photographer remembers coming to the village was announced Sunday at mass. In Galtiu however, did not need any introduction.
“Sunday after they exited the church, people were eating and resting. Then went out to the gate, women were roosters (popcorn – n.r.), and men drank one cup of wine.
I remember that when I was in first grade, came with a bicycle from Alba Iulia.
My mother was raised and said: “Welcome, sir Samoilă. Let’s do a face! “. And he said to him: “Get in the yard and put the carpet fence!” – A carpet of one peasant.
In the meantime, the device gave off the bike. It was very difficult. He put the tripod, pulled a black cloth on his head and said: “Arrange yourself, be careful and do not move!”.
And triggered the device. A week or two brought us the picture. Back then, it was a real film development work.
We look at the picture as an icon, it was something special. He was more free. He was a generous man and lived modestly, you can only imagine, “recalls Aurel Sîntimbrean.
Great Union phorographer by chance
Samoilă Mârza was born in 1886. He Galtiu six primary classes in high school and then at Alba Iulia.
After high school, he made two years of apprenticeship photographer Iainek Sibiu and in 1914 was incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian army in the Service surveying and photography.
He was sent to the front in Galicia and came to Riga. 1916 found him in Italy, and after the war was at Trieste. During action to withdraw troops, arrived a period in Vienna. There, on November 14, 1918, he was able to execute the first three cliches photo sanctification tricolor flag of the Romanian National Military Council – an event that was attended by Maniu.
He came home four days before 1 December 1918, and participated in the organization of Galtiu delegation. In this context he made three pictures of villagers who were preparing to go to Alba Iulia.
Due to weather and technical limitations, Samoila Marza has made only six images in Alba Iulia, three of them show the crowd Plateau Romans and three – grandstand, I speak Greek Catholic Bishop of Gherla, Iuliu Hossu, Bishop Orthodox Caransebeş, Miron Cristea (future patriarch)
Romanian National Council and President of Drastic, Dr. Aurel Vlad. (Minister of Finance and then after the Union of Religious Affairs, Aurel Vlad would die in the same year with Maniu, 1953 and still in prison in Sighet.)
Photographer in Galtiu was not allowed to enter the Union Hall, where there were 1,228 delegates.
Incidentally, in those moments, Mârza not have known it was the only photographer participant in the Grand National Assembly which sanctioned the unification of Transylvania with Romania.
Thereafter, its exterior photos, which capture groups of people carrying placards with the names of towns, were presented at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as evidence of the democratic nature of the Great Union.
Life on bike
Samoilă Mârza has never been married. He had traveled all over Transylvania with his omnipresent camera caught trunk bicycles. During his life, captured a series of historical events, such as visiting the 1919 King Ferdinand in Alba Iulia, Abrud and Câmpeni, the crowning of King Ferdinand and Queen Maria in October 1922 celebrations commemorating 1924 – the celebration of 100 years the birth ui Avram Iancu, or celebrations of Alba Iulia 1928, 10 years after the Great Union.
A device as two oxen
They were purchased in 1966, even the owner, by the director of the museum, Gheorghe Anghel. Of that money, Marza has purchased a new device, with whom he wanted to photograph celebrations in 1968, when being fulfilled 50 years at the most important moment of his life.
(source: pressone.ro – Roxana Garaiman)