MIRON, CRISTEA. - First “Orthodox” patriarch of Greater Romania, b. at Toplița, in Transylvania, on 18 July 1868, d. at Cannes on 6 March 1939. After studying at Bistrița, Năsăud, and Sibiu, he took a doctorate in letters at the University of Budapest. In 1909 he was elected bishop of Caransebeș.
On 1 Dec. 1918 he was a member of the delegation that presented King Ferdinando I with the decision for the union of Transylvania with Romania. In 1919 he was elected metropolitan of the “Ungrovlacchi,” that is, of Wallachia, thus becoming primate of the entire country, a title that in 1925 was replaced by that of patriarch.
M. had the convent of “Sf. Ilie” at Toplița built and, in 1926, founded an association to combat sects and social and religious evils. During his patriarchate, the organization of the entire Romanian “Orthodox” Church was unified on the basis of Șaguna’s statute.
In 1926, following Prince Carol’s renunciation of his right of succession, M. was a member of the regency for the young Prince Michele. In 1938, when Carol, who had returned as king in 1930, renounced the democratic system of government and established his dictatorship, M. agreed to become head of government, an office he retained until his death.
Petre Vălimăreanu