Sângeorgiu de Pădure

Sângeorgiu de Pădure
Erdőszentgyörgy
Town

Landscape near the town

Coat of arms
Sângeorgiu de Pădure
Coordinates: RO 46°25′49″N 24°50′30″E / 46.43028°N 24.84167°E / 46.43028; 24.84167
Country  Romania
County Mureş County
Status Town
Government
  Mayor András Tar[1] (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania)
Area
  Total 71,42 km2 (2,758 sq mi)
Population (2002)
  Total 5,492
  Density 78/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 547535
Area code(s) +40 265
Website Mayor's Office website

Sângeorgiu de Pădure (Hungarian: Erdőszentgyörgy, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɛrdøːsɛnɟørɟ], meaning "St. George of the Forest"; German: Sankt Georgen auf der Heide) is a town in Mureş County, Romania.

Bezid (Bözöd), Bezidu Nou (Bözödújfalu) and Loţu (Lóc) villages are administratively part of the town.

History

The church of the flooded Bezidu Nou (Bözödújfalu) village
As Erdő Szent Györgÿ on Josephine Land survey, 18th century

The first written record of the town is preserved in a papal tithe applotment list from 1333 in which mention is made of a priest „de Sancto Georgio[2] who paid a sum of 6 dinars to the neighboring diocese. In 1347, a man named Erdő, count of the Székelys, and the sons of Erdő of Erdőszentgyörgy were mentioned.[2] In 1442, Anna Herepei, wife of Erdő of Erdewzenthgergh is written about.[2] The village was the estate of Francis I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania.[2] The Rédey castle was built in 1647. In 1788, Péter Bodor was born here.[2] In 1818-1809, the Rédey castle was rebuilt.[2] In 1913, the official Hungarian name of the village is Erdőszentgyörgy.[2]

Its Romanian name was originally Erdeo-Sângeorgiu, after 1919 Sîngeorgiul de Pădure which later was changed by Romanian authorities to the current official name.[2]

In the mid-1780s as part of the Josephine administrative reform, Marosszék was integrated into Küküllő county, however, the szék-system was restored in 1790. After the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1849, the village formed part of the Kibéd military sub-division of the Marosvásárhely division in the Udvarhely military district.[3] Between 1861–1876, the former Marosszék was restored.[3][4] As a result of the administrative reform in 1876, the village fell within Nyárádszereda district of Maros-Torda County in the Kingdom of Hungary.[5] After the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, it became part of Romania and fell within Mureş-Turda County during the interwar period. In 1940, the Second Vienna Award granted the Northern Transylvania to Hungary and it was held by Hungary until 1944. Administered by the Soviet authorities after 12 November 1944, the village, together with the rest of Northern Transylvania, came under Romanian administration on 13 March 1945 and became officially part of Romania in 1947.[6][7] Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the Magyar Autonomous Region, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureş-Magyar Autonomous Region.[3] In 1968, the province was abolished,[8] and since then, the settlement has been part of Mureş County. It became a town in 2004.[2]

The grave of Claudia Rhedey, grandmother of Queen Mary of England, is placed in the crypt of the Reformed church[9] which was renovated in 1936[2] from donation of Queen Mary of England, great-granddaughter of count Rhedey and grandmother of Queen Elisabeth II of Great Britain.British Royal Family.[9]

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Székely Hungarian majority.[10]

In 1900, the village had, in order of population size, 4,131 Hungarian (91,23%) and 352 Romanian (7,77%) inhabitants.[11] In 1930, the census indicated 2,954 Hungarians (61,17%), 1,194 Romanians (24,73%), 334 Jews (6,92%) and 334 Gypsies (6,92%). According to the 2011 census, 3,816 (75,48%) residents reported themselves as Hungarian, while 904 Romanian (17.88%) and 4.74% Gypsy, from a total of 5055 inhabitants. In 2002, 2,121 households were registered in the town along with 1,912 residential buildings.[12]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
18503,354    
18803,882+15.7%
19004,277+10.2%
19104,528+5.9%
19304,829+6.6%
19566,360+31.7%
19775,714−10.2%
19925,715+0.0%
20025,492−3.9%
20115,055−8.0%
Source: Census data

The 2002 Census reported Calvinism being professed by 54.71% of the total population, while 19.61% of the respondents belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church, 10.34% of the respondents reported themselves as Unitarian, 8.55% as Roman Catholic and 1.07% as Baptist.[10]

Politics

The Bezid (Bözöd) artificial lake

The local Town Council has 15 members:[13]

Party Number of councillors
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania 9
Social Liberal Union 5
Hungarian Civic Party 1

Landmarks

The Reformed church

Notable people

Twinnings

The town is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. Central Electoral Bureau 2008
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 János András Vistai. "Tekintő – Erdélyi Helynévkönyv" (PDF). Transylvanian Toponym Book. p. 961.
  3. 1 2 3 Tibor Elekes. "Marosvásárhely közigazgatási szerepe a XIV. századtól napjainkig" (PDF) (in Hungarian). p. 1, figure 3.
  4. Gazeteer of Hungary, 1873
  5. Hungarian Administrative Reform Act 1876
  6. Sălăgean, Marcela (2002). The Soviet Administration in Northern Transylvania (November 1944 March 1945). Boulder, CO: East European Monographs. p. 190. ISBN 0-88033-496-7.
  7. Zoltán Mihály Nagy. "Power Changes and Self-administration in Northern Transsylvania 12 November 1944–13 March 1945" (in English; original in Hungarian). Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  8. James F. Brown. "The grooves of change: Eastern Europe at the turn of the millennium". Duke University Press. p. 54.
  9. 1 2 Website of Mures County Council
  10. 1 2 Website of the Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center
  11. Censuses in Mureş County, 1850 - 2002
  12. Miscellaneous information on the commune
  13. Local election results 2012; retrieved on March 26, 2013
  14. Keul, István (2009). Early modern religious communities in East-Central Europe: ethnic diversity, denominational plurality, and corporative politics in the principality of Transylvania (1526-1691). Leiden: Brill. p. 174. ISBN 978-90-04-17652-2.
  15. Kiss, Sándor (1979). Emlékeim Kiss Sándor altábornagyról (’My memories of Lieutenant General János Kiss’) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Zrinyi Katonai Kiadó. p. 30.
  16. 1 2 Ágnes Kenyeres (editor). "Magyar Életrajzi Lexicon (Lexicon of Hungarian Biographies)" (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó.
  17. The Peerage website. Accessed May 6, 2010.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Mayor's Office website - Twinnings". Retrieved 2010-08-25.

External links

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