Education and Kinship among the Romanian Political deputies in Transylvania at time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

Ana Victoria Sima, Babes-Bolyai University, Romanian Academy

This study aims to analyse to what extent kinship and education were determining factors in obtaining or maintaining social prestige among the Romanian Political deputies in Transylvania between 1861 and 1918. The analysis focuses on the Greek-Catholic and Orthodox laymen and clergymen who asserted themselves in the political life of Transylvania during the studied period. First of all, we wish to identify the social strata of this political elite and the decisive role played by the socio-economic background in their education and advancement as individual actors or as members of a decision-making group. Secondly, we intend to see to what extent belonging to a kinship network influenced their role and place in the political live of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Specifically, I will try to answer a few research questions such as: did kinship still serve, in the second half of the nineteenth century, as an invisible bond among the Romanian political elite? Also, what extent social origin and education influenced the rise and development of the Romanian political elite in Transylvania in the above mentioned period.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 140. Elites Networks: Business, Politics, and Civil Society