Avram Imbroane (December 9, 1880 – September 23, 1938) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician, businessman, and Orthodox priest. Born in the western half of Banat, he was active in nationalist agitation among that region's Romanian community, and later also in Transylvania. By the time of World War I, he supported secession and the unconditional union of Transylvania and the Banat with the Kingdom of Romania. He fled Austria-Hungary and engaged in propaganda work—first in Romania, then among the Transylvanian prisoners-of-war in the Russian Republic. In late 1918, he returned to the Banat and became an active participant in the unionist struggle, participating in the assemblies of the Great Union.
After 1919, Imbroane set up his own political party, the National Union from Banat, which stood on an independent nationalist platform against both the autonomist Romanian National Party and the traditional parties of the Romanian Kingdom. He served in the Assembly of Deputies, becoming its vice president in 1920, and, like his Transylvanian friend Octavian Goga, joined the People's Party. Imbroane's political career became tied to that of Constantin Argetoianu — like Argetoianu, he was frequently accused of running a spoils system centered on state enterprises such as the Reșița works. He followed Argetoianu into the Democratic Nationalist Party, but soon after left that group and rallied with his former nemesis, the National Liberal Party. He remained affiliated with that party for the remainder of his life, although he frequently clashed with its central structures.
Imbroane ended his work in politics with a final stint as Secretary of the Culture and Religious Affairs Ministry, remembered for his disputes with the Romanian Roman Catholics. In his final years, he was involved with the management of Banatian industries and banks, and also worked to develop regional standards in education and culture. He also campaigned for the rights of Romanians in Yugoslavia, and was left aggrieved by the partition of the Banat.
Biography Early career Imbroane was born on December 9, 1880, in Mélykastély (Coștei), a Romanian-inhabited village that is currently part of Vojvodina, Serbia, Cristian Ghinea, "Avram Imbroane, un alt 'ilustru necunoscut' al Lugojului", in Renașterea, May 19, 2014Politics and Political Parties in Roumania, p. 464. London: International Reference Library Publishers Co., 1936. but was then included in the Hungarian-ruled sectors of Austria-Hungary, and, historically, in the Banat area. His parents were peasants, belonging to the lower strata of the Romanian Banatian community. Florin Bengean, "Preotul Avram Imbroane, un cleric luptător pentru unitatea națională a poporului român", in Cuvântul Liber, June 26, 2015 The couple had another son, Nicolae.Buruleanu & Păun, p. 50Alin Ciupală, "Câmpineni și rudele lor ilustre. Urmașii Brătienilor stabiliți la Câmpina", in Oglinda de Azi, June 7, 2016 Their surname name is a dialectal Romanian variety of the more common Imbroaie (the "n" of the derivative spelling is pronounced [nʲ]); both derive from the given name Imbre.Alexandru Graur, Nume de persoane, pp. 129, 131. Bucharest: Editura științifică, 1965. ; Nicolae Iorga, La place des Roumains dans l'histoire universelle. I: Antiquité et moyen âge, p. 168. Bucharest: Institut des Études Byzantines, 1935.
Avram completed his primary education at the Kuštilj town school, then graduated from the gymnasium of Bela Crkva (Biserica Albă). He spent his high school years, to 1901, in the Transylvanian city of Brașov, graduating from the Șaguna Romanian Lyceum.Vasile C. Osvadă, "După reorganizare...", in Societatea de Mâine, Nr. 28–29/1925, p. 489 Imbroane was subsequently enlisted by the Royal Hungarian Honvéd, serving with the 7th Infantry Regiment at Versec, and then graduating from the military school in Szeged. He later began studying law at Budapest University, where he became involved in the Romanian nationalist movement, alongside Vasile Lucaciu and Octavian Goga.
Passionate about the nationalist cause, Imbroane decided to leave Hungary after only a year worth of law training. He moved to the Kingdom of Romania, and entered the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters. He quit when his mother asked him not to leave the Banat behind. Seeking a compromise, Imbroane traveled to the Duchy of Bukovina, which was largely inhabited by educated Romanians and under direct Austrian rule. Enlisting at Czernowitz University's school of theology, he went on to study for a while at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, also attending lectures in Economic and Political Science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the University of Breslau, and the Lubrański Academy in Poznań. Upon his return, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity diploma in 1907, and married Sofia born Tarnovțchi, a Bukovinian schoolteacher who was six years his junior."Moartea doamnei Imbroane", in Adevărul, February 26, 1933, p. 7 They had four children together. Sever Bocu, "Avram Imbroane", in Vestul, September 23, 2013
Imbroane declined an offer to teach theology at Czernowitz in order to pursue educational and political work among the Romanian Banatians, who had financed his final years of study. He settled in Lugoj, where, by the time of World War I, he was an Orthodox deacon. He became one of the leading contributors to the city newspaper, Drapelul, joining efforts with his former schoolteacher, Valeriu Braniște. Elected president of the Traders' Guild, Imbroane was also involved with various other cultural and social causes. He led a theatrical society and singing club, and wrote one theatrical play: Din Heidelbergul de altădată ("Scenes of the Past in Heidelberg"). In his works of literature and journalism, he often used pen names, including Abd., Ion, I-ne, Luno Caid, Raportor, W. Finic, and N. Finic.Straje, pp. 266, 346, 348, 402, 589, 793
World War I Imbroane's political career took off during the elections of 1910, when he canvassed votes for Caius Brediceanu at Temesmóra (Moravița).Buruleanu & Păun, p. 36 The Drapelul group broke with the mainstream Romanian National Party (PNR) by supporting the incorporation of Transylvania and the Banat into Romania, rather than cultural and political autonomy under Austria. This stance became a nuisance for the Hungarian authorities after the outbreak of war with Serbia, when Imbroane came to be regarded as a "dangerous agitator". In autumn 1914, Imbroane fled to the still-neutral Kingdom of Romania. He took a job as a schoolteacher,Păiușan, p. 38 but was also assigned a post in the Ministry of Royal Domains. His family was able to join him before the year's close.
From exile, Imbroane resumed his work as a publicist, this time with openly anti-imperial and irredentist propaganda. Openly asking for a Romanian intervention in the war against Austria, he became a noted contributor to the interventionist newspaper Epoca,Suciu, p. 1091 and an occasional one to Universul and Adevărul. His contributions were often anonymous, signed as "Un bănățean" ("A Banatian").Straje, pp. 346, 749 Imbroane also toured the country with Nicolae Filipescu and Nicolae Titulescu, speaking at nationalist rallies in cities such as Caracal and Brăila, and joining Filipescu's Unionist Federation. As a consequence of his interventionist campaigning, the Hungarian Prosecutor's Office issued an order for his detainment.Păiușan, p. 39
In August 1916, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary and the other Central Powers. The subsequent campaigns ended in massive defeats and an invasion of the Romanian Kingdom territory. The government relocated to Iași, militarily backed by the Russian Republic. In July 1917, Imbroane, Goga, Sever Bocu and other Romanian defectors from Austria-Hungary were sent by the Iași government on a mission to Russia herself. They carried out propaganda work among the Transylvanian and Bukovinian prisoners-of-war, drawing them into a Volunteer Corps—for this purpose, they set up in Kyiv the newspaper România Mare.Netea, p. 1156; Nițescu, p. 29 He was by then integrated into the Romanian Land Forces as a lieutenant.Nițescu, p. 192 Stavka recognized Imbroane as a Romanian government envoy and assigned him to approach prisoners working in the coal mines of Bakhmut and Seleznyovsky.Nițescu, pp. 54–55, 127, 192 According to his colleague Voicu Nițescu, Imbroane was "one of the most industrious, dedicated, and competent" recruiters, but met difficulty dealing with the local soviets. The latter wanted the Romanians kept in place until replaced by other captives.Nițescu, p. 127
In early September, Imbroane and his commission left the Donbas to complete new recruitment missions in Kazan, before being assigned to such work in Perm, Yekaterinburg, and the Ural at large.Nițescu, pp. 192, 222 Following the October Revolution, which took Russia out of the war, he rejoined Bocu in Iași. At the time, a government under Alexandru Marghiloman was called in to negotiate peace with the Central Powers. Reportedly, Marghiloman put pressure on Imbroane to abandon his nationalist propaganda, but the latter refused, declaring that he'd "rather die".
Union Day and UNB creation The Romanian peace was nullified by the November 11 Armistice, which brought down the Central Powers as a whole, accelerating the territorial breakup of Austria-Hungary (see Aster Revolution). On his way to propagate the Banat Romanian cause in France and Britain,Netea, p. 1162; Păiușan, p. 51 Imbroane made a secretive visit to his native land, where an unrecognized democratic republic had just been superseded by a Serbian intervention. He collected terrain data which he later provided to the Supreme War Council. On November 24, he met with the Romanian National Council, which opposed incorporation into Serbia, and proposed to them that Banat unite with Romania unilaterally and unconditionally.Păiușan, p. 51 Later, this demand was supplemented by a call for Romanian Banatians to defend the region against other countries.Suciu, p. 1100 Imbroane and other Romanian nationalists also preserved contacts with Stefan Frecôt, a leader of the German-speaking Danube Swabian community, who soon became a supporter of Banat's unconditional union.Smaranda Vultur, Francezi în Banat, bănățeni în Franța, pp. 46–47. Timișoara: Editura Marineasa, 2012.
Imbroane was subsequently selected as one of 44 members sent by the Banat to the Great Romanian Council, which designated a provisional government, or and claimed jurisdiction over the Banat. On December 1, 1918, day in which the Great Union happened, Imbroane and Braniște were among the Banat delegates to the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia which voted for union. Both supported the agenda of unconditional unification against the more reserved PNR autonomists. Also voting for union on that day was Imbroane's brother Nicolae, delegated by the Romanians of Moravița.