Vincențiu Babeș


Vincențiu Babeș was an ethnic Romanian lawyer, teacher, journalist and politician from the Banat, and one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy.
He was born in 1821 in Hodoni village, Satchinez Commune, Timiș County. His father, Gheorghe Crâșmarul, died when he was young; he was then adopted by his grandfather, Mitra Babeș. After finishing primary school, Vincențiu Babeș attended German-language high schools, first in Timișoara, then in Szeged, where he took the baccalaureate in 1841. After that he attended theology courses in Carloviț and the Seminary in Arad. As he approached becoming a priest, Babeș changed his mind and enrolled at the Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, from which he graduated with a law degree in 1848. Babeș then returned to Arad, where he worked first as a teacher and then as an inspector of the Romanian schools.
He was then sent to Vienna, together with other trusted men, as an advocate for the defense of the interests of the diocese of Arad and of the Romanian people from Mureș and Crișana. After settling in Vienna, he worked at the Supreme Court of Justice. In 1851 he married Sophia Goldschneider, with whom he had 9 children, the best known of which was Victor Babeș. In 1862 he moved to Budapest, where he practiced law, became involved in politics, and died in 1907. In 1937 his remains were brought back to his native village; his resting place is near the church in Hodoni.