The "Monumentul Memorandistilor" (Monument of Memorandaists) was
errected in 1994, 100 years after a trial, where most of the defendants were
sentenced to prison. They, the so called Memorandists, came from Transylvania,
at that time a part of Hungary, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The majority of Transylvanias inhabitants were Romanians, who had less rights than the
Hungarians and no official ethnic status. Therefore, a committee of the Romanian
National Party wrote a memorandum to Emperor Franz Josef, who forwarded it
(unread) to the Hungarian parliament, from where it was forwarded (again unread)
to the head of the delegation. Because the document was printed and circulated,
the authors were sued in May 1894 and accused of sedition by the press.
One side of the memorial contains a
sentence,
that Ioan Ratiu said during this trial. The other side commemorates the 100
years anniversary of the trial and the names of the Memorandaists:
1894 - 1994
Ioan Ratiu
G. Pop de Basesti
Vasile Lucaciu
Dimitrie Comsa
Septimiu Albini
Iuliu Coroianu
Theodor Mihali
Gherasim Domide
Daniil P. Barcianu
Rubin Patitia
Mihai Veliciu
Aurel Suciu
Nicolae Christea
Patriciu Barbu
Dionisie Roman
In Memoriam
The Monument of Memorandaists
"The Monument to the Memorandaists from Cluj-Napoca was erected in 1994,
at the intersection of Pieta Unirii and Boulevard Eroilor, on the occasion
of commemorating the centenary of the trial filed in May 1894 against the
Memorandaists, who had the power to stand up against the measures of
denationalization of the Romanians, taken by the Austro-Hungarian
government.
The Monument of the Memorandists, inaugurated on June 9, 1994, is 18.8
meters high and was created by the sculptor Eugen Paul."
Translated from source:
ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumentul_Memorandistilor_din_Cluj-Napoca