Vasile Lucaci was born in
Apa,
Szatmár County, the son of Mihai Lucaciu and Iuliana Toth. He went to school in his native village and then attended gymnasium in
Baia Mare. For high school, he first went to
Uzhhorod and then to the
Jesuit school in
Oradea. His parish was in
Șișești,
Maramureș where he built a school and a church. Lucaciu was a member of the
National Romanian Party and a co-author of the
Transylvanian Memorandum (1892). As a consequence, Vasile Lucaciu was tried for "
homeland betrayal" in
Kolozsvár/Cluj in May 1894 and sentenced to five years in prison. However he was released after one year. During this period, the song “
Doina lui Lucaciu” was dedicated to him. In 1905, he was elected deputy for the
Belényes/Beiuș constituency in the
Hungarian Parliament. In March 1917, Vasile Lucaciu was a member of a group of exiled Romanian Habsburg subjects who were sent as a delegation to the United States to campaign for Romania's cause. He died in 1922 in
Satu Mare and was buried in Șișești. Lucaciu is also known as the "Lion of Șișești". People can visit today his in Șișești, as well as the school, both being now museums. The
Vasile Lucaciu National College in Baia Mare is named after him. A boulevard in Satu Mare and streets in Baia Mare,
Bucharest,
Ploiești, and
Timișoara also bear his name. ==References==