Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Sibiu)

Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Romanian: Colegiul Național "Gheorghe Lazăr") is a public day high school in Sibiu, in the Transylvania region of Romania, located at 1-3 Gheorghe Lazăr Street.

The school was founded by the Jesuits in 1692 as a Catholic gymnasium, and Latin was the language of instruction. It was initially located in a small old building near a pharmacy on the Great Square, on the site of the present City Hall. In 1753, it moved to the upper story of a house located at the corner of what are now Mitropoliei and Samuel von Brukenthal streets. In 1773, when the Jesuits were suppressed, the school closed its doors. It reopened in 1780, when Emperor Joseph II approved its reorganization under the name Gymnasium regium Cibiniensis (Royal Sibiu Gymnasium). The administration was composed of local Roman Catholic chaplains; the teachers were Catholic priests, who continued to offer instruction in Latin. In 1789, the school moved into the former Jesuit residence in the Great Square, adjacent to the Catholic Church; it would remain there until 1898. The Latin period was to the benefit of local Romanian students, who comprised around a third of the student body. Among those who attended were Gheorghe Lazăr (1801-1802), August Treboniu Laurian (1827-1828), Ioan Axente Sever (1835-1840) and Simion Balint.

Change came to the school as a result of the 1848-1849 Revolution, which prompted Education Minister Count von Thun to reorganize the gymnasiums of Transylvania in December 1849. The period of study was lengthened to eight years. In 1850, German was adopted as the main language of instruction, while Romanian was taught for the first time. In 1853, the school became a state institution under the name k. k. kath. Staatsgymnasium in Hermannstadt (Imperial and Royal Catholic State Gymnasium in Sibiu), while maintaining its Roman Catholic character. However, its religious affiliation was dropped in 1862. Students during the mid-19th century included Ioan Brote (1832-1835), Iacob Bologa (1835-1840), Ilie Măcelariu (1837-1842), Nicolae Cristea (1848-1857), Visarion Roman (1849-1850), Dimitrie Cunțan (1854-1858), Eugen Brote (1868), Aaron Florian, Ioan Pușcariu, Ioan Popescu, and Sava Popovici Barcianu. Although there is no proof, it is believed that in 1864, Mihai Eminescu took his third-year gymnasium examinations here.

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