Nicolae Bălan

Nicolae Bălan
Bust of Bălan in Sibiu
Church	Romanian Orthodox Church
Archdiocese	Sibiu
Metropolis	Transylvania
Installed	30 May 1920
Term ended	6 August 1955
Predecessor	Vasile Mangra
Successor	Iustin Moisescu
Orders
Ordination	1919
Consecration	30 May 1920
Personal details
Born	(1882-04-27)April 27, 1882 Felsőbalázsfalva, Beszterce-Naszód County, Austria-Hungary (now Blăjenii de Sus, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Romania)
Died	August 6, 1955(1955-08-06) (aged 73) Sibiu, Romanian People's Republic
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox Church
Profession	Theologian
Alma mater	Czernowitz University

Nicolae Bălan (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e bəˈlan]; April 27, 1882 – August 6, 1955) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric, a metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The son of a priest, he graduated from Czernowitz University and taught theology at Sibiu from 1905 to 1920. That year, he became Metropolis of Transylvania, an office he would hold for the rest of his life. In the 1930s, he was an open supporter of the Iron Guard. In 1948, after a communist regime was established, he publicly assisted the new authorities in their effort to disband the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church.

Born in Blăjenii de Sus, Bistrița-Năsăud County, he was the first of eight children born to the priest Vasile Bălan and his wife Maria. He graduated from the Năsăud gymnasium in 1900 and attended the Theology faculty of Czernowitz University from 1900 to 1904, obtaining his doctorate there the following year. His renowned professors included the brothers Eusebiu and Constantin Clement Popovici, Emilian Voiutschi, Vasile Găină, Teodor Tarnavschi, Vasile Tarnavschi and Vasile Gheorghiu; Bălan distinguished himself as an excellent student. He attended courses on Protestant and Catholic theology at Breslau in 1904–1905. Moving to Sibiu, in 1905 he became a temporary professor at the local theological institute's department for dogma, apologetics and ethics. He secured a permanent post in 1909, and remained until 1920.