Petru Maior (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈpetru ˈmajor]; 1761 in Marosvásárhely (now Târgu Mureș, Romania) – 14 February 1821 in Budapest) was a Romanian writer who is considered[1] one of the most influential personalities of the Age of Enlightenment in Transylvania (the Transylvanian School). Maior was a member of the Greek-Catholic clergy, a historian, philosopher, and linguist.
Petru Maior took a stand and responded, in 1812, by writing the "History of the Beginnings of the Romanians in Dacia" against all those who questioned the origin, character, and the becoming of his people.[2]
Among his works are
He was a prolific writer, who published everything he wrote during his lifetime except for two theological works: "Procanon" (1783) and "Protopopadichia" (The power of the archpriests) (1795).[3]
The Buda Lexicon, a book published in 1825, included two texts by Petru Maior, Orthographia romana sive latino-valachica una cum clavi and Dialogu pentru inceputul linbei române, in which he introduced the letters ș for /ʃ/ and ț for /ts/, which have since been in use in the Romanian alphabet.[4]
Among the ideas vehiculated by him was that before the Council of Florence Romanians used the Latin alphabet to write.[5]
