Additional information
by Dumitru Martinas (Author), Vasile M. Ungureanu (Editor)
The term Chango (Csángó) is the name of a population whose ethnic origin has been the subject of much controversy. The term originates from the Magyar language, in which it means "mixed" or "impure."
Most Changos live on the territory of Romania, with the largest number in Moldavia. Many are bilingual, speaking Romanian and Magyar, and their religion is Catholic. This book makes an important contribution to the scholarly discussion of the origin of the Changos and sheds new light on the history of this little-known, but fascinating people. The only work on the subject written by a Chango scholar, it disputes the theory that the Changos are of Magyar origin--a theory largely based on their Catholicism--demonstrating that they are, in fact, of Romanian origin.Author Biography
Dumitru Martinas was born on 11 May 1897 in the village of Butea in Iasi County, into a family of Roman-Catholic peasants. He completed his early education locally and continued at the Roman-Catholic Seminary of "St. Joseph" in Iasi, before going on to study Romanian philology at the University of Iasi. He was also an active researcher in the history and ethnography of the Roman-Catholic communities of Moldova. His most important work, Origins of the Changos, published in 1985 in Romanian, offered an in-depth analysis of the identity and origins of these communities. He passed away on 3 February 1979 after years of illness. His legacy continues through the "Dumitru Martinas" Roman Catholic Association, founded in March 2001 and active in preserving the cultural-historical heritage of Roman-Catholics in Moldova.
