Petrache Poenaru (1799-1875)

Romanian magister of the Enlightenment. A student of Greek teacher C. Vardalah's and of Gh. Lazar's. He was secretary and bosom man of Tudor Vladimirescu and took part in the uprising the latter was in front of. From 1822 to 1824 he studied philology in Vienna and then the Polytechnic School in Vienna and in Paris. Once returned to the country in 1832, he became teacher at the "Sf. Sava" School and then head master of the Eforia of national schools, to occupy this position as far as 1848. He made essential contributions to the organisation of national education in both towns and villages.

Member of the Romanian Academy (1870), chair of the Society for the Romanian People Education (1872).

Main works: "Elements of Geometry after Legendre" (1837), "French-Romanian Vocabulary" (2 volumes, 1840-1841, written together with Fl. Aron and G. Hill), "Elements of Algebra after Appeltauer" (1841).

While a student in Paris, Petrache Poenaru invented the fountain pen; an invention which the French Government patented in May 1827.

Last update: 2005, July 6
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