The desk of Dr. Ioan Ratiu

The object has been in the collection of Turda history museum since the early stages of its existence. Built from furnished pine wood in the 19th century, the desk has its upper side covered in red cloth and is provided with three drawers decorated with vertical stripes, which open by means of brass handles. The lower side of the desk displays compartments intended for documents which are provided with wooden shelves and doors.
As the leader of the national movement of the Romanians from Transylvania, Ratiu submitted to the imperial court in Vienna a Memorandum requesting equal civil rights with those of the Hungarian population. We know for a fact that the Memorandum was written in Turda, most probably at the very desk kept in the museum collection now. Following such Memorandum, Hungarians extremists vandalized Ratiu’s house forcing him to flee to Sibiu. According to our records, the desk was among the few items of furniture saved following this incident, as it was taken to Sibiu. In 1933 when Turda history museum was founded, Dr. Ratiu’s daughter donated the desk to the newly founded institution. The outbreak of WW II led to the disintegration and loss of the history museum’s collections. By a stroke of luck, the desk was found in 1940 during an inventory carried out by the town hall. © History Museum Turda, Cluj County, Romania