Metadata: Association of craftsmen Şimleul Silvaniei
Collection
- Country:
- Romania
- Holding institution:
- Romanian National Archives, Directorate of Sălaj County
- Holding institution (official language):
- Arhivele Naţionale Româna, Direcţia judeţeană Sălaj
- Postal address:
- Tudor Vladimirescu Str. No. 26A, Zalău 450067, judeţul Sălaj, Romania
- Phone number:
- 0040-260-611016
- Email:
- salaj@arhivelenationale.ro
- Reference number:
- Fond 49
- Title:
- Association of craftsmen Şimleul Silvaniei
- Title (official language):
- Asociaţia micilor meseriaşi Şimleul Silvaniei
- Creator/accumulator:
- Labour Chamber Oradea
- Date(s):
- 1887/1952
- Language:
- Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 56 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
- The collection contains material relating to the business of craftsmen in Şimleul Silvaniei. Distinct from the medieval corporations which functioned in Transylvania until the middle of the 19th century, craft associations included both owners and employees and operated under the supervision of the Labour Chamber of Oradea, which had an office in Şimleul Silvaniei. To join an association or qualify as a foreman it was necessary to obtain the approval of the chamber in Oradea, which required forms stating the name of the petitioner, his residence and his craft, as well as certificates of birth, nationality and morality, identity card, certificates of professional qualification and sanitary authorisation for workshops. Some files also include photographs of the petitioner. The files include many Jewish craftsmen, particularly shoemakers, tailors, bakers, butchers, carpenters, watchmakers, blanket-makers and mechanics, as well as many merchants. There are a relatively large number of female petitioners, especially seamstresses and dressmakers. Though the collection refers to Şimleul Silvaniei, craftsmen from other parts of Sălaj County are also mentioned.
- Archival history:
- The collection was transferred to the Sălaj branch of the State Archives after the dissolution of the association in 1952, and is now held by the Romanian National Archives, Directorate of Sălaj County.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The association was founded in the second half of the 19th century. Material from before the First World War is in Hungarian. After 1918, when the Romanian administration was installed, the material is mostly in Romanian. The association functioned until 1952, when the new communist authorities in replaced it with craft co-operatives.
- Access points: locations:
- Sălaj
- Subject terms:
- Professions
- Professions--Crafts
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is organised in alphabetical order of the names of the petitioners.
- Finding aids:
- Inventory No. 90 of the Romanian National Archives, Directorate of Sălaj County (includes the files in alphabetical order of the names of the petitioners).
- Yerusha Network member:
- Romanian Institute for the Research of National Minorities
- Author of the description:
- Anton Dörner (retired researcher), Ladislau Gyémánt (emeritus professor, Cluj-Napoca), 2016
