Constantin Tomaszczuk

Constantin Tomaszczuk
Member of the Abgeordnetenhaus
In office 1871–1889
Member of the Diet of Bukovina
In office 1871–1874
In office 1878–1889
Personal details
Born	(1840-03-13)13 March 1840 Czernowitz (Cernăuți), Austrian Empire
Died	19 December 1889(1889-12-19) (aged 49) Vienna, Cisleithania, Austria-Hungary
Citizenship	Austria-Hungary
Nationality	Romanian
Political party	Constitutional
Alma mater	University of Lemberg
Occupation	Jurist, professor, politician
Known for	First rector of the University of Chernivtsi

Constantin Tomaszczuk (in Romanian Constantin Tomașciuc; born (1840-03-13)March 13, 1840 – died December 19, 1889(1889-12-19) (aged 49)) was a Romanian^[1][2] jurist, professor of law and legal philosophy, and politician in Austria-Hungary. He served as a deputy in the Diet of Bukovina and in the House of Deputies of the Imperial Council in Vienna from 1871 to 1889. He was the first rector of the University of Czernowitz.

Constantin Tomaszczuk was born in Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi) on 13 March 1840 into a Greek Orthodox family. His mother was Romanian, and his father was Ruthenian (Ukrainian).

After primary school, he graduated from the Obergymnasium in Chernivtsi on 31 July 1857. That same year, he enrolled at the University of Lemberg (now Lviv), where he studied law, philosophy, and history. In 1861, he graduated from the Faculty of Law, and on 16 August 1864 he obtained his Doctor of Law degree.

He worked for five years as a jurist in Sibiu.

Tomaszczuk served as a deputy in the Diet of Bukovina and in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat) in Vienna between 1871 and 1889.

He was affiliated with the liberal and centralist group led by Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi, which advocated for a politically centralized state with cultural autonomy for crown lands inhabited by non-German ethnic groups. This contrasted with the federalist-autonomist faction led by Alexandru Petrino, which favored a decentralized and federal structure.^[3]

Tomaszczuk considered himself ethnically Romanian, politically Austrian, and partly of Ruthenian origin. He believed that Austrian political nationality should not be based on language or ethnicity, and he strongly opposed ultranationalism and antisemitism.^[4] He was a member of the Society for Romanian Culture and Literature in Bukovina.^[5][6]

On 7 March 1872, during a debate in the Imperial Council, he advocated for the establishment of a university in Chernivtsi and for the development of secondary education for women in the Duchy of Bukovina.^[7] These initiatives were eventually realized, and in 1875, as a professor of commercial law and legal philosophy, he was appointed the first rector of the University of Chernivtsi.

Tomaszczuk was the first rector of the Franz Joseph University of Czernowitz. He taught civil law, commercial and negotiable instruments law, and philosophy of law.^[8]

In 1888, Tomaszczuk was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was scheduled for surgery in Vienna at the end of 1889 but died just days before the operation. He was buried with honors at the Vienna Central Cemetery. In the Austrian Parliament, he was succeeded by Doxuță Hurmuzachi.^[9]

A statue of Constantin Tomaszczuk stands in Chernivtsi, and a memorial plaque in his honor is located on Pelikangasse in Vienna.

In modern-day Ukraine, Tomaszczuk is regarded as "Ukrainian".^{[10][11][12][13]}

• University of Chernivtsi
• Duchy of Bukovina
• Romanians of Chernivtsi Oblast