Demeter Ritter von Tuschinski

Demeter Ritter von Tuschinski (Romanian: Dimitrie Tușinschi, born Demeter Tuschinski; 10 May 1870 – after 1950) was First Attorney of State, Procuror General and ultimately President of the Cernăuți Higher Regional Court (Curtea de Apel Cernăuți). His career started in the Austrian-Hungarian era and continued after 1918 until his retirement in 1938 under Romanian rule. He is attributed an important role in building the legal system after 1918 in then Romanian Bukovina, and he was recipient of several major awards. From 1926 to 1938, Demeter von Tuschinski was the Prime President (Prim Președinte) of the Czernowitz Higher Regional Court, was “at the head of the Bukovina judiciary” and was the highest ranking state official in the city. He was considered “one of the most well-known personalities of public life in Bukovina”.

Early life and career
Demeter von Tuschinski was born on 10. May 1870 in Austrian-Hungarian Suceava as the only child of the orthodox archpriest Cassian von Tuschinski and his wife Julia. The family was an "old and respected family of reviewers from Mihalcea". His father Cassian was a priest at Saint Nicolai church in Suceava. In 1887, the Clubul Român (Romanian club) in Suceava was founded by Cassian, Teodor V. Ștefanelli and others. It was frequented by many Romanian intellectuals and artists. Demeter von Tuschinski later in life recalled memories of Mihai Eminescu repeadetly visiting his childhood home.

Demeter von Tuschinski attended the high school in Suceava and graduated in 1887. Afterwards, he studied law at Franz-Josephs-Universität Czernowitz and graduated as a Doctor of Law. As a student, he became a member of Romanian Junimea student society and was active there along fellow students like Constantin Isopescu-Grecul. On 1 August 1892, von Tuschinski joined the Suceava District Court as a trainee judge. Since his school days, he was, for example, friends wihth the Viennese University professor and medical doctor Stefan Weidenfeld (1870–1917), who had been born in Suceava, too.

On 17 May 1894, Demeter von Tuschinski was appointed as a clerk at the Suceava District Court, and on 29 September 1897 as a judge at the Câmpulung Moldovenesc District Court. His collaboration in the drafting of the Austro-Hungarian Civil procedure code under Franz Klein brought him renown in professional circles in 1898. From 21 October 1899 Demeter Tuschinski was a public prosecutor in Czernowitz, and from 3 December 1904 a district court judge at the Czernowitz regional court. In 1902, he attended the last execution in Czernowitz under Austrian Hungarian rule as a spectator. In retrospect, he attested that the execution had a deterrent effect, but declared himself an opponent of the death penalty. From 10 December 1908, Tuschinski was First Public Prosecutor in Suceava, and from 10 May 1910 he was appointed to the same position in Czernowitz.

In July 1912, Demeter von Tuschinski was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown III class. The press stressed that Tuschinski was unusually young when receiving the Order. In 1915 he was appointed a member of the judicial state examination commission at the University of Czernowitz.

Title
Demeter von Tuschinski's family is part of the Polish heraldic community Nałęcz, whose coat of arms he bore, and the family's name was originally spelt Tuszynski. His ancestor Johann Tuszynski was part of the court of King Stanisław II August in Warsaw and received the Servitoratus Regius from him in 1774. At the end of the 18th century, one of Johann's descendants moved to Bukovina and settled as a large landowner in Mykhalcha, where he was referred to as a boyar. In 1914, Demeter Tuschinski was granted the right to use the title "von" for himself and his descendants as old Polish nobility. Shortly before the end of the First World War, he was also awarded the title "Ritter von". After 1918, he continued to use the title publicly and was often referred to by his full title in the Bucovinian press during the 1920s and 1930s, although his first and last name were often spelt the Romanian way Ritter von Tușinschi or Ritter von Tuschinschi. Occasionally, the title was translated into Romanian: Cavaler de Tușinschi. On 12 June 1917, Demeter von Tuschinski was awarded the title of Hofrat.

Military service and World War I
On 1 January 1894 Demeter Tuschinski was given the rank of lieutenant in the reserve. He served in medical unit (Sanitätsabteilung) no. 3. On 1 November 1908, Demeter Tuschinski was promoted to first lieutenant (Oberleutnant) in the reserve. He served for a total of three years during the First World War in various capacities in the non-combatant troops, was meanwhile promoted to captain on 1 March 1915 and received multiple awards.

Transformation period 1918/1919
Immediately after the First World War, Demeter von Tuschinski took part as a speaker in rallies that emphasised Bukovina's affiliation to Romania. With the collapse of Austro-Hungarian rule, Bukovina lacked a Higher Regional Court, as the one in Lemberg, which previously held jurisdiction of the area, was now outside the new border. At the instigation of Johann von Flondor and Ion Nistor, on 1 June 1919 the Higher Regional Court of Czernowitz (Romanian: Curtea de Apel) was opened on 1 June 1919 with one section and a total of ten judges. Demeter von Tuschinski was appointed Procuror General (Generalstaatsanwalt) at its opening. In July 1919, he was a member of a commission proposing that Romanian judges and judges of other nationalities in Bukovina be given equal consideration for appointment. Von Tuschinski described the establishment of a separate higher regional court as a desire that had existed among the population of Bukovina since 1851.

1920s/30s
The major changes following the end of Austro-Hungarian rule posed numerous challenges for the judiciary. In addition to the standardisation of laws, the cooperation of legal officials from the former Austro-Hungarian state and Romania played an important role. Demeter von Tuschinski coined the term "amalganisation" of the judiciary. In August 1922, Czernowitzer Morgenblatt wrote that von Tuschinski was "sincerely honoured by all classes of people, all social circles and all nationalities", and that he was "so completely immersed in his high profession and so completely armed against every prejudice that neither national nor social currents can touch him". At the beginning of 1923, a law stipulated that only the Romanian language was permitted in court. This caused various difficulties in proceedings when not all parties were equally proficient in the language. After a conference at the Higher Regional Court, Demeter von Tuschinski travelled to Bucharest on 25 February of that year to present the matter to the Minister of Justice in person.

On 24 June 1923, Demeter von Tuschinski was part of a delegation that received King Ferdinand I in Czernowitz. In December of the same year, as a former Austrian-Hungarian captain of the reserve, he was transferred to the reserve of the Romanian 14th Infantry Regiment, retaining the same rank. In October 1925, he was appointed President of the Higher Regional Court. On occasion of his appointment, Czernowitzer Morgenblatt on its title page printed a very positive article about von Tuschinski's life and character traits. In his first meeting with the Minister of Justice Gheorghe Gh. Mârzescu on 4 October 1925, von Tuschinski expressed the wish to create a second section of the court in order to reduce the backlog in the ever-increasing workload. This was granted, and on 1 January 1926 a second section was opened with additional judges. Each of the sections had its own independent jurisdiction. Dimitrie von Tuschinski was appointed the first President (Prim Preşedinte) of the entire Higher Regional Court on 1 January 1926. From then on, he was, by rank, the highest civil servant in the city. At the same time, three new tribunals were established in Storozynetz, Radautz and Kimpolung in addition to the existing tribunals in Czernowitz and Suczeawa. In total, 34 courts were active in the jurisdiction of the Higher Regional Court at the beginning of 1926. These changes were described by the press as a "new era in the administration of justice in Bukovina under the leadership of First President Tuschinski", together with the hope that numerous issues would be improved as a result. Shortly after his appointment as First President, von Tuschinski fell ill with appendicitis in mid-January 1926 and required surgery. As a result, he was unable to work for several months and was only able to resume his duties at the beginning of April 1926. Most probably in reference to this episode, Czernowitzer Morgenblatt wrote in 1938 on the occasion of von Tuschinski's retirement that when he "once fell ill, people prayed in churches and synagogues for his recovery". Demeter von Tuschinski was repeatedly offered the opportunity to move to the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest as a councillor, but he declined in order to stay in Bukovina.

In his capacity as President of the Higher Regional Court, Demeter von Tuschinski took part in many public events, which were reported in the press. At the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Cernăuți Higher Regional Court on 29 September 1934, Demeter von Tuschinski gave a speech alongside Minister of Justice Victor Antonescu and Minister of Labour Ion Nistor. Both the ceremony and the speech were widely covered by the press. Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung reported on the front page and the two following pages. and Czernowitzer Morgenblatt printed a transcript of von Tuschinski's entire speech. In addition to his work as President of the Higher Regional Court, he also published the journal Pagini juridice ("Legal Pages") from 1932 to 1940. As a supplement, some issues of the journal included writings of the Study Circle for Public Law, a "legal-scientific society" in Cernăuți. Von Tuschinski was in the audience at some of the lectures organised by the society, which was highlighted by the press: For example, in 1936, he attended a presentation by Dr Turcan, who described a possible "rescue of Europe through continentalism" and spoke out "against chauvinism and racism", which was positively received by the audience.

Relations with the Jewish population
In 1938, the Czernowitzer Morgenblatt emphasised that Demeter von Tuschinski was held in high esteem by both the Christian and Jewish population of the city. In 1933, for example, he was a guest at the inauguration of the maternity centre for poor women of Jewish faith. In September 1934, von Tuschinski was asked to reschedule some trials of Jewish parties that were scheduled on a Jewish holiday. He then arranged that generally, court dates for trials involving only Jewish litigants in Bukovina would be rescheduled if they were to take place during Jewish holidays.

Retirement
In 1938, the age limit for judges was lowered to 65 years. When Demeter von Tuschinski therefore retired on 1 April, there was extensive and very positive press coverage of his life and work in Bukovina. On 14 April 1938, a farewell banquet was held for him at the Café Astoria in Cernăuți with 150 invited guests, which was attended by all judges and many prominent personalities from Bukovina, such as the mayor of Cernăuți, Colonel Ion Cantemir. The banquet and the speeches given there were widely reported in the Cernăuți press. Several press articles emphasised that he was "in full possession of his mental and physical capacities" and expressed regret at his retirement.

After 1938
After his retirement, Demeter von Tuschinski continued to be involved in Cernăuți, for example in the voluntary rescue organisation. After the announcement of the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, which resulted in the annexation of northern Bukovina within a few days, Demeter von Tuschinski and his wife left Bukovina with only few belongings. After Cernăuți came back under Romanian administration in 1941, the family returned there, but left the city for the final time in 1944, fleeing the Soviet advance and settling in Transylvania. Demeter von Tuschinski passed away after 1950, likely in Brașov.

Charitable commitment
Demeter von Tuschinski was involved in various charitable endeavours. In 1923, for example, he was president of the Association for the Centre for Child Protection and Youth Welfare in Bukovina. He was vice president of the Cernăuți Rescue Organisation and the Cernăuți branch of the Red Cross. A press article from 1938 also, for example, mentions his involvement in the war widows' and orphans' welfare programme, his role as protector of a school for poor children and his commitment to supporting destitute civil servants and servants. In 1932, the press wrote in a portrait of him that there had been "no major action of a social nature" in Bukovina in the previous decades "whose driving factor had not been Prim-President Dr Dimitrie von Tușinschi".

Recognition
The major newspapers published in Bukovina described Demeter von Tuschinski in consistently positive terms: he was regarded as "one of the most striking personalities" in the city of Cernăuți and enjoyed "the greatest respect everywhere". During the Austro-Hungarian period, he was publicly characterised positively as well as a public prosecutor. As a judge, he was later attested "objectivity" and "his undoubted and strong feeling for the needs of the population", and that he considers "respect for human dignity to be a fundamental principle in legal life". His understanding of the needs of the various nationalities in Bukovina was particularly emphasised. He was described as treating all nationalities in Bukovina "equally". Several contemporary press reports mention that he was also popular because of his manners.

Family
Demeter von Tuschinski was married to Leontine (née Meixner, *1873). She came from a well-known family of beer brewers in Suczava. Like her husband, she was involved in numerous charitable organisations and events. For example, she organised charity events to support widows and orphans, was a founding member of the Cernăuți Animal Protection society in 1930 and was involved in the anti-tuberculosis association as well as the Red Cross. On 17 March 1930, she was awarded the Romanian Order of Sanitary Merit (Meritul Sanitar) 1st class.

Their only child Konstantin von Tuschinski (or Constantin von Tușinschi in Romanianised spelling) was born on 24 October 1905. Like his father, he studied law at Cernăuți university. Later, he got his doctorate in law and was initially working as an assistant judge and attorney. In the mid-1930s, he joined the civil service as a public prosecutor in Cernăuți, receiving the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania in 1938 and was appointed First Attorney of State in Cernăuți in 1939. Until 1940, he published numerous books on international legal issues and the history of various states and international relations, beside working along his father on the journal Pagini Juridice. After the Second World War, he was dismissed from the civil service and lived with his wife and their two sons in Sighișoara, where he wrote short stories and plays alongside his work as a lawyer. He passed away in 1984.

Demeter von Tuschinski's great-grandson Alexander Tuschinski (*1988 in Stuttgart) is a film director and historian. As of 2024, he is researching Demeter von Tuschinski's life and plans to publish a scholarly biography of him. In November 2023, he gave his first public lecture on his research at Bukowina-Institut an der Universität Augsburg, in which he presented the first comprehensive biographical overview of his great-grandfather to date.

Awards (selection)
Demeter von Tuschinski was an honorary citizen of numerous towns and communities in Bukovina. These included the towns of Storozynetz and Wama, as well as the rural communities of Arbora, Dornesti and Zibeni. Throughout his life, he received the following awards (selection):

1912: Order of the Iron Crown – III Class.

1916: Military Merit Medal – bronze.

1918: Military Merit Medal – silver.

1922: Order of the Crown of Romania – Commander.

1928: Order of the Star of Romania – Commander.

1936: Order of the Crown of Romania – Grand Officer.

In addition, before 1918 he was also awarded the Jubilee Cross for civil servants (replaced in 1915 by that for military personnel), and in 1898 the Jubilee Medal in both civilian and military versions. In 1936, he applied for and received the Austrian War Commemorative Medal without swords.