Ioniță Tunsu or Tunsul ("The Trimmed", or "The Defrocked"; – 19 August 1832) was a Wallachian brigand (hajduk, hence Tunsu[l] haiducul) who received posthumous status as a folk hero. Born to a rural deacon of the Wallachian Bishopric in the Romanian Orthodox Church, he served as a sexton and was preparing for a while to take over as parish priest. He chose instead a career in the criminal and rebellious underworld of Bucharest; he was probably pushed into it by witnessing injustices accumulate during the final stages of the Phanariote regime, and is credited by several historians as an active participant in the Wallachian uprising of 1821. He persevered after the end of the Phanariotes, when he acquired fame for his daring exploits, as well as for his protection of the poorest Wallachians. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, Tunsu expanded his activities deeper into the countryside, selectively terrorizing the boyar aristocracy. As the Danubian Principalities became a dominion of the Russian Empire, under terms codified in Regulamentul Organic, he continued to defy the authorities, and sometimes carried out raids into Moldavia.
The Russian governor, Pavel Kiselyov, made it his mission to neutralize Tunsu, but wanted it done humanely—he was positively impressed when the hajduk, who could stalk Kiselyov at will, announced that he would not assassinate his rival. The local police, led by boyars Iordache Filipescu and Constantin Cantacuzino, had instructions to begin a manhunt, and a prize was promised for anyone willing to betray Ioniță. Combined forces of Wallachian militiamen, Arnaut mercenaries and commandeered Cossacks were several times eluded by Tunsu and his band; relying on supporters throughout the land, the outlaws moved with relative ease, and Tunsu even appeared publicly in Bucharest. He was ultimately betrayed by his godson, the double-dealing policeman Radu, who helped Kiselyov's men with organizing a stakeout at Grozăvești. Tunsu's band was largely destroyed during the resulting shootout, and Tunsu himself was gutted by a bullet.
Ioniță survived for several hours, and was operated on by Kiselyov's surgeons, but his intestines had been damaged beyond repair. His dead body was exhibited, but only drew in sympathetic crowds; it was then buried at some distance from Mărcuța Church, in a grave that the authorities agreed to mark with a wooden monument, paid for by the national treasury. After being first glorified in Romanian folklore as early as the 1830s, Tunsu was the main character of an 1840 story attributed to Russia's Alexander Veltman. He was discovered by Romanian literature during the United Principalities era, when Simeon Mihălescu reused elements of his biography for a comédie en vaudevilles, and Vasile Alecsandri wrote verse commemorating him. His legend was more fully explored and codified by novelist N. D. Popescu-Popnedea, who helped consolidate his posthumous cult over several generations.
Biography Origins and early activities The future hajduk, who signed himself mononymously as "Ioniță",Papazoglu, p. 96 was from the village of Optași, in the original Olt County (on Muntenia's inner-Wallachian border with Oltenia). Local tradition reports that his childhood home was in the hilly area, called Vâlceaua Stânii."Parizienii din Optași, mândri de cătunul lor", in Gazeta de Sud, 28 April 2009, p. 4 His father served as the village deacon.Tiberiu Ciobanu, "Patrimoniu. Haiduci români celebri. Ioniță Tunsu", in Renașterea Bănățeană, 29 September 1998, p. 7 Ioniță is believed to have been born at some point in the early 1800s,Potra, p. 72Claudiu Cotan, "The Holy New Friday – The History of a Church in Bucharest", in the Journal of Romanian Literary Studies, Issue 13/2018, p. 175 when Wallachia, a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, was being governed by Greek-speaking Phanariote Princes. Aspiring to join the clergy, around 1817 he moved to Bucharest, the Wallachian capital, and began serving as sexton at Old St. George Church—also undertaking training to become a priest. He became a protege of Ilarion Gheorghiadis, the Bishop of Argeș, who encouraged him in this effort.Potra, pp. 72–73; Papazoglu, p. 100 As reported by oral historian Dimitrie Papazoglu, Tunsu was always a cultured man. He would habitually read the early newspapers put out by Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Zaharia Carcalechi, and could converse in Russian.Papazoglu, pp. 95, 96–97 Some unverifiable reports suggest that he worked for a while as a Logothete at a boyar's court, while still others (including those presented by novelist Gala Galaction) have him as the resident sexton of Sfinții Voievozi Church, on Calea Târgoviștei, northern Bucharest.Potra, p. 73
Tunsu's brigandage overlapped with the large-scale peasant uprising of 1821, and the subsequent downfall of the Phanariotes. Historian Tiberiu Ciobanu proposes that Ioniță was pushed into his conspiratorial career as an outlaw by "the inequities of the regime that had taken hold of the country after 1821". Researchers such as George Potra and Claudiu Cotan suggests instead that the future outlaw was originally a volunteer in Tudor Vladimirescu's army during the anti-Phanariote uprising. Papazoglu contrarily believes that he was inspired to become a hajduk by a personal friend, Nicolae Grozea, who had already taken up that activity; also according to Papazoglu, Ioniță cut off his hair, which meant voluntarily renouncing his career in the church, then assembled his original band not from social marginals—Romanies who had served as servant torchbearers or lamplighters (masalagii) for the local boyardom, including a man named Udincă or Dincă.Papazoglu, pp. 95, 98–99 Potra suggest that the latter claim is a calumny, and that Tunsu's core partisans were "men who had themselves greatly suffered in their lifetime."
Wallachians began to take notice of Tunsu around 1825, when he carried out his first successful attacks—and, as Ciobanu notes, revealed himself as a resolute defender of the lower classes; Tunsu's other characteristic at that stage was that he only struck urban areas, usually in cooperation with Grozea. According to Ciobanu, he still resided for a while in St. George's yard, confident that the remote mahala of Moșilor, which housed that church, was largely unfamiliar and inaccessible for regular law enforcement. In the 20th century, a resident of Banu Manta area, in northern Bucharest, circulated claims that Tunsu had also been hiding out in that neighborhood, which, during the 1820s and '30s, was riddled by "immense pits", used for sand mining. Tunsu also took advantage of his close relationship with Captain Radu—known in some records as Ștefan, which may indicate that his full name was "Radu Ștefan".Potra, p. 74 The latter was an officer in the post-Phanariote police force, who was his godson, and who was hiding him in his own home.Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria Bucureștilor. Din cele mai vechi timpuri pînă în zilele noastre, p. 338. Bucharest: Editura pentru literatură, 1966. Later investigations revealed that Tunsu was also godfather of Radu's two daughters, and had sent the family numerous gifts, including a white steed.Potra, p. 78
Heyday In 1827, the former sexton, having brought together a band comprising Wallachian and Transylvanian outlaws, as well as a number of South Slavs, began raiding the countryside. He was especially after boyars and landlords, punishing them for their alleged mistreatment of sharecroppers. As acknowledged by Papazoglu, he was generally humane, leaving his victims enough cash "to get by", and handing out alms to the poor he met along the way.Papazoglu, p. 95; Potra, p. 73 The war of 1828 brought Wallachia and neighboring Moldavia into the Russian Empire's orbit. Occupation by the Imperial Russian Army had disastrous consequences, since it facilitated a spread of the bubonic plague. During that interval, boyar families, including the Ghicas, fled Bucharest for their more isolated rural estates; it was in that context that a young Ion Ghica met Tunsu at Ghergani.Potra, pp. 73–74 As reported in Ghica's old-age memoirs, Tunsu, already famous as a Wallachian "Fra Diavolo", casually showed up on the Ghicas' doorstep, instructing them not to dine out in the open field, since this was taunting "the boys" (meaning that he could no longer vouch for the Ghicas' safety). As the writer notes, this treatment contrasted Tunsu's dealings with other boyars: "Some ten days before this, [Tunsu] had 'ran over' Tache Ralet, our neighbor and cousin, at his estate of Cocoșul; he had taken his shawls, his utensils, his silverware, everything. He had left him and his lady only with the shirts on their backs."
Tunsu continued his brigandage after the war, and represented the push-back of peasants and burghers against further encroachment by the Regulamentul Organic regime, which doubled as a Russian dominion over both countries. He began raiding westward into Oltenia, and also harassed the authorities of Moldavia, unwittingly ensuring that the police forces in several countries would take a direct interest in catching him. Tunsu was also identified as a liability by General Pavel Kiselyov, who was serving as governor of Wallachia under the Regulamentul regime, and who ordered his suppression. Ioniță mocked this effort when, following a lead by Captain Radu, he stalked Kiselyov as he made his way by carriage to Târgoviște; he then sent Kiselyov a letter providing personal details of his trip. He meant to unsettle his rival, writing therein that: "Your Excellency's head was today in my rifle's sight; I never thought of killing you, for doing so would have meant killing off a father whom the country adores; but through this I ask of you that you also tell your minions not to have me killed, once they will catch me, for I myself have killed no one."Papazoglu, pp. 95–96; Potra, pp. 74–75
Relying on peasant solidarity and secrecy, Tunsu eluded or decimated virtually all the posses sent to capture him. Papazoglu believes that Kiselyov was well impressed by the letter, ordering his Vornic, Iordache Filipescu, not to kill off the rebel; he also promised that Tunsu's captors would be rewarded with a boyar's rank and 1,000 Thaler in cash.Papazoglu, p. 96; Potra, p. 75 Filipescu was given a short deadline to handle the matter, and threatened with demotion if he did not succeed. This prompted him to reach out to the Aga, Constantin Cantacuzino, ordering a manhunt throughout Ilfov County—it was to be more directly handled by Cantacuzino's second-in-command, Mihalache Cincu.Potra, p. 75 The authorities could only gain the advantage after Tunsu was betrayed by Captain Radu.Papazoglu, pp. 96, 98; Potra, pp. 75, 77–78
As reported by this informant, Tunsu was by then in Bucharest every other Monday, venturing into coffeehouses, reading the press, and meeting with his collaborators in Mernani Forest. Other sources, rendered by writer Nicolae Vătămanu, suggest that he made regular visits to Sfinții Voievozi mahala, where he kept a woman as his lover.Simona Vasilache, "Vintage. D-ale orașului", in România Literară, Issue 33/2015, p. 17 Confronted with such details, Captain Ispir organized a large force of Wallachian militiamen and Cossacks, who encircled the forest. Tunsu escaped again, pretending to be a policeman himself. He duped Ispir into believing that he himself had been robbed of his money by the hajduk bands, and even obtained a Cossack escort on his way out of Mernani; he then rejoined his fellow brigands in the open field, disarmed his guards, and fled into the surrounding old-growth forest, Codrii Vlăsiei.Papazoglu, pp. 96–97
Killing