Ileana CIOAREC, The Exploitation of the Estates Owned by Pera Opran

Ileana CIOAREC
3rd Degree Scientific Researcher, PhD. “C.S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor” Institute for Research in Social Studies and Humanities from Craiova, of the Romanian Academy;
E-mail: ileanacioarec@yahoo.com

Abstract
One of the representatives of Opran’s family was Pera Opran, the son of the merchant Gheorghe Opran, from Orşova, and of Bălaşa. He also inherited from his father numerous estates in the counties of Dolj and Mehedinţi, as Işalniţa, Româneşti, Cioroiaşu, Veleşti and Botoşeşti.
The socmen from the estates that belonged to Pera Opran had numerous obligations to him. They needed to work the corvee and to sharecrop, as there had been stipulated in the Law of Caragea and the Organic Regulation. These farming services could be different from one area to another, from one locality to another, or one estate to another.
The numerous estates from the property of Pera Opran, and the great number of socmen that worked on them, demonstrate the important economic role that he played in the Romanian society.

Keywords
the exploitation, the estates, the socmen, the corvee, Pera Opran.