Stephan Ludwig Roth  Stephan Ludwig Roth (24 November 1796 – 11 May 1849) was a Transylvanian Saxon intellectual, teacher, pedagogue and Lutheran pastor. Stephan Ludwig Roth was born in Mediasch (Principality of Transylvania, part of the Austrian Empire), in the family of Marie Elisabeth Roth (born Gunesch) and Gottlieb Roth, the rector of the Mediasch Gymnasium. After studying in Mediasch , Hermannstadt (Sibiu) and at the University of Tübingen, in 1818 Roth pursued his interest in the science of teaching by travelling to Switzerland, in order to gather experience from Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi's projects in Yverdon-les-Bains. He became a collaborator of Pestalozzi, publishing "Der Sprachunterricht" (a work on language learning) and finished a doctorate in philosophy at Tübingen (1820). Returning to Transylvania, Roth followed in the footsteps of his father as head of the Mediasch Gymnasium (from 1831) and became a pastor in 1837. In the debates raised by the Transylvanian Diet in 1841, he proposed that laws should be published in Latin, Hungarian and German, the language of the Diet may remain Hungarian due to the old traditions but the public administration should communicate with the people simultaneously in Hungarian, German and Romanian (thus making Romanian as well an official language in the region), pointing out its ascendent over all others and its lingua franca status in the ethnical composition of the country - an idea made public in his 1842 work, "Der Sprachkampf in Siebenbürgen": While he was against cultural assimilation of Romanians, Roth had always argued that the Saxon element in Transylvania could be strengthened by encouraging new German colonists to move in.  Stephan Ludwig Roth further irritated Hungarian sensibilities by rejecting any form of union between Transylvania and Hungary he initially supported in the March of 1848, after being dissatisfied of lack of guarantees of ethnic rights, trying instead to build a bridge between Saxons and Romanians. Thus, he attended the first ethnic Romanian gathering at Câmpia Libertății (near Blasendorf (Blaj) - see ) on 15 May and wrote about it in the local press - his articles show full support for the movement, and highlight Avram Iancu's contribution to the cause.