Mihail Kogălniceanu (September 6, 1817–July 1, 1891) was a
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
n-born
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n
liberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became
Prime Minister of RomaniaThe Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
October 11, 1863, after the union of the
Danubian PrincipalitiesDanubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
under
DomnitorDomnitor was the official title of the ruler of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866...
Alexander John CuzaAlexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:Born in Bârlad, Cuza belonged to the traditional boyar class in Moldavia, being the son of Ispravnic Ioan Cuza...
, and later served as Foreign Minister under
Carol ICarol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania,...
. He was several times Interior Minister under Cuza and Carol. A
polymathA polymath is a person whose expertise fills a significant number of subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable...
, Kogălniceanu was one of the most influential Romanian
intellectualAn intellectual is a person who uses his or her intelligence and analytical thinking, either in a professional or a personal capacity.-Terminology and endeavours:...
s of his generation. Siding with the moderate
liberal currentThis article gives an overview of Liberalism and Radicalism in Romania. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in this scheme...
for most of his lifetime, he began his political career as a collaborator of Prince
Mihail SturdzaMihail Sturdza was a prince of Moldavia from 1834 to 1849. A man of liberal education, he established the Mihaileana Academy, a kind of university, in Iaşi. He brought scholars from foreign countries to act as teachers, and gave a very powerful stimulus to the educational development of the...
, while serving as head of the Iaşi Theater and issuing several publications together with the poet
Vasile AlecsandriVasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia.-Origins and childhood:Alecsandri was born in the...
and the activist
Ion GhicaIon Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...
. After editing the highly influential magazine
Dacia LiterarăDacia Literară was the first Romanian literary journal. Founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu and printed in Iaşi, it was short-lived—having lasted only from January to June 1840. Dacia Literară was a Romantic nationalist and liberal magazine, engendering a literary society.In Dacia Literară the main...
and serving as a professor at
Academia MihăileanăAcademia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iaşi, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern Europeean institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institute, housing several faculties.-History:Academia...
, Kogălniceanu came into conflict with the authorities over his
Romantic nationalistRomantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
inaugural speech of 1843. He was the ideologue of the abortive 1848 Moldavian revolution, authoring its main document,
Dorinţele partidei naţionale din Moldova.
Following the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, with Prince
Grigore Alexandru GhicaGrigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a Prince of Moldavia between October 14, 1849 and June 1853, and again between October 30, 1854 and June 3, 1856...
, Kogălniceanu was responsible for drafting legislation to
abolishAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
RomaThe Roma constitute one of the major minorities in Romania. According to the 2002 census, they number 535,250 people or 2.5% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians...
slaverySlavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from before the founding of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s. Most of the slaves were of Roma ethnicity...
. Together with Alecsandri, he edited the unionist magazine
Steaua Dunării, played a prominent part during the elections for the ad-hoc Divan, and successfully promoted Cuza, his lifelong friend, to the throne. Kogălniceanu advanced legislation to revoke
traditional ranks and titlesThis is a glossary of historical Romanian ranks and titles used in the principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, and later in Romania. Many of these titles are of Slavic etymology, with some of Greek, Byzantine, Latin, and Turkish etymology; several are original...
, and to
secularize the property of monasteriesThe law on the secularization of monastery estates in Romania was proposed in December 1863 by Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza and approved by the Parliament of Romania. By its terms, the Romanian state confiscated the large estates owned by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Romania...
. His efforts at
land reformLand reforms is an often-controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government administers possession and use of land...
resulted in a censure vote, leading Cuza to enforce them through a
coup d'étatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
in May 1864. However, Kogălniceanu resigned in 1865, following his own conflicts with the monarch. A decade after, he helped create the
National Liberal PartyThe Partidul Naţional Liberal is a liberal party in Romania, the third largest party in parliament, being outrun by the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party...
, before playing an important part in Romania's decision to enter the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878—a choice which consecrated her independence. During his final years, he was a prominent member and one-time President of the
Romanian AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Romania in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
, and briefly served as Romanian representative to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Early life
Born in
IaşiIaşi , is a city and municipality in Moldavia, in north-eastern Romania...
, he belonged to the Kogălniceanu family of Moldavian
boyarA boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rusian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century.The rank has lived on as a surname in Russia and Finland, where it is...
s, being the son of
Vornic Ilie Kogălniceanu, and the great-grandson of Constantin Kogălniceanu (noted for having signed his name to a 1749 document issued by Prince
Constantine MavrocordatosConstantine Mavrocordatos was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several intervals...
, through which
serfdomSerfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe...
was disestablished in Moldavia). Mihail's mother, Catinca née Stavilla (or Stavillă), was, according to Kogălniceanu's own words, "[from] a
RomanianThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
family in
BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
". The author took pride in noting that "my family has never searched its origins in foreign countries or peoples". Nevetheless, in a speech he gave shortly before his death, Kogălniceanu commented that Catinca Stavilla had been the descendant of "a
GenoeseThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of Revolutionary France under Napoleon. It was then succeeded by the Ligurian Republic, which existed until 1805 before being annexed by the...
family, settled for centuries in the Genoese colony of
Cetatea AlbăBilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is a city situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman in the Odessa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Bessarabia...
(Akerman), whence it then scattered throughout Bessarabia".
During Milhail Kogălniceanu's lifetime, there was confusion regarding his exact birth year, with several sources erroneously indicating it as 1806; in his speech to the
Romanian AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Romania in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
, he acknowledged this, and gave his exact birth date as present in a register kept by his father. It was also then that he mentioned his
godmotherA godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. Judaism has this equivalent in the circumcision ceremony. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
was Marghioala Calimach, a
CallimachiCallimachi, Calimachi, or Kallimachi was a Moldavian boyar and princely family, originating with a group of free peasants living in the Orhei area of Bessarabia. It still remains present today in modern Romania.-Members:*Vasile Călmaşul: b...
boyaress who married into the
Sturdza familySturdza, Sturza or Stourdza is the name of an old Romanian family, whose origins can be traced back to the 1540s.The Sturdza family has been long and intimately associated with the government first of Moldavia and afterwards of Romania...
, and was the mother of
Mihail SturdzaMihail Sturdza was a prince of Moldavia from 1834 to 1849. A man of liberal education, he established the Mihaileana Academy, a kind of university, in Iaşi. He brought scholars from foreign countries to act as teachers, and gave a very powerful stimulus to the educational development of the...
(Kogălniceanu's would-be protector and foe).
Kogălniceanu was educated at Trei Ierarhi monastery in Iaşi, before being tutored by Gherman Vida, a monk who belonged to the
Transylvanian SchoolThe Transylvanian School was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the Pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church . The links with Rome brought to the Romanian Tranylvanians the ideas of the Age of...
, and who was an associate of
Gheorghe ŞincaiGheorghe Şincai was an ethnic Romanian Transylvanian historian, philologist, translator, poet, and representative of the Enlightenment-influenced Transylvanian School....
. He completed his primary education in
MiroslavaMiroslava is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania....
, where he attended the Cuénim
boarding schoolA boarding school is a school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board", that is, food and lodging...
. It was during this early period that he first met the poet
Vasile AlecsandriVasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia.-Origins and childhood:Alecsandri was born in the...
(they studied under both Vida and Cuénim), Costache Negri and Cuza. At the time, Kogălniceanu became a passionate student of history, beginning his investigations into old Moldavian
chronicleGenerally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler...
s.
With support from Prince Sturdza, Kogălniceanu continued his studies abroad, originally in the French city of
LunévilleLunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
(where he was cared for by Sturdza's former tutor, the
abbéAbbé is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France....
Lhommé), and later at the
University of BerlinThe Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
. Among his colleagues was the future philosopher
Grigore SturdzaGrigorie Sturdza , son of Mihail Sturdza was educated in France and Germany, became a general in the Ottoman army under the name of "Muklis Pasha", and afterwards attained the same rank in the Moldavian army. He was a candidate for the Moldavian throne in 1859, and subsequently a prominent member...
, the monarch's son. His stay in Lunéville was cut short by the intervention of
RussianThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
officials, who were supervising Moldavia under the provisions of the
Regulamentul OrganicRegulamentul Organic was a quasi-constitutional organic law enforced in 1834–1835 by the Imperial Russian authorities in Moldavia and Wallachia...
regime, and who believed that, through the influence of Lhommé (a participant in the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
), students were being infused with rebellious ideas; all Moldavian students, including Sturdza's sons and other noblemen, were withdrawn from the school in late 1835, and reassigned to
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
n education institutions.
In Berlin
During his period in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
, he came in contact with and was greatly influenced by
Friedrich Carl von SavignyFriedrich Carl von Savigny was one of the most respected and influential 19th-century jurists.-Early life and education:...
,
Alexander von Humboldtwas a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist, Wilhelm von Humboldt...
,
Eduard GansEduard Gans was a German jurist.He was born in Berlin of prosperous Jewish parents. He studied law first at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, Berlin, then at Göttingen, and finally at Heidelberg, where he attended G. W. F. Hegel's lectures, and became thoroughly imbued with the principles of...
, and especially Professor
Leopold von RankeLeopold von Ranke was a German historian of the 19th century, and frequently considered one of the founders of modern source-based history...
, whose ideas on the necessity for politicians to be acquainted with historical science he readily adopted. In pages he dedicated to the influence exercised by
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism, and along with Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment....
on Romanian thought,
Tudor VianuTudor Vianu was a Romanian literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. Known for his left-wing and anti-fascist convictions, he had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Romanian literature and art...
noted that certain
HegelianHegelianism is a collective term for schools of thought following or referring to G. W. F. Hegel's philosophy which can be summed up by the dictum that "the rational alone is real," which means that all reality is capable of being expressed in rational categories...
-related principles were a common attribute of the Berlin faculty during Kogălniceanu's stay. He commented that, in later years, the politician adopted views which resonated with those of Hegel, most notably the principle that legislation needed to adapt to the individual spirit of nations.
Kogălniceanu later noted with pride that he had been the first of Ranke's Romanian students, and claimed that, in conversations with Humboldt, he was the first person to use the modern equivalents French-language of the words "Romanian" and "Romania" (
roumain and
Roumanie)—replacing the references to "Moldavia(n)" and "
Wallachia(n)Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
", as well as the antiquated versions used before him by the intellectual
Gheorghe AsachiGheorghe Asachi or Asaki was a Moldavian-born Romanian prose writer, poet, painter, historian, dramatist and translator. An Enlightenment-educated polymath and polyglot, he was one of the most influential people of his generation...
; historian
Nicolae IorgaNicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, university professor, literary critic, memorialist, playwright, poet, and politician...
also noted the part Kogălniceanu played in popularizing these references as the standard ones.
Kogălniceanu was also introduced to
Frederica, Duchess of CumberlandFrederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , Duchess of Cumberland and later Queen of Hanover, was the consort of Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, the fifth son and eighth child of George III and Queen Charlotte.She was born in the Alten Palais of Hanover as the fifth daughter of Charles II,...
, and became relatively close to her son
George of Cumberland and TeviotdaleGeorge V was the last king of Hanover and a member of the German branch of the House of Hanover...
, the future ruler of
HanoverThe Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era...
. Initially hosted by a community of the
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
diasporaA diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity. While refugees may or may not ultimately settle in a new geographic location, the term diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated collective.Diasporic cultural development often assumes a different course from...
, he later became the guest of a
CalvinistCalvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
pastorThe term pastor usually refers to an ordained person within a Christian church. In some countries the term is more usually used in traditional Protestant churches but is also used in reference to priests and bishops within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. The...
named Jonas, in whose residence he witnessed gatherings of activists in favor of German unification (
see BurschenschaftGerman Burschenschaften are a special type of Studentenverbindungen . Burschenschaften were founded in the 19th century as associations of university students inspired by liberal and nationalistic ideas.-Beginnings 1815- c...
). According to his own recollections, his group of Moldavians was kept under close watch by
Alexandru SturdzaAlexandru Sturdza was a Russian publicist and diplomat of Romanian origin. In his writings, he referred to himself with a French rendition of his name, Alexandre Stourdza.-Life:...
, who, in addition, enlisted Kogălniceanu's help in writing his work
Études historiques, chrétiennes et morales ("Historical,
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
and Moral Studies"). During summer trips to the
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
n town of
HeringsdorfHeringsdorf is a municipality and a seaside resort town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. The municipality was formed in January 2005 out of the former municipalities of Heringsdorf, Ahlbeck and Bansin. Until January 2006, the municipality was called Dreikaiserbäder...
, he met the novelist
Willibald AlexisWillibald Alexis, the pseudonym of Georg Wilhelm Heinrich Haring , was a German historical novelist.-Life:...
, whom he befriended, and who, as Kogălniceanu recalled, lectured him on the
land reformLand reforms is an often-controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government administers possession and use of land...
carried out by Prussian King
Frederick William IIIFrederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
. Later, Kogălniceanu studied the effects of reform when on visit to
Alt SchwerinAlt Schwerin is a municipality in the Müritz district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
, and saw the possibility for replicating its results in his native country.
Greatly expanding his familiarity with historical and social subjects, Kogălniceanu also began work on his first volumes: a pioneering study on the Roma people and the French-language
Histoire de la Valachie, de la Moldavie, et des Vlaques transdanubiens ("A History of Wallachia, Moldavia, and of
Transdanubian VlachsAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
", the first volume in a synthesis of
Romanian historyThis article provides only a brief outline of each period of the history of Romania; details are presented in separate articles . -Prehistory:...
), both of which were first published in 1837 inside the
German ConfederationThe German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to...
. In addition, he authored a series of studies on
Romanian literatureRomanian literature is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language.-Beginnings:...
. He signed these first works with a
FrancizedFrancization or Gallicization is a process of cultural assimilation that gives a French character to a word, an ethnicity or a person.- Francization of the language :...
version of his name,
Michel de Kogalnitchan ("Michael of Kogalnitchan"), which was slightly erroneous (it used the
partitive caseThe partitive case is a grammatical case which denotes "partialness", "without result", or "without specific identity". It is also used in contexts where a subgroup is selected from a larger group, or with numbers.- Finnish :...
twice: once in the French particle "de", and a second time in the Romanian-based
suffixIn grammar, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
"-an").
Raising the suspicions of Prince Sturdza after it became apparent that he sided with the reform-minded youth of his day in opposition to the
Regulamentul Organic regime, Kogălniceanu was prevented from completing his
doctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession . The best-known example...
, and instead returned to Iaşi, where he became a princely
adjutantAdjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Commonwealth Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer....
in 1838.
In opposition to Prince Sturdza
Over the following decade, he published a large number of works, including essays and articles, his first editions of the Moldavian chroniclers, as well as other books and articles, while founding a succession of short-lived periodicals:
Alăuta Românească (1838),
Foaea Sătească a Prinţipatului Moldovei (1839),
Dacia LiterarăDacia Literară was the first Romanian literary journal. Founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu and printed in Iaşi, it was short-lived—having lasted only from January to June 1840. Dacia Literară was a Romantic nationalist and liberal magazine, engendering a literary society.In Dacia Literară the main...
(1840),
Arhiva Românească (1840),
Calendar pentru Poporul Românesc (1842),
Propăşirea (renamed
Foaie Ştiinţifică şi Literară, 1843), and several
almanacAn almanac is an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar...
s. Both
Dacia Literară and
Foaie Ştiinţifică, which he edited together with Alecsandri,
Ion GhicaIon Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...
, and Petre Balş, were suppressed by Moldavian authorities, who considered them suspect. Together with Costache Negruzzi, he printed all of
Dimitrie CantemirDimitrie Cantemir was twice Prince of Moldavia . He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer....
's works available at the time, and, in time, acquired his own
printing pressA printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium , thereby transferring an image. The mechanical systems involved were first assembled in Germany by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, based on existing screw-presses used to press...
, which planned to issue the complete editions of Moldavian chronicles, including those of
Miron CostinMiron Costin was a Moldavian political figure and chronicler. His main work, Letopiseţul Ţărâi Moldovei [de la Aron Vodă încoace] was meant to extend Grigore Ureche's narrative, covering events from 1594 to 1660...
and
Grigore UrecheGrigore Ureche was a Moldavian chronicler who wrote on Moldavian history in his Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei , covering the period from 1359 to 1594....
(after many disruptions associated with his political choices, the project was fulfilled in 1852). In this context, Kogălniceanu and Negruzzi sought to
WesternizeWesternisation or occidentalisation is a process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, valuesindustry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle,...
the Moldavian public, with interest ranging as far as Romanian culinary tastes: the almanacs published by them featured
gourmetGourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses....
-themed
aphorismThe word aphorism denotes an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and easily memorable form....
s and recipes meant to educate local folk about the refinement and richness of
European cuisineEuropean cuisine, or alternatively Western cuisine is a generalized term collectively referring to the cuisines of Europe and other Western countries. European cuisine includes that of Europe and to some extent Russia, as well as non-indigenous cuisines of North America, Australasia, Oceania, and...
. Kogălniceanu would later claim that he and his friend were "originators of the
culinary artCulinary art is the art of cooking. The word "culinary" is defined as something related to, or connected with, cooking or kitchens. A culinarian is a person working in the culinary arts. A culinarian working in restaurants is commonly known as a cook or a chef. Culinary artists are responsible for...
in Moldavia".
With
Dacia Literară, Kogălniceanu began expanding his
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
ideal of "national specificity", which was to be a major influence on
Alexandru OdobescuAlexandru Ioan Odobescu , Romanian author, archaeologist and politician, was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina...
and other literary figures. One of the main goals his publications had was expanding the coverage of modern Romanian culture beyond its early stages, during which it had mainly relied on publishing translations of
Western literatureWestern literature refers to the literature written in the languages of Europe, including the ones belonging to the Indo-European language family as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque, Hungarian, and so forth...
—according to
Garabet IbrăileanuGarabet Ibrăileanu was a Romanian literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, Iaşi University professor , and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, for long main editor of the Viaţa Românească literary magazine between 1906 and 1930...
, this was accompanied by a veiled attack on
Gheorghe AsachiGheorghe Asachi or Asaki was a Moldavian-born Romanian prose writer, poet, painter, historian, dramatist and translator. An Enlightenment-educated polymath and polyglot, he was one of the most influential people of his generation...
and his
Albina RomâneascăAlbina Românească was a Romanian-language bi-weekly political and literary magazine, printed in Iaşi, Moldavia, at two intervals during the Regulamentul Organic period . The owner and editor was Gheorghe Asachi...
. Mihail Kogălniceanu later issued clear criticism of Asachi's proposed version of literary Romanian, which relied on
archaismIn language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
s and
FrancizedFrancization or Gallicization is a process of cultural assimilation that gives a French character to a word, an ethnicity or a person.- Francization of the language :...
phonemeIn a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s, notably pointing out that it was inconsistent. Additionally, he evidenced the influence foreign poetry had on Asachi's own work, viewing it as excessive. Tensions also occurred between Kogălniceanu and Alecsandri, after the former began suspecting his collaborator of having reduced and toned down his contributions to
Foaie Ştiinţifică.
In May 1840, while serving as Prince Sturdza's private secretary, he became co-director (with Alecsandri and Negruzzi) of the National Theater Iaşi. This followed the monarch's decision to unite the two existing theaters in the city, one of which hosted plays in French, into a single institution. In later years, this venue, which staged popular comedies based on the
French repertoryTheatre of France has a long and eventful history dating back to the Middle Ages.-Middle Ages:Discussions about the origins of non-religious theater -- both drama and farce -- in the Middle Ages remain controversial, but the idea of a continuous popular tradition stemming from Latin comedy and...
of its age and had become the most popular of its kind in the country, also hosted Alecsandri's debut as a playwright. Progressively, it also became subject to Sturdza's
censorshipCensorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor.-Rationale:...
.
During this period, Kogălniceanu maintained close contacts with his former colleague Costache Negri and his sister Elena, becoming one of the main figures of the intellectual circle hosted by the Negris in
MânjinaCostache Negri is a commune in Galaţi County, Romania with a population of 2,562 people. It is composed of a single village, Costache Negri, and is named after Costache Negri, an 1848 revolutionary....
. He also became close to the French teacher and essayist
Jean Alexandre VaillantJean Alexandre Vaillant was a French and Romanian teacher, political activist, historian, linguist and translator, who was noted for his activities in Wallachia and his support for the 1848 Wallachian Revolution...
, who was himself involved in liberal causes while being interested in the work of Moldavian chroniclers. Intellectuals of the day speculated that Kogălniceanu later contributed several sections to Vaillant's lengthy essay about Moldavia and Wallachia (
La Roumanie). In 1843, he gave a celebrated inaugural lecture on national history at the newly-founded
Academia MihăileanăAcademia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iaşi, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern Europeean institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institute, housing several faculties.-History:Academia...
in Iaşi, a speech which greatly influenced ethnic Romanian students at the
University of ParisThe historic University of Paris was founded in the mid 12th century, likely between 1160 and 1170 , In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous universities...
and the 1848 generation (
see Cuvânt pentru deschiderea cursului de istorie naţională). Other professors at the
Academia, originating in several
historical regionsAt various times during its history, Romania extended over the following historical regions:Transylvania :*Transylvania proper: today in Romania;...
, were Ion Ghica,
Eftimie MurguEftimie Murgu was a Romanian politician who took part in the 1848 Revolutions.He was born in Rudăria to Samu Murgu, an officer in the Imperial Army and Cumbria Murgu...
, and
Ion Ionescu de la BradIon Ionescu de la Brad , born Ion Isăcescu, was a Moldavian-born Romanian revolutionary, agronomist, statistician, scholar and writer....
. Kogălniceanu's introductory speech was partly prompted by Sturdza's refusal to give him
imprimaturAn Imprimatur is an official declaration from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church that a literary or similar work is free from error in matters of Roman Catholic doctrine, and hence acceptable reading for faithful Roman Catholics...
, and amounted to a revolutionary project. Among other things, it made explicit references to the common cause of Romanians living in the two states of Moldavia and
WallachiaWallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, as well as in
AustrianThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867...
- and
RussianThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
-ruled areas:
"I view as my country everywhere on earth where Romanian is spoken, and as national history the history of all of Moldavia, that of Wallachia, and that of our brothers in TransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
."
Revolution
Around 1843, Kogălniceanu's enthusiasm for change was making him a suspect with Moldavian authorities, and his lectures on History were suspended in 1844. His
passportA passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth...
was revoked while he was traveling to
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
as the secret representative of the Moldavian political opposition (attempting to approach Metternich and discuss Sturdza's ouster). Briefly imprisoned after returning to Iaşi, he soon after became involved in political agitation in Wallachia, assisting his friend Ion Ghica: in February, during a
Romantic nationalistRomantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
celebration, he traveled to
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
, where he met members of the secretive
Frăţia organization and of its legal front,
Soţietatea Literară (including Ghica,
Nicolae BălcescuNicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
,
August Treboniu LaurianAugust Treboniu Laurian was a Transylvanian Romanian politician, historian and linguist. He was born in Nocrich. He was a participant at the 1848 revolution, an organizer of the Romanian school and one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy....
,
Alexandru G. GolescuAlexandru G. Golescu was a Romanian politician who served as a Prime Minister of Romania in 1870 .-Early life:...
, and
C. A. RosettiConstantin Alexandru Rosetti was a Romanian literary and political leader, born in Bucharest into a Phanariot Greek family....
).
having sold his personal library to
Academia Mihăileană, Kogălniceanu was in Paris and other
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
an cities from 1845 to 1847, joining the Romanian student association (
Societatea Studenţilor Români) that included Ghica, Bălcescu, and Rosetti and was presided over by the French poet
Alphonse de LamartineAlphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician.-Career:Born in Mâcon, Burgundy into French provincial nobility, he spent his youth at the family property at Milly-Lamartine....
. He also frequented
La Bibliothèque Roumaine ("The Romanian Library"), while affiliating to the
FreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, including just under two million in the United States and around 480,000 in...
and joining the
LodgeA Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge in Books of Constitutions, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry. Every new Lodge must be warranted by a Grand Lodge, but is subject to its direction only in enforcing the published Constitution of the jurisdiction...
known as
L'Athénée des Étrangers ("Foreigners' Atheneum"), as did most other reform-minded Romanians in Paris. In 1846, he visited
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, wishing to witness the wedding of
Queen Isabella IIIsabella II was Queen regnant of Spain She was Spain's first and so far only queen regnant, although she is sometimes considered the third Queen Regnant of Spain, as previous monarchs of Leon and Castile were counted...
and the Duke of Cádiz, but also curious to assess developments in
Spanish cultureThe Culture of Spain is a European culture based on the pre-Roman cultures, mainly the celts and the Iberians, known as the Celtiberian cultures; but mainly in the period of Roman influences. In the areas of language and religion, the Ancient Romans left a lasting legacy...
. Upon the end of his trip, he authored
Notes sur l'Espagne ("Notes on Spain"), a French-language volume combining
memoirAs a literary genre, a memoir , forms a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable in modern parlance. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir, as listed here...
,
travel writingTravel writing is a style of writing that describes a place, usually using humorous and opinionated views, personal to the writer, or serious and greatly descriptive prose....
and
historiographicHistoriography is the history of history, the aspect of history and of semiotics that considers how knowledge of the past, either recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted...
record.
For a while, he concentrated his activities on reviewing historical sources, expanding his series of printed and edited Moldavian chronicles. At the time, he renewed his contacts with Vaillant, who helped him publish articles in the
Revue de l'Orient. He would later state: "We did not come to Paris just to learn how to speak French like the French do, but also to borrow the ideas and useful things of a nation that is so enlightened and so free".
Following the onset of the
European RevolutionsThe European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European continent...
, Kogălniceanu was present at the forefront of nationalist politics. Though, for a number of reasons, he failed to sign the March 1848 petition-proclamation which signaled the Moldavian revolution, he was seen as one of its instigators, and Prince Sturdza ordered his arrest during the police roundup that followed. While evading capture, Kogălniceanu authored some of the most vocal attacks on Sturdza, and, by July, a reward was offered for his apprehension "dead or alive". During late summer, he crossed the Austrian border into
BukovinaBukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains...
, where he took refuge on the
Hurmuzachi brothersThe Hurmuzachi brothers, Alexandru , Constantin , Eudoxiu , Gheorghe , and Nicolae , were members of an old Hurmuzachi family of Romanian nobles in Austrian Bukovina of Greek origin, with an estate in Cernăuca...
' property (in parallel, the
Frăţia-led
Wallachian revolutionThe Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by Imperial Russian...
managed to gain power in
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
).
Kogălniceanu became a member and chief ideologue of the Moldavian Central Revolutionary Committee in exile. His manifesto,
Dorinţele partidei naţionale din Moldova ("The Wishes of the National Party in Moldavia", August 1848), was, in effect, a
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
al project listing the goals of Romanian revolutionaries. It contrasted with the earlier demands the revolutionaries had presented to Sturdza, which called for strict adherence to
Regulamentul OrganicRegulamentul Organic was a quasi-constitutional organic law enforced in 1834–1835 by the Imperial Russian authorities in Moldavia and Wallachia...
and an end to abuse. In its 10 sections and 120 articles, the manifesto called for, among other things, internal autonomy,
civilCivil liberties are rights in Freedom that protect an individual from the government of the nation in which they reside. Civil liberties set limits on government so that its members cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens.Common civil liberties include the...
and
political libertiesPolitical freedom is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression.The opposite of a free society is a totalitarian state, which highly restricts political freedom in order to regulate almost every aspect of behavior...
,
separation of powersThe separation of powers, also known as trias politica, is a model for the governance of democratic states. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the uncodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, abolition of
privilegeA privilege—etymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual—is a special entitlement or immunity granted by a government or other authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. A privilege can be revoked in some cases. In modern...
, an end to
corvéeCorvée is labor, often but not always unpaid, that people in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform, unless commuted in some way, such as by a cash payment; sometimes this was an option of the payer, sometimes of the payee, and sometimes not an option...
s, and a Moldo-Wallachian union. Referring to the latter ideal, Kogălniceanu stressed that it formed:
"the keystoneA keystone is the architectural piece at the crown of a vault or arch which marks its apex, locking the other pieces into position. This makes a keystone very important structurally. In an arch, the keystone is usually larger than the voussoirs that make up the arch and may serve primarily an...
without which the national edifice would crumble".
At the same time, he published a more explicit "Project for a Moldavian Constitution", which expanded on how
Dorinţele could be translated into reality. Kogălniceanu also contributed articles to the Bukovinan journal
Bucovina, the voice of
revolution in Romanian-inhabited Austrian landsFrom March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
. In January 1849, a
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
epidemic forced him to leave for the
French Republic{|align=right|The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
, where he carried on with his activities in support of the Romanian revolution.
Prince Ghica's reforms
In April 1849, part of the goals of the 1848 Revolution were fulfilled by the
Treaty of Balta LimanThe Treaties of Balta-Liman were both signed in Balta-Liman with the Ottoman Empire as one of its signatories.-1838:The Treaty of Balta Liman was a commercial treaty signed in 1838 between the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, regulating international trade...
, through which the two
suzerainSuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
powers of the
Regulamentul OrganicRegulamentul Organic was a quasi-constitutional organic law enforced in 1834–1835 by the Imperial Russian authorities in Moldavia and Wallachia...
regime—the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and
RussiaThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
—appointed
Grigore Alexandru GhicaGrigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a Prince of Moldavia between October 14, 1849 and June 1853, and again between October 30, 1854 and June 3, 1856...
, a supporter of the liberal and unionist cause, as Prince of Moldova (while, on the other hand, confirming the defeat of revolutionary power in Wallachia). Ghica allowed the instigators of the 1848 events to return from exile, and appointed Kogălniceanu, as well as Costache Negri and
Alexander John CuzaAlexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:Born in Bârlad, Cuza belonged to the traditional boyar class in Moldavia, being the son of Ispravnic Ioan Cuza...
to administrative offices. The measures enforced by the prince, together with the fallout from the defeat of Russia in the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, were to bring by 1860 the introduction of virtually all liberal tenets comprised in
Dorinţele partidei naţionale din Moldova.
Kogălniceanu was consequently appointed to various high level government positions, while continuing his cultural contributions and becoming the main figure of the loose grouping
Partida NaţionalăThe Partida Naţională was a liberal Romanian political party active between 1856 and 1859. It was a loose group which supported the union of the Danubian Principalities....
, which sought the merger of the two
Danubian PrincipalitiesDanubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
under a single administration. In 1867, reflecting on his role, he stated:
"There is not a single reform, not a single national act, from which my name would be absent. All the major laws were made and countersigned by me."
He inaugurated his career as a legislator under Prince Ghica. On December 22, 1855, legislation he drafted with Petre Mavrogheni regarding the
abolitionAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
of
RomaThe Roma constitute one of the major minorities in Romania. According to the 2002 census, they number 535,250 people or 2.5% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians...
slaverySlavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from before the founding of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s. Most of the slaves were of Roma ethnicity...
was passed by the Boyar Divan. This involved the freeing of privately-owned Roma slaves, as those owned by the state had been set free by Prince Sturdza in January 1844 (a measure which Kogălniceanu also claimed to have inspired). Ghica was prompted to complete the process of liberation by the fate of Dincă, an educated Roma cook who had murdered his French wife and then killed himself after being made aware that he was not going to be set free by his
CantacuzinoThe Cantacuzino family is an old boyar family of Wallachia which claims descent from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus. No definite genealogical links between Byzantine and Romanian Cantacuzinos have been established so far, however some researchers...
masters.
Prince Ghica also attempted to improve the peasant situation by ordering legislating the end of
quit-rentQuit rent or Quit-rent is a form of tax or land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a higher landowning authority, usually government or its assigns....
s and regulating that peasants could no longer be removed from the land they were working on. This measure produced little lasting effects; according to Kogălniceanu, "the cause [of this] should be sought in the all-mightiness of landowners, in the weakness of the government, who, through its very nature, was provisional, and thus powerless".
Ad-hoc Divan
Interrupted by Russian and Austrian interventions during the Crimean War, his activity as
Partida Naţională representative was successful after the
1856 Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, France, and the United Kingdom. The treaty, signed on March 30 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all warships, and...
, when Moldavia and Wallachia came under the direct supervision of European Powers (comprising, alongside Russia and Austria, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
, the
Second French EmpireThe Second French Empire or Second Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
). As he later acknowledged, members of the Divan had begun to consider the Paris agreements, and especially the 1858 convention regarding the two countries, as a
Constitution of RomaniaThe 1991 Constitution of Romania is the fundamental law that establishes the structure of the government of Romania, the rights and obligations of the country's citizens, and its mode of passing laws. It stands as the basis of the legitimacy of the Romanian government.The constitution was most...
, in place until 1864.
In addition, Kogălniceanu began printing the magazine
Steaua Dunării in Iaşi: a unionist mouthpiece, it enlisted support from Alecsandri and his
România Literară. Kogălniceanu encouraged
Nicolae IonescuNicolae Ionescu was a Romanian politician and publisher. He was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy....
to issue the magazine
L'Étoile de Danube in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
, as a French-language version of
Steaua Dunării which would also serve to popularize Partida Naţionalăs views. By that time, he was in correspondence with
Jean Henri Abdolonyme UbiciniJean-Henri-Abdolonyme Ubicini was a French historian and journalist, honorary member of the Romanian Academy....
, a French essayist and traveler who had played a minor part in the Wallachian uprising, and who supported the Romanian cause in his native country.
Elected by the
CollegeAn electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
of landowners in
Dorohoi CountyDorohoi County, with its seat at Dorohoi, was a subdivision of the Kingdom of Romania and located in the region of Moldavia....
to the ad-hoc Divan, a newly-established assembly through which Moldavians had gained the right to decide their own future, he kept in line with Wallachian representatives to their respective Divan, and resumed his campaign in favor of union and increased autonomy, as well as the principles of
neutralityA neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
, representative government, and, as he said later, rule by "a foreign prince". However, both Kogălniceanu and Alecsandri initially presented themselves as candidates for the
regencyA regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Thus, the common use is for an acting deputy governor....
title of
CaimacamA kaymakam is the title used for the governor of a provincial district in the Republic of Turkey and in Lebanon; additionally, it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the Ottoman Empire.-Etymology:The modern Turkish term kaymakam or kaimakam originally comes from two Arabic...
—Alecsandri, who was more popular, renounced first in order to back Costache Negri. Negri's candidature was dismissed by the Ottomans, who preferred to appoint Teodor Balş (June 1856).
Following the elections of September 1857, the entire Partida Naţională
chose to support Cuza for the Moldavian throneA throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many terms such as "the power behind the throne".-Thrones in ancient...
. This came after Nicolae VogoridePrince Nicolae Vogoride was the Ottoman-nominated caimacam of Moldavia following the Crimean War...
, the new Caimaicam, carried out an anti-unionist
electoral fraudElectoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about a election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
—a suffrage annulled by the common verdict of
Napoleon IIINapoleon III , Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was the first President of the French Republic and the last monarch of France. He was also Napoleon I's nephew. Made president by popular vote in 1848, Napoleon III ascended to the throne on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon...
and
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
(August 9, 1857, first announced to the world on August 26).
He played the decisive part in the Divan's decision to abolish
boyar ranksThis is a glossary of historical Romanian ranks and titles used in the principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, and later in Romania. Many of these titles are of Slavic etymology, with some of Greek, Byzantine, Latin, and Turkish etymology; several are original...
and
privilegeA privilege—etymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual—is a special entitlement or immunity granted by a government or other authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. A privilege can be revoked in some cases. In modern...
s, thus nullifying pieces of legislation first imposed under Prince
Constantine MavrocordatosConstantine Mavrocordatos was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several intervals...
. The final proposal, effectively imposing
one law for allOne law for all is a slogan with a long history dating back to the Roman Empire and their oppression of peoples in newly conquered lands.In recent years though, this has become a shiboleth of racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan who remodeled themselves with kinder and gentler language in order...
, universal
conscriptionConscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces...
and an end to rank-based
tax exemptionA tax exemption is an exemption from all or certain taxes of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization are instead foregone....
s, was made by a commission which included Kogălniceanu and Vasile Mălinescu, and was passed by the Divan on October 29, 1857, with 73 out of 77 votes (the remaining 4 were all abstentions). Kogălniceanu noted with pride that "The entire nation has accepted this great reform, and everyone, former Princes, great boyars, low-ranking boyars, privileged strata, have received this equalitarian reform, discarding, even without special laws, all that derived from the
old regimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
, and even all that resembled the old regime". He recorded that only two members of the boyar class had subsequently refused to abide by the new principles—the Vornics
Iordache Beldiman (in Moldavia) and Ioan ManuIoan M. Manu, also known as Iancu Manu , was a Romanian boyar and politician.-Biography:He was the son of Mihail G. Manu, born into a family of Venetian origins that had moved from Istanbul to Wallachia in the mid-1700s, where it was one of the noble families of Phanariotes...
(in Wallachia). In November, Partida Naţională passed legislation consecrating the end
religious discriminationReligious discrimination is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe.A concept like that of 'religious discrimination' is necessary to take into account ambiguities of the term religious persecution...
against all non-
OrthodoxThe Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
Christians in Moldavia (specifically, against
Roman CatholicsThe Roman Catholic Church in Romania is a Latin Rite Christian church, part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome. Its administration is centered in Bucharest, and comprises two archdioceses and four other dioceses...
and
GregorianThe Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
ArmeniansArmenians have been present in what is now Romania and Moldova for over a millennium, and have been an important presence as traders since the 14th century...
). The law had been initiated by Negri.
Many of Kogălniceanu's efforts were centered on bringing about an end to the peasant question, but, as he admitted, his boyar electorate threatened to recall him if he was to pursue this path any further. Consequently, he signed his name to the more moderate proposal of Dimitrie Rallet, which prevented boyars from instituting new
corvéeCorvée is labor, often but not always unpaid, that people in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform, unless commuted in some way, such as by a cash payment; sometimes this was an option of the payer, sometimes of the payee, and sometimes not an option...
s, while leaving other matters to be discussed by a future permanent Assembly. This project was instantly rejected by a solid majority of the Assembly, that which, in Kogălniceanu's view, led to the creation of two poles, a liberal and a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
one, thus replacing the unionist-
separatistSeparatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group, often with demands for greater political autonomy and even for full political secession and the formation of a new state...
divide and causing political conflicts inside the former unionist majority (thus forming the
National LiberalThe Partidul Naţional Liberal is a liberal party in Romania, the third largest party in parliament, being outrun by the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party...
and Conservative parties).
Outmaneuvering the opposition of Vogoride and his group of conservative followers during new elections for the Divan, Kogălniceanu was able to promote Cuza in Moldavia on January 17, 1859, leading to Cuza's election for the similar position in Wallachia (February 5)—the
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
union of the two countries. In October 1858, he made a clear proposal regarding the unification, which, as he noted, carried the vote with only two opposing voices (Alecu Balş and Nectarie Hermeziu, the Orthodox
vicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant, literally the "place-holder"...
of Roman Bishopric), being publicly acclaimed by
Ion RoatăIon or Ioan Roată , also known as Moş Ion Roată, was a Moldavian-born Romanian peasant and political figure. Roată was representative in the Moldavian ad-hoc Divan for the peasant electoral college of Putna County...
, the peasant representative for Putna County. During 1859, Kogălniceanu again stood in the ad-hoc Divan and rallied support for Cuza from all factions of the unionist camp, while promoting his candidature in
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
—thus profiting from ambiguities in the Paris Treaty. On the day Cuza took the throne, to begin his rule as
DomnitorDomnitor was the official title of the ruler of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866...
, Mihail Kogălniceanu welcomed him with an emotional speech.
Secularization of monastery estates
From 1859 to 1865, Kogălniceanu was numerous times the United Principalities'
cabinet leaderThe Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
, being responsible for most of the reforms associated with Cuza's reign. The latter's actions included the 1863
secularization of the monasteriesThe law on the secularization of monastery estates in Romania was proposed in December 1863 by Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza and approved by the Parliament of Romania. By its terms, the Romanian state confiscated the large estates owned by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Romania...
, as an early step to provide plots made available through the
land reformLand reforms is an often-controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government administers possession and use of land...
of 1864 (which came at the same time as the abolition of corvées).
Although political opposition prevented him from pushing the agrarian reform at the moment he proposed it, Mihail Kogălniceanu is seen as the person responsible for the manner in which it was eventually carried out by Cuza. The changes in legislation came at the end of a lengthy process, inaugurated in 1860, when the institution regulating legislative projects for the two principalities, the Conservative-dominated Common Commission
of FocşaniFocşani is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the shores the Milcov river, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population of 101,854.-Geography:...
, refused to create the basis for land reform. Instead, it provided for an end to corvées
, while allowing peasants on boyar estates control over their own houses and a parcel of pasturePasture is land with low-growing vegetation cover used for grazing of livestock as part of a farm, or in ranching or other unenclosed pastoral systems. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses...
. Known as Legea Rurală (the "Rural Law"), the project received instant support from the then-Premier
Barbu CatargiuBarbu Catargiu was a conservative Romanian journalist and politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Romania in 1862 until he was assassinated on June 20 of that year...
, leader of the Conservatives, and the target of vocal criticism on Kogălniceanu's part. On June 6, 1862, the project was first debated in
ParliamentThe Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
, causing a standstill between Cuza and the Conservatives. According to historian
L. S. StavrianosLeften Stavros Stavrianos was a Greek-Canadian historian. His most influential books are considered to be A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century and The Balkans since 1453. He was one of the very first historians to challenge Orientalist views of the Ottoman Empire.- Biography...
, the latter considered the project advantageous because, while preserving estates, it created a sizable group of landless and dependent peasants, who could provide affordable labor.
Late in the same month, Catargiu was mysteriously assassinated on Mitropoliei Hill, on his way back from Filaret, where he had attended a festivity commemorating the
Wallachian revolutionThe Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by Imperial Russian...
(he was succeeded by Nicolae Kretzulescu, after the interim premiership of Apostol Arsachi). On June 23, Legea Rurală was passed by Parliament, but Cuza would not
promulgatePromulgation or enactment is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative law as in effect after it receives final approval....
it. According to Kogălniceanu, the Conservatives Arsachi and Kretzulescu were reluctant about proposing the law to be reviewed by Cuza, knowing that it was destined to be rejected. Discussions then drifted toward the matter of confiscating land from the
Greek OrthodoxThe Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of the Orthodox Church, sharing a common cultural tradition and whose liturgy is traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament....
monasteries in Romania (their sizable properties and traditional
tax exemptionA tax exemption is an exemption from all or certain taxes of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization are instead foregone....
s had been the subject of controversy ever since the
PhanariotePhanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar, the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often western...
period). In late 1862, their revenues were taken over by the state, and, during summer of the following year, a sum of 80 million piasters was offered as compensation to the Greek monks, in exchange for all of the monasteries' land.
As the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
proposed international mediation, Cuza took the initiative, and, on October 23, 1863, deposed the Kretzulescu cabinet, nominating instead his own selection of men: Kogălniceanu as Premier and Interior Minister,
Dimitrie BolintineanuDimitrie Bolintineanu was a Romanian poet , diplomat, politician, and a participant in the revolution of 1848. He was of Macedonian Aromanian origins. His many poems, of nationalist overtone, fueled emotions during the unification of Wallachia and Moldavia....
as Minister of Religious Affairs. In order to prevent further international tensions, they decided to generalize confiscation to all
Eastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
estates, Greek as well as those of the incipient
Romanian OrthodoxThe Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
monasteries. The resolution was passed with 97 out of 100 parliamentary votes. Later, the Greek Church was presented with an offer of 150 million piasters as compensation, which was viewed as two low by its intended recipients, including Patriarch Sophoronius III. Consequently, the Romanian state considered the matter closed. As a direct consequence, one third of the arable land in Moldavia and a fourth of that in Wallachia were made available for a future land reform (one fifth to one forth of the total arable land in the state as a whole).
Cuza's personal regime
In the spring of 1864, the cabinet introduced a bill providing for an extensive land reform, which proposed allocating land based on peasant status: the fruntaşi
("foremost people"), who owned 4 or more oxAn ox is a bovine animal trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly adult, castrated male cattle, but cows or bulls may also be used in some areas...
en, were to receive 5 fălci
of land, or approx. 7.5 hectareA hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for measuring land area....
s; mijlocaşi
("middle people"), with two oxen—approx. 6 hectares; pălmaşi ("manual laborers"), with no oxen—approx. 3 hectares. Peasants were to own their plots after making 14 yearly payments to their respective landowner. This caused uproar in Parliament, which represented around 4,000 mostly boyar electors, and voices from among the Conservatives deemed it "insane". The latter party prepared a censure vote, based on the fact that Kogălniceanu had publicized the project through
Monitorul OficialMonitorul Oficial is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental ordinances and other major legal acts are published.-External links:...
and in contradiction with the one endorsed by the Focşani Commission, thus going against the letter of the law—he later justified himself saying: "Publication was necessary in order to quell the rural population, agitated by the [alternative project]". The cabinet handed in its resignation, but Cuza refused to countersign it.
Tensions mounted and, on May 14, 1864, Cuza carried out a coup d'étatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
, coinciding with the moment when Conservatives imposed a censure vote. Kogălniceanu read in Parliament the monarch's decision to dissolve it, after which Cuza introduced a new constitutionThe 1991 Constitution of Romania is the fundamental law that establishes the structure of the government of Romania, the rights and obligations of the country's citizens, and its mode of passing laws. It stands as the basis of the legitimacy of the Romanian government.The constitution was most...
, titled Statutul dezvoltător al Convenţiei de la Paris
("Statute Expanding the Paris Convention"). It was submitted to a referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
, together with a law virtually establishing a system of universal male suffrage, gaining support from 682,621 voters out of 754,148. The new regime passed its own version of Legea Rurală
, thus effectively imposing land reform, as well as putting an end to corvées. This was accomplished through August 1864 discussions in the newly-established Council of State, where the law was advanced by, among others, Kogălniceanu, Bolintineanu, George D. Vernescu, Gheorghe Apostoleanu and Alexandru Papadopol Callimachi.
More reserved members of the Council asked for the law not to be applied for a duration of three years, instead of the April 1865 deadline presumed, and Cuza agreed. Indicating that, in his view, the decision was "the very condemnation and crushing of the law", Kogălniceanu worried that peasants, informed of their future, could no longer be persuaded to carry out corvées
. He threatened Cuza with his resignation, and was ultimately able to persuade all parties involved, including the opposition leader Kretzulescu, to accept the law's application as of spring 1865; a proclamation by Cuza, Către locuitorii săteşti ("To the Rural Inhabitants") accompanied the resolution, and was described by Kogălniceanu as "the political testament of Cuza". Despite this measure, factors such as a growing population, the division of plots among descendants, peasant debts and enduring reliance on revenues from working on estates, together with the widespread speculation of
estate leaseholdersA leasehold estate is an ownership interest in land in which a lessee or a tenant holds real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
and instances where
political corruptionPolitical corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
was detrimental to the allocation of land, made the reform almost completely ineffectual on the long term, and contributed to the countryside unrest which culminated in the
Peasants' Revolt of 1907The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners....
.
With Kogălniceanu's participation, the
authoritarianAuthoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by typically non-elected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom....
regime established by Cuza succeeded in promulgating a series of reforms, notably introducing the
Napoleonic codeThe Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
,
public educationPublic education is schooling mandated for or offered to all children by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by taxes. The term is generally applied to basic education, including kindergarten to...
, and
state monopoliesIn economics, a gov. monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law...
on alcohol and tobacco. In parallel, the regime became unstable and contested from all sides, especially after his
adulterousAdultery is referred to as extramarital sex, philandery, or infidelity, but does not include fornication. The term "adultery" for many people carries a moral or religious association, while the term "extramarital sex" is morally or judgmentally neutral....
affair with
Marija ObrenovićMarija Obrenović or Elena Marija Catargiu-Obrenović was a Moldavian-born Serbian and Romanian boyaress...
became the topic of scandal. In early 1865, he came into conflict with his main ally Kogălniceanu, whom he dismissed soon after. Over the following months, the administration went into financial collapse, becoming unable to provide salaries for its employees, while Cuza came to rely on his own
camarillaCamarilla may refer to:*Camarilla, which is an unofficial group of courtiers or favorites surrounding and influencing a king or ruler*Camarilla, either of two such groups prominent in German history...
.
After 1863, relations between Mihail Kogălniceanu and his friend Vasile AlecsandriVasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia.-Origins and childhood:Alecsandri was born in the...
soured dramatically, as the latter declared himself disgusted with politics. Alecsandri withdrew to his estate in MirceştiMirceşti is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Mirceşti and Iugani....
, where he wrote pieces critical of the political developments.
1870s
Domnitor Cuza was ultimately ousted by a coalition of Conservatives and Liberals in February 1866; following a period of transition and maneuvers to avert international objections, a perpetually unified
Principality of RomaniaThe Kingdom of Romania was the old Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
was established under
Carol of HohenzollernCarol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania,...
, with the adoption of the
1866 ConstitutionThe 1866 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that capped a period of nation-building in the Danubian Principalities, which had united in 1859. Drafted in a short time and using as its model the 1831 Constitution of Belgium, then considered Europe's most liberal, it was substantially...
. In November 1868-January 1870, he was again Minister of the Interior under
Dimitrie GhicaDimitrie Ghica or Ghika was a Romanian politician. A prominent member of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister between 1868 and 1870....
; his term was confirmed by the 1869 election, after which he was able to persuade Alecsandri to accept a position as deputy for
RomanRoman is a mid-sized city in central Moldavia, a region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....
. The poet, who had been nominated without expressing his consent, cast aside hostility and became one of Kogălniceanu's main supporters in Chamber.
Even after Cuza left the country and settled in
BadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, relations between him and Kogălniceanu remained respectful, but distant: in summer 1868, when both of them were visiting
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
, they happened to meet, and, without exchanging words, raised their hats as a form of greeting. On May 27, 1873, Kogălniceanu, alongside Alecsandri, Costache Negri, Petre Poni and other public figures, attended Cuza's funeral in
RuginoasaRuginoasa is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania....
. Speaking later, he noted: "Cuza has committed great errors, but [the 1864 Către locuitorii săteşti] shall never fade out of the hearts of peasants, nor from Romania's history".
He continued to be the leader of pragmatic reform liberalism in Romania; in loose opposition to the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the Liberal Party...
cabinet of
Lascăr CatargiuLascăr Catargiu was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, and had settled in Moldavia.-Biography:Born in Iaşi, Catargiu rose to the office of prefect of...
(1875), he began talks with the
radicalThe term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
faction of the
liberal trendThis article gives an overview of Liberalism and Radicalism in Romania. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in this scheme...
(most notably,
Ion BrătianuIon C. Brătianu was one of the major political figures of 19th century Romania. He was the younger brother of Dimitrie, as well as the father of Ionel, Dinu, and Vintilă Brătianu.-Early life:...
,
Dimitrie SturdzaDimitrie Sturdza, in full Dimitrie A. Sturdza-Miclăuşanu , was a Romanian statesman of the late 19th century, and president of the Romanian Academy between 1882 and 1884.-Biography:...
,
Ion GhicaIon Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...
,
C. A. RosettiConstantin Alexandru Rosetti was a Romanian literary and political leader, born in Bucharest into a Phanariot Greek family....
,
Dimitrie BrătianuDimitrie Brătianu was the Prime Minister of Romania for a short time in 1881 ....
, and
Alexandru G. GolescuAlexandru G. Golescu was a Romanian politician who served as a Prime Minister of Romania in 1870 .-Early life:...
), which were carried at the Bucharest residence of
PashaPasha or pacha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries...
Stephen Bartlett LakemanSir Stephen Bartlett Lakeman, also known as Mazar Paşa or Mozhar Pasha was an English-born British and Ottoman adventurer, soldier, and administrator...
. On May 24, 1875, negotiations resulted in the creation of the
National Liberal PartyThe Partidul Naţional Liberal is a liberal party in Romania, the third largest party in parliament, being outrun by the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party...
—the so-called Coalition of Mazar Paşa
. He was subsequently an outspoken adversary of his former collaborator Nicolae IonescuNicolae Ionescu was a Romanian politician and publisher. He was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy....
, who, as leader of the liberal splinter group Fracţiunea liberă şi independentă
, rejected National Liberal politics. In an 1876 speech in front of Parliament, Kogălniceanu attacked Ionescu and his supporters for their political and academic positions, this earning the approval of the conservative literary society JunimeaJunimea was a Romanian literary society founded in Iaşi in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi...
and its anti-liberal platform TimpulTimpul is a newspaper published in Romania, originally published as the official platform of the defunct Conservative Party....
. He notably joined other National Liberals in expressing opposition to the trade convention Catargiu signed with
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
, which was advantageous to the latter's exports, and which, they claimed, was leading Romanian industry to ruin. A National Liberal government would repeal the agreement in 1886.
Serving as Foreign Affairs Minister in the Ion Brătianu cabinet (spring-summer 1876, and again from April 1877 to November 1878), Kogălniceanu was responsible for Romania entering the War of 1877-1878 on the Russian side, which led the country to proclaim its independence. With Rosetti and Brătianu, he supported the transit of Russian troops, and, during April, persuaded Carol to accept the Russian alliance, contrary to the initial advice of the Crown Council. He also sought advice on this matter from the
French Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France between the end of the Second French Empire in 1870 and the Vichy Regime after the invasion of France by the German...
, who was still one of the powers supervising Romania;
Louis, duc DecazesLouis-Charles-Élie-Amanien Decazes de Glücksbierg, 2nd Duc de Decazes and 2nd Hertig af Glücksbierg, was a French statesman....
, the
French Foreign MinisterThe Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of France, is the cabinet minister responsible for the foreign relations of France.The minister is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose headquarters are located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France....
, declined to give him a reassuring answer, and pointed that, were Romania to join the
Imperial RussianThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
side, the powers would cease offering protection. Making note of this, Kogălniceanu expressed his hope that France would still support his country at the decisive moment.
On May 9, 1877, it was through his speech in Parliament that Romania acknowledged she was discarding Ottoman
suzeraintySuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
. Over the following year, he coordinated efforts to have the act recognized by all European states, and stated that his government's policies were centered on "as rapid as possible, the transformation of foreign
diplomatic agenciesDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war,...
and
consulatesThe title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is...
in Bucharest into
legationA legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. The distinction between a legation and embassy was dropped following the Second World War, as all diplomatic representative offices were now designated as embassies, or high commissions.A...
s".
Berlin Congress and final years
Upon the war's end, he and Brătianu headed the Romanian delegation to the Berlin Congress. In this capacity, they protested Russia's offer to exchange the previously Ottoman-ruled
Northern DobrujaNorthern Dobruja is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in south by Bulgarian Southern Dobruja.-Geography:...
for the portion of southern
BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
which Romania had been awarded by the
1856 Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, France, and the United Kingdom. The treaty, signed on March 30 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all warships, and...
. The Conference's ultimate decision was in favor of Russia's proposal, largely due to support from
Gyula Andrássy----Gyula, Count Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka was a Hungarian prime minister and statesman. He was sometimes called Count Julius Andrassy in English.-Biography:...
, the
Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, and
William Henry WaddingtonWilliam Henry Waddington was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France in 1879.-Early life and education:...
, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Additional pressures came from
Otto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was a Prussian German statesman and aristocrat of the 19th century. As Ministerpräsident of Prussia from 1862–1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. In 1867 he became Chancellor of the North German Confederation...
, the
Imperial GermanThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
Chancellor. This outcome was the subject of controversy in Romania, where the exchange was generally considered unfair, with some voices even arguing that the country could again accept Ottoman suzerainty as a means to overturn the state of affairs. In parallel, Russian demands for Romania to grant it the right of indefinite military transit through Northern Dobruja were made ineffectual by opposition from other European states.
At the time, as an effect of Waddington's intervention, Romania also agreed to resolve the issue of
Jewish EmancipationJewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late eighteenth century and the early twentieth century...
, and to
naturalizeNaturalization is the acquisition of citizenship or nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born....
all of its non-Christian residents (see
History of the Jews in RomaniaThe history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
). The resolution was debated inside Romania over the following year, and such a measure in respect to Jews was not introduced until 1922-1923.
He subsequently represented his country to France (1880), being the first Romanian envoy to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and having Alexandru Lahovary as a member of his staff. In January 1880-1881, he oversaw the first diplomatic contacts between Romania and
Qing ChinaThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
, as an exchange of correspondence between the Romanian Embassy to France and
Zeng JizeMarquis Zeng Jize , one of China's earliest ministers to London, Paris and Saint Petersburg, played an important role in the diplomacy that preceded and accompanied the Sino-French War .- Early career :Zeng Jize , a native of Hunan province, was the eldest son of Zeng Guofan , a leading reformist...
, the Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
After withdrawing from political life, Kogălniceanu, who had been elected to the
Romanian AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Romania in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
's Historical Section in 1868, served as the Academy's President from 1887 to 1889. Having fallen severely ill in 1886, he spent his final years editing historical documents of the Eudoxiu Hurmuzaki fund, publicizing
Ancient GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
and
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
archeologic finds in
Northern DobrujaNorthern Dobruja is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in south by Bulgarian Southern Dobruja.-Geography:...
, and collecting foreign documents related to
Romanian historyThis article provides only a brief outline of each period of the history of Romania; details are presented in separate articles . -Prehistory:...
. One of his last speeches, held in front of the Academy and witnessed by both Carol, who had since become
King of RomaniaKing of the Romanians rather than King of Romania was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947 when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
, and his wife
Elisabeth of WiedPauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise zu Wied was the Queen Consort of King Carol I of Romania, widely known by her literary name of Carmen Sylva....
, was a summary of his entire career as a politician, intellectual, and civil servant. In August 1890, while traveling through the Austrian region of
VorarlbergVorarlberg is the westernmost and wealthiest state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian federal state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east...
, he was troubled by news that Alecsandri had died at his home in
MirceştiMirceşti is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Mirceşti and Iugani....
. Writing to Alecsandri's wife Paulina, he asked: "I could not be present at his funeral, [therefore] you'll allow me, my lady, since I have unable to kiss him either alive or dead, to at least kiss his grave!"
Mihail Kogălniceanu died while undergoing surgery in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and was succeeded in his seat at the Academy by
Alexandru Dimitrie XenopolAlexandru Dimitrie Xenopol was a Romanian scholar, economist, philosopher, historian, professor, sociologist, and author...
. He was buried in his native Iaşi, at the Eternitatea cemetery.
Liberalism and conservatism
Mihail Kogălniceanu's contributions as a leader of opinion and statesman have won acclaim for their role in shaping the development of modern Romania before and after 1848.
Nicolae IorgaNicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, university professor, literary critic, memorialist, playwright, poet, and politician...
, a major historian of the 20th century, celebrated Kogălniceanu as "the founder of modern
Romanian cultureRomania's culture is the product of its geographical position and of its distinct historical evolution. It is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them. The Romanian identity formed on a...
, the thinker who has seen in clarity the free and complete Romania [...], the redeemer of peasants thrown into
serfdomSerfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe...
[a reference to
corvéeCorvée is labor, often but not always unpaid, that people in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform, unless commuted in some way, such as by a cash payment; sometimes this was an option of the payer, sometimes of the payee, and sometimes not an option...
s], the person understanding all the many, secretive, and indissoluble connections linking the life of a people to the moral quality and the energy of its soul".
Kogălniceanu was a
democraticDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
and
nationalistNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
politician who combined
liberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
with the
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
principles acquired during his education, taking inspiration from the policies of the
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
n statesmen
Baron vom und zum SteinHeinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein , commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced reforms that paved the way for the unification of Germany...
and
Karl August von HardenbergKarl August Fürst von Hardenberg was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia.- Biography :Hardenberg was born at Essenrode near Hanover...
. Supportive of
constitutionalismConstitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law." These ideas, attitudes and patterns of behavior,...
,
civil libertiesCivil liberties are rights in Freedom that protect an individual from the government of the nation in which they reside. Civil liberties set limits on government so that its members cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens.Common civil liberties include the...
, and other liberal positions, he prioritized the nation over
individualismIndividualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses independence and self-reliance. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires, while opposing most external interference upon one's choices, whether by society, or any other group or...
, an approach with resonated with the tendencies of all his fellow Moldavian revolutionaries. At the same time, his connections within the
FreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, including just under two million in the United States and around 480,000 in...
, mirroring the conviction and affiliation of most 1848 revolutionaries, were an important factor in ensuring the success of Romanian causes abroad, and arguably played a part in the election of Cuza, who was himself a member of the secretive grouping.
Inside the
liberal factionThis article gives an overview of Liberalism and Radicalism in Romania. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in this scheme...
, in contrast to his moderation on other topics, he was among the very few to tie together
modernizationModernization is a concept used in sociology and politics. It is the view that a standard, teleological evolutionary pattern, as described in the social evolutionism theories, exists as a template for all nations and peoples...
, democracy, and the need to improve the situation of peasants (other notable politicians to do so were
Nicolae BălcescuNicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
, who died in late 1852, and
C. A. RosettiConstantin Alexandru Rosetti was a Romanian literary and political leader, born in Bucharest into a Phanariot Greek family....
, who advocated a strict adherence to
majoritarianismMajoritarianism is a traditional political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the society...
). Kogălniceanu praised Bălcescu's manifestos and activism in favor of the peasantry, indicating that they formed a precedent for his own accomplishments, while deploring the
Wallachian uprisingThe Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by Imperial Russian...
's failure to advance a definitive land reform. When faced with a negative response in the census-elected
ParliamentThe Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
just prior to Cuza's coup, he defended his land reform project with the words:
"Two thousand boyarA boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rusian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century.The rank has lived on as a surname in Russia and Finland, where it is...
s do not a nation make; that is an undeniable truth."
Late in his life, while crediting the
University of BerlinThe Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and its notions of
patriotismPatriotism is love of and/or devotion to one's country. The word comes from the Greek patris, meaning fatherland. However, patriotism has had different meanings over time, and its meaning is highly dependent upon context, geography and philosophy....
with having provided him with "the love for the Romanian motherland and the liberal spirit [emphasis in original]", he stressed:
"In my lengthy combats and actions, in the grim persecutions that have more than once been exercised as a means to crush me, I always had before my eyes those beautiful words which [...] Prince Hardenberg indicated as the strongest means to reawaken the character and manliness of the German peopleThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
in order to liberate it from the foreign yoke, to raise and increase GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
: «Democratic principles as part of a monarchic government!»"
Like many of his fellow Romanian liberals, Kogălniceanu advocated a series of antisemitic policies. He used his position as Internal Affairs Minister in the
Dimitrie GhicaDimitrie Ghica or Ghika was a Romanian politician. A prominent member of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister between 1868 and 1870....
executive to resume the expulsions of
Jewish communityThe history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
members from the countryside (and thus denying them various sources of income). When faced with the official protests of European states, he replied that the matter was nobody's business but Romania's. He usually referred to the Jewish community in general with the insulting term jidani, and accepted their presence on Romanian soil as a concession to their alleged "too numerous and too powerful presence in Europe". During the 1930s, such attitudes, together with Kogălniceanu's involvement in peasant causes, were cited as a precedent by politicians of the
fascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
National Christian PartyThe National Christian Party was a Romanian political party, the product of a union between Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League; a prominent member of the party was the philosopher Nichifor Crainic...
and
Iron GuardThe Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II...
, who, while promoting rural traditionalism, advocated restricting
civil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression....
for the Jewish community. Nevertheless, in 1885, he strongly objected to a National Liberal cabinet decision to expel
Moses GasterMoses Gaster was a Romanian-born Jewish-British scholar, the Hakham of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation, London, and a Hebrew linguist. He was also the son-in-law of Michael Friedländer, principal of Jews' College. The surname Gaster is taken from Spanish Castro, indicating his Sephardic...
, a renowned Jewish scholar, stating that the latter was "[the] only man who works in this country" (he would later celebrate him as the man "to whom Romanian literature owes so much"). Five years later, as
rapporteurRapporteur is used in international and European legal and political contexts to refer to a person appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue or a situation and report to that body....
on
naturalizationNaturalization is the acquisition of citizenship or nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born....
issues, he conferred citizenship upon
MarxistMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
thinker
Constantin Dobrogeanu-GhereaConstantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist, Jew born in Ukraina....
, who was a Russian-born Jewish immigrant. Shortly before his death, he reportedly endorsed a similar measure for Jewish scholar
Lazăr ŞăineanuLazăr Şăineanu was a Romanian-born philologist, linguist, folklorist and cultural historian...
, expressing condemnation for those antisemites within his own party who made efforts to block it.
Cultural tenets
In his polemic history tracing the development of literary criticism and its role in Romanian culture, the 20th century author
Garabet IbrăileanuGarabet Ibrăileanu was a Romanian literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, Iaşi University professor , and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, for long main editor of the Viaţa Românească literary magazine between 1906 and 1930...
made ample mention of Kogălniceanu's role in combating nationalist excesses, in particular the post-1840 attempts by
TransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n and
WallachiaWallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
n intellectuals to change the fabric of the
Romanian languageRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
by introducing strong influences from
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
or other modern
Romance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
. To illustrate this view, he cited Kogălniceanu's Cuvânt pentru deschiderea cursului de istorie naţională, which notably states:
"In me you shall find a Romanian, but ever to the point where I would contribute in increasing Romanomania, that is to say the maniaMania is a severe medical condition characterized by extremely elevated mood, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis...
of calling ourselves RomansAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, a passion currently reigning foremost in Transylvania and among some of the writers in Wallachia."
Ibrăileanu additionally credited the Moldavian faction, Kogălniceanu included, with having helped introduce spoken Romanian into the
literary languageA literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others...
, at a time when both
Ion Heliade RădulescuIon Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade was a Wallachian-born Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician...
and successors of the
Transylvanian SchoolThe Transylvanian School was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the Pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church . The links with Rome brought to the Romanian Tranylvanians the ideas of the Age of...
made use of the dialect prevalent in
OrthodoxThe Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
and
Greek-CatholicThe Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
religious culture. This was in connection with Kogălniceanu's advocacy of pragmatic
WesternizationWesternisation or occidentalisation is a process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, valuesindustry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle,...
: "Civilization never does banish the national ideas and habits, but rather improves them for the benefit of the nation in particular and of humanity in general".
A generation younger than Ibrăileanu,
George CălinescuGeorge Călinescu was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, Academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies...
also noted the contrast between Mihail Kogălniceanu and his predecessors, as two sets of "
MessianistThis article covers all forms of Christian and non-Christian Millennialism. You may be looking for the specific articles on Christian Premillennialism, Amillennialism or Postmillenialism....
" intellectuals—in this contrast, Heliade Rădulescu was "hazy and
egotistEgotism is the motivation to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself. Egotism means placing oneself at the center of one's world with no direct concern for others....
", whereas Kogălniceanu and others had "a mission which they knew how to translate into
positive termsPositivism is a philosophy that holds that the only authentic knowledge is that which is based on actual sense experience. Metaphysical speculation is avoided...
". As a historian, Kogălniceanu notably introduced several more or less influential Romantic nationalist theses: after 1840, he was noted for stressing the image of the 17th century
Wallachian Prince Michael the BraveMichael the Brave was the Prince of Wallachia , of Transylvania , and of Moldavia , the three Romanian principalities that he united under his rule.He was born under the family name of Pătraşcu...
as a unifier of Romania, although this view was not present in his earlier essays; he proposed that his was among the first European peoples to record history in their national language, in contrast with the fact that the earliest Romanian-language chronicles were written during the 1600s; additionally, he argued that the
Second Bulgarian EmpireThe Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually declining to be conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
was a
RomanianThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
state. In some of his works, he claimed that Romanians traditionally practiced
endogamyEndogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class or social group, rejecting others on such bases as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships...
to preserve their purity.
As early as 1840, Mihail Kogălniceanu was urging writers to seek inspiration for their work in
Romanian folkloreA feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romanian communities resulted in an exceptionally vital and creative traditional culture. Folk creations were the main literary genre...
in creating a "cultured literature". In 1855, after the Wallachian revolution was defeated and most of its leaders went into exile, he noted that the lighter toll Russian intervention had in Moldavia contributed to the preservation of literature; alongside similar statements made by
Vasile AlecsandriVasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia.-Origins and childhood:Alecsandri was born in the...
, this allowed Ibrăileanu to conclude that, after 1848, Moldavia played a bigger part in shaping the cultural landscape of Romania. Writing more than half a century after the critic, historian
Lucian BoiaLucian Boia is a Romanian historian, known especially for his works debunking Romanian nationalism and Communism.-Bibliography:* Eugen Brote: Litera, 1974...
also noted that, while Kogălniceanu stressed national unity, his discourse tended to place emphasis on Moldavian particularities. Also according to Ibrăileanu, Kogălniceanu and
Alecu RussoAlecu Russo , was a Moldavian Romanian writer, literary critic and publicist....
have set the foundation for the local school of
literary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
, and, together, had announced the cultural professionalism advocated by
JunimeaJunimea was a Romanian literary society founded in Iaşi in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi...
after the 1860s. The latter conclusion was partly shared by Călinescu, Tudor VianuTudor Vianu was a Romanian literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. Known for his left-wing and anti-fascist convictions, he had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Romanian literature and art...
and literary researcher Z. Ornea. Nevertheless, in its reaction against the 1848 generation, Junimea, and especially its main figure
Titu MaiorescuTitu Liviu Maiorescu was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea Society...
, tended to ignore or outright dismiss Kogălniceanu's causes and the attitudes he expressed.
While commenting on the differences between Moldavian and Wallachian literature, Paul Zarifopol gave a more reserved assessment of Kogălniceanu's position, arguing that the emphasis he had placed on "national taste" would occasionally result in acclaim for mediocre writers such as
Alexandru HrisoverghiAlexandru Hrisoverghi was a Moldavian Romanian-language poet and translator, whose work was influenced by Romanticism...
. Călinescu observed that much of Kogălniceanu's own prose works imitated the style of his friend Costache Negruzzi, without carrying the same artistic weight, while noting that his few works of
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
featured "pages of gracious [and] good-natured melancholy", which he attributed to the author's traditional upbringing. Also among Kogălniceanu's anthumous writings was Fiziologia provincialului în Iaşi
("The Physiology of the Parochial Man in Iaşi"), closely based on a French model by Pierre Durand and, through it, echoing Jean Anthelme Brillat-SavarinJean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome: "Grimod and Brillat-Savarin...
's Physiologie du goût
. It was part of a series of such texts, popular in his generation and deemed "the first age of Romanian realismLiterary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
" by researcher Maria Protase. Among the other pieces were two comedy plays, both written in 1840, when he was co-director of the National Theater Iaşi: Două femei împotriva unui bărbat
("Two Women against one Man") and Orbul fericit
("The Happy Blind Man"). Kogălniceanu's Notes sur l'Espagne was published decades after his death, and received much critical acclaim.
Descendants
Mihail Kogălniceanu was married to Ecaterina Jora (1827-1907), the widow of Iorgu Scorţescu, a
Moldavian MilitiaMoldavia had a military force for much of its history as an independent and, later, autonomous principality subject to the Ottoman Empire .-Middle Ages:Under the reign of Stephen the Great, all farmers and villagers had to bear arms...
colonel; they had more than eight children together (three of whom were boys). The eldest son, Constantin, studied Law and had a career in diplomacy, being the author of an unfinished work on Romanian history. Ion, his brother, was born in 1859 and died in 1892, being the only one of Mihail Kogălniceanu's male children to have heirs (his line was still surviving in the early 2000s). Ion's son, also named Mihail, established the Mihail Kogălniceanu Cultural Foundation
in 1935 (in 1939-1946, it published a magazine named Arhiva Românească
, which aimed to be a new series of the one published during the 1840s; its other projects were rendered ineffectual by the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
).
Vasile Kogălniceanu, the youngest son, was noted for his involvement in agrarianAgrarianism is a social and political philosophy which stresses the viewpoint that a rural or semi-rural lifestyle, most especially agricultural pursuits such as farming or ranching, leads to a fuller, happier, cleaner, and more sustainable way of life for both individuals and society as a whole.-...
and left-wing politics during the early 20th century. A founder of Partida Ţărănească (which served as an inspiration for the
Peasants' PartyThe Peasants' Party was a political party in post-World War I Romania that espoused a left-wing ideology partly connected with Agrarianism and Populism, and aimed to represent the interests of the Romanian peasantry. Through many of its leaders, the party was connected with Romanian populism , a...
after 1918), he was a collaborator of Vintilă Rosetti in campaigning for the
universal suffrageUniversal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and noncitizens...
and the legislating of Sunday as a public holiday. A manifesto to the peasants, issued by him just before the
Peasants' Revolt of 1907The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners....
, was interpreted by the authorities as a call to rebellion, and led to Kogălniceanu's imprisonment for a duration of five months. A member of the
Chamber of DeputiesThe Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
for
Ilfov CountyIlfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest...
, he served as a
rapporteurRapporteur is used in international and European legal and political contexts to refer to a person appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue or a situation and report to that body....
for the
Alexandru AverescuAlexandru Averescu was a Romanian marshal and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets...
executive during the 1921 debates regarding an extensive
land reformLand reforms is an often-controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government administers possession and use of land...
.
Vasile's sister Lucia (or Lucie) studied at a
boarding schoolA boarding school is a school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board", that is, food and lodging...
in
DresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
during the late 1860s-early 1870s. Her third husband, Leon Bogdan, was a local leader of the Conservatives in
Neamţ CountyNeamţ is a county of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamţ. It has three communes, Bicaz-Chei, Bicazu Ardelean and Dămuc in Transylvania.-Demographics:...
(according to the memoirist
Constantin ArgetoianuConstantin Argetoianu was a Romanian politician, one of the best-known personalities of interwar Greater Romania, who served as the Prime Minister between September 28 and November 23, 1939. His memoirs, Memorii. Pentru cei de mâine. Amintiri din vremea celor de ieri Constantin Argetoianu...
, Lucia was the one exercising real control over the organization's branch). After the Conservative Party faded out of politics as a result of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, she came to support the People's Party. Argetoianu later speculated that she was the most intelligent of the Kogălniceanu children, and claimed that Mihail Kogălniceanu had himself acknowledged this (quoting him as saying, "too bad Lucie is not a boy"). She was the mother of eight; one of her daughters, Manuela, married into the
Ghica familyThe Ghicas were a noble Orthodox Christian family, ruling Wallachia and Moldavia for much of the period from the 17th century through the 19th century...
.
Kogălniceanu's nephew, Grigore, himself a local leader of the Conservative Party and a major landowner, married to Adela Cantacuzino-Paşcanu, a member of the
Cantacuzino familyThe Cantacuzino family is an old boyar family of Wallachia which claims descent from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus. No definite genealogical links between Byzantine and Romanian Cantacuzinos have been established so far, however some researchers...
. He died in 1904, leaving his wife a large fortune, which she spent on a large collection of jewels and
fortune-tellingFortune-telling is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means, and often for commercial gain...
séances. Adela Kogălniceanu was robbed and murdered in October 1920; rumor had it that she had been killed by her own son, but this path was never pursued by authorities, who were quick to cancel the investigation (at the time, they were faced with the major strikes of 1920).
Landmarks and portrayals
Mihail Kogălniceanu's residence in Iaşi is kept as a memorial house and public museum. His vacation house in the city, located in Copou area and known locally as Casa cu turn ("The House with a Tower"), was the residence of composer
George EnescuGeorge Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
for part of the
Romanian CampaignThe Romanian Campaign was a campaign in the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers.-Before the war:...
, and, in 1930, was purchased by novelist
Mihail SadoveanuMihail Sadoveanu was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting republican head of state under the communist regime...
(in 1980, it became a museum dedicated to Sadoveanu's memory). The Kogălniceanu property in
RâpileGura Văii is a commune in Bacău County, Romania....
,
Bacău CountyBacău is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeş-Făget, in Transylvania.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 706,623 and the population density was 113/km²....
, was sold and divided during the early 1900s.
Chronicles edited by Kogălniceanu and Costache Negruzzi were the source of inspiration for several
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
ists, beginning with
Alexandru OdobescuAlexandru Ioan Odobescu , Romanian author, archaeologist and politician, was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina...
. His relationship with the peasant representative to the ad-hoc Divan,
Ion RoatăIon or Ioan Roată , also known as Moş Ion Roată, was a Moldavian-born Romanian peasant and political figure. Roată was representative in the Moldavian ad-hoc Divan for the peasant electoral college of Putna County...
, is briefly mentioned in an
anecdoteAn anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is supposed to be based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not...
authored by
Ion CreangăIon Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher...
(Moş Ion Roată
). He is also the subject of a short writing by Ion Luca CaragialeIon Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...
(first published by Vatra in 1894).
SymbolistSymbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the movement had its roots in Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
poet
Dimitrie AnghelDimitrie Anghel was a Romanian poet.His first poem was published in Contemporanul...
, whose father, the National Liberal parliamentarian Dimitrie A. Anghel, had been well acquainted with Kogălniceanu, authored a memoir detailing the fluctuating relationship between the two political figures, as well as detailing one of the former Premier's last speeches.
Kogălniceanu is the subject of many paintings, and features prominently in Costin Petrescu's
frescoFresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins...
at the
Romanian AthenaeumThe Romanian Athenaeum is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's main concert hall and home of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic and of the George Enescu annual international...
(where he is shown alongside Cuza, who is handing a
deedA deed is a signed and usually sealed legal instrument in writing used to grant a right. Deeds have historically been part of the broader category of instruments under seal, requiring only the affixing of a common seal to render them valid. Today, however, deeds are instruments in solemn form...
to a peasant). In 1936, the Mihail Kogălniceanu Cultural Foundation
commissioned Oscar HanOscar Han was a Romanian sculptor and writer. A student of Dimitrie Paciurea at the Academy of Arts in Bucharest, he was a member of the Group of Four together with painters Nicolae Tonitza, Francisc Şirato and Ştefan Dimitrescu...
to create a monument dedicated to Kogălniceanu, which was erected in BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
during the same year. Actors have portrayed Kogălniceanu in several Romanian filmsThe cinema of Romania is the art of motion-picture making within the nation of Romania or by Romanian filmmakers abroad.As upon much of the world's early cinema, the ravages of time have left their mark upon Romanian film prints. Tens of titles have been destroyed or lost for good...
—most notably, Ion Niculescu in the 1912 Independenţa RomânieiIndependenţa României, subtitled The Romanian-Russo-Turkish War 1877, is a Romanian 1912 silent film directed by Aristide Demetriade.-Beginnings:...
, and George Constantin in Sergiu NicolaescuSergiu Florin Nicolaescu is a Romanian film director, actor and politician. He is best known for his historical movies, such as Mihai Viteazul , Dacii , Razboiul Independenţei , as well as...
's 1977 Războiul Independenţei. During the latter stages of the
Romanian Communist regimeCommunist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the leading role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, under
Nicolae CeauşescuNicolae Andruţă Ceauşescu was a Romanian politician who was the Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, President of the Council of State from 1967, and President of Romania from 1974 to 1989...
, Mihail Kogălniceanu's image was present in official
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
, alongside those of other historical figures who were considered
progressiveProgressivism is a political and social term for ideologies and movements favoring or advocating changes or reform, usually in a statist or egalitarian direction for economic policies and liberal direction for social policies...
.
The historian's name was given to several places and landmarks; these include downtown Bucharest's Mihail Kogălniceanu Square (near the
Izvor metro stationIzvor is a metro station in Bucharest, located near the Palace of the Parliament. It also services one of the buildings of the Bucharest Veterinary University , the Gheorghe Lazăr High School and the Cişmigiu Gardens....
, and housing Han's sculpture) and Mihail Kogălniceanu Boulevard, the
Mihail KogălniceanuMihail Kogălniceanu is a commune in Constanţa County, Romania, and is located 25 km northwest of Constanţa proper. The commune includes three villages:* Mihail Kogălniceanu * Palazu Mic...
commune in
Constanţa CountyConstanţa is the name of a county in the Dobruja region of Romania, its capital city is also named Constanţa.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 715,151 and the population density was 101/km². The degree of urbanization is much higher than the Romanian average. In recent years the...
, the
Mihail Kogălniceanu International AirportMihail Kogălniceanu Airport is situated in south-east Romania, in the commune of Mihail Kogălniceanu, north northwest of Constanţa. It is the main airport of Dobrogea region and it provides access to the Constanţa County, the Constanţa city port and Black Sea Romanian resorts...
(situated 26 km northwest of
ConstanţaConstanţa is the oldest living city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast...
, and serving that city, the airport also houses a
U.S. Military ForcesThe United States armed forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States.The history of the United States armed forces dates to 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States...
base), and the Mihail Kogălniceanu University in Iaşi (the first
private universityPrivate universities are not operated by governments though they may or may not receive funding . Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation...
in Moldavia, founded in 1990).
External links
The Mihail Kogălniceanu Memorial House in Iaşi Ion CreangăIon Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher...
,
Moş Ion Roată, at wikisource
- Independenţa României and Războiul Independenţei, at the Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media...
- Frescoes at the Romanian Athenaeum
The Romanian Athenaeum is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's main concert hall and home of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic and of the George Enescu annual international...
site