A statue of Ion Luca Caragiale, sculpted by Constantin Baraschi, is located on Maria Rosetti Street in central Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, 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 Dâmbovița River....

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It is placed in front of the house where the dramatist and short story writer Ion Luca Caragiale

Ion Luca Caragiale

Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...

 once lived.

In 1957, Baraschi took part in the contest for the statue of Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 leader Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

, which Communist authorities

Communist Romania

Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...

 meant to place in front of Casa Scânteii, a newly-built Socialist Realist

Socialist realism

Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...

 structure in northern Bucharest. His bronze sculpture lost the contest, so Baraschi decided to replace the head of Lenin's statue with that of Caragiale. He was once again refused, because this statue could have be seen as mocking Lenin. However, the statue was bought by the state and, after years of being kept in a courtyard in the Splai area, it was moved to the Cartea Românească Publishing House courtyard from General Berthelot Street, perhaps at the intervention of influential novelist Marin Preda

Marin Preda

Marin Preda was a Romanian novelist, one of the best-known post-WWII Romanian writers.Preda was born in Teleorman county, in a village called Siliştea-Gumeşti, into a family of peasants. He first studied at school in his home village, then schools in Abrud and Cristur-Odorhei...

.

In 1998, nine years after the 1989 Revolution

Romanian Revolution of 1989

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...

, the Cartea Românească building was returned to its rightful owner; the Ministry of Culture had to take the statue into its patrimony, and subsequently moved it in front of a house where Caragiale lived once, on Maria Rosetti Street. In 2002, Dinu Săraru, chairman of the National Theatre Bucharest

National Theatre Bucharest

The National Theatre Bucharest is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest.-Founding:It was founded as the Teatrul cel Mare din Bucureşti in 1852, its first director being Costache Caragiale...

, oversaw the statue's move to a new location on University Square

University Square, Bucharest

University Square is located in downtown Bucharest, near the University of Bucharest.Four statues are located in the University Square, in front of the University; they depict Ion Heliade Rădulescu , Michael the Brave , Gheorghe Lazăr and Spiru Haret .The square was the site of the 1990 Golaniad,...

, in front of the Theatre's building. After Săraru resigned from office, on 11 February 2006, it was moved back to Maria Rosetti Street, because the move had not been approved and, as such, was technically illegal. A statue of the major Romanian actor Grigore Vasiliu Birlic

Grigore Vasiliu Birlic

Grigore Vasiliu Birlic was one of the greatest Romanian actors, with a rich history in theatre, television and film. He was best known for comedy roles....

, is planned to take its place in University Square.

The statue is featured in the foreground of the reverse of the 100 lei

Romanian leu

The leu is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani . The name of the currency means "lion". On 1 July 2005, Romania underwent a currency reform, switching from the previous leu to a new leu . 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL...

banknote, at its old location in front of the old building of the Bucharest National Theatre.