BLOG | Romanian Cultural Institute

Dec 14, 2020
4 min

Colonel Cerchez's Campaign Trunk / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Colonel Cerchez's campaign trunk The Romanian principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia), located at the mouth of the Danube, united in 1859 forming a new state called "Romania" under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. After the unification the next goal of the young state was to gain its independence, which was accomplished at the end of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. One of the heroes of this momentous event was Colonel Cerchez who defeated the feared and famo

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The Orders and Decorations of Alexandru Ioan Cuza / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Dec 7, 2020
4 min

The Orders and Decorations of Alexandru Ioan Cuza / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza wearing his foreign decorations, official portrait by Carol Popp de Szathmari In the 18th century, the Romanian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, located at the mouth of the Danube River, laid under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. After the Kuciuk-Kainargi Peace Treaty of 1774, Russia added its own protectorate on the two countries, which from then on would find themselves under a double patronage. Consequently, given this sit

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The Great Medal of the 1922 Coronation / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Nov 30, 2020
7 min

The Great Medal of the 1922 Coronation / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The Great Medal of the Coronation of Ferdinand I and Marie of Romania, 1922 The greatest event in our history is, without a doubt, the unification of all the Romanian historical provinces, concluded in Alba Iulia on December the 1st, 1918. Made possible by the victory of the Entente (the alliance between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic and Great Britain), which Romania (comprised at that time only of Wallachia and Moldavia) joined in 1916 after two year

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Splendor and Power in the Age of Migrations / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Nov 23, 2020
6 min

Splendor and Power in the Age of Migrations / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Gold ornaments discovered in a female aristocratic tomb, Florești 5th century A.D. The Romans abandoned the Province of Dacia towards the end of the 3rd century A.D and during the following seven centuries Transylvania became part of various political formations ruled by peoples of different origins, primarily Germanic but also of other Eastern provenances. Photo 2: Map of the migration of Huns and the displacement of populations The appearance of the Huns by the Vol

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The Zoomorphic Figurine in Luncani / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Nov 16, 2020
4 min

The Zoomorphic Figurine in Luncani / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The Wild Boar in Luncani (Late Iron Age) This amazing figurine represents a wild boar cast in solid bronze (produced in the á cire perdue technique). The silhouette of the animal is supple, and some of the anatomical elements are very carefully transposed (snout, teeth, ears, hooves). The orbits are deep, probably the eyes having been originally rendered from colored glass paste. Decorated with circles and triangles, the mane (crest) of the wild boar is oversized com

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A Roman Amphora in "Barbaricum" / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Nov 9, 2020
4 min

A Roman Amphora in "Barbaricum" / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The Roman Amphora discovered on the Prut River, before and after restauration Many important archaeological discoveries are made serendipitously. This is precisely what happened on the hot and dry summer of 2015 when draught lowered the level of the Prut River (Eastern Romania, on the border with the Republic of Moldova). On a seemingly ordinary day it was luck and the astuteness of a Border Police that led to the discovery of a Roman amphora on the bottom of a meand

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Dr. Ioan Rațiu's Desk Set / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Oct 26, 2020
4 min

Dr. Ioan Rațiu's Desk Set / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Dr. Ioan Rațiu's Desk Set The 19th century is known as “the century of nations” because it was then that nationalism became the dominant ideology. This shift culminated in the liberal revolutions of 1848 which swept Europe in an effort to establish and secure freedom, national identity, and independent political life within the framework of the nation-state. Photo 2: The 1948 European wave of revolution (Italy) Photo 3: Map of Transylvania. Author Gerard Mercator, A

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The Cup of Prince Bocskai / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Oct 19, 2020
3 min

The Cup of Prince Bocskai / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Prince Stephen Bocskai’s Cup, detail, The National Museum of Transylvanian History (MNIT) On August 29, 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the forces of the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, annihilated the Hungarian army. This major defeat was followed in 1541 by the fall of the city of Buda, which led to the division of Hungary into three parts. The Western part was placed under the rule of the Habsburg Empire, the Eastern part became an Ottoman p

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Emperor Caracalla's Statue in Porolissum / History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Oct 12, 2020
7 min

Emperor Caracalla's Statue in Porolissum / History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Fragment of a statue of Emperor Caracalla discovered during the archaeological works in the large fort of Porolissum (Moigrad, Sălaj County) Photo 2: Representations of Dacians on Trajan's Column The conquest of the Dacian Kingdom (today’s territory of Romania) by the armies of the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD) at the beginning of the second century AD meant the creation, after more than half a century, of a new and particular Roman province on the Lower Danube. T

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Mihail Kogălniceanu's Masonic Insignias / History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Oct 5, 2020
5 min

Mihail Kogălniceanu's Masonic Insignias / History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: Mihai Kogălniceanu's Masonic apron During most of the 19th century – also known as "the century of nations" - the Romanian Principalities Moldavia and Walachia, located at the mouth of the Danube river, endeavored to shake off the tutelage of the Ottoman Empire, their suzerain power, and get in step with the modern European civilization by adopting social, institutional and cultural models, as well as values, of Western Europe. Photo 2: Mihail Kogălniceanu, portrai

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The Sword of Prince Ipsilanti / The History of Romania in One Object

RCI USA

Sep 28, 2020
4 min

The Sword of Prince Ipsilanti / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The Sword of Prince Ipsilanti Where the Danube meets the Black Sea, there existed for centuries two countries named Moldavia and Wallachia or, collectively, the Romanian Principalities. In 1859 they united, and a new state was born, "Romania". Moldavia and Wallachia were located on the border of three empires: The Ottoman Empire, The Austrian Empire and The Russian Empire. This special position on the Eastern European map was a place where many political interests in

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The History of Romania in One Object / Cucuteni Painted Vessel

RCI USA

Sep 14, 2020
4 min

The History of Romania in One Object / Cucuteni Painted Vessel

Today’s story takes us back to the prehistoric times, more precisely to the Copper Age when on what is today Romania (southeastern Transylvania and Moldavia), the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (up to the Dnieper River), evolved the Cucuteni-Trypillia civilization, one of the most brilliant civilizations of prehistoric Europe. The name comes from the discoveries made in 1884 and 1893 in the localities of Cucuteni (near Iași, Romania) and Trypillia (near Kiev, Ukraine). In on

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The History of Romania in the First 12 Objects

RCI USA

Jul 28, 2020
1 min

The History of Romania in the First 12 Objects

The 12-episode first season of THE HISTORY OF ROMANIA IN ONE OBJECT, our online series that evokes decisive epochs in the Romanian past starting from objects with powerful symbolic and representative value, developed in partnership with The National History Museum of Romania, has come to a temporary conclusion. As we are now working to extend this highly successful program in partnership with other important museums in different regions of the country, we invite you to revisi

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The History of Romania in One Object / Romania a Member of the EU Stamp Issue

RCI USA

Jul 20, 2020
3 min

The History of Romania in One Object / Romania a Member of the EU Stamp Issue

The first season of the History of Romania in One Object concludes with the epoch-making event of our integration into the European Union, the most consequential, transformative political arrangement Romania has ever been part of. The symbolical object that illustrates this crucial historical turn, which has impacted all facets of Romanian life, is the Romania and Bulgaria Together in the EU stamp issue, which is part of the National History Museum of Romania collection. Almo

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The History of Romania in One Object: The Flag of the 1989 Revolution

RCI USA

Jul 13, 2020
3 min

The History of Romania in One Object: The Flag of the 1989 Revolution

Photo 1: Image from the Revolution in Bucharest This object, the tricolor flag with a hole in the middle, which was flown by the revolutionaries of 1989, is an object loaded with memories and emotions. Photo 2: Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu in 1989 1989 began as the year of complete desperation and ended as a time of great expectations. It was the year when Ceaușescu’s cult of personality, the glorification “of the Comrade and his wife”, had reached epic levels, when the two da

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The History of Romania in One Object: Valentin Hurduc's Clandestine Printing Machine

RCI USA

Jul 6, 2020
5 min

The History of Romania in One Object: Valentin Hurduc's Clandestine Printing Machine

Photo 1: Nicolae Ceauşescu receives a scepter to mark his election by the Romanian Communist Party as President of Romania (1974). The scepter is handed out by the Chairman of the Great National Assembly, Ştefan Voitec. From the Romanian Communism Online Photo Collection Nicolae Ceaușescu became General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party having succeeded Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, its first leader after the establishment of the communist dictatorship in 1947. The first y

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The History of Romania in One Object: Ceaușescu's Personality Cult in Paintings

RCI USA

Jun 29, 2020
4 min

The History of Romania in One Object: Ceaușescu's Personality Cult in Paintings

Photo 1: "Nicolae Ceaușescu and Scenes from the History of the People". Offered to Ceaușescu by Natalia and Nicolae Gadonschi-Ţepeş on the occasion of his 54th birthday (January 1972) Photo 2: Nicolae Ceaușescu takes the oath as President of the Socialist Republic of Romania (1974) Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918-1989), for decades the absolute leader of communist Romania, enjoyed a cult of personality of an unparalleled dimension, at least in Europe. The mass adulation surrounding

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The History of Romania in One Object / The Lunar Gifts of President Nixon

RCI USA

Jun 22, 2020
4 min

The History of Romania in One Object / The Lunar Gifts of President Nixon

The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite and our nearest celestial body. Known from prehistoric times, it is the second brightest object in the sky after he Sun. The beauty of the Moon became a source of fascination, inspired curiosity and gave birth to a plethora of cultural traditions. The first Moon landing (July 20, 1969) made a great impression on Romanians. The public television acknowledged the importance of this historical moment and broadcast live the Apollo 11 mis

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The History of Romania in One Object / Petru Groza's Desk Phone

RCI USA

Jun 15, 2020
3 min

The History of Romania in One Object / Petru Groza's Desk Phone

Petru Groza's desk telephone is an artifact closely linked to a moment with dramatic consequences in the history of Romania after the Second World War: the establishment of the communist regime. The phone was used by the first communist leader of Romania, Petru Groza, between 1952 and 1958 when he was President of the Grand National Assembly which, according to the Constitution, was "the supreme body of state power of the Romanian People's Republic." This phone was the "witne

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The History of Romania in One Object: The Flag of Lupșa

RCI USA

Jun 8, 2020
4 min

The History of Romania in One Object: The Flag of Lupșa

The year 1918 saw one of the most important events in Romanian history: the unification of all historical provinces where Romanians formed a majority – that is, Transylvania, Banat, Crișana, Maramureș, Bessarabia, and Bukovina – with the Old Kingdom of Romania and the creation of a democratic and diverse state. Photo 1: Map of Greater Romania in 1919 On March 27 March 1918, the deputies in Bessarabia’s Country Council (Bessarabia was the name of the eastern part of Moldavia,

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5 days ago
1 min

Simon Anholt on the Foundations of a "Good Country" and the Equation of Generosity in Foreign Affair

FERARU CONFERENCES ONLINE On June 9, 2021 we were thrilled to welcome Simon Anholt, the national promotion oracle and the creator of the...

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6 days ago
2 min

Adina Dabija / Romanian Women Voices in North America II

Readings full of passion, truth and skill to match a time of tumult and reinvention Our literary program dedicated to Romanian women's...

6 views Write a comment

Jun 4
2 min

Art Fridays: Studio Conversations with Zoiţa Delia Călinescu

Experiment and Self-Discovery Zoiţa Delia Călinescu (b. 1978) is a Romanian visual artist and founder of the artistic community STUP....

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Jun 3
2 min

PERCUSSIONescu at the Enescu Soirees Online

Amazing "Bits of Romanian Beats" The next recital at the Enescu Soirees Online revolves around a show-stopping program offered by...

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May 28
2 min

Art Fridays: Studio Conversations with Ştefan Radu Creţu

The Shapes of Perpetual Movement Ştefan Radu Creţu, our next guest in the “Studio Conversations” series, is a kinetic artist living and...

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May 25
2 min

Florina Ilis / Life Anew: Writers Imagine the World after the Pandemic II

Life after the pandemic as seen at "The Playground" While the pandemic seems to loose its grip and the world bounces back from isolation...

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May 24
5 min

Romania’s First Native Computer / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The control panel of MECIPT-1 This is the story of the Electronic Computing Machine of the Polytechnic Institute of Timişoara...

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May 21
2 min

Art Fridays: Studio Conversations with Bianca Mann

Molding the Personality Bianca Mann (b. 1991, Bucharest) belongs to the new generation of Romanian sculptors. She studied Sculpture at...

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May 19
1 min

The RCI Digital Stage Presents: MY FATHER, THE PRIEST

The RCI Digital Stage, our online theatrical series, continues with "My Father, the Priest" by Gabriel Sandu, directed by Leta Popescu...

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May 18
2 min

Angela Chirilă / Romanian Women Voices in North America

This week’s feminine literary voice belongs to Denver-based Moldovan artist and author Angela Chirilă. A successful children's book...

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RCI USA

5 days ago
1 min

Simon Anholt on the Foundations of a "Good Country" and the Equation of Generosity in Foreign Affair

FERARU CONFERENCES ONLINE On June 9, 2021 we were thrilled to welcome Simon Anholt, the national promotion oracle and the creator of the...

14 views Write a comment

6 days ago
2 min

Adina Dabija / Romanian Women Voices in North America II

Readings full of passion, truth and skill to match a time of tumult and reinvention Our literary program dedicated to Romanian women's...

6 views Write a comment

Jun 4
2 min

Art Fridays: Studio Conversations with Zoiţa Delia Călinescu

Experiment and Self-Discovery Zoiţa Delia Călinescu (b. 1978) is a Romanian visual artist and founder of the artistic community STUP....

18 views Write a comment

Jun 3
2 min

PERCUSSIONescu at the Enescu Soirees Online

Amazing "Bits of Romanian Beats" The next recital at the Enescu Soirees Online revolves around a show-stopping program offered by...

22 views Write a comment

May 28
2 min

Art Fridays: Studio Conversations with Ştefan Radu Creţu

The Shapes of Perpetual Movement Ştefan Radu Creţu, our next guest in the “Studio Conversations” series, is a kinetic artist living and...

18 views Write a comment

May 25
2 min

Florina Ilis / Life Anew: Writers Imagine the World after the Pandemic II

Life after the pandemic as seen at "The Playground" While the pandemic seems to loose its grip and the world bounces back from isolation...

19 views Write a comment

May 24
5 min

Romania’s First Native Computer / The History of Romania in One Object

Photo 1: The control panel of MECIPT-1 This is the story of the Electronic Computing Machine of the Polytechnic Institute of Timişoara...

168 views Write a comment