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

At the end of the sixties, as socialist Romania embarked on an increasingly independent foreign policy course, the U.S. -Romanian relations enjoyed a time of unprecedented rapprochement. In the aftermath of his visit to Romania, President Nixon presented Nicolae Ceaușescu, then a darling of Western chancelleries, with a gift of great historical and symbolic value: rock fragments brought back from the Moon by the members of the legendary Apollo 11 Mission. Learn more about these amazing objects and the diplomacy that surrounded them with historian and curator Ionuț-Valentin Drăgoiescu.

Watch and read on our FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE and WEBSITE from Monday, June 22, 2 p.m. EDT (or anytime later).

Historian and curator at the National History Museum of Romania, Ionuț-Valentin Drăgoiescu is a graduate of the Faculty of History at the University of Bucharest and has an M.A. in History and Practice of International Relations. He is a specialist in contemporary history and the management and protection of patrimony. He was part of the team who organized important exhibitions such as "Romania in the Great War", "Bing. The Magic of Toys ”,“ Semper Uniti ”, and “ A Giant Leap to the Moon ”.

Our online series THE HISTORY OF ROMANIA IN ONE OBJECT, developed in partnership with The National History Museum of Romania, evokes decisive epochs in Romanian past starting from an artifact or vestige with powerful symbolic, representative value. In the following weeks the history of Romania will be revealed object by object, from prehistoric figurines and ancient jewelry to Medieval battle flags, modern symbols of power and makeshift machines for printing anti-communist manifestos.