V. A. Urechia (most common version of Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia,
Romanian pronunciation: [vaˈsile aleksanˈdresku uˈreke̯a]; born
Vasile Alexandrescu and also known as Urechiă, Urechea, Ureche,
Popovici-Ureche or Vasile Urechea-Alexandrescu; February 15, 1834 â€"
November 21, 1901) was a Moldavian, later Romanian historian, Romantic
author of historical fiction and plays, academic and politician. The
author of Romanian history syntheses, a noted bibliographer,
heraldist, ethnographer and folklorist, he founded and managed a
private school, later holding teaching positions at the University of
IaÅŸi and University of Bucharest. Urechia was also one of the
founding members of the Romanian Academy and, as frequent traveler to
Spain and fluent speaker of Spanish, a corresponding member of the
Royal Spanish Academy. He was the father of satirist Alceu Urechia.As
an ideologue, Urechia developed "Romanianism", which offered a
template for cultural and political cooperation among Romanians from
several historical regions, and formed part of a Pan-Latinist
campaign. An activist in favor of the Moldavia's union to Wallachia
and a representative of the liberal wing, he was briefly Moldavian
Minister of Religious Affairs, and later a prominent member of the
National Liberal Party. For more than three decades, Urechia
represented Covurlui County in the Romanian Kingdom's Chamber of
Deputies and Senate. He was Education Minister under two successive
National Liberal administrations, and, during the 1890s, he founded
the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, which focused on
encouraging the aspirations of Romanians living in
Austria-Hungary.Often portrayed as an amateurish and inconsequential
presence in Romanian literature and science, Urechia was involved in a
decade-long controversy with Junimea, a conservative literary society
which advocated professionalization. Among those involved on the
Junimist side were literary critic Titu Maiorescu and poet Mihai
Eminescu. Like other contributors to the liberal magazine Revista
Contimporană, Urechia was a notorious target of Maiorescu's campaign
against "inebriation with words", and ultimately sided with the
anti-Junimist author Alexandru Macedonski, becoming a contributor to
Literatorul magazine. The polemics touched on his private life, after
claims surfaced that he was secretly leading a polygynous lifestyle.V.
A. Urechia was known to his contemporaries by several name variants:
his rival Eminescu once described him as having "seven names".[1]
Urechia, which the writer added in adult life, is a variant of urechea
(Romanian for "the ear"), often transcribed as ureche ("ear"). An
occasional rendition of the name, reflecting antiquated versions of
the Romanian alphabet, is Urechiă.[2][3][4][5][6]
Romanian pronunciation: [vaˈsile aleksanˈdresku uˈreke̯a]; born
Vasile Alexandrescu and also known as Urechiă, Urechea, Ureche,
Popovici-Ureche or Vasile Urechea-Alexandrescu; February 15, 1834 â€"
November 21, 1901) was a Moldavian, later Romanian historian, Romantic
author of historical fiction and plays, academic and politician. The
author of Romanian history syntheses, a noted bibliographer,
heraldist, ethnographer and folklorist, he founded and managed a
private school, later holding teaching positions at the University of
IaÅŸi and University of Bucharest. Urechia was also one of the
founding members of the Romanian Academy and, as frequent traveler to
Spain and fluent speaker of Spanish, a corresponding member of the
Royal Spanish Academy. He was the father of satirist Alceu Urechia.As
an ideologue, Urechia developed "Romanianism", which offered a
template for cultural and political cooperation among Romanians from
several historical regions, and formed part of a Pan-Latinist
campaign. An activist in favor of the Moldavia's union to Wallachia
and a representative of the liberal wing, he was briefly Moldavian
Minister of Religious Affairs, and later a prominent member of the
National Liberal Party. For more than three decades, Urechia
represented Covurlui County in the Romanian Kingdom's Chamber of
Deputies and Senate. He was Education Minister under two successive
National Liberal administrations, and, during the 1890s, he founded
the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, which focused on
encouraging the aspirations of Romanians living in
Austria-Hungary.Often portrayed as an amateurish and inconsequential
presence in Romanian literature and science, Urechia was involved in a
decade-long controversy with Junimea, a conservative literary society
which advocated professionalization. Among those involved on the
Junimist side were literary critic Titu Maiorescu and poet Mihai
Eminescu. Like other contributors to the liberal magazine Revista
Contimporană, Urechia was a notorious target of Maiorescu's campaign
against "inebriation with words", and ultimately sided with the
anti-Junimist author Alexandru Macedonski, becoming a contributor to
Literatorul magazine. The polemics touched on his private life, after
claims surfaced that he was secretly leading a polygynous lifestyle.V.
A. Urechia was known to his contemporaries by several name variants:
his rival Eminescu once described him as having "seven names".[1]
Urechia, which the writer added in adult life, is a variant of urechea
(Romanian for "the ear"), often transcribed as ureche ("ear"). An
occasional rendition of the name, reflecting antiquated versions of
the Romanian alphabet, is Urechiă.[2][3][4][5][6]
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.