Grigore George Tocilescu (26 October 1850 – 18 September 1909) was a
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n historian, archaeologist,
epigrapher
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
and
folkorist, member of
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its byl ...
.
He was a professor of ancient history at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
, author of
Marele Dicționar Geografic al României (The Great Geographical Dictionary of Romania), general secretary of the
Romanian Ministry of Teaching and multiple times senator, with conservative political views. Tocilescu is one of the first Romanian historians who focused on the study of civilizations in ancient
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
. As a folklorist he collaborated on the publication of a
folkloristics
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
compendium
A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...
.
Life
Education
After finishing the primary and secondary school
Ploieşti, Tocilescu went to
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
where he graduated at the
Saint Sava National College
The Saint Sava National College (Romanian: ''Colegiul Național Sfântul Sava''), Bucharest, named after Sabbas the Sanctified, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. It was founded in 1694, under the name of t ...
. He then studied in universities in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where he obtained the
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
title and the license to practice law. Back in Romania, in 1881 he became professor of ancient history and epigraphy at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
.
Involvement
In 1884 the Archaeological Seminary's Library was established through Professor Tocilescu's grant.
At the death of Romanian historian, Romantic author, academic and politician
Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia
V. A. Urechia (most common version of Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia, ; born Vasile Alexandrescu and also known as Urechiă, Urechea, Ureche, Popovici-Ureche or Vasile Urechea-Alexandrescu; 15 February 1834 – 21 November 1901) was a Moldavian, ...
, November 21, 1901, Tocilescu delivered the funeral oration.
Professional activity
In 1877 Tocilescu went to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, to the
Rumyantsev Museum
The Rumyantsev Museum evolved from the personal library and historical collection of Count Nikolay Rumyantsev (1754–1826). Its origin was in St. Petersburg in the Rumyantsev house or mansion, building number 44 on the English Embankment overlo ...
, where he copied the book ''From the Beginning of the First World'' (''De-nceputul lumiei de-ntâiu''), written by
Mihail Moxa Mihail Moxa (; after 1550–before 1650) was a Wallachian historiographer and translator. Nothing is known about his family, but Moxa was probably from the Oltenia region, and was a monk at the Bistrița Monastery
The Bistrița Monastery ( r ...
, and sent the copy to ''Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu'', who published it in ''Cuvente den batrâni'' ( vol. I, 1878). The work is a universal history that begins with the "creation of the world", speaks of the
Assyrians,
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
,
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
, then passes to the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. It makes a brief history of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
, after which it lists the emperors of the West and the East until the establishment of the Turkish rule in Europe and ends with the first battles of the Turks with the Romanians in 1489.
Later, he left for Paris to continue his studies in the French archives and libraries, about
Dimitrie Cantemir
Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir (, russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant e ...
. On this occasion he attended courses at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
and the ''École Pratique de Hautes-Etudes'' (
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
).
Returning to the country, he was appointed the director of the National Museum of Antiquities and held the position of professor of ancient history and
epigraphy
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
(1881). From the point of view of archaeology, Tocilescu was the initiator of the Romanian archaeological excavations in Dobrogea.
He is co-author of the work ''The Great Geographical Dictionary of Romania'' published in 5 volumes in Bucharest between 1898-1902. He was general secretary at the Ministry of Education and, several times, conservative senator. Tocilescu is one of the first historians to study the civilizations on the territory of the former
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
. He left three impressive works: ''Dacia before the Romans'' (''Dacia înainte de romani''), ''the Adamclisi Monument'' (''Monumentul de la Adamclisi'') in collaboration with O. Benndorf and G. Niemann and ''Fouilles et recherches archéologiques en Roumanie''.
He was also concerned with the republishing of some fundamental works, such as ''The Chronicle of the Antiquity of the Romanian-Moldavian-Vlachs'' (''Hronicul vechimei a româno-moldo-vlahilor'') (Ed. Academiei, 1901) by Dimitrie Cantemir.
Bibliography
*
Cumu se scrie la noi istoria' (How the history gets written in our lands), Bucharest, 1873
* ''Dacia înainte the Romani'' (Dacia before the Romans), Bucharest, 1880 - One of the first history books on the Pre-Roman Dacian subject
* ''Manual de istoria româna: pentru școlele secundare de ambe-sexe'', Bucuresci, Lito-Tipografia Carol Göbl, 1894
* ''
Marele Dicționar Geografic al României'' (The Great Geographical Dictionary of Romania), Bucharest, 1898-1902, 5 volumes
*
Materialuri Folkloristice', Bucharest, 1900
* ''Balade și doine'', (prefață Marin Bucur), București, Editura Tineretului, 1958
Reissue
* ''534 Slavo-Romanian historical documents from Wallachia and Moldova, regarding the connections with Transylvania (1346-1603) from the archives of Brașov and Bistrita in original Slavic text accompanied by Romanian translation, printed in Vienna in 1905-1906 in Adolf Holzhausen Workshops'',
Sep 28, 1909, reprinted "Casa Românească" Bookstore, 1931
* ''History of the Romanians'', (re-edition) Tipo Moldova Publishing House, 2010
* ''Ballads and doines'' (reissue), Miracol Publishing House, 2010; Dacia XXI Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 2011, .
See also
*
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
*
List of Romanian archaeologists
This is a list of archaeologists – people who study or practise archaeology, the study of the human past through material remains.
A
* Kamyar Abdi (born 1969) Iranian; Iran, Neolithic to the Bronze Age
* Aziz Ab'Saber (1924–2012) Brazilian; ...
Notes
External links
*
Materialuri Folkloristice Bucharest, 1900
Grigore Tocilescu on Romanian WikisourceGrigore Tocilescu High Schoolin
Mizil
Mizil () is a town in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. Located in the southeastern part of the county, it lies along the road between the cities of Ploiești and Buzău, and to the northeast of the national capital, Bucharest. Its position led i ...
, Romania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tocilescu, Grigore
People from Mizil
Romanian archaeologists
19th-century Romanian historians
Romanian writers
Romanian folklorists
Epigraphers
Titular members of the Romanian Academy
University of Bucharest faculty
1850 births
1909 deaths
Historiography of Dacia