__NOTOC__ Unirea National College Unirea National College ( ro, Colegiul Național Unirea) is a high school located at 15 Cezar Bolliac Street,

Focșani Focșani (; yi, פֿאָקשאַן, Fokshan) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population () of 79,315. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curv ...

, Romania. In 1865, ''

Domnitor ''Domnitor'' (Romanian pl. ''Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince" in other languages and less often as "grand duke". Derived from the Romanian word "''domn''" ...

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Januar ...

ordered the establishment of a gymnasium in Focșani, which took place the following January, making it among the country's first such institutions. Within two years, the school had four grades, and the teachers were collecting materials for science, history and geography, as well as old coins. In 1880, work on the first dedicated building began; at the same time, the name changed from Cuza to Unirea, reflecting the association of Focșani with the

union of the Principalities The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Unirea Moldovei și Țării Românești), also known as the unification of the Romanian Principalities ( ro, Unirea Principatelor Române, link=no) or as the Little Union ( ro, Mica Unire, link=no) ...

. A fifth grade was added in 1884, and the gymnasium soon became a high school. It moved into the new building in 1900. As early as the 1890s, students formed various literary and cultural societies. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when the area was under German occupation, the school closed and a hospital was set up inside.History
at the Unirea National College site In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, the school underwent material improvements, introducing a library room, a physics and chemistry amphitheater, laboratories for the same subjects and new classrooms. A film projector acquired in 1920 was used in screenings at the end of the week, delighting pupils. The area's first history and ethnography museum was founded by a faculty member in 1928 and opened in an annex. The

1940 Vrancea earthquake The 1940 Vrancea earthquake, also known as the 1940 Bucharest earthquake, ( ro, Cutremurul din 1940) occurred on Sunday, 10 November 1940, in Romania, at 03:39 (local time), when the majority of the population was at home. The 1940 earthquake r ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

caused significant damage. During the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, the quality of education declined at Unirea, which eventually became an industrial high school. This trend began to reverse after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

of 1989, so that it was declared a national college in 1997. The school library began in 1874, with 45 books donated by pupils. Two years later, a leading citizen of the town organized various events, collecting a large sum for the further acquisition of books. In 1881, the school began ordering French and German periodicals, drawing on funds supplied by town hall. The library, opened to the public in 1907, was damaged during World War I. A literary society donated its collection in 1920, bringing the holdings to 10,000. World War II brought further losses, and in 1948, the new Communist authorities ordered the destruction of "bourgeois" titles. By the 21st century, the library held 33,000 books, of which 6,300 were old and rare.Library history
at the Unirea National College site The school building is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Also listed is a 1921 plaque carved by and dedicated to the students of

Putna County Putna County was a county (Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania, in southern Moldavia. The county seat was Focșani. The county was located in the central-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the south of Moldavia. Today, most of the t ...

who fell in World War I.

Faculty and alumni

Faculty

* Ioan A. Bassarabescu *

Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică (born Gheorghe Bogdan; –September 21, 1934) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian literary critic. The son of a poor merchant family from Brașov, he attended several universities before launching a career as a critic, f ...

Personages
at the Unirea National College site *

Ovid Densusianu Ovid Densusianu (; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, chief of a poetry school, university professor ...

Constantin Giurescu Constantin Giurescu may refer to: * Constantin Giurescu (historian) (1875–1918), Romanian historian, titular member of the Romanian Academy * Constantin C. Giurescu Constantin C. Giurescu (; 26 October 1901 – 13 November 1977) was a Romania ...

Constantin Moisil Constantin C. Moisil (December 8, 1876–October 22, 1958) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian archivist, historian, numismatist and schoolteacher. Born in Năsăud, in the Transylvania region, his grandfather Grigore Moisil was a priest; ...

Alumni

* Cornel Coman *

Ion Frunzetti Ion Frunzetti (1918–1985) was a Romanian art critic and historian. He was vice president of the Union of Fine Artists, head of the Literature and Arts Section of the Academy of Social and Political Sciences, professor at Bucharest Buchares ...

Virgil Huzum Virgil Huzum (born Virgiliu Huzum; December 12, 1905–July 7, 1987) was a Romanian poet. Born in Ianca, Brăila County, his parents were Ion Huzum, a pharmacist, and Clara (''née'' Andoniu). He attended primary school in Darabani and Focșani ...

* Nicolae I. Manolescu * Simion Mehedinți *

Ion Mincu Ion Mincu (; December 20, 1852 – December 6, 1912 in Bucharest) was a Romanian architect known for having a leading role in the development of the Romanian Revival style. Most of his projects are located in Bucharest, including his main work ...

Ion Nestor Ion Nestor (25 August 1905, Focșani – 29 November 1974, Bucharest) was a Romanian historian and archaeologist. In 1955, he became a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. Biography After attending Unirea High School in Focșani, he purs ...

Constantin Ion Parhon Constantin Ion Parhon (; 15 October 1874 – 9 August 1969) was a Romanian neuropsychiatrist, endocrinologist and politician. He was the first head of state of the Romanian People's Republic from 1947 to 1952. Parhon was President of the Physic ...

Emanoil Petruț Emanoil is a Romanian-language masculine given name, and may refer to: *Emanoil Bacaloglu (1830–1891), Wallachian and Romanian mathematician, physicist, chemist, scubadiver, etc. *Emanoil Badoi (born 1975), Romanian football full back *Emanoil B� ...

Anghel Saligny Anghel Saligny (; 19 April 1854, Șerbănești, Moldavia – 17 June 1925, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian engineer, most famous for designing the Fetești-Cernavodă railway bridge (1895) over the Danube, the longest bridge in Europe at tha ...

Duiliu Zamfirescu Duiliu Zamfirescu (30 October 1858 – 3 June 1922) was a Romanian novelist, poet, short story writer, lawyer, Nationalism, nationalist politician, journalist, diplomat and memoirist. In 1909, he was elected a list of members of the Romanian Acade ...

Notes

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unirea National College (Focșani) Historic monuments in Vrancea County Buildings and structures in Focșani Schools in Vrancea County Educational institutions established in 1866 1866 establishments in Romania National Colleges in Romania School buildings completed in 1900