Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (; March 23, 1847, Iaşi – February 27, 1920,

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 ...

) was a Romanian historian, philosopher, professor, economist, sociologist, and author. Among his many major accomplishments, he is the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

credited with authoring the first major synthesis of the history of the Romanian people.

Life

Born in Iaşi, where he graduated from high school, he went on to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1870 to study law and then to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where he studied philosophy. In 1868, he made his debut in ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' ( Romanian: ''Literary Talks'') is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by ...

'' with a series of studies on Romanian traditions and on Romanian institutions. At first, Xenopol served as a prosecutor in Iaşi, but he later decided to dedicate himself to the study of history. Starting in 1883, he was a professor of universal history at the

University of Iaşi The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

, where he served as rector from 1898 to 1901. He was elected member of the Romanian Academy in 1893. In his 1899 French-language ''Les Principes fondamentaux de l'histoire'' ("The Fundamental Principles of History"), his work most well known internationally, he argued for history being a true science which follows clearly defined laws and logic, through which the reasons for historical processes could be clearly defined. His six-volume ''Istoria românilor din Dacia-Traiană'' ("The History of the Romanians in

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

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 ...

"), completed between 1888 and 1893, strongly asserts that the Romanians are of predominantly

Roman 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 ...

origin – a position further elaborated by the historian

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

, one of Xenopol's numerous pupils (see

Origin of the Romanians Several theories address the issue of the origin of the Romanians. The Romanian language descends from the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken in the Roman provinces north of the "Jireček Line" (a proposed notional line separating the predominantly ...

). Concerning events nearly two millennia in the past and being supported by multiple archaeological findings, it was still contested by some historians. It had, however, very concrete political implications – the Roman origin implying that Romanians are inherently different from their

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

ic and Magyar neighbors. This, despite his disagreement with radical nationalists and objection to violence against Jews, unfortunately also translated to Xenopol being a noted

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and collaborator of

A. C. Cuza Alexandru C. Cuza (8 November 1857 – 3 November 1947), also known as A. C. Cuza, was a Romanian far-right politician and economist. Early life Born in Iași, Cuza attended secondary school in his native city and in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, ...

. Though he died before the formation of the Iron Guard, Romania's notorious Fascist party, he is considered to be one of its sources of inspiration – according to the final report of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania.available through the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

Publications

*''Despre învăţământul şcolar în genere şi în deosebi despre acel al istoriei, Studii economice'' (1879) *''Istoria românilor'' (1879) *''Războiul dintre Ruşi şi Turci'', 2 vols. (1880) *''Teoria lui Rösler'' (1884) *''Memoriu asupra învăţământului superior în Moldova'' (1885) *''Edutes historiques sur les peuples roumains'' (1887) *''Istoria românilor din Dacia-Traiană'', 6 vols. (1888–1893) *''Mihail Kogălniceanu'' (1895) *''Industria mătăsei'' (1896) *''Les Principes fondamentaux de l'histoire'' (1899) (in French)

References

Sources

*Dimitrie R. Rosetti, ''Dicţionarul contimporanilor'', Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara", 1897
''Final Report''
of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania (p. 17, 27, 33, 45) {{DEFAULTSORT:Xenopol, Alexandru Burials at Bellu Cemetery Titular members of the Romanian Academy 19th-century Romanian historians 20th-century Romanian historians 19th-century Romanian lawyers Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Rectors of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Junimists 1847 births 1920 deaths