The Frații Buzești National College () is a high school located in central

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

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

, at 5 Știrbei Vodă Street. It is one of the most prestigious secondary education institutions in Romania.

History

The high school was named after three loyal noblemen, the Buzești brothers, Preda, Radu, and Stroe Buzescu, who were the inseparable, strongest military supporters of

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

; their noble blood line goes back to 1461 AD. Between 1590 and 1600 they fought valiantly, numerous times in the army of the Christian Prince Michael the Brave against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

. As a high school it was formally established in 1882 as "Gimnaziul Real" by an edict of "Ministerul Cultelor" (approved by

Petre S. Aurelian Petre Sebeșanu Aurelian, () 13 December 1833 – 24 January 1909, was a Romanian economist, politician and academic. A member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he served as a Prime Minister of Romania between 2 December 1896 and 12 April 1 ...

, the Minister of Culture at the time), with a predominantly science teaching for boys. The gymnasium motto consists of the two Latin words from the beginning of the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

: ''

Fiat Lux "Let there be light" is an English translation of the biblical Hebrew , Hebrew (''yehi 'or'') found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible. In Old Testament translations of the phrase, translations include the Greek l ...

'' (Let There Be Light!). The first director of the gymnasium was Mathematics Professor Grigore Căzănescu, who provided leadership and guidance to both students and professors at the gymnasium. At its opening on November 1, 1882, the gymnasium had 62 students enrolled in the first grade; it opened in the large classroom of the gymnasium for boys in the building that is now

Carol I National College The Carol I National College () is a high school located in central Craiova, Romania, on Ioan Maiorescu Street. It is one of the most prestigious secondary education institutions in Romania. Between 1947 and 1997 it operated under the name of Nic ...

, and its first language teachers were Ștefan Rudeanu for French and Ferdinand Settelin for German. By 1898, there were 184 alumni of the gymnasium, but the school did not have its own building until 1930. On January 9, 1910, however,

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

— then Minister of Education and Culture ("Ministerul Instrucțiunii și Cultelor") — announced that he approved the gymnasium to be called by the name of "Frații Buzești". At that time, one of its best-known teachers was

Nicolae Bănescu Nicolae P. Bănescu (December 16, 1878 – September 11, 1971) was a Romanian historian, elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1936. He was born in Călărași, the third of 14 children of Petre Bănescu, a lawyer, and his wife Ecat ...

, professor of history and French language, who became Vice-President of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) 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 bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. Its study programme was quite strict and severe, and had as many as 34 hours of study per week; it continued much in the same vein even in the early 1960s. By 1961 it also included compulsory, practical training in Electrotechnics engineering at the local works of "ElectroPower" factory for manufacturing electrical train Diesels, with all graduating students receiving certificates for building electrical motors and generators. The school's two rigidly disciplinarian teachers in the 1960s were Sică-Anastasie Petrescu for Mathematics, and Teodoreanu — an elderly Russian Bessarabean — for Physics. However, the most remarkable headmaster in the entire history of the school was — between 1920 and 1940 — the professor of natural sciences Ion P. Ionescu-Argetoaia, with a doctorate in Geology, who gave up a professorship at the University of Timișoara, as well as an assistant professorship at the Sorbonne, in Paris, in order to join "Frații Buzești" as its leader; he was the first to succeed in securing the approval by the Ministry of Education ("Ministerul Instrucțiunii") for the construction of the monumental building of the high school that continues to be used today. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, between 1941 and 1942, the school's building was used by the German troops as a hospital for wounded German soldiers, and later, between September 1944 and 1949, it was used again—this time by the occupying soviet troops—as a hospital for the wounded

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

soldiers; during such trying times, the school was forced to operate grossly overcrowded in the buildings of other schools in Craiova. By the year 2005 there were over 15,000 high school graduates of CNFB, its popularity having increased a lot after the 1930s. Currently, CNFB is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-affiliated institution, endowed with high-quality teaching staff, past and present. CNFB's alumni are presently studying and contributing to research and culture at academic institutions throughout the world. For over a century, the two best National Colleges of Craiova, "Frații Buzești" and

, have been, and still are, the recognized educational paths for the inhabitants of Oltenia (especially

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...

) towards university education; often many alumni of these two best high schools were admitted through very competitive entrance examinations to either the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

or the local

University of Craiova The University of Craiova () is a public university located in Craiova, Romania. It was founded in 1947, initially with four institutes, in the Palace of Justice of Craiova. It is the largest university in the historical Oltenia province of Roma ...

, with the latter being less than two miles from the buildings of the two high schools.

Headmasters

* Director: Ileana Didu * Adjunct Directors: ** Carmen Ștefănescu ** Ion Nanu * Councillor for educational programmes and projects: Ileana Didu

Students' activities

* CNFB students involve themselves into a large number of scientific and cultural activities organized by the students clubs and/or the Frații Buzești Foundation. There is also a students' magazine and journal published by the school since 1996. (The first students' magazine was however founded in 1963, and then it was promptly censored and suspended by the school's principal, with the student editor being punished).

Alumni

Sabin Bălașa Sabin Bălașa (; 17 June 1932 – 1 April 2008) was a contemporary Romanian Painting, painter. His works were described by himself as belonging to cosmic Romanticism. Biography Bălașa was born in Iancu Jianu, Olt, Dobriceni, Olt County. Aft ...

(1932–2008), painter * (1919–2011), poet, titular member of the Romanian Academy * Mircea Grigore (1920–2006), elder son of King

Carol II of Romania Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the f ...

."HRH Prince Carol of Romania"

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

, 10 February 2006 *

Eugene Ionesco Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

(1909–1994), playwright * Eugeniu Petre P. Mareṣ (1907–1995), Lt. General, physician. * (1914–1989), prolific writer of legends and mythological stories * Ilie G. Murgulescu (1902–1991), physical chemist, former President of the Romanian Academy * Petre C. Raicu (1929–1998), former professor of genetics at the

and

Petru Maior University of Târgu Mureș The Petru Maior University () of Târgu Mureș, Romania, was a university founded in 1960. In September 2018, Petru Maior University was incorporated into the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Târgu Mureș. History Founded in 1960 as The ...

, and Associate Professor of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

Marin Sorescu Marin Sorescu (; 29 February 1936 – 8 December 1996) was a Romanian poet, playwright, and novelist. His works were translated into more than 20 countries, and the total number of his books that were published abroad rises up to 60 books. He h ...

(1936–1996), literary historian and poet * Radu Voinea (1923–2010), professor of theoretical mechanics and engineering, former President of the Romanian Academy

References

External links