The Gheorghe Lazăr National College () is a high school located in central

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

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 the southeast corner of the

Cișmigiu Gardens The Cișmigiu Gardens or Cișmigiu Park () are a public park in the center of Bucharest, Romania, spanning areas on all sides of an artificial lake. The gardens' creation was an important moment in the history of Bucharest. They form the oldes ...

, on the corner of Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta. One of the most prestigious secondary education institutions in Romania, it was named after the

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n educator

Gheorghe Lazăr Gheorghe Lazăr (5 June 1779 – 17 September 1823), was a Transylvanian Romanian scholar and the founder of the first Romanian language school in Bucharest, in 1817. Biography Lazăr was born to a peasant family in Felek, Szeben County, Habsb ...

, who taught at the Saint Sava College. Founded in 1860, it is the second oldest high school in Bucharest.

History

On 18 January 1860,

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'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

founded the second gymnasium with teaching in Romanian in Bucharest and gave it the name of

, who "was the refounder of the nation's schools". The high school's anniversary has been celebrated from then on this date, when the school first opened its doors. The decree of the establishment of the high school bears the signature of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (born Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 20 April 1839 – ), was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as ...

and the date 20 May 1890. In the autumn of 1890, the new place near the

was inaugurated. The construction, designed by architect F. G. Muntureanu, who studied in England, is an architectural jewel of elegant sobriety, combining several styles: from the Brâncovenesc to the neoclassical English one. It is not by chance that the Lazăr High School has been compared to the Parisian high schools near the

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Mar ...

. In 1931, the new wing of the high school was built at the initiative of the general assembly of parents, which allowed the development of new laboratories, the elegant amphitheatre, the semi-basement buffet. In the

Stalinist era Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism inc ...

, the high school suffered. First, it was given a number instead of its old name: it became Middle School No. 22. It shared the building with a new girls' school and in 1949 the high school was transferred, along with the archive and everything else (paintings by former directors, books, documents, commemorative plaques), at the former Spiru Haret High School. Mechanic Gheorghe Dinu saved from destruction the Book of Honor of the high school, hiding it in the attic of the school. In 1955 the ministry decided to return to the old name, the resumption of possession of the place and the establishment of mixed schools. Some remarkable achievements of the 1990–1997 period are the radical strengthening the school's building under the administration of principal Nicolae Novac; the high school's affiliation with

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 ...

(1992); twinning with the French high school "Jean Monnet" in

Joué-lès-Tours Joué-lès-Tours (, literally ''Joué near Tours'') is a commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, central France. It is the largest suburb of the city of Tours, and is adjacent to it on the southwest. Population ...

; protocol initiated and consolidated by Professor Roxana Veleanovici (1991); and receiving the National College title (1995).

Motto and symbols

From the mid-2010s the high school's motto has been "''Pentru unii un liceu, pentru noi un mod de viață''", meaning "''For some a high school, for us a way of life''". Previously it was "''Acest liceu este făcut pentru învingătorii vieţii",'' meaning ''"This high school is made for life's victors".'' The motto of the

student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

is "''Chaque enfant qu'on enseigne est un homme qu'on gagne''", in English "''Every child we teach is a person we win''". The old

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

of the high school, on a text by V. I. Păun and a song by G. Brătianu, was presented for the first time during the first celebration of the patron's commemoration on 18 January 1892. In 1910, on the occasion of the school's semicentennial, the high school orchestra and choir performed under the baton of Master Ion Costescu a new variant of the anthem, on the conductor's music.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

* Ion Andreescu *

Alexandru Athanasiu Alexandru Athanasiu (; born 1 January 1955) is a Romanian politician and jurist. A former leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR), he has been a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) since 2001. Athanasiu previously served ...

* Aurel Babeș * Grigore Băjenaru * Ion Barbu *

Emilian Bratu Emilian Bratu (8 August 1904 – 31 March 1991) was a Romanian chemical engineer, founder of chemical engineering education in Romania. With the Austrian physical chemist Otto Redlich, he studied the dissociation constant of heavy water.Em. Bratu ...

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the most important Romani ...

* Elie Carafoli *

George Ciprian George Ciprian (; born Gheorghe Pană Constantin ; June 7, 1883 – 8 May 1968) was a Romanian actor and playwright. His writings make him a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd. Biography Born in Buzău to a Greeks in Romania, Greek baker's ...

Liviu Ciulei Liviu Ciulei (; 7 July 1923 – 24 October 2011) was a Romanian theater and film director, film writer, actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he was described by ''Newsweek'' as "one of th ...

* Mitiță Constantinescu * Eugen Filotti * Alexandru Ghika * Virgil Gligor * *

Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian language, Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading ...

* Alexandru Kirițescu * Leon Lichtblau *

Gabriel Liiceanu Gabriel Liiceanu (; b. May 23, 1942, Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian philosopher. He graduated from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosoph ...

Dinu Lipatti Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti (; 2 December 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from effects related to Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. He comp ...

* Marius Nasta *

Camil Petrescu Camil Petrescu (; 9/21 April 1894 – 14 May 1957) was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. He was a member of the Sbur ...

* Florian Pittiș *

Alexandru Proca Alexandru Proca (16 October 1897 – 13 December 1955) was a Romanian physicist who studied and worked in France. He developed the vector meson theory of nuclear forces and the Relativistic wave equations, relativistic quantum field equations tha ...

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (; born 21 September 1986) is a Romanian politician and civic activist. He is the founder and chairman of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in both houses of parliament since 2024 Rom ...

* Ilie Șteflea *

Valeriu Stoica Valeriu Stoica (; born 1 October 1953, Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to t ...

Constantin Tănase Constantin Tănase (; 5 July 1880 – 29 August 1945) was a Romanian actor and writer for stage, a key figure in the revue style of theater in Romania. Life He was born into a working-class family living in a peasant house in Vaslui, Roma ...

* Urmuz * George Vâlsan *

Tudor Vianu Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary criticism, literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translation, translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Liter ...

Vasile Voiculescu Vasile Voiculescu (, 27 November 1884 – 26 April 1963) was a Romanian poet, short-story writer, playwright, and physician who wrote under the literary pseudonym V. Voiculescu. Biography Early life and education Voiculescu was born in Pâr ...

Faculty

Constantin Noe Constantin Noe (1883 – 6 June 1939) was a Megleno-Romanian editor and professor. He was born in 1883 in the Megleno-Romanian village of Lagkadia ( in Megleno-Romanian), then in the Ottoman Empire and now in Greece. He was one of the best st ...

External links

WebsiteOld WebsiteThe student newspaper – Revista LZRThe theatre group – Trupa de teatru AS

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gheorghe Lazar National College (Bucharest) High schools in Bucharest Educational institutions established in 1860 Historic monuments in Bucharest 1860 establishments in Romania National Colleges in Romania