
Simion Mehedinți (; October 19, 1868 – December 14, 1962) was a
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 ...
n geographer, the founding father of modern Romanian geography,
and a titular member 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 ...
. A figure of importance in the ''
Junimea
''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...
'' literary club, he was for a while editor of its magazine, ''
Convorbiri Literare'', and became a supporter of the
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
.
He was born in
Soveja
Soveja is a commune located in Vrancea County, 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, S ...
,
Vrancea County
Vrancea () is a county (județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov (Siret), Milcov River, is in Muntenia.
Demographics
At the 2021 Romanian census, 2 ...
. After attending primary school in his native village, he went to study theology, first in
Focșani
Focșani (; ) 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 66,719.
Geography
Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...
, and then in
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 ...
, where he graduated from high school in 1888. He then enrolled at the Faculty of Letters of 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 ...
, graduating with a
B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
thesis on "J.J. Rousseau’s ideas on education." He then pursued his studies in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, with
Paul Vidal de la Blache
Paul Vidal de La Blache (, Pézenas, Hérault, 22 January 1845 – Tamaris-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of modern French geography and also the founder of the Fr ...
, and at the
University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.
The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, with
Ferdinand von Richthofen
Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen (5 May 18336 October 1905), better known in English as was a German traveller, geographer, and scientist. He is noted for coining the terms "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen" = "Silk Road(s)" or "Silk Route(s ...
. In 1895, Mehedinți transferred to
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
, where he completed a Ph.D. degree in early 1899, with thesis "Über die Kartographische Induction" written under the direction of
Friedrich Ratzel
Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term ''Lebensraum'' ("living space") in the sense that the National Socialists later would.
Life
Ratzel's father was th ...
.
He then returned to Romania, where he was appointed professor at the University of Bucharest and head of the first geography department at that university.
He was a strong proponent of the
geomorphology
Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand wh ...
approach to geographic studies; his powerful position enabled him to impose this point of view on Romanian geography.
Mehedinți was elected corresponding
member of the Romanian Academy in 1908, and titular member in 1915.
He died in Bucharest in 1962. Streets in
Oradea
Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...
,
Otopeni
Otopeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, neighbouring the north of Bucharest along the DN1 road to Ploiești. It has 21,750 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are ethnic Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the city.
H ...
,
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
, and in the
Crângași neighborhood of Bucharest are named after him. High schools in
Codlea
Codlea (; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Zäöeden''; ) is a city in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania.
Name
The Romanian name "Codlea" could be a derivation from the Latin , a diminutive of Latin (edge, rearward); or it could be a deriv ...
,
Galați
Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...
, and
Vidra also bear his name.
References
1868 births
1962 deaths
People from Vrancea County
University of Bucharest alumni
Romanian geographers
Romanian magazine editors
Romanian people of World War I
Junimists
Titular members of the Romanian Academy
Ministers of culture of Romania
Ministers of education of Romania
Members of the Iron Guard
Leipzig University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Bucharest
Geomorphologists
People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia
Romanian schoolteachers
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