- Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol
Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (
March 23 1847 –February 27 ,1920 ) was a Romanian scholar, economist, philosopher, historian, professor, sociologist, and author. Among his many major accomplishments, he is credited with being theRomania nhistorian credited with authoring the first major synthesis of the history of the Romanian people.Born in
Iaşi , where he graduated high school, he went on toVienna in 1870 to study law and then toBerlin , where he studied philosophy. In 1868, he made his debut in "Convorbiri Literare " 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 . He was named a member of theRomanian Academy in 1895. In his 1899 French-languague "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 followes 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 'sDacia "), completed between 1888 and 1893, strongly asserts that the Romanians are of predominantlyRoman origin - a position further elaborated by the historianNicolae Iorga , one of Xenopol's numerous pupils (seeOrigin of the Romanians ).Though concerning events nearly two millenia in the past, this was far from an abstract historical issue, having very concrete actual political implications - the Roman origin implying that Romanians are inherently different from - and in the minds of some Romanian Nationalists, superior to - their
Slav ic andMagyar neighors. This, unfortunately, also translated to Xenopol being a noted anti-Semite and collaborator ofA. C. Cuza . Though he died before the formation of theIron Guard , Romania's notoriousFascist party, he is considered to be one of its sources of inspiration - according to the final report of theInternational Commission on the Holocaust in Romania [available through theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum ] .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
*Dimitrie R. Rosetti, "Dicţionarul contimporanilor", Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara", 1897
* [http://www.inshr-ew.ro/pdf/Final_Report.pdf "Final Report"] of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania (p.17, 27, 33, 45)
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