Reference Type: Book
Author: Lazăr, Elena
Year: 2009
Title: Greek Scholars in the Romanian Principalities (14th-19th c.) A Biographical Dictionary
City: București
Publisher: Editura Omonia
Number of Pages: 264
Language: English
Keywords: Greek minority, history, culture, elites
Abstract(EN): Of the many Greeks - from all walks of life and of various professions - who came to the Romanian lands in the course of half a millennium, the scholars left the most tangible marks. It is to them that is devoted this encyclopedic synthesis. The book traces the destiny, on Romanian soil, of over 130 outstanding personalities: teachers at the Princely Academies in the capitals of Wallachia and Moldavia like Lambros Fotiadis, Neophytos Doukas or Iosipos Moisiodax, writers including famous figures of the Neo-Hellenic literature (Athanasios Christopoulos), officials at the princely courts that recorded in their chronicles the events they witnessed (Kesarios Dapontes), jurists (Mihail Fotinopoulos), physicians (Iakovos Pylarinos), outstanding intellectuals who left their mark on the epoch (Dimitrios Katartzis), rulers (Nicolae Mavrocordat or Nicolae Caragea), philanthropists (Evangelis Zappas or Panagis Harokopos), politicians (Apostolos Arsakis), persons involved in theater (Mihail Hristaris or Princess Rallu Caragea) or clergymen (Neophytos the Cretan, Dosithei Filitti or Ignatios of Lesbos). They all helped maintain a fertile dialogue between the two cultures.
A thorough survey of Romanian and Greek sources, from those in the times of the scholars to very recent ones, contributed to portraits that try to stick by the standards of an encyclopedic dictionary. Besides a brief biographical presentation with emphasis on the scholars' activity in the Romanian space, the entries offer a comprehensive description of their work (original titles and titles in Romanian, date of first edition and the latest reprints). Also provided are aspects related to the place the authors and their work held in the cultural context of the time, as well as facts about the echo struck in the adoptive country where they lived for a longer or shorter time.
The chronological overview of milestones in the history of Greek intelligentsia on the Romanian soil from the 14th century to the latter half of the 19th century, with stress on the peak moment in the 18th century, the nine maps and the iconographic material (portraits, monuments, facsimiles, editions), as well as the bibliography constitute, together with the dictionary proper, the arguments attesting to how useful this reference work is.