February 15 – a cardinal day for Romanian education and culture
Titu Maiorescu Celebrated at Titu Maiorescu University
February 15th is a date with complex meanings in the Romanian education and culture calendar. First and foremost, it is Titu Maiorescu's birthday (February 15, 1840 – June 18, 1917), a personality of the national pantheon, the founder of modern Romanian culture and civilization. The same date marks Spiru Haret's birthday (February 15, 1851 – December 17, 1912), the founder of modern Romanian education. February 15 is also, National Reading Day. The three meanings thus make February 15th is a day of high symbolic value for Romanian existence.
On February 15th, Titu Maiorescu University of Bucharest celebrates its the mentor and spiritual patron, Titu Maiorescu, a prominent figure in Romanian education and culture. With studies at the Theresianum Academy in Vienna, the University of Berlin, the University of Giessen, and the Sorbonne, Titu Maiorescu was one of the most complex personalities in Romanian history, care contributed fundamentally to the creation of Modern Romania. He was a jurist, university professor, dean, rector, politician, minister and prime minister, party leader, literary critic, writer, cultural mentor, and academician. Remarkably, he was youngest rector, only 23 years old, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, the country's first university, established in 1860. Later, it was also Rector of the University of Bucharest, founded in 1864. Titu Maiorescu remains in our historical consciousness, first and foremost, as the founder of the „Junimea” Society and as a literary critic, mentor to Eminescu and the generation of great classics of Romanian literature. Titu Maiorescu dedicated his entire life national development and modernization of Romanian society through education and culture, prin promoting the critical spirit and the values of European culture in the local space, in a country at the dawn of a new era of its existence. For the Titu Maiorescu University, The Maiorescian bond, institutional assumption, asserts The fundamental importance of education, science, and culture in the development process, their role as vectors of progress through knowledge. Based on this vision, the University designs its entire activity and development under the auspices of values, merit, quality, and excellence. As a tribute to its spiritual patron, February 15th also marks a visit by University representatives to Titu Maiorescu's grave at Bellu Cemetery.
Titu Maiorescu University honors on February 15 also Spiru Haret, a prominent figure in Romanian history and education. A graduate of the Sorbonne, a mathematician, university professor, and academician, he was, at the same time, An elite politician who participated in the building of Modern Romania, alongside the great generation of founders. He was Minister of Public Instruction, a role in which he contributed to the development and modernization of the Romanian school, on new, European bases. During the ministries of Spiru Haret and his reformist work, Romanian higher education has entered a new phase of development. Radiant and visionary spirit, through his work as minister, Spiru Haret is considered The founder of modern Romanian education.
Until February 15, from National Reading Day, Titu Maiorescu University, a comprehensive university with broad cultural openness, celebrates reading, in classic format, printed, or on digital media, as means of personality building, personal development, and social empowerment through culture and knowledge. Within this framework and beyond its calendar limits, the University promotes within its academic community and in society, especially among the younger generations, the fundamental importance of reading for spiritual and cultural development on an individual and societal level.
The Communication and Public Relations Office of Titu Maiorescu University in Bucharest
15.02.2024