Press release
2 April 2024
Romanian Academy – 158 years since its foundation
The Romanian Academy, the highest scientific and cultural forum of Romania, celebrates on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in the presence of the General Assembly, 158 years since its foundation. The event will take place in the Romanian Academy Hall, starting at 10 am. Acad. Ioan-Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academy, and Acad. Ion Tighineanu, President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, will speak.
On this occasion, an Open Day will be organised. Between 12 pm and 4 pm, the public is invited to visit, with a specialist guide, the most representative spaces in the historical headquarters of the Romanian Academy and learn about important moments in the venerable institution's over a century and a half of history. The Academy Hall, the Presidents' Gallery, the Academicians' Club, and the Memorial Museum will be open to the public.
Founded on April 1, 1866, under the name Romanian Literary Society, which became, a year later, the Romanian Academic Society, the Romanian Academy is one of the first national institutions, fundamental to the establishment of the modern Romanian state. Its first mission was to establish the orthography of the Romanian language, to elaborate and publish the dictionary and grammar of the Romanian language, as defining elements for the Romanian national identity that was in full swing in the mid-19th century.
If, at the beginning, the Academic Society was composed of 21 members, elected from all the Romanian provinces, today the Romanian Academy is a complex institution with over 180 members, from the country and abroad, outstanding personalities from the most varied fields of the arts and sciences. The organisational structure comprises 14 scientific sections that coordinate over 70 institutes and research centres, some of which are of European excellence, bringing together over 2000 researchers.
Throughout its 158 years of existence, fundamental works for Romanian culture and science have been developed within the Romanian Academy, the result of the passion and research of hundreds of personalities and dozens of scientific collectives. Among the thousands of titles that can be catalogued, we recall on this anniversary occasion: "The Thesaurus Dictionary of the Romanian Language", a capital work, produced over 100 years, which includes 175,000 words, gathered in 19 volumes, with over 18,000 pages; the treatise "History of the Romanians", in ten volumes; the "General Dictionary of Romanian Literature", in eight volumes, now in its second edition, countless treatises on physics, chemistry, medicine, agronomy, art history, collections of historical documents such as "Documenta Romaniae Historica" or "Romanian Testimonies Abroad", maps and linguistic atlases. The members of the Romanian Academy and the specialists from the research institutes coordinated by the Romanian Academy are well established in the international scientific world, publishing in journals and publishing houses of high quality. An impressive track record that makes the Romanian Academy the most important pole of theoretical and fundamental research in Romania, a position confirmed by international rankings, with SCImago ranking the Romanian Academy first in recent years.
Celebrating 158 years of uninterrupted activity, the Romanian Academy reaffirms its status as a landmark institution in Romania, deeply involved in Romanian society and concerned about its future.
Romanian Academy Communication Office