Press release
August 24, 2023

Romanian Language Day, celebrated jointly by the Romanian Academy and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, in Bucharest and Chisinau

The Romanian Academy is organising, together with the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, the celebration of Romanian Language Day on August 31, 2023. The event will take place simultaneously at the headquarters of the two institutions, in Bucharest at the Romanian Academy Hall and in Chisinau at the Azure Hall of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, starting at 11 a.m. Members of the two Academies will meet in a joint scientific session held in a mixed format, with the press and the public invited to honour this celebration.

The event will be opened by academician Ioan-Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academy, and academician Ion Tighineanu, President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.

As part of the program, in the Romanian Academy Hall in Bucharest, academicians Ioan-Aurel Pop, president of the Romanian Academy, will give the lecture “The Old Romanian Language in the Vision of Eugen Coşeriu”, Mircea Dumitru, vice-president of the Romanian Academy, who will pay tribute to the Romanian language, presenting the beginnings of philosophical vocabulary in the Romanian space and making a few remarks on the Eminescu experience of Kantian readings, and Gheorghe Chivu, president of the Philology and Literature Section of the Romanian Academy, who will speak about the vitality of the Romanian language.

In Chișinău, academician Mihai Cimpoi, president of the Consultative Council of Academicians of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, will give the lecture “The Romanian Language – The House of Our Being”, acad. Gheorghe Ghidirim will speak about the Romanian language as a unifying identity factor, during the lecture “The Romanian language – our language for all”, and Valeriu Matei, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, honorary member of the Romanian Academy and general director of the Romanian Academy Publishing House, will present several aspects of the “Battle for the legalization of the Romanian language and the Latin alphabet in the Republic of Moldova”.

Lectures will also be given by university professors Rodica Zafiu, researcher at the “Iorgu Iordan-Alexandru Rosetti” Institute of Linguistics of the Romanian Academy – “The Romanian Language in the Context of Globalization”, Viorel Vizureanu, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest and director of the “Constantin Rădulescu-Motru” Institute of Philosophy and Psychology of the Romanian Academy – “The Cultural Values of the Romanian Language in the Activity of Saint Antim the Ivirean” and Liliana Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest – “Is the Romanian Language a Sui-Generis Language? Historical and Communicative Considerations”.

The festive session celebrating the Romanian Language Day will continue with the opening of the proceedings of the World Congress of Eminescologists in Chisinau, now in its 12th edition.

During the event, after the opening speech delivered by academician Mihai Cimpoi and a greeting message from MEP Maria Grapini, a special session will take place, entitled “Academician Eugen Simion – 90”, during which academician Mircea Martin, poet Ion Hadârcă and Ioan Pavăl, mayor of Dumbrăveni commune, will evoke the activity and work of academician Eugen Simion, a prominent figure of Romanian culture, whose birth has been 90 years.

On this occasion, the volumes “Eugen Simion, man of the cultural whole”, by Mihai Cimpoi, and “Texts about Basarabia”, by Eugen Simion, will be launched.

Romanian Language Day is celebrated every year on August 31, following a legislative initiative approved by the Romanian Parliament through Law no. 53/2013. Romanian Language Day was established on the same date as a similar holiday, established in 1990 in the Republic of Moldova under the name “Our Language”, to convey the message that Romanian is a language spoken not only within the country's borders but also beyond them.

August 31 is the day in 1989 when the Parliament in Chisinau voted for the law that provided for the return to the Romanian language and the Latin script in the Republic of Moldova.

Communication Office of the Romanian Academy