Project ABOLITIONISM
Final raport
2011-2016
FINAL REPORT
on the research project with the title
The Abolitionist Movement in the Context of Civil and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania, project code: PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0655
project implemented in 2011-2016
The research project with the title The Abolitionist Movement in the Context of Civil and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania, funded by the National Research Council (CNCS), through the Executive Agency for Higher Education Research and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), project code: PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0655, was implemented in the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, between 5 October 2011-30 September 2016. The research team was composed of the following researchers: Dr. Viorel ACHIM (project manager), Dr. Raluca TOMI, Dr. Venera ACHIM, Dr. Cătălin TURLIUC and Dr. Nagy-Dan PIENARU.
1. The project goals and the results obtained
This project proposed to make a comprehensive research on the Romanian abolitionist movement and to reconstitute this major political and cultural phenomenon, which influenced the development of the Romanian principalities (after 1859, Romania).
At the end of a work that was extended over a period of five years, we maneged to finish this project. We believe that our research, which is havily based on archival materials and contemporary press and materialized in a relatively large number of books, articles and papers, clarifies the issue of the Romanian abolitionism. The research was made not only from the perspective of the longer history of slavery of Gypsies in the Romanian principalities. We studied the abolitionist movement in the context of the civil and political emancipation of modern Romania as well. Our research completes the Romanian history picture in the time when the modern Romanian state was actually settled.
Among others, our publications approach and clarify importante issues such as: the origins of the Romanian abolitionism, with its Western and Romanian components; the channels through which the abolitionist ideas penetrated in the Romanian space (press, literary works describing slave life, Western intellectuals settled in the Romanian principalities, Romanians’ contacts with abolitionist leaders in the West etc.); manifestations of the Romanian abolitionism; dimenssions and impact of the Romanian abolitionist beletristic literature; abolitionism as part of the social and political thinking of the 1848 generation; the Romanian abolitionist movement compared with the abolitionist movements in the West-European and North-American space.
We believe that our research team produced publications important for understanding a neglected chapter in the history of modern Romania. The investigation of the Romanian abolitionism, which, in our opinion, belongs in many ways to the general phenomenon of European abolitionism, completes the picture of the abolitionist movements which manifested in the 19th century in other spaces and contributes to a better understanding of abolitionism on an international level.
2. The documentation work
This project was mainly built on archival materials and contemporary publications. Therefore, the project involved a long-term work archives and libraries hosting materials related to the abolitionist movement in the Romanian principalities and its connections to the political, ideological and social realities of the country, as well as the external conditionings of the Romanian abolitionism. Most part of the documentation work was made in the Central Historical National Archive (Bucharest), which houses the archival funds created by the central institutions of the principality of Wallachia and, after 1859, of Romania, and in the Iaşi County National Archives Department, which houses the archival funds of the central institutions of the principality of Moldavia. Critical for our project was the manuscript collection of the Romanian Academy Library. The main libraries where we worked were: the Romanian Academy Library, the National Library of Romania, the "Mihai Eminescu" University Central Library in Iaşi, the "Lucian Blaga" University Central Library in Cluj-Napoca, and the library of the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History.
The researchers who worked on this project made documentary stays abroad, in Paris and Nantes (France), Berlin (Germany), Torino and Napoli (Italia), London (United Kingdom), Istanbul and Ankara (Turkey).
3. Conferences organized within the project
Within our research project we organized three scientific conferences:
3.1. The conference "Social and institutional modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859", which took place at the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, on 10-11 October 2013. 20 participants. The organizers of the conference: Viorel ACHIM, Venera ACHIM and Raluca TOMI. The papers presented in this conference were published in the volume: Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859], edited by Venera ACHIM and Viorel ACHIM, Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, 236 p.
3.2. The International Conference "The Status of Minorities in the Balkans, 1814-1914", held at the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, on 7-9 November 2013. The conference was organized by the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest (through our research group) and Pasts, Inc., Center for Historical Studies, CEU Budapest. 14 participants, from Romania, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, and Turkey. The organizers of the conference: Viorel ACHIM and Constantin Iordachi.
3.3. Symposium "Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations", which took place at the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, on 20-21 September 2016. 14 participants. Organizers: Viorel ACHIM, Venera ACHIM and Raluca TOMI. The paper presented in this symposium will be publish in the volume: Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations], edited by Venera ACHIM and Viorel ACHIM, Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
4. Results obtained. Publications
4.1. Papers presented in scientific conferences
During the five years of project implementation, we presented 59 papers in scientific conferences, in Romania (44) and abroad (15):
1. Venera ACHIM: "Instituţionalizarea statisticii - un aspect al modernizării Principatelor Române (1831-1862)" [Institutionalization of Statistics - An Aspect of Modernization in the Romanian Principalities (1831-1862)] - paper at the Annual Meeting of the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 6-7 December 2011.
2. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Modernizare şi schimbarea paradigmei sociale" [Modernization and change of the social paradigm] - paper at the 4th edition of the Symposium "Prof. Ioan Nemeş", Suceava, 4 May 2012.
3. Cătălin TURLIUC: "A Triptych of Modernity: Abolitionism, Emancipation and Equality" - paper at the ISSA International Conference of Applied Sciences, organized by the Western University Timişoara, Timişoara, 18-19 June 2012.
4. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipare şi asociaţionism în spaţiul românesc în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea" [Emancipation and Associationism in the Romanian Space in the Second Half of the 19th Century] - paper at the International scientific symposium "Asociaţionism şi propăşire naţională în Bucovina în secolele XIX-XX. 150 de ani de la înfiinţarea Societăţii pentru Cultura şi Literatura Română în Bucovina" [Associationism and National Progress in Bukovina in the 19th-20th Centuries. 150th Years Anniversary of the Society for Romanian Culture and Literature in Bukovina], organized by the Romanian Academy - the "Bukovina" Institute Rădăuţi, the A.D. Xenopol Institute of History Iaşi, the "Ştefan cel Mare" University Suceava and the Society for Romanian Culture and Literature in Bukovina, Rădăuţi (Romania) and Czernowitz (Ukraine), 28-29 June 2012.
5. Viorel ACHIM: "Social and Ethnic Aspects in the Projects for the Emancipation of Gypsies from Slavery: Romanian Principalities, mid-19th Century" - paper at the Conference on Gypsy Studies, organized by the Gypsy Lore Society, Istanbul, Turkey, 20-23 September 2012.
6. Raluca TOMI: "Arhivele personale surse pentru studiul istoriei sociale din Principate: cazul Paul Bataillard" [The Personal Archives as Sources for Studying the Social History of the Romanian Principalities: The Case Paul Bataillard] - paper at the International Conference "Archives, History and Politics in Romania during the 19th-21th Centuries", organized by the National Archives of Romania, Bucharest, 21-22 September 2012.
7. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipation and Modernisation: Minorities in Romanian Trade during the Second Half of the 19th Century" - paper at the International Colloquium "By-Passing Periphery: South-Eastern European Economy and Its Convergences to the Core. Routes and Goods, Actors and Factors (16th-19th Centuries)", organized by the Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology - Department of History and the Centre for Danubian Studies of the Lower Danube University of Galaţi, Galaţi, 18-20 October 2012
8. Viorel ACHIM: "A Particular Trade: Boyars in the Romanian Principalities Purchasing Gypsies (Slaves) from Neighbouring Countries, 17th-19th Centuries" - paper at the International Colloquium "By-Passing Periphery: South-Eastern European Economy and Its Convergences to the Core. Routes and Goods, Actors and Factors (16th-19th Centuries)", organized by the Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology - Department of History and the Centre for Danubian Studies of the Lower Danube University of Galaţi, Galaţi, 18-20 October 2012.
9. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Aboliţionism şi emancipare în procesul modernizării" [Abolitionism and Emancipation in the Process of Modernization] - paper at the discussion meeting "Emancipare şi aboliţionism în România modernă şi contemporană" [Emancipation and Abolitionism in Modern and Contemporary Romania], within the Academic Days, Romanian Academy - Iaşi Branch, Iaşi 22 October 2012.
10. Venera ACHIM: "Maître et esclaves vus par les voyageurs étrangères dans les Principautés Roumaines pendant la première moitié du XIXe siècle" - paper at the international colloquium "Femmes d’extérieur. Les déplacements féminins dans la littérature et les relations du voyage", organized by the Heterotopos Research Center, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 16 November 2012.
11. Raluca TOMI: "Influenţa iluminismului francez asupra mişcării aboliţioniste: cazul Jean Jacques Rousseau" [The Influence of the French Enlightenment on the Abolitionist Movement: The Case of Jean Jacques Rousseau] - paper at the colloquium "Jean Jacques Rousseau şi rousseuismul la 300 de ani de la naştere: o lectură critică" [Jean Jacques Rousseau and the Rousseauism at 300 Years from the His Birth: A Critic Lecture], organized at the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 19 November 2012.
12. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Games within Frontiers: Memory of Citizenship in Interwar Romania" - paper at the International Conference "Regions of Memory. A Comparative Perspective on Eastern Europe", organized by the Institute of Sociology, Warsaw University, and Osteuropa-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Warsaw, Poland, 24-28 November 2012.
13. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emanciparea civilă şi politică în procesul modernizării României în secolul al XIX-lea" [Civil and political emancipation in the process of modernization of Romania during the 19th century] - paper at the 35th national scientific meeting "Acta Moldaviae Meridionalis", organized by the "Ştefan cel Mare" County Museum in Vaslui, Vaslui, 6-7 December 2012.
14. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipare naţională şi civilă în vremea domniei lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza" [National and civil emancipation during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza] - paper at the 2nd edition of the national symposium "Omagiu făptuitorilor Unirii" [Tribute to the Makers of the Unification], organized by the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" Association, the "Moldova" National Museum Complex, the Museum of the Union and the A. D. Xenopol Institute of History, Iaşi, 23 January 2013.
15. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza şi rolul său în procesul emancipator din România modern" [Alexandru Ioan Cuza and his role in the emancipatory process in modern Romania] - paper at the symposium "Unirea Principatelor - Idee şi Faptă" [Unification of the Principalities - Idea and Deed], organized by the A.D. Xenopol Institute of History, the Faculty of History of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, and the Museum of the Union, Iaşi, 24 January 2013.
16. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Conflict identitar şi statalitate în spaţiul românesc din perioada modern" [Identity conflict and statehood in Romanian space in the modern time] - paper at the scientific meeting "95 Years from the Unification of Bessarabia with Romania", organized by the Institute for History, State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, the A.D. Xenopol Institute of History in Iaşi, the Academy of Music and Fine Arts of the Republic of Moldova, the "Mihai Eminescu" Romanian Cultural Institute in Chişinău, and the Association of the Historians from the Republic of Moldova, Chişinău, 27 March 2013.
17. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Aboliţionism şi emancipare în societatea românească din secolul al XIX-lea" [Abolitionism and emancipation in the Romanian society in the 19th century] - paper at the international symposium "15 Years of Political Sciences at Petre Andrei University Iaşi", Iaşi, 29-30 May 2013.
18. Cătălin TURLIUC: "România - Modernizare şi Europenizare" [Romania - Modernization and Europenization] - lecture in the series "Personalities from Iaşi in Bicaz", Bicaz, 4 June 2013.
19. Viorel ACHIM: "The issue of the marriages between freemen and slaves in Moldavia in the last decades of slavery" - paper at the International Conference "Intermarriage throughout History", organized by Babeş-Bolyai University - Centre for Population Studies, the Romanian Academy - Center for Transylvanian Studies, the Romanian Society for Historical Demography, and the International Commission for Historical Demography, Cluj-Napoca, 5-8 June 2013.
20. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Towards Modernity: Abolitionism and Emancipation in Romania" - paper at the International Conference EUBSR 2013 (European Union and Black See Regions), organized by Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Bucharest, 6-8 June 2013.
21. Raluca TOMI: "L’abolizionismo nel dibattito dei leader romeni e italiani (1830-1865)" - paper at Convegno romeno-italiano din studi storici "Italia e Romania tra XIX e XX secolo: relazioni, convergenze, contrasti", organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest and the University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 28 June 2013.
22. Viorel ACHIM: "Social Changes in the Process of Emancipation of Gypsies from Slavery: Romanian Principalities, mid-19th Century" - paper at the Annual Conference of the Gypsy Lore Society on Gypsy Studies, Glasgow, Great Britain, 12-13 September 2013.
23. Venera ACHIM: "Proprietarii de robi şi dezrobirea" [The slave owners and the emancipation] - paper at the conference "Modernizare socială şi instituţională în principatele române, 1831-1859" [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 10-11 October 2013.
24. Viorel ACHIM: "Mutaţii de ordin social în ce priveşte populaţia ţigănească în epoca dezrobirii" [Social changes in the Gypsy population in the period of emancipation] - paper at the conference "Modernizare socială şi instituţională în principatele române, 1831-1859" [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 10-11 October 2013.
25. Raluca TOMI: "Mişcarea aboliţionistă şi opinia publică din Principatele Române - căi şi mijloace de influenţare" [Abolitionist Movement and Public Opinion in the Romanian Principalities - ways and means of influencing] - paper at the conference "Modernizare socială şi instituţională în principatele române, 1831-1859" [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 10-11 October 2013.
26. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipare, occidentalizare şi transfer normativ la mijlocul secolului al XIX-lea în societatea românească" [Emancipation, Westernization and normative transfer in the Romanian Society in mid-19th century] - paper at the conference "Modernizare socială şi instituţională în principatele române, 1831-1859" [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 10-11 October 2013.
27. Viorel ACHIM: "Slavery and Emancipation in the Romanian Principalities in mid-19th Century" - paper at the International Conference "The Status of Minorities in the Balkans, 1814-1914", organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest and Pasts, Inc., Center for Historical Studies, CEU Budapest, Bucharest, 8-9 November 2013.
28. Raluca TOMI: "Abolitionist Movement in the Romanian Principalities: Influences, Characteristics" - paper at the International Conference "The Status of Minorities in the Balkans, 1814-1914", organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest and Pasts, Inc., Center for Historical Studies, CEU Budapest, Bucharest, 8-9 November 2013.
29. Cătălin TURLIUC: "The Civil and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania" - paper at the International Conference "The Status of Minorities in the Balkans, 1814-1914", organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest and Pasts, Inc., Center for Historical Studies, CEU Budapest, Bucharest, 8-9 November 2013.
30. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Secularizarea averilor mănăstireşti - 1863" [Secularization of monastery estates - 1863] - paper at the 7th edition of the national symposium "Unirea Principatelor Române" [Union of the Romanian Principalities], organized by the Vrancea County Museum, Focşani, 18 January 2014.
31. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza - viziune şi acţiune politică" [Alexandru Ioan Cuza - vision and political action] - paper at the conference "Naţiune şi acţiune la 1859" [Nation and Action in 1859], organized by "Bogdan Petriceicu Haşdeu" State University Cahul, Cahul, Republic of Moldova, 24 January 2014.
32. Viorel ACHIM: "Some remarks on anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism in Romania, the 1930s and early 1940s" - paper at the Collaborative Wokshop "Anti-Semitism in Romania and Moldova 1881-1991", organized by the Romanian-Moldovan Research Group, Leicester University, Leicester, United Kingdom, 2 July 2014.
33. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Ion I.C. Brătianu şi emanciparea politică în România modern" [Ion I.C. Brătianu and the political emancipation in modern Romania] - paper at the symposium "150 de ani de la naşterea lui Ion C. Brătianu" [The 150th Anniversary of Ion C. Brătianu’s Birth], organized by the Argeş County History Museum and the Argeş County Direction for National Cultural Patrimony, Ştefăneşti-Argeş, 20 August 2014.
34. Viorel ACHIM: "What Gypsies in Romanian principalities thought about their emancipation from slavery? Note on archival documents from the years 1856-1859" - paper at the Annual Conference of the Gypsy Lore Society on Romani Studies, Bratislava, Slovakia, 11-13 September 2014.
35. Viorel ACHIM: "Între integrare şi discriminare: romii ca paradigm" [Between integration and discrimination: Roma as a paradigm" - paper at the international symposium "Diversitatea uitată a României. Istorie, patrimoniu, memorie" [The Forgotten Diversity of Romania. History, Patrimony, Memory], organized by the County Direction for National Cultural Patrimony Iaşi, "Orbis Tertius / A Treia Lume" Association (Bucharest), Institute for Symbolic Studies and Researches (Iaşi), "Lumina Moldovei" Association (Târgu-Neamţ), "Al. I. Cuza" Association (Iaşi) and the "Moldova" National Museum Complex, Iaşi and Târgu-Neamţ, 23-26 October 2014.
36. Viorel ACHIM: "The problems encountered by former Roma deportees after returning from Transnistria" - paper at the Fifth international multidisciplinary conference "Beyond Camps and Forced Labour: Current International Research on Survivors of Nazi Persecution", Imperial War Museum, London, United Kingdom, 7-9 January 2015.
37. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Marile reforme din timpul domniei lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza" [The great reforms during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza] - paper at the Symposium "Unirea din 1859" [The Union of 1859[, Focşani, 17 January 2015.
38. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Modernizarea instituţională a României în epoca Unirii Principatelor" [Intitutional modernization of Romania in the epoch of the Union of Principalites] - paper at the Conference "Unirea Principatelor Române şi ecourile sale în Basarabia" [The Union of the Romanian Principalities and its echoes in Bessarabia], organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, 23 January 2015.
39. Viorel ACHIM: "Reforma agrară a lui Cuza şi emancipaţii" [The land reform of Alexandru Ioan Cuza and the emancipated] - paper at the Symposium "Omagiu făuritorilor Unirii" [Tribute to the Makers of the Union], the 4th edition, organized by the "Al. I. Cuza" Association Iaşi and the Museum of the Union, Iaşi, 23 January 2015.
40. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Administraţie şi politică în vremea domniei lui Alexandrun Ioan Cuza" [Administration and politics during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza] - paper at the Symposium "Omagiu făuritorilor Unirii" [Tribute to the Makers of the Union], the 4th edition, organized by the "Al. I. Cuza" Association Iaşi and the Museum of the Union, Iaşi, 23 January 2015.
41. Viorel ACHIM: "Considerations about the territorial distribution of Gypsy slaves in Romanian principalities" - paper at the International Conference "Slaving Zones: Cultural Identities, Ideologies, and Institution in the Evolution of Global Slavery", hosted by Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, 1-2 June 2015.
42. Viorel ACHIM: "Gypsies speak. An analysis of the petitions of the Gypsy slaves in the Romanian principalities, c. 1835-1855" - paper at the Annual Conference of the Gypsy Lore Society on Romani Studies, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, 10-12 September 2015.
43. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Naţionalism şi propagandă în perioada neutralităţii" [Nationalism and propaganda during the period of neutrality] - paper at the conference "Românii în prima conflagraţie mondială. Tentaţii, opinii şi acţiuni în perioada neutralităţii României" [Romanians in the First World War. Temptations, opinions and actions in the period of Romania’s neutrality], organized by A. D. Xenopol Institute of History and Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, 8-9 October 2015.
44. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Nationalism - A Secular Liturgy of Modernity" - at the International Conference "National Identities in Intercultural Dialogue", organized by Moldova State University and the Office for Interethnic Relations of the Republic of Moldova, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, 28-30 October 2015, Keynote speaker.
45. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Cauza naţională românească în preajma şi în timpul Primului Război Mondial" [The Romanian national cause on the eve of and during the First World War] - paper at the International Symposium "Români-Moldoveni-Europeni. Dileme şi Identităţi" [Romanians-Moldovans-Europeans], Iaşi-Bălţi-Chişinău, 4-8 November 2015.
46. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Mihail Kogălniceanu şi meliorismul social" [Mihail Kogălniceanu and the social meliorism] - paper at the Symposium "Mihail Kogălniceanu în conştiinţa contemporaneităţii" [Mihail Kogălniceanu in the contemporary consciousness], organized by the "Moldova" National Museum Complex, the County Direction for National Cultural Patrimony Iaşi and the "Mihail Kogălniceanu" Museum, Iaşi, 22 January 2016.
47. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Principiul Naţionalităţilor şi contextul internaţional al Unirii de la 1859" [The nationality principle and the international context of the Union of 1859] - paper at the national symposium "Omagiu făuritorilor Unirii" [Tribute to the Makers of the Union], the 5th edition, organized by the "Moldova" National Museum Complex, the County Direction for National Cultural Patrimony Iaşi and the Ruginoasa Palast, Ruginoasa, 23 January 2016.
48. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipatorii: Generaţia Unirii" [The emancipators: The Generation of the Union] - paper at the Symposium "Domnia lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866) - etapă fondatoare a statului modern roman" [The Reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866) - founding stage of the modern Romanian State], organized by the "Moldova" National Museum Complex, the County Direction for National Cultural Patrimony Iaşi and the Museum of the Union, Iaşi, 23 January 2016.
49. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Geneza şi emanciparea statului modern român din perspectiva asociaţiilor de tip fraternalist ale epocii" [The genesis and the emancipation of the modern Romanian state from the perspective of the fraternalist type associations of that era] - paper at the 2nd edition of the Symposium "Naţiune şi acţiune" [Nation and Action], Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, 11 June 2016.
50. Viorel ACHIM: "Dezrobirea ţiganilor - argumentele aboliţioniştilor" [The emancipation of Gypsies from slavery: the abolitionists’ arguments] - paper at the National Congress of the Romanian Historians, Cluj-Napoca, 25-28 August 2016.
51. Raluca TOMI: "Aboliţionismul românesc între imitaţie externă şi tradiţie reformatoare" [The Romanian abolitionism between external imitation and reformatory tradition] - paper at the National Congress of the Romanian Historians, Cluj-Napoca, 25-28 August 2016.
52. Venera ACHIM: "Eufrosin Poteca aboliţionist" [Eufrosin Poteca as abolitionist] - paper at the National Congress of the Romanian Historians, Cluj-Napoca, 25-28 August 2016.
53. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Perspective conceptuale şi teoretice asupra aboliţionismului" [Conceptual and theoretical perspectives on abolitionism] - paper at the National Congress of the Romanian Historians, Cluj-Napoca, 25-28 August 2016.
54. Viorel ACHIM: "The voice of Gypsies in Romanian abolitionists’ writings" - paper at the 2016 Gypsy Lore Society Conference on Romani Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden, 14-16 September 2016.
55. Viorel ACHIM: "About the origin of several texts written in Romani language from mid-19th century Romania" - paper at the 12th International Conference on Romani Linguistics, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden, 14-16 September 2016.
56. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Asociaţionismul fraternal şi aboliţionismul" [Fraternal associationism and abolitionism] - paper at the Symposium "Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări" [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 20-21 September 2016.
57. Viorel ACHIM: "Rolul factorului extern în adoptarea ultimelor legi de emancipare a ţiganilor" [The role of the external factor in the adoption of the final laws of emancipation of Gypsies] - paper at the Symposium "Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări" [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 20-21 September 2016.
58. Venera ACHIM: "Dezrobirile individuale: limitele acestui fenomen în anii 1830-1850" [The manumission: the limits of this phenomenon in the 1830s-1850s] - paper at the Symposium "Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări" [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 20-21 September 2016.
59. Raluca TOMI: "Teatrul aboliţionist în principatele române" [The abolitionist theater in the Romanian principalities] - paper at the Symposium "Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări" [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations], organized by Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 20-21 September 2016.
4.2. Scientific studies and articles
Within the project we have written and published (or are forthcoming) 28 articles in scientific journal or studies in collective volumes:
1. Cătălin TURLIUC: "A Triptych of Modernity: Abolitionism, Emancipation and Equality". In: Georgeta Raţă, Patricia-Luciana Runcan (eds.): Applied Social Sciences: Economics and Politics. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2013, pp. 147-157.
2. Raluca TOMI: "Un aboliţionist francez şi scrierile sale despre robii ţigani din spaţiul românesc: Paul Bataillard" [A French Abolitionist and His Writings About the Gypsy Slaves in the Romanian Space: Paul Bataillard]. In: Revista Istorică, XXIII (2012), nos. 5-6, pp. 573-589.
3. Raluca TOMI: "Arhivele personale - surse pentru studiul istoriei sociale din principate. Studiu de caz: Paul Bataillard" [The Personal Archives - Sources for Studying the Social History of the Romanian Principalities: A Case Study: Paul Bataillard]. In: Revista Istorică, XXIV (2013), nos. 3-4, pp. 345-369.
4. Venera ACHIM: "Instituţionalizarea statisticii - un aspect al modernizării Principatelor Române (1831-1862)" [The Institutionalization of Statistics - An Aspect of the Modernization of Romanian Principalities (1831-1862)]. In: Studii şi Materiale de Istorie Modernă (forthcoming).
5. Viorel ACHIM: "A Particular Trade: Boyars in the Romanian Principalities Purchasing Gypsies (Slaves) from Neighbouring Countries, 17th-19th Centuries". In: Revista Istorică (forthcoming).
6. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipation and Modernisation: Minorities in Romanian Trade during the Second Half of the 19th Century". In: Revista Istorică, XXIV (2013), nos. 5-6, pp. 521-532.
7. Venera ACHIM: "Maître et esclaves vus par les voyageurs étrangères dans les Principautés Roumaines pendant la première moitié du XIXe siècle". In: Femmes d’extérieur. Les déplacements féminins dans la littérature et les relations du voyage. Volume coordoné et édité par Venezia Pârlea. Bucureşti: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, 2013, pp. 159-169.
8. Viorel ACHIM: "The Issue of the Marriages between Freemen and Gypy Slaves in Moldavia in the Last Decades of Slavery". In: Romani Studies (forthcoming).
9. Venera ACHIM: "The Implementation of the Law for Emancipation from Slavery in Moldavia (1855): A Case Study". In: Transylvanian Review (forthcoming).
10. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emanciparea civilă şi politică în procesul modernizării României în secolul al XIX-lea" [The Civil and Political Emancipation in the Process of Modernization of Romania in the 19th Century]. In: Acta Moldaviae Meridionalis, XXXIV (2013).
11. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Towards Modernity: Abolitionism and Emancipation in Romania" - articol în vol. EUBSR 2013 Conference Proceedings (forthcoming).
12. "Proprietarii de robi şi dezrobirea" [The Slave Owners and the Emancipation]. In: Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, pp. 179-191.
13. "Transformări sociale în cadrul populaţiei ţigăneşti în epoca dezrobirii" [Social Changes within the Gypsy Population in the Period of Emancipation]. In: Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, pp. 149-166.
14. Raluca TOMI: "Mişcarea aboliţionistă şi opinia publică din Principatele Române - mijloace de influenţare" [Abolitionist Movement and Public Opinion in the Romanian Principalities - Means of Influencing]. In: Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, pp. 167-178.
15. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emancipare, occidentalizare şi transfer normativ la mijlocul secolului al XIX-lea în societatea românească" [Emancipation, Westernization and normative transfer in the Romanian Society in mid-19th century]. In: Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, pp. 23-31.
16. Raluca TOMI: "L’abolizionismo nel dibattito dei leader italiani e romeni nella prima metà dell’Ottocento". In: Transylvanian Review, vol. XXV, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 42-54.
17. Raluca TOMI: "Iluminismul francez şi problema sclaviei: Jean Jacques Rousseau" [The French Enlightenment and the Issue of Slavery: Jean Jaques Rousseau]. In: Revista Istorică, XXV (2014), nos. 1-2, pp. 5-15.
18. Venera ACHIM: "Norme şi particularităţi în aplicarea legii de emancipare a ţiganilor din Ţara Românească (1856)" [Norms and Particularities in the Implementation of the Law for the Emancipation of Gypsies in Wallachia (1856)]. In: Revista Istorică, XXV (2014), nos. 5-6, pp. 533-540.
19. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Ion I.C. Brătianu şi emanciparea politică în România modern" [Ion I.C. Brătianu and the Political Emancipation in Modern Romania]. In: Revista Istorică, XXV (2014), nos. 3-4, pp. 291-303.
20. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Games within Frontiers: Memory and Citizenship in Interwar Romania". In: Gheorghe Cliveti (ed.), Clio în oglindiri de sine. Academicianului Alexandru Zub. Omagiu, Iaşi: Editura Universităţii "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" din Iaşi, 2014, pp. 743-754.
21. Viorel ACHIM: "Între integrare şi discriminare: romii ca paradigmă" [Between integration and discrimination: Roma as a paradigm]. In: Trivium. Revistă de gândire simbolică, Iaşi (forthcoming).
22. Viorel ACHIM: "Gypsies speak. An analysis of the petitions of the Gypsy slaves in the Romanian principalities, c. 1835-c. 1855". In: Hristo Kyuchukov, Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov (eds.), Roma: Past, Present, Future. Munich: Lincom Academic Publishers, 2016, pp. 53-67
23. Viorel ACHIM: "Considerations about the territorial distribution of Gypsy slaves in Romanian principalities (late 14th century - mid-19th century)". In: Slaving Zones: A Global Perspective. Edited by Jeff Fynn-Paul and Damian Alan Pargas. Leiden & Boston: Brill (forthcoming 2017).
24. Viorel ACHIM: "What Gypsies in Romanian principalities thought about their emancipation from slavery. Notes on two petitions from the year 1856". In: Romani Studies (forthcoming).
25. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Asociaţionismul fraternal şi aboliţionismul" [Fraternal associationism and abolitionism]. In: Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
26. Viorel ACHIM: "Rolul factorului extern în adoptarea ultimelor legi de emancipare a ţiganilor" [The role of the external factor in the adoption of the final laws of emancipation of Gypsies]. In: Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
27. Venera ACHIM: "Dezrobirile individuale: limitele acestui fenomen în anii 1830-1850" [The manumission: the limits of this phenomenon in the 1830s-1850s]. In: Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
28. Raluca TOMI: "Teatrul aboliţionist în principatele române" [The abolitionist theater in the Romanian principalities]. In: Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
5. Main publications
The main publications of the research projects are five volumes, from which two represent collections or articles based on papers presented in two conferences organized by our research team.
5.1. Modernizare socială şi instituţională în Principatele Române, 1831-1859 [Social and Institutional Modernization in the Romanian Principalities, 1831-1859]. Edited by Venera Achim and Viorel Achim. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, 236 pp.
The volume comprises 15 articles based on the papers presented in the conference with the same title, held at Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 10-11 Octomber 2013.
5.2. Aboliţionismul românesc în texte de epocă, 1830-1860 [The Romanian Abolitionism in Contemporary Texts, 1830-1860].Edition, introductory study and notes by Venera ACHIM, Viorel ACHIM and Raluca TOMI. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, 388 pp.
The volume is a collection of texts illustrating the abolitionist current in the Romanian social and political thinking in the period between 1830 and 1860. This is a critical edition, with notes and comments.
5.3. Aboliţionism şi emancipare în România modernă [Abolitionism and Emancipation in Modern Romania]. Authors: Venera ACHIM, Viorel ACHIM, Raluca TOMI, Cătălin TURLIUC. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2015, 310 pp.
This volume approaches, in special chapter and sub-chapters, issues belonging to the historical phenomenon of the abolitionist movement in the Romanian principalities around 1830-1860. The chapters of the book are written by one or more authors.
5.4. The Romanian Abolitionism within the Civil and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. Authors: Venera ACHIM, Viorel ACHIM, Nagy PIENARU, Raluca TOMI, Cătălin TURLIUC. Leiden & Boston: Brill, ca. 300 pp. (forthcoming 2017).
This volume in English is a collection of 10 studies about abolitionism and emancipation in the Romanian principalities/Romania in the 19th century. The chapters approach the most important issues of the topic, including the international connexions of the abolitionist movement in the Romanian principalities.
5.5. Emancipare socială şi politică în România modernă. Noi perspective şi interpretări [Social and Political Emancipation in Modern Romania. New Perspectives and Interpretations]. Edited by Venera ACHIM and Viorel ACHIM. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române (forthcoming 2017).
The volume comprises 14 articles dealing with the social and political emancipation in the Romanian principalities/Romania in the 19th century. The articles are based on the papers presented in the conference with the same title, held at Nicolae Iorga Institute of History, Bucharest, 20-21 September 2016.
6. Dissemination events
We have popularized our project and disseminated the results of our research in radio broadcasts and TV shows, interviews, in some public debates on the history and the present situation of Roma in Romania, through lectures held in front of a wider audience and students from universities of Bucharest and Iaşi.
6.1. Radio broadcasts and TV shows
1. Broadcast at Radio România Actualităţi, Emisiunea Istorica, with the title "The Romanian society during the period of the Organic Regulations", 21 October 2014. Participants: Cătălin TURLIU, Marian Stroia.
2. Show on Prima TV, Tele Moldova, debate with the title "International Day of Human Rights", 10 December 2013. Participants: Cătălin TURLIUC, Şt. Coste, Radu Tarniceanu, M. Balan.
3. Show on Tele Moldova, "150 years from the reforms by Alexandru Ioan Cuza", 1 July 2014. Participants: Cătălin TURLIUC, Magda Lupu.
4. Radio show "Ora de istorie" [The history hour] on Radio România Iaşi, 21 October 2015, with the topic "România lui Carol I" [Romania of King Carol I], in which Cătălin TURLIUC spoke about the emancipation.
5. TV show "Cercetarea la răscruce" [The research at the crossroad], on Apollonia TV, Iaşi, 4 Octomber 2015 and 8 November 2015, made by Cătălin TURLIUC.
6.2. Participation in debates
1. Participation of Viorel ACHIM in the debate with the title "159 de ani de la dezrobirea romilor în Principatele Române" [150 years from the emancipation of Roma in the Romanian Principalities], organized by the "Romano Kher" National Center for Roma Culture, in partnership with the National Agency for Roma, Bucharest, 20 February 2015.
2. Viorel ACHIM: "«Dezrobirea ţiganilor»: ce se înţelegea în epocă prin aceasta" [‘The emancipation of Gypsies from slavery’: ce se înţelegea în epocă prin aceasta] - presentation within the debate with the title "1856-2016: The situation of Roma in Romania at 160 years since the emancipation", organized by the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, with the support of the Senate of Romania, the Equal Opportunities Commission, Bucharest, 21 January 2016.
3 Participation of Viorel ACHIM in the debate "The slavery of Roma in the Romanian principalities", within the manifestation "160 Years from the Emancipation of Roma in the Romanian Principalities", organized by the Ministry of European Funds and the National Center for Roma Culture, Bucharest, 19 February 2016.
6.3. Public lectures
1. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Mihail Kogălniceanu şi aboliţionismul românesc" [Mihail Kogălniceanu and the Romanian abolitionism] - lecture at the "Mihail Kogălniceanu" Museum, Iaşi, 19 May 2015.
2. Viorel ACHIM: "Dezrobirea ţiganilor ca proiect social: problema integrării foştilor robi în economia rurală" [The emancipation of Gypsies from slavery as a social project: the issue of the integration of the former slaves in the rural economy] - lecture at the National Archives of Romania, within the series of lectures "Interferencesˮ, Bucharest, 26 May 2016.
3. Raluca TOMI "«Omul şi libertatea lui nu sunt de vânzare». Influenţe externe asupra aboliţionismului românesc" ["The man and his freedom are not for sale". Foreign influences on Romanian abolitionism] - lecture at the National Archives of Romania, within the series of lectures "Interferencesˮ, Bucharest, 30 June 2016.
6.4. Lectures for the students of the universities of Bucharest and Iaşi
1. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Emanciparea şi problematica drepturilor omului în lumea modernă" [Emancipation and the human rights issue in the modern world], Faculty of Letters, Journalism, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iaşi, 15 January 2016.
2. Cătălin TURLIUC: "Sclavia: constantă a istoriei umanităţii" [The slavery: a permanence in the history of mankind], Faculty of Law, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iaşi, 14 March 2016.
3. Viorel ACHIM: "Robia ţiganilor în ultimele ei decenii (cca 1830 - 1856)" [The slavery of Gypsies in its last decades (ca. 1830-1856)], Faculty of History, University of Bucharest, 16 May 2016.
4. Raluca TOMI: "Ce este aboliţionismul românesc?" [What was the Romanian abolitionism?], Faculty of History, University of Bucharest, 23 May 2016.
7. Data base
Within our project we organized a data base, thought as a a work instrument, serving the research team members. The data base includes: documents copied from archives and libraries; articles from the press of that time (copied); epoch books (copied); bibliographical lists by issues etc.
8. The Internet page
Our research team has its own site (www.iini-minorities.ro), where the main activities within the project are presented and some of our publications are posted (www.iini-minorities.ro/ro/proiect-abolitionism, in Romanian; www.iini-minorities.ro/en/project-abolitionism, in English). This site facilitates us contacts with researchers, journalists etc. from Romania and abroad interested in the history of Gypsies (Roma) and, more general, in the history of minorities in Romania.
9. Conclusion
We consider that the activity developed by the research team in the period October 2011-September 2016 was in line with the initial planning and that the results obtained allow us to affirm that the project was a success. We believe that our publications are proving the original and high quality character of our research on a topic important for the actual preoccupations of the world historiography.
Bucharest, 30 September 2016
PROJECT MANAGER,
Dr. Viorel Achim,