# Romanian Academy

The Romanian Academy (Romanian: Academia Română) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its bylaws, the academy's main goals are the cultivation of Romanian language and Romanian literature, the study of the national history of Romania and research into major scientific domains. Some of the academy's fundamental projects are the Romanian language dictionary (Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române), the dictionary of Romanian literature, and the treatise on the history of the Romanian people.

## History

On the initiative of C. A. Rosetti, the Academy was founded on April 1, 1866, as Societatea Literară Română. The founding members were illustrious members of the Romanian society of the age.
The name changed to Societatea Academică Romînă in 1867, and finally to Academia Română in 1879, during the reign of Carol I.
The founding members of the Academy:
| Number | Name | Born | Province | Age at founding | Died | Member for | Notes |
| 1 | Vasile Alecsandri | 21 July 1821 | Moldavia | 44 years, 254 days | 22 August 1890 | 24 years, 143 days | |
| 2 | Vincențiu Babeș | 21 January 1821 | Banat | 45 years, 70 days | 22 January 1907 | 40 years, 296 days | |
| 3 | George Barițiu | 4 June 1812 | Transylvania | 53 years, 301 days | 2 May 1893 | 27 years, 31 days | |
| 4 | Ioan D. Caragiani | 11 February 1841 | Macedonia | 25 years, 49 days | 13 January 1921 | 54 years, 287 days | Aromanian |
| 5 | Timotei Cipariu | 21 February 1805 | Transylvania | 61 years, 39 days | 3 September 1887 | 21 years, 155 days | |
| 6 | Dimitrie Cozacovici | 1790 | Macedonia | 76 years, 90 days | 31 August 1868 | 2 years, 152 days | Unknown date of birth Aromanian |
| 7 | Ambrosiu Dimitrovici | 20 July 1838 | Bucovina | 27 years, 255 days | 3 July 1866 | 93 days | |
| 8 | Ștefan Gonata | 1 February 1838 | Basarabia | 28 years, 59 days | 18 September 1896 | 30 years, 170 days | |
| 9 | Alexandru Hâjdeu | 30 November 1811 | Basarabia | 54 years, 122 days | 9 November 1872 | 6 years, 222 days | |
| 10 | Ion Heliade Rădulescu | 6 January 1802 | Țara Românească | 64 years, 85 days | 27 April 1872 | 6 years, 26 days | First President of the Academy |
| 11 | Iosif Hodoș | 20 October 1829 | Transylvania | 36 years, 163 days | 28 November 1880 | 14 years, 241 days | |
| 12 | Alexandru Hurmuzaki | 16 August 1823 | Bucovina | 42 years, 228 days | 8 March 1871 | 4 years, 341 days | |
| 13 | Nicolae Ionescu | 1820 | Moldavia | 46 years, 90 days | 24 January 1905 | 38 years, 298 days | |
| 14 | August Treboniu Laurian | 17 July 1810 | Transylvania | 55 years, 258 days | 25 February 1881 | 14 years, 330 days | |
| 15 | Titu Maiorescu | 15 February 1840 | Țara Românească | 26 years, 45 days | 18 June 1917 | 51 years, 78 days | |
| 16 | I. C. Massim | 1825 | Țara Românească | 41 years, 90 days | 1877 | 10 years, 275 days | No known date of birth/death |
| 17 | Andrei Mocioni | 27 June 1812 | Banat | 53 years, 278 days | 23 April 1880 | 14 years, 22 days | |
| 18 | Gavriil Munteanu | February 1812 | Transylvania | 54 years, 59 days | 17 December 1869 | 3 years, 260 days | |
| 19 | Costache Negruzzi | 1808 | Moldavia | 58 years, 90 days | 24 August 1868 | 2 years, 145 days | |
| 20 | Alexandru Roman | 26 November 1826 | Transylvania | 39 years, 126 days | 15 September 1897 | 31 years, 167 days | |
| 21 | C. A. Rosetti | 2 June 1816 | Țara Românească | 49 years, 303 days | 8 April 1885 | 19 years, 7 days | |
| 22 | Ion G. Sbiera | 1 November 1835 | Bucovina | 30 years, 151 days | 22 October 1916 | 50 years, 204 days | |
| 23 | Constantin Stamati | 1786 | Basarabia | 80 years, 90 days | 12 September 1869 | 3 years, 164 days | |
| 24 | Ioan Străjescu | 1833 | Basarabia | 33 years, 90 days | 1873 | 6 years, 275 days | No known date of birth/death |
| 25 | Vasile Urechea-Alexandrescu | 15 February 1834 | Moldavia | 32 years, 45 days | 21 November 1901 | 35 years, 234 days | |
The Presidents of the Academy:
| Number | Name | Term began | Term ended | Notes |
| 1 | Ion Heliade Rădulescu | 1867 | 1870 | |
| 2 | August Treboniu Laurian | 1870 | 1872 | first term |
| 3 | Nicolae Crețulescu | 1872 | 1873 | first term |
| 4 | August Treboniu Laurian | 1873 | 1876 | second term |
| 5 | Ion Ghica | 1876 | 1882 | first term |
| 6 | Dimitrie A. Sturdza | 1882 | 1884 | |
| 7 | Ion Ghica | 1884 | 1887 | second term |
| 8 | Mihail Kogălniceanu | 1887 | 1890 | |
| 9 | Ion Ghica | 1890 | 1893 | third term |
| 10 | George Bariț | 5 April 1893 | 2 May 1893 | died in office |
| 11 | Iacob C. Negruzzi | 1893 | 1894 | first term |
| 12 | Ion Ghica | 1894 | 1895 | fourth term |
| 13 | Nicolae Crețulescu | 1895 | 1898 | second term |
| 14 | Petru Poni | 1898 | 1901 | first term |
| 15 | Petre S. Aurelian | 1901 | 1904 | |
| 16 | Ioan Kalinderu | 1904 | 1907 | |
| 17 | Anghel Saligny | 1907 | 1910 | |
| 18 | Iacob C. Negruzzi | 1910 | 1913 | second term |
| 19 | Constantin I. Istrati | 1913 | 1916 | |
| 20 | Petru Poni | 1916 | 1920 | second term |
| 21 | Dimitrie Onciul | 1920 | 1923 | |
| 22 | Iacob C. Negruzzi | 1923 | 1926 | third term |
| 23 | Emil Racoviță | 1926 | 1929 | |
| 24 | Ioan Bianu | 1929 | 1932 | |
| 25 | Ludovic Mrazek | 1932 | 1935 | |
| 26 | Alexandru Lapedatu | 1935 | 1938 | |
| 27 | Constantin Rădulescu-Motru | 1938 | 1941 | |
| 28 | Ion Th. Simionescu | 1941 | 1944 | |
| 29 | Dimitrie Gusti | 1944 | 1946 | |
| 30 | Andrei Rădulescu | 1946 | 12 August 1948 | |
| 31 | Traian Săvulescu | 12 August 1948 | 23 December 1959 | |
| 32 | Athanase Joja | 1959 | 1963 | |
| 33 | Ilie G. Murgulescu | 1963 | 1966 | |
| 34 | Miron Nicolescu | 8 April 1966 | 30 June 1975 | died in office |
| | Șerban Țițeica | 1975 | 1976 | acting |
| 35 | Theodor Burghele | 1976 | 3 June 1977 | died in office |
| | Cristofor Simionescu | 3 June 1977 | 19 March 1980 | acting |
| 36 | Gheorghe Mihoc | 19 March 1980 | 25 December 1981 | died in office |
| | Ioan Anton | 25 December 1981 | 13 November 1984 | acting |
| 37 | Radu Voinea | 13 November 1984 | 2 February 1990 | |
| 38 | Mihai Drăgănescu | 2 February 1990 | 18 January 1994 | |
| 39 | Virgiliu N. G. Constantinescu | 1994 | 1998 | |
| 40 | Eugen Simion | 16 January 1998 | 20 April 2006 | |
| 41 | Ionel Haiduc | 20 April 2006 | 8 April 2014 | |
| 42 | Ionel Valentin Vlad | 8 April 2014 | 24 December 2017 | died in office |
| | Cristian Hera | 5 January 2018 | 5 April 2018 | acting |
| 43 | Ioan-Aurel Pop | 5 April 2018 | present | |

## Library

Established in 1867, the Bibilioteca Academiei Române has a collection of over seven million books and collections of drawings, engravings, maps, and coins. The Academy also operates its own publishing house.