The education of Romanian university professors in Western universities

Abstract

'From the beginning of the modern era, Western universities played the most important role in preparing the Romanian elite. We cannot talk about a Romanian higher education network before 1864, when the universities of Iasi and Bucharest were set up, to which two more universities were added in 1919 in Cluj and in Cernauti. Even so, due to the weakness of the Romanian higher education system, for a long time the 'other Europe' was the only reliable and respected source of education for the Romanian youth with higher intellectual, social and political aspirations. Relevant is the fact that due to the deficiencies of Romanian higher education, as well as the mirage of Western countries, foreign universities held a monopoly in the formation of the local intellectual elite. One can estimate, without exaggeration, that between 1860-1918, almost all ministers, members of ministerial cabinets, university professors and other high state officials had been educated abroad. Only by taking into account this fact can we explain the rapid transformations of Romanian elites and the gradual changes of all other, more deep-seated layers of society and the way changes of content and spirit in the national culture were possible following Western models, which up to that point were strongly influenced by the Oriental and Orthodox world. The explanation is more complex, not only taking into account the ethno-psychological features of Romanians, but also the post-war strategy of France. In other words, France manifested a profound desire to compensate the decline of French military and economic power with cultural preeminence, encouraging the presence of foreign students in its universities. After 1920 the Romanian students participated in this strategy as the promoters of French customs and lifestyle in their home country. Romanian students were most numerous in the faculties of law and medicine, and they were almost invariably the most represented foreign group in all faculties during the interwar period.' (author's abstract)|