The Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities or, unofficially, Little Union Day is a Romanian public holiday celebrated on January 24th to commemorate the 1859 unification of Romanian Principalities Moldova and Wallachia. This is an important event for Romanians, as it was considered the first step towards the goal of achieving a democratic state for all Romanians, something ultimately achieved on 1 December 1918.
The Romanian Cultural Institutes (RCI) in Chisinau, Rome, Warsaw, Venice, Istanbul and Vienna will mark the Romanian Principalities Union Day, celebrated on January 24, by a series of conferences and documentary film screenings:
- The ‘Mihai Eminescu’ Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau, in cooperation with the Moldova State University – Faculty of History and Philosophy, the ‘Alexandru Mosanu’ Association of Historians from the Republic of Moldova, the ‘ProMemoria’ Institute of Social History and the ‘Alexandru Ioan Cuza’ University in Iasi – the Faculty of History, organizes a scientific event dedicated to the 164th anniversary of the unification of the Romanian Principalities – Moldova and Wallachia.
- The Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice, the Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education and Society of the University of Udine and Romania’s Consulate General in Trieste organize on the occasion of the celebration of the unification of the Romanian Principalities, in the Council Room of the Garzolini di Toppo-Wassermann Palace, a public conference intended to highlight the cordial Romanian – Italian relations during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza and the symmetrical course followed by the two peoples towards the achievement of national unity.
- The Accademia di Romania in Rome celebrates the Romanian Principalities Union Day in collaboration with the National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR) with the presentation to Italian audiences, on its Facebook page, of a film about an important item in the MNIR collection of Romanian modern painting: the official portrait of ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, crafted by painter and photographer Carol Popp de Szathmari between 1863 and 1865.
- RCI Warsaw will present on the institute’s YouTube platform and on the social networks of ICR and its partners the documentary „The Unification of the Romanian Principalities in 1859” directed by Radu Gaina, based on a script co-authored with Gabriel Rusu. Produced by TVR International in 2018, this is the second episode of the „Romanian Unions” series The documentary, subtitled in Polish, offers an insight into the unionist program and the intellectual, political and historical context at the middle of the 19th century which favored the emergence of the Romanian state.
- ICR Istanbul will broadcast on its Facebook page and YouTube account a short documentary about the Union of the Romanian Principalities. After the film, historian Dragos Ursu will give a lecture titled „Romanians in the century of nationalities. The international context of the Union of the Principalities (1856 – 1859)”, in which he will highlight the importance of the historical moment, the role of the Great Powers and the contribution made by the Romanians to this landmark historical act. The audio-video recording will be translated/subtitled in Turkish.
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