Armenians of Romania

History

Early traces of Armenians in Romania (and Moldova) are dated by 967 (recorded presence in Cetatea Albă). Early Armenian Diasporas stemmed in the fall of the Bagratuni rule and other disasters, including the Mongol invasion.

In 1572-1574, Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit was Hospodar (Prince) of Moldavia, grandson of Stephen the Great, son of Bogdan III and his Armenian concubine Serpega.

Armenian expatriates were awarded tax exemptions at different times in the Danubian Principalities' history. Encouraged to settle as early as the 14th century, they became a familiar presence in towns, usually as the main entrepeneurs of the community - for this, in early modern Botoşani and several other places, Armenians as a guild were awarded political representation and degrees of self rule; however, full citizenship was bestowed on them only with the decision taken by the international protectorate over the two countries(instituted after the Crimean War and the ensuing Treaty of Paris) to extend civil rights to all religious minorities.

A considerable number of noble families in the Principalities are of Armenian descent.

Armenians were present from early on in Transylvania, clearly attested in a document issued by Hungarian King Ladislaus IV the Cuman (late 13th century). Here, they were even allowed to found their vey own trading towns, the most notable one being Gherla, called Armenopolis/Armenierstadt or Hayakaghak (Հայաքաղաք). Increasingly autonomous, the townspeople were nonetheless demanded adherence to the Roman Catholic Church, and further submitted to forced integration by the Habsburg monarchy since the 18th century.

After the Armenian genocide of 1915, Romania was the first state to officially provide political asylum to refugees from the area.

In 1940 about 40,000 Armenians lived in Romania. Under communist rule Armenians started to leave the country, and Nicolae Ceauşescu's regime eventually closed all Armenian schools.

Present situation

Since 1989, there has been an Armenian cultural and political revival in Romania. As of 2002, there were less than 2,000 of Armenians, many of them from mixed families, and the number of native speakers of the Armenian language is probably less than 1,000.

The community presently publishes the periodicals Nor Ghiank (in Armenian), Ararat, and the state-sponsored Lăcaşuri de cult.

Notable Romanians of Armenians descent

• Ştefan Agopian - writer and journalist
• Gheorghe Asachi - writer and journalist and his son, Dimitrie Asachi - mathematician
• Ana Aslan - gerontologist
• Hrandt Avakian - visual artist
• Spiru Haret - mathematician, physicist, and politician
• Garabet Ibrăileanu - literary critic
• Mihail Jora - composer and conductor
• Virgil Madgearu - politician, economist, and sociologist
• Manuc-bei - famous innkeeper, founder oh Hanul lui Manuc in Bucharest
• David Ohanesian - opera tenor
• Varujan Pambuccian - computer programmer, represents the Armenian minority in Chamber of Deputies
• H. Dj. Siruni - historian, Ottoman Empire expert and translator of Mihai Eminescu's works
• Alexandru Tatos - film director
• Harry Tavitian - jazz musician
• Grigore Trancu-Iaşi - economist and politician
• Varujan Vosganian - economist and political figure
• Krikor Zambaccian - art collector, the contributor to what is today the Zambaccian Museum

References

• Nicolae Iorga, Choses d’art arméniennes en Roumanie (1935)

External links

• Divers online bulletin of ethnic minorities in Romania (in Romanian)
• Ararat online (in Romanian)