Romfilatelia will introduce into circulation on Tuesday, July 16th this year, the postage stamps issue University of Bucharest, 160 Years consisting of a postage stamp, a souvenir sheet and a First Day Cover. The anniversary issue is intended as a way of honouring an institution of the first rank in the hierarchy of the higher education structure in Romania.
The anniversary events related to this moment will also mark 330 years of academic tradition.
Established by Decree no. 765 of July 4th/16th, 1864 of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza and successor of the higher education structures inaugurated by the Princely Academy (1694), the University of Bucharest is a melting pot for the future of the country.
In 1857, the foundation stone of the Palace of the University of Bucharest was laid. Located in the University Square, the Palace was designed by Alexandru Orăscu, president of the Romanian architects, according to the shape and similarity of Western universities. The Palace was finished in 1869, becoming an imposing architectural place with administrative powers that brought together a strong communion (Universitas) between professors and disciples. The University Palace housed, in addition to the faculties, the Senate, the Romanian Academy, the Central Library or the Museum of Antiquities and Natural History.
Among the rectors who led the University of Bucharest, many stood out as first-rate political personalities. In this regard, we mention: Gheorghe Costaforu, rector of the University of Bucharest (1864-1871), professor of civil law, twice minister; Vasile Boerescu (1871), teaching staff at the Faculty of Law and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Titu Maiorescu (1892-1897), founding member of the Romanian Academy, aesthete and literary critic, deputy, minister, prime minister; Nicolae Iorga (1929-1932), historian, writer, academician, minister and prime minister; Constantin Stoicescu (1936-1940), jurist, deputy, minister.
The university was named metaphorically, everywhere, with the phrase Alma mater (nourishing mother), used by Latin poets for the idea of homeland. The University of Bucharest stood out for 160 years as a central player of Romanian and European higher education, an institution in a permanent process of adaptation.
Valuable students and professors have also registered their presence abroad: Nicolae Iorga at the Sorbonne, George Uscătescu in Spain, great writers such as Emil Cioran, Eugen Ionescu at the French Academy, Mircea Eliade with lectures at prestigious universities.
With the process of renewal and modernization, starting in 1990, the University of Bucharest has 19 faculties in its structure, making it an authoritative institution in education and research, where over 34,000 students, 1,300 professors and 600 researchers carry out their activity. It has developed partnerships with over 150 universities worldwide and is involved in 468 Erasmus+ agreements (the EU program for education, training, youth and sport in Europe).
In 2019, the University of Bucharest participates in the formation of the CIVIS alliance together with seven other prestigious European universities: the University of Aix-Marseille, the National and Capodistrian University of Athens, the Free University of Brussels, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Stockholm, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. In 2020, they were joined by the University of Glasgow and in 2021 by the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. Starting from 2022, through the official accession of the University of Lausanne, the CIVIS community expands, reaching 11 member universities.
The postage stamp (face value of Lei 13) reproduces the main pediment of the University Palace next to the profile of the statue of Ion Heliade Rădulescu, placed in the opposite group of statues.
The postage stamp of the souvenir sheet (face value of Lei 33) reproduces an allegorical composition included in the architecture of the building, in a graphic association with the drawing of the main facade by the architect Alexandru Orăscu, and a period portrait of Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
The First Day Cover depicts a detail of façade architecture bearing the stylized inscription “160 years”.
Central player of Romanian and European higher education, the University of Bucharest is an institution in a permanent process of adaptation and internationalization, open to multiculturalism and diversity.
Romfilatelia thanks the representatives of the University of Bucharest for the documentary support granted to the development of this postage stamps issue.
