Un pelerinaj politic din 1906 la mormântul lui Mihail Kogălniceanu
A Political Pilgrimage in 1906 to the Tomb of Mihail Kogălniceanu

Summary/Abstract: The year 1906 became famous in the history of Romanian political pilgrimages through the pious gesture of veterans and students who, on May 2, gathered at Ruginoasa at the tomb of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. A few months later, on July 24, 1906, the memory of Mihail Kogălniceanu was honored at Eternitatea Cemetery in Iași.The pilgrimage to Kogălniceanu’s tomb commemorated more than a decade and a half since his passing. As a sign of gratitude, his liberal contemporaries, together with writers, physicians, professors, lawyers, students, and inhabitants of the city of Iași, attended the ceremony dedicated to the pious remembrance of the Moldavian historian and statesman. The number of participants was impressive, and the press vividly conveyed the atmosphere and the messages of the speeches devoted to the great liberal, diplomat, historian, and scholar. Representing the family were Kogălniceanu’s grandsons, George and Mihail Liteanu, while his daughter, Lucia Bogdan, was absent due to illness. One of the solemn moments of the ceremony was the religious service, which further intensified the atmosphere of piety.The speeches delivered in front of the funerary monument, especially that of Nicolae Gane, emphasized the importance of commemorating Kogălniceanu for the national memory. Kogălniceanu was regarded as one of the models of political engagement during decisive moments in national history: the Union of the Principalities in 1859 and Romania’s War of Independence in 1877. Through this political pilgrimage, his model of civic and political militancy was transmitted to the younger generations. Cuza and Kogălniceanu were considered founders of modern Romania, a Romania celebrated in 1906 through an impressive Royal Jubilee. This Jubilee itself occasioned a national pilgrimage, as Romanians from all historical provinces gathered in Bucharest.

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