Statistical Enlightenment in Eastern Europe: The 1838 Wallachian Census, Kiseleff’s Reform Agenda, and the Paradox of Romani Integration Through Slavery
Statistical Enlightenment in Eastern Europe: The 1838 Wallachian Census, Kiseleff’s Reform Agenda, and the Paradox of Romani Integration Through Slavery

Summary/Abstract: The 1838 Census of Population, Houses and Agriculture (“Catagrafia din 1838”) stands as a landmark achievement in Romanian demographic history and nineteenth-century European statistical science. Pavel Dimitrievich Kiseleff initiated this census during the Russian administrative protectorate (1829-1834) as part of an ambitious modernization program for the Romanian Principalities. This article explores the origins of the 1838 Census within the broader context of European demographic science, particularly French statistical developments, and examines its relationship to earlier Romanian demographic efforts. It introduces previously unpublished information from an underutilized statistical source on land use, population income, structure of economy, from 1832. The article also demonstrates how the MapRom project (2017-2022) transformed this archival source into a digital database, revealing new insights into the socio-economic conditions of the Romani population in pre-abolition Wallachia. Based on extensive archival materials and modern digital humanities methodologies, this study argues that the 1838 Census did not primarily serve as a fiscal instrument but rather as a comprehensive tool to measure the success of wide-ranging agricultural, housing, and social reforms.

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