The “Românul” Newspaper (1846–1848) – An Enigma in the History of the Bessarabian Press
The “Românul” Newspaper (1846–1848) – An Enigma in the History of the Bessarabian Press

Summary/Abstract: The present research analyzes the attempt to publish the newspaper “Românul” (The Romanian) in Chișinău between 1846 and 1848, a pioneering moment in the history of the Bessarabian press and an early manifestation of modern national consciousness. The study demonstrates that this editorial project was not an isolated incident, but rather an expression of the Bessarabian elites’ synchronization with the political program of the 1848 Generation (pașoptiștii) from the Romanian Principalities. Although the formal request was submitted by the Russian nobleman Alexandr Mishchenko and the Armenian printer Akim Popov, their loyalist profile and the broader context of the era confirm the hypothesis – originally formulated by Alexandru Boldur – that they acted as intermediaries for a group of Romanian nobles motivated by a desire for identity assertion. The title of the publication, “Românul”, constituted an explicit political manifesto, abandoning regionalisms in favor of a unitary ethnonym, in full consonance with the vision promoted by landmark publications such as “Dacia Literară” or “Magazin istoric pentru Dacia”. This unionist orientation was foreshadowed by the petitionary offensive of the Bessarabian nobility (represented by figures such as Sturza or Dumitriu) who, in the early 1840s, demanded from the Tsarist authorities the right to education in their mother tongue and even the extension of the administrative reforms from the Principalities (The Organic Regulation) to Bessarabia.

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