A volume of Mihai Eminescu's poems and the Dictionary of Eminescu's Poetic Language are truly emblematic literary treasures housed at the Library of the 'Gh. Asachi' Technical University in Iasi, one of the world's most beautiful such institutions, a meeting place for history and art that enthralls visitors from all over the world with its majestic architecture and unique collections, informs Agerpres.
Over a million books are housed here, including the volume of Poems by Mihai Eminescu, printed in 1950, and the Dictionary of Eminescu's Poetic Language, put out in 1968 by the Institute of Linguistics of the then Academy of the Romanian Socialist Republic, under the editorship of Academician Tudor Vianu.
These volumes, valued not only for their literary content, but also for their historical worth, reflect the incomparable literary legacy of the national poet.
"On January 15, the birthday of its national poet, Romania celebrates National Culture Day. I believe that alongside, or as an intrinsic feature of education, culture means power. Culture means speaking Romanian correctly, being knowledgeable of our history. The true history. Knowing how to cherish and preserve traditional Romanian values. Culture means art... theater, opera, ballet, films. Books. But there is also a culture of protests and an organizational culture. And the list goes on. The collection of publications in our library contains a rather small amount of fiction publications, most of which date from the period 1970-1990. The oldest publications are from 1900. Most of them are technical and from related fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry. In total, we have 1,000,000 titles in this library, which began operating in 1896," declared for AGERPRES the Rector of the 'Gh. Asachi' Technical University of Iasi Dan Cascaval.
Included in 2015 on a list of the world's most majestic libraries, alongside cultural gems like the Trinity College Library in Dublin, the Royal Portuguese Library in Rio de Janeiro, or the National Library in Prague, the Library of the Technical University of Iasi has been visited in the last six years by over 50,000 people, 7,000 of whom are foreigners. Alone in 2024 it welcomed 8,000 visitors, including 600 foreigners.
"We have a strong and internationally recognized cultural tradition, but there is need for funding to support culture and, obviously, education. More than ever, we have a duty to make sure that these two specific and identity-defining pillars of civilization are no longer like a fairy tale Cinderella - beautiful, hardworking, but kept in rags. This year we celebrate 175 years since the birth of our national poet Mihai Eminescu, who was also a publicist and columnist. As a teacher with a sizeable career, but also as a freshly-minted parliamentarian, I will continue to place education and culture at the forefront of my activity. And this because I strongly believe in the words of publicist Mihai Eminescu, which are just as actual today as they were at the time they were written, in the February 13, 1882 issue of Timpul magazine: 'Mistakes in politics are crimes; because they cause suffering to millions of innocent people, the development of an entire country is hindered, and its future is held back for decades to come," said Dan Cascaval.