Historia Universitatis Iassiensis 6, 217–242
Abstract. Coming at a time of peak political contestation, the idea of erecting a statue in memory of C.A. Rosetti did not escape the reactions and commentaries of all the political actors of the moment. Apart from the genuine desire to pay homage to a figure of Rosetti's stature, which was undeniable among those who initiated the action, the fact that the Romanian society was beginning, in the late 19th century, an effort to recuperate its history created fresh expectations each time the name of a figure from the national history was put up for public honouring. To the neutral observers of the Romanian political scene, one thing was obvious: the two major rival political forces had begun in earnest a competition in terms of rediscovering models of political leaders in their past. Given the fact that Rosetti, in his late years, had somewhat isolated himself from the liberal faction centred around I.C. Brătianu, it is not difficult to notice the lack of enthusiasm with which the liberals got involved in the story of inaugurating a statue that would remind of the future of the Walachian radical liberal. Nevertheless, it is precisely this situation that made the conservatives accept much more easily – compared to other situations – the rediscovery of C. A. Rosetti and his casting as a luminary of the Romanian society. Whilst the political context of the eighth decade of the 19th century had been adverse to C.A. Rosetti, the early 20th century brought him the opportunity to be vindicated before those who had not understood his efforts to reform Romanian liberalism, as well as before his various political competitors who had not accepted during his lifetime his opinions about the modernisation process in the Romanian society.
