\n
\n<\/p>\n
The East
\nEuropean space has been discovered and rediscovered by the West in several
\nwaves in the history of the last millennium. Starting in the 18th century, the
\nEuropean West has invented Eastern Europe as we know it today, and in the
\nprocess of invention the French had a crucial role due to the impact of the
\nrevolution between 1789-1795 and the project of the modern state proposed by
\nit. The Romanian space, part of the Eastern world, was also discovered by
\nseveral generations of French, the first being that of the French consuls in Bucharest
\nand Ia\u0219i. The international events that took place in the first half of the
\n19th century and that led to the emergence of the modern Romanian state caused
\nother generations of French to migrate to the mouths of the Danube and describe
\nthe new world in which they arrived. One of the French who left us the most
\nattractive pages about 19th-century Bucharest was the teacher and journalist
\nUlysse de Marsillac, the man whose name is associated with the Francophonie of
\nthe Romanian generation from the mid-19th century.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
De
\nMarsillac was French, but he was equally Romanian. He identified so much with
\nthe Romanian spirit that he chose to stay in Bucharest until the end of his
\n56-year-old life. Born in 1821 in Montpellier, de Marsillac arrived in
\nBucharest in 1845, at the age of 24. In Bucharest he was a teacher at the
\nMilitary School, at the Saint Sava National College and at the
\nUniversity. As a journalist, he wrote for the biweekly La Voix de la
\nRoumanie, founded by him in 1861, which appeared until 1866. Between 1866
\nand 1870 he was editor-in-chief of Le Moniteur Roumain, and between
\n1870 and 1876 he edited and published in Le Journal de Bucarest. He
\nwrote several volumes, the most popular being Guide du Voyageur a
\nBucarest, published in Bucharest in 1872.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Twenty
\nyears after coming to Romania, Ulysse de Marsillac remembered what the new
\nworld was like in which he probably didn’t know he would spend the rest of his
\nlife: In Giurgiu, I get into a cart. It is a trapezoidal wooden crate, with
\nno nails or iron pieces, just wooden wedges. This box is placed on four
\npolygonal wheels and is filled with hay. The great luxury is to have plenty of
\nhay. The passenger lays down in the hay, holds on to the sides of the box and
\nfour small, ugly, but tireless horses pull the light carriage that jumps over
\nthe cobblestones in the streets, the potholes in the road, the logs in the
\nforest. At first, you are shocked, your head is spinning, your whole body is
\nlooking for a balance that it cannot find; after an hour, a great pain is
\ngripping you in the saddle, your guts are twisted; after two hours start
\nthinking of the Inquisition and its tortures, not all of which let you die. And then the moment comes when the executioner
\n– driver approaches you with a sweet smile, informing you that you have arrived
\nand asking for a tip. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\naccounts of Ulysse de Marsillac were in synchronicity with the times. The author
\nwas noticing the changes Bucharest and Romanian society were going through and
\nwas enthusiastic about that. Sandra Ecobescu, president of the Calea Victoriei
\nFoundation, noticed how Ulysse de Marisllac understood Bucharest and Romanians
\ndeeper than we would be tempted to believe :<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This French gentleman, so in love with Bucharest, has a chapter he named ‘the
\nfiddlers’. In fact, it’s not just about fiddlers. There are many pages about
\ntheir costumes, their music, their traditions. Actually, he talks about
\nfolklore. And this is interesting because
\nthere’s been talk about the Orient, about the Byzantine line or this
\ntradition that defines Romanians and which must be embraed as such. Romanians
\nare not just the descendants of Rome,
\nthey are a mix of so many things. And the foreigner travelling here can
\nfind all these traditional elements. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Gheorghe Crutzescu,
\nthe author of the very popular \u00ab Mogosoaia Bridge – the story of a
\nstreet \u00bb, from 1943, characterized Ulysse de Marsillac, who actually lived
\non Victoria Boulevard, the current name of the street he was writing
\nabout : \u00ab I don’t think that our city has had a more honest and and
\nmore understanding chronicler than this foreigner. He hasn’t missed any change,
\nany progress, no matter how little it may be. And at the same time, he has
\nshown so much love for our past, which he knows so well. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
So, Romanians had
\namong them a foreigner who cared about their world and who wanted to see
\ngetting better. Crutzescu was also the one who wrote about the death of the
\nFrench with a Romanian soul, in 1877, the year when the Romanian army started
\nthe war that would bring its independence : \u00ab In 1877, tormented by a
\nterrible diseases, Ulysse de Marsillac died. But he still had time to wish good
\nluck the Romanian troops that were crossing the Danube. \u00bb (MI)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
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