ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROMANIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

Bucharest: June 18, 1875

Minutes of the solemn inauguration meeting held on June 15/27, 1875, under the presidency of His Royal Highness the Prince.

At 5 PM, His Royal Highness the Prince arrived at the Academy Palace and was greeted by the Minister of Cults and Public Education and the Society’s Bureau.

His Royal Highness the Prince declared the session open. The Secretary called the roll, to which 31 members responded.

His Royal Highness the Prince addressed the members of the Society with the following speech:

“Greeting the Romanian Geographical Society, whose establishment fulfills one of my long-held desires, my joy is all the greater as I am confident that its work will be of immeasurable benefit to the future of the country, whose economic and political development Europe observes with increasing interest. The field open to your scientific exploitation is vast, and decades of work will be needed to achieve the accuracy of knowledge indispensable in such undertakings. However, your division into sections will bring order to your work and simplify it.

The mathematical and astronomical section is called upon to connect with that network of admirable scientific research that has encompassed and illuminated our entire terrestrial globe, and your observations can be successfully carried out as soon as you possess the necessary instruments.

I note with particular pleasure that several of our staff officers have joined the geographical society and enrolled in its mathematical section. From their goals and efforts, I have the right to expect that they will systematically execute the trigonometric survey of the country. The triangulation work undertaken last year in the counties of Suceava, Botoșani, and Dorohoi is a good start for this. Let us hope that the general staff map of Moldova will soon be completed and that of Wallachia will undergo new processing. Together, they will form a worthy and beautiful work of our young general staff.

The task of the physical section is easier, as it can already make use of some material. Through various books, which, however, require more precise processing and detailed completion, orographic and hydrographic relations can be approximately determined. We are not as advanced in atmospherography and especially Climatology, to which too little attention has been given so far, although precisely this part of science is among the most important for a country that depends almost exclusively on its agriculture.

If observations and research had been carried out earlier, so many entire regions would not have been plundered of their forests, and we would not so often have unfavorable harvests. If the cutting of forests is not stopped with full energy, we will soon see our climate most threateningly endangered. The devastation of forests in the mountains dries up springs and causes landslides; their devastation in the plains dries up the fields and turns fertile land into desert.

No less important are zoological, botanical, and mineralogical studies, which can have the most significant influence on our national economic life. May it be given to you to accustom the country to the improvement of our animal breeds and our food plants. May it be given to you to unearth, through a good geological map, the treasures hidden in the bowels of the earth. How was it possible that our metal mines and our healing springs have remained almost unknown to us and to Europe? That our oil, which can be compared to Pennsylvania oil – for here, as there, it is so flammable that it ignites at the mere proximity of a flame – has not yet competed with American oil on the continent? It is absolutely necessary to seriously consider the execution of a geological map: through such work, the geographical society would erect a true monument to itself. Then, in a short time, our rock salt, of which it is not yet known whether it belongs to the Triassic period or the Tertiary era, earth wax, our black amber, our coal seams, sulfur visible on the surface, and marble will become known far beyond the borders of Romania.

The ethnological section will scientifically observe the customs and traditions, lifestyle, and attire of our people and will be able, through their detailed study, to make comparisons with other peoples.

Archaeological research, which has already begun with great purpose and good results by our archaeologists, will provide us with the desired material to describe and judge the state of our oldest culture.

As you see, gentlemen, the field of your activity is very vast, and the time remaining this year is too short. It will nevertheless be possible, with the help of existing works, to compile a general overview of geographical facts related to our country, so that we can be well represented at the Paris congress convened this year on the initiative of the French Geographical Society, of which we are proud to be a part.

May our young geographical society worthily associate itself with the other societies established in almost all countries, and for my part, I have no doubt that – supported by our men of science – it will fulfill its mission and, through carefully prepared maps and geographical works, will bring the country out of the realm of the unknown.”

Mr. Vice-President A.A. Cantacuzino, on behalf of the society’s members, responded to His Royal Highness with the following address:

Most Exalted Lord,

“When a society feels the need for a useful institution, then from all sides the desire to satisfy it manifests; the institution is born imperceptibly and develops through the cooperation of men interested in the intellectual and material prosperity of the country. But when, in addition to this cooperation, the Head of State himself takes that institution under His powerful protection and agrees to guide its destinies, then the future of this institution is assured. Under these favorable conditions is our Geographical Society, whose establishment we inaugurate today.

The importance of such societies from economic and scientific perspectives has been recognized in all countries; thus, as early as 1821, the first geographical society was founded in Paris by Maltebrun and Barbie du Bocage.

• In 1828, the geographical society was founded in Berlin under the name “Gesellschaft für Erdkunde.”
• In 1830, the one in London under the name “Royal Geographical Society.”
• In 1836, the society in Frankfurt am Main.
• In 1845, the society for geography and related sciences in Darmstadt.
• In 1845, the Imperial Society in St. Petersburg.
• In 1845, the Imperial Royal Society in Vienna.
• In 1861, the Society in Leipzig.
• In 1865, the Society in Dresden, and in 1866 in Italy, whose societies have gained significant momentum in recent years.

Similarly, extra-European countries, especially America, have established geographical societies, particularly since 1840, such as the Society in Boston, New York, etc., following the impulse given by the continent.

The most important society of this kind, however, is undoubtedly the one in London, which also formed two branches, one in Bombay in 1832, and the second in Melbourne in 1860.

For our country, the usefulness of a geographical society is all the greater as it will contribute through its work to the exact knowledge of our ancestral land by ourselves and by other peoples.

Isolated attempts have been made in the past in this immense field, but precisely because they were individual, their results here were modest and could not penetrate all directions of science.

This inconvenience has partly disappeared in the geodetic works begun beyond the Milcov by the general staff corps, which works in common understanding with scientists from neighboring states.

Our Society is fortunate to count among its members several specialist officers who will greatly contribute to its future prosperity and development. For now, we regret that the late establishment of our Society does not allow us to participate successfully in the geographical congress in Paris. However, to prepare for the future, we will seek to direct our activity and efforts especially towards the geological study of the country, towards improving the means of teaching geographical sciences, towards establishing collections, and publishing works related to all branches of geographical sciences.

This task of the society becomes much easier through the strong support that Your Majesty has deigned to grant it. I therefore come, in the name of the Romanian Geographical Society, to express to Your Majesty our profound gratitude for the keen interest that Your Majesty has shown in this society, taking it under Your high and enlightened protection and for the honor You have bestowed upon it by graciously accepting its presidency.”

After this, the definitive confirmation of the society’s bureau and the election of the administrative council proceeded, in accordance with Article 11 of the society’s statutes.

The following were definitively and unanimously confirmed:

1. Three Vice-Presidents: Prince A. A. Cantacuzino, Professor E. Bacaloglu, and Colonel Barozzi.
2. One General Secretary: Mr. George I. Lahovari.
3. One Accountant-Treasurer: Mr. Nicu Negre.

Upon the proposal of Vice-President A. A. Cantacuzino, the following were unanimously acclaimed as members of the administrative council:

• Mr. Aurelian P.
• Cantacuzino Gr. C.
• Cantacuzino I. A.
• Felix Dr.
• Manu George (Colonel)
• Odobescu Alexandru
• Socec (bookseller, publisher)
• Ștefănescu Grigore
• Ureche V. A.

At 6 PM, His Royal Highness the Prince adjourned the session, and after having a separate conversation with all the members of the society, he left the hall accompanied by all the members of the society.

President, CAROL.

Vice-President, A. A. Cantacuzino.

General Secretary, G. I. Lahovari