The University of Bucharest

1891, at the 25th anniversary of his reign, Charles 1st of Romania donates the necessary money to build a university close to his royal residence. Some four years later, the institution is ready for inauguration.

Among the objectives, which HM sets for the University, are building a library, which initially hosted 3400 volumes, most of which donated by His Majesty himself (this being the first university library), facilitating the study for undergraduate and for postgraduate degrees, providing bursaries for poor, though brilliant, students and also printing students’ works, their licence and PhD thesis. While in the beginning, there was a pretty high control from the side of His Majesty, after gaining some experience, the institution also gained more independence.

The number of students grew steadily, so by 1914, a second building, the one in today’s University Square, has been bought. Both buildings were designed by the French architect Paul Gottereau, a quite influential architect in Bucharest of that time (his are also the plans for the headquarters of the Economies’ House).

It is the achievement of HM Charles 1st, that up until World War I, the University of Bucharest was able to make ends meet within its budget, as the Royal Family was in fact administering its finances and made sure to keep it without the reach of political parties. As Charles 1st dies in October 1914 and his successor, a nephew of his, Ferdinand, decides under the pressure of the political parties, to enter the war. Just a few months later, Bucharest and half of the country sees itself occupied by the allied armies of the Austrian Empire and Bulgaria. The University of Bucharest had to stop any teaching and research activity during these times. After the war, the national currency has been strongly devalued and the University could not maintain itself from its own budget, so it enters the need of subsidies.