Adnotări la o lucrare postumă a lui Gheorghe I. Brătianu

Abstract

In 1973 and 1982 the Parisian journal Ethos (II, 1975, pp. 8 — 65 ; III, 1982, pp. 37—119) published an extensive posthumous work by Gheorghe I. Brătianu concerning the founding of the Romanian states. In the first part the author argues with various other historians on thc subject of the validity ol certain data recorded by historical tradition and brings furtber arguments to support his own ideas. The latter part deals with matters of detail regarding the statal origins of Wallachia and Moldavia.
The doubts voiced by some historians as to thc authenticity of this work are due to the fact that, when quoting his own opinions, the author uses the 3rd person singular. Keeping in mind that at the time of elaborating this study Gheorghe I. Brătianu had already been dismissed from the University, and that he was under house arrest and could not use his name to sign his own works, such a procedure hardly comes as a surprise. Actually, the ideas as well as the style carry the unmistakable mark of the great historian. The apocryphal nature of Brătianu's work was rejected by the distinguished byzantinist Petre Ș, Năsturel who countcd among his close collaborators during the „involuntary rest" period and who arranged for the safety of the unpublished manuscripts.
As regards the date of elaboration, arguments have been put forward that point to the last months of 1948, or even to the first part of the following year.
(Translated by Ștefan Colibaba)