GEORGETA FILITTI - The Greeks of Bucharest

Published at the end of 2013, the bilingual album The Greeks of Bucharest is a true illustrated encyclopaedia of the Greeks' presence in this city for more than five and a half century. The author, Dr Georgeta Filitti, rebuilds in remarkably rigorous, concise and suggestive pages, the destiny of the Greeks who lived in Bucharest for a longer or shorter period, highlighting their contribution to the development of the city. Their history was closely linked to the history of the city. Many of them had settled here for good and asserted themselves as notable figures in the Romanian society.Bucharest was a much-sought after destination, offering numerous opportunities of assertion. The Greeks enjoyed a privileged position in the city with a cosmopolitan population, attested in documents in 1459, proclaimed capital of Wallachia in the second half of the 17th century and of Romania in 1862. The role they played in the economic, political, social, religious, cultural and scientific life of the country is attested by the over two thousand Greek manuscripts in the Library of the Romanian Academy, as well as by numerous monuments – churches, charitable establishments, hospitals, buildings and palaces , which have endured, in situ or in the collective memory.
The seven chapters of the historical survey signed by Georgeta Filitti are enriched with numerous illustrations (about 360 most diverse illustrations – buildings, churches, manuscripts, Greek and Romanian editions, facsimiles, documents, newspapers, photos of the life of the Greek community in Bucharest in the past and the present) supplied by numerous institutions and persons; the author and the publishing house are grateful to them all. The illustrations are accomppanied, in their turn, by extensive explanations, which enrich the information in the text.

The authors of the two forewords, Răzvan Theodorescu, member of the Romanian Academy, and Evanghelos Moutsopoulos, member of the Academy of Athens, stress the importance of this work which highlights the importance and the dynamic character of the Greek component of Bucharest.

The Greek version is signed by Tudor Dinu, head of the Department of Neo-Hellenic Studies in the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Bucharest.
The publication of this beautiful album would have not been possible without the generous support of the Arkadia Cultural Centre, a foundation that supports the „Athena” Greek School in Bucharest and has joined the Romanian and Greek promoters of Hellenism in Romania.

The album, an indispensable guide for the Greeks and Romanians who wish to go deeper into the history of the city in which the live or they just visit, is a most remarkable reference title among the books devoted to Hellenism in Romania.