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Between History and Politics: The Romanian Historian and Revolutionist Nicolae Bălcescu (1819-1852) and His Unidentified Grave in Palermo

In this paper, the author tried to analyze the place of the historian and participant in the 1848 Revolution, Nicolae Bălcescu, in the Romanian political symbolism, which significantly influenced on his place in the Romanian national pantheon and sometimes even in the Romanian historiography. The analysis focused on the communist and post communist periods, trying to asses how Bălcescu's legacy had been used in both cases for political purposes. The author also referred to Bălcescu's remains in an unidentified grave in Palermo, considered by Romanian historians and the public opinion either as a lost lieu de memoire of the Romanian nation or as a bridge between Romania and Italy. Two attempts of the Romanian authorities, made in 1977 and 2003-2004, to find Bălcescu's grave in Palermo were dealt with. The later of these attempts was considered in the broader context of Romanian post communist authorities' efforts to bring back from abroad the remains of other important political personalities. Finally, including Bălcescu's case in a more general approach, the paper tried to asses to which extent the political symbolism of Romanian post communist governments represents a break with the country's communist heritage.

Nicolae Bălcescu ; Palermo ; 1848 Revolution ; Romanian historiography ; communist period ; post communist period

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