Three organizations – Unirea-ODIP, the Association Against Corruption, and the Institute of Social History “ProMemoria” – have decided to erect a bust to Alexandru Oatu, a member of the Country Council. The location chosen – the courtyard of the building that housed the Country Council’s famous meeting that proclaimed the union with Romania in 1918. The building now belongs to the Academy of Arts, and the institution’s board seems to have a different opinion about the bust.

 

The activists held a press conference today to ask the authorities for help.

 

Vladimir Maiduc, president of the Association Against Corruption, said he was so impressed by Alexandru Oatu’s personality after reading a book by the historian Iurie Colesnic that was willing to spare 500,000 lei just to see the bust erected and nicely landscaped in the courtyard of the Academy’s second block, on Mateevici Street.

 

Maiduc said he regretted that the Academy’s Senate only conceded for the bust to be placed somewhere in the back, rather than in the courtyard, symmetrically positioned opposite the bust to the famous composer Gavriil Musicescu. And it’s a pity, says Maiduc, as the bust is already 99% completed and waiting to be installed.

 

Historian Anatol Petrencu, president of ProMemoria, recalled that Alexandru Oatu was a champion of progressive ideas in Tsarist Bessarabia. Together with his brother Vasile, he actively opposed the Tsarist regime. He immediately returned to Bessarabia after the proclamation of the 1918 Union to become the director of a lyceum, which he headed for 25 years. After the lyceum’s demise, the building was given to the Academy of Arts. “Alexandru Oatu deserves to be commemorated. He deserves to join the ranks of the great intellectuals of the interwar period”, said the historian.

 

Unirea-ODIP leader Vlad Bilețchi said the idea to have the bust installed as a tribute to a historical personality is “simple, noble and well-intentioned”, and “doesn’t mean to cause any harm”, but rather promote culture and national heritage. He says the place selected for the bust is “abandoned and in ruins”. “It’s bewildering how one can vote against a bust there, when all you have around is a dilapidated building and a square full of garbage and debris”, stated Vlad Bilețchi.

 

The activists lamented the dilapidated state of the historical building, and criticized the Academy’s administration for not doing enough to preserve it. They said they will complain to the prosecutors.