20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

854 Maria Parizapublished in Greek and Latin in Vienna in 1795, and his son ConstantinCaracaş, who helped raised funds for the foundation of a well known hospital– Filantropia Hospital, has also supported financially the publishing of someimportant books. Among these books we can mention the famous CarageaLaw published in 1818, his name being mentioned in the title page. In theintroduction of a Pentecostarian printed in Bucharest 1820, at the printinghouse “late Mavrogheni’s waterpump” the first name metioned among thesponspors of the printing house is that of Constantin Caracaş. C. Caracaş“doctor in medicine and philosophy” is known for his prestigious scientificpaper “The topography of Wallachia with anthropological observationsregarding the health and diseases of its inhabitants” that was published in1830 and is an important historical source.Beginning with the 19 th century we can observe the remarkablecontributions of authors who belonged to the Aromanian colonies inHungary to the evolution of Romanian printed works. The biggest colonyis the one from Budapest from which descended the Şaguna, Gojdu, Sinafamilies etc. 20 Across Transylvania, the Aromanian colonies of merchantshave settled mostly in the so called “Greek companies” Sibiu, Oradea,Beiuş, Lugoj, Banat etc. They were not immediately acknowledged bythe Romanians. At first, these refugees set up communities and orthodoxchurches together with the Greeks. Being aware of the illuminist trend, theAromanian colonies from the Diaspora observe the national awakening ofdifferent nations. In the capital city of Hungary, being in contact with theilluminists of the “Ardeleană School”, “they felt very different from theGreeks), whose language they used in business relations and considered ittheir mother language along with the dialect which they learned growingup in the mountains”, remarked Nicolae Iorga 21 , in one of his studies aboutcommerce during that age.Being able to speak their native dialect in this cultural environmentwill lead to the nostalgia of identity which will stir up the desire to standout from the milieu of the post-Byzantine Hellenism. This impulse was firstmanifested religiously. In the capital of Hungary the dispute between theGreeks and the Macedo-romanians was so intense that in the year 1802 aRomanian priest was appointed in their churches.Another testimony of their desire to stand out in the cultural life is theso-called “Literally Saloon” from Pesta belonging to Atanasie Grabovschi(his name indicates his place of birth Grabova, in Albania), who was the20Hâciu, Anastasie, op. cit., 295.21Iorga, N., Câteva ştiri despre comerţul nostru în veacurile al XVI-lea şi al XVIIIlea.In, Analele Academiei Române, 1914-1915, Sec. Istorie, seria II, tom 37, 305.