The Saint Sava National College (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: ''Colegiul Național Sfântul Sava''),

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, named after

Sabbas the Sanctified SabasPatrich (1995). (439–532), in Church parlance Saint Sabas or Sabbas the Sanctified (), was a Cappadocian Greek monk, priest, grazer and saint, who was born in Cappadocia and lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several ...

, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious high schools in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It was founded in 1694, under the name of the Royal Academy of Bucharest. The College is the direct descendant of the Princely Academy of Saint Sava, which was divided in 1864 by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

into the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

and the present high school. During the

Communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

, its name was changed to ''

Nicolae Bălcescu Nicolae Bălcescu () (29 June 181929 November 1852) was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution. Early life Born in Bucharest to a family of low-ranking nobility, he used his mother ...

High School''. The name of the College comes from the Monastery of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified in Bucharest, in which it has been founded. To this day, it celebrates its birthday on 5 December.

History

In the 17th century Saint Sava was actually an old

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

built in

's historic centre, in the proximity of today's University Square. It was in the rooms of this monastery that Romania's first higher education institution was set up. The founding of this college in the late 17th century was brought about by a strong European influence, mostly

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, that encouraged the rise of the national spirit. This assertion of a national awareness had the firm support of many writers and historians of the age. In

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

(Southern Romania), the most remarkable representative of this trend was Constantin Cantacuzino, a writer and a

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

, who had been educated in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, Italy. He was a widely−travelled

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

and adviser to Prince

Șerban Cantacuzino Șerban Cantacuzino (), (1634/1640 – 29 October 1688) was a List of rulers of Wallachia, Prince of Wallachia between 1678 and 1688. Biography Șerban Cantacuzino was a member of the Romanian branch of the Cantacuzino family, Cantacuzino noble ...

. As Constantin Cantacuzino was determined to have a college similar to the Italian ones set up in Bucharest, his brother's coming to power in 1678 made it possible for him to achieve his goal. Saint Sava Princely Academy was therefore created by Wallachia's reigning Prince Şerban Cantacuzino and it was placed under the

aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

of the Prince and of Dositheos II, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Cultural and religious allegiance accounted for the fact that tuition was carried on in modern

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, a symbol of Byzantine civilization. The first principal of the school was Sebastos Kyminitis, who had been educated in Constantinople. Saint Sava Academy thrived during the reign of

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was List of Wallachian rulers, Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension Constantin Brâncoveanu was the son of Pope Brâncoveanu (Matthew) and his wife, Stanca Can ...

's, who sketched out the curriculum and ensured the funds needed to run the school. A law given in 1707 demanded that "teachers should be understanding and principled; they should also have excellent reputation".

Notable teachers and alumni

Teachers (includes teachers at the Princely Academy)

Emanoil Bacaloglu Emanoil Bacaloglu (; – 30 August 1891) was a Wallachian and Romanian mathematician, physicist and chemist. Born in Bucharest and of Greeks of Romania, Greek origin, he studied physics and mathematics in Paris and Leipzig, later becoming a pro ...

Constantin Kirițescu Constantin Kirițescu (September 3, 1876 – August 12, 1965) was a Romanian zoologist, educator and historian. Born and schooled in Bucharest, he occupied successive posts in the Education Ministry, with education being a running theme of his d ...

Gheorghe Lazăr Gheorghe Lazăr (5 June 1779 – 17 September 1823), was a Transylvanian Romanian scholar and the founder of the first Romanian language school in Bucharest, in 1817. Biography Lazăr was born to a peasant family in Felek, Szeben County, Habsb ...

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Culture of Romania, Romanian culture in ...

Eftimie Murgu Eftimie Murgu (28 December 1805 – 12 May 1870) was a Romanian philosopher and politician who took part in the 1848 Revolutions. Biography He was born in Rudăria (today Eftimie Murgu, Caraș-Severin County) to Samu Murgu, an officer in the ...

* Constantin Noe * Parteniy Pavlovich * Eufrosin Poteca *

Ion Heliade Rădulescu Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade (also known as ''Eliade'' or ''Eliade Rădulescu''; ; 6 January 1802 – 27 April 1872) was a Wallachian, later Romanian academic, Romanticism, Romantic and Classicism, Classicist poet, essayist, memoi ...

Alumni (includes alumni from the Princely Academy)

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sava National College Educational institutions established in 1864 High schools in Bucharest National Colleges in Romania 1864 establishments in Romania Saint Sava