Dimitrie Cantemir

Dimitrie Cantemir (b. 26 October 1673 – d. 1723) was ruling prince of Moldavia, but also one of the greatest scholars of the Romanian lands: philosopher, historian, statesman, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer and geographer. He was the son of Constantin Cantemir, ruling prince of Moldavia between 1685 and 1693, and of Ana Bantăș. He reigned briefly in 1693 and then between 1710 and 1711.

The scholar

The young prince received a complex education under the guidance of the Greek scholar Ieremia Cacavela, studying Latin, Greek and Slavonic and coming to master several languages. He spent years in Constantinople, where he formed himself intellectually and deepened his knowledge of Eastern and Western culture alike. His erudition was to be recognised at European level.

The work

His most valuable work for historians is „Descriptio Moldaviae” (Description of Moldavia), written in Latin in 1714 at the request of the Berlin Academy. Comprising geographical, ethnographic, political and economic data, it is the only detailed description of Moldavian feudal society and state produced by a Romanian, Cantemir being the first scholar to include ethnography and folklore within the scope of his research. In recognition of the value of his work, he was elected a member of the Berlin Academy.

He also wrote „Istoria creșterii și descreșterii Imperiului Otoman” (The History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire), translated into the principal European languages, and „Hronicul vechimii a romano-moldo-vlahilor” (The Chronicle of the Antiquity of the Romano-Moldo-Wallachians). After the defeat at Stănilești (1711), alongside Tsar Peter the Great, Cantemir took refuge in Russia, where he spent his last years, leaving behind a cultural legacy of European scope.

The musician and the European legacy

Dimitrie Cantemir was also a noted musician and theorist of Ottoman music: he devised a system of notation for Turkish music and composed instrumental pieces that are still performed today. His son, Antioh Cantemir, was to become an important poet and diplomat. The encyclopaedic erudition of the Moldavian prince — historian, philosopher, linguist, geographer and composer — placed him among the great scholars of the Europe of his time. His work, rediscovered and brought to light by modern historiography, makes Dimitrie Cantemir one of the most brilliant minds the Romanian lands have produced.