Nicolae Milescu Spătaru

Nicolae Milescu Spătaru (b. 1636, Vaslui county, Moldavia – d. 1708, Moscow) was a Moldavian scholar, diplomat, translator, geographer and traveller, one of the most fascinating personalities of early Romanian culture. Descended from a family with Aromanian roots, settled at Milești — hence the name Milescu — he had a career of European and Asian scope, being the first Romanian known to have reached China.

Education and career

He began his studies at the Princely School of Iași, continuing them at the Great School attached to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, where he acquired a vast culture and knowledge of several languages. He carried out diplomatic missions and held offices in Moldavia, but after falling out of favour with the ruling prince, who had his nose cut off as punishment, he was obliged to seek his fortune abroad. He travelled from Stockholm to Constantinople and from France to China, and is said to have been the only Romanian to have met King Louis XIV of France, Tsar Peter I of Russia and Emperor Kangxi of China alike.

The mission to China

On 3 March 1675, in the service of Russia, Milescu was sent on a wide-ranging diplomatic mission to China, a journey that lasted three years (1675–1678). The account of this journey, „Jurnal de călătorie în China” (Journal of a Journey to China), together with „Descrierea Chinei” (Description of China), constitutes a document of exceptional geographical, ethnographic and historical importance, being the first travel memoir written by a Romanian.

Legacy

Also at Constantinople, Nicolae Milescu translated the Holy Scripture in full, a text which formed the basis of the Bucharest Bible, printed in 1688. Having settled permanently in Moscow, he took part in the reform of Russian higher education, introducing the study of Latin and of the natural sciences. He died in 1708, leaving behind a body of work that places him among the forerunners of the Romanian Enlightenment.

A forerunner of modern culture

Through the scope of his travels and his writings, Nicolae Milescu Spătaru is considered one of the first great geographers and diplomats of the Romanian lands. His works on China were used by European chancelleries as sources of information on the Far East. A polyglot and a scholar, he was a bridge between the Eastern and Western cultures. His name is honoured today in the Republic of Moldova and in Romania through educational and research institutions, and his work places him among the forerunners of the Romanian Enlightenment.