ts were
translated into Romanian, and the introductions to them are the first
known original writings in the Romanian language.

Of significance in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were the
chronicles written by a number of writers in Moldavia and in Walachia.
Dimitrie Cantemir, ruler of Moldavia, wrote the _Description of
Moldavia_ and _History of the Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire_
during the same period. A Transylvanian school of writing stressed the
Latin origin of the Romanian people and their language and utilized a
latinized Romanian in its writing. It was influential in awakening the
national consciousness of Transylvanian Romanians.

Four members of the Vacarescu family wrote lyrical poetry in the
eighteenth century. The best of them, Iancu Vacarescu, is regarded as
the father of Romanian poetry. The lyric tradition was carried on in the
early nineteenth century, and much of the poetry dealt with historic
subjects and expressed the growing patriotism and nationalist sentiment
of the time.

In the early nineteenth century the Latinist movement of Transylvania
spread into Moldavia and Walachia and began to Romanianize the hitherto
Hellenic culture of the Romanian upper class. The founding of the
College of Saint Sava in Bucharest, using Romanian as the language of
instruction, laid the foundation for the development of a reading public
for Romanian literature. At the same time, the founding of a
Romanian-language newspaper with a literary supplement gave writers a
publication outlet. The newspaper was founded by Eliade Radulescu, who
also founded the Philharmonic Society and the Romanian Academy, thus
giving major impetus to the development of Romanian literature and
culture.

In Moldavia, Gheorghe Asachi originated the historical short story,
wrote verse, and also founded a newspaper. The literary supplement of
Asachi's newspaper provided an outlet for Moldavian writers.

The nineteenth century was the romantic age of Romanian literature.
Writers and poets wrote under the influence of Russian, French, and
English romanticists whose works were widely translated. Outstanding
among the poets was Grigore Alexandrescu, who also wrote fables and
satires along the lines of Alphonse de Lamartine and Jean de LaFontaine.
Many historical works were written by Nicolae Balcescu and Mihail
Kogalniceanu, both of whom were political figures in the nationalist
movement of their time as well as important writer