Dimitrie Onciul

Who is Dimitrie Onciul?

Dimitrie Onciul was a Romanian historian. He was a member of the Romanian Academy and its president from 1920 until his death in 1923.

Onciul studied at Chernivtsi University and the University of Vienna. In 1884, he received his doctorate in philosophy from Chernivtsi University. He became a professor at the University of Bucharest and director of the National Archives of Romania. He was the first chairman of the Advisory Heraldic Commission. Together with Ioan Bogdan, Onciul founded a school-of-thought in Romanian historiography that approached history critically. He dealt with the issue of Romanian origin, demonstrating the formation of the Romanian people over a wide area on both sides of the Danube and rejected the theory of medieval migration of Romanians from the Balkan Peninsula. Much or his work dealt with and documented the formation of the early Romanian feudal states. He sought to separate Medieval realities from 20th century politics.