Mihai Eminescu Year 2025: Honoring Romania’s National Poet
In 2025, the Moldovan Parliament declared the year "Mihai Eminescu Year" in celebration of the 175th anniversary of the great poet's birth, offering readers numerous opportunities to delve deeply into Eminescu’s work.
During a joint meeting on December 16, the leadership of the Romanian Academy and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova proposed dedicating 2025 to Eminescu, through events organized on both sides of the Prut River. At the start of the year, we sought to gather the opinions of readers, librarians, and Eminescu scholars regarding this initiative.
"First and foremost, it represents a recognition of Mihai Eminescu’s aesthetic value and his personality on both a European and international scale," said academician Mihai Cimpoi.
Citizens expressed their enthusiasm over declaring 2025 as "Mihai Eminescu Year," viewing the initiative as a significant tribute to the poet who embodies the language, culture, and national values.
"Eminescu is everything to us; he created our language and culture. Wherever we go, we carry him with us. It’s great that we have 2025, the Year of Eminescu."
"We are duty-bound to always remember Eminescu. His journalism is a reflection of reality."
"It’s wonderful that we have the Year of Eminescu; it’s a great start to remembering this great poet."
The "B.P. Hasdeu" Municipal Library organizes annual public readings on January 15 titled "We Read Eminescu."
"We introduce young people and children to Eminescu’s poetry, but we also notice a growing interest in his journalistic work. This is natural, especially since he was also a librarian."
"Eminescu’s works are typically sought after in January and June, coinciding with anniversaries of his birth or death. High school students often seek out his prose. Very rarely do people ask for his journalism. Mihai Eminescu’s work is more relevant than ever, and I would love for people to open his books more often, not only during holidays or in 2025," said writer Mariana Pagu.
Academician Mihai Cimpoi, who has been studying Eminescu’s work since the 1960s, is currently working on a book about his aphorisms and reflections.
"He addressed some aspects of reality that still resonate today. For example, in one of his aphorisms, he said that the weapons of the spirit are superior to the weapons of war. At present, I am working on completing the poetic anthology of Mihai Eminescu, which will contain all of his poetry," said the academician.
The program of activities dedicated to the Year of Eminescu is still being finalized. One certainty is that, on January 15, the poet’s admirers will gather once more, as they have done for decades, at the statue of the great writer, whose verse, combative spirit, truth, pain, and beauty have always been and remain with us.
175 years since Eminescu’s birth. A year dedicated to the genius of Romanian poetry.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
