Orest Tafrali
Professor Orest Tafrali - A Personality of the Cultural Life of the City of Iasi
Outstanding student of professors Gr. Tocilescu in Bucharest, and Ch. Diehl, G. Millet, M. Collignon in Paris, graduate of the Faculty of Letters of Bucharest (1904), holding the title of PhD in Letters awarded by Sorbonne (1912), secretary of the National Museum of Antiquities (1902-1905), assistant for the Romanian Language course of the School of Oriental Languages in Paris (1910-1911), librarian in one of the biggest art and archaeology libraries in Paris created at the initiative of Ch. Drouet, collaborator of some of the most famous specialized magazines published in the capital of France, in 1913 Orest Tafrali becomes professor of the Department of Archaeology within the Faculty of History of the University in Iasi.
For 24 years, he carried out a very intensive didactic activity, which he gave up only two weeks before his too early death, and which he combined with scientific research as is was an archaeologist and byzantinologist also concerned with the study of the history and critique of art. As such, he imposed as a very dynamic personality in the cultural life of the city of
Preoccupied by the development of the historical and archaeological education, professor Tafrali taught an impressive number of courses out of which: Course of Greek and Roman Antiquities (edited by I. L. Neagu and G. Sirbu, in 1920), Sources of the Greeks’ and Romans’ History. General Presentatio (1920-1926), Egyptian Architecture (edited by I. L. Neagu and G. Sirbu, in 1928-1929), History of Civilization (edited by I. L. Neagu and N. I. Cosma, in 1929), Course of Archaeology. The Painting (edited by C. Chircu and I. Negrim, in 1932-1933), Course of Greek Pottery (edited by I. L. Neagu and G. Sirbu, unknown year of publication), Course of Archaeology. The Architecture (edited by D. Crinjala, in 1930-931) etc.
Professor Tafrali also showed special interest to the organization and development of the Library of the Archaeology Seminar. In 1920, when special measures were being taken for the systematic organization of the libraries of the Faculty of Letters, totally messed up during the war, the only fully functional libraries were the one of the Archaeology Seminar (720 volumes) and of the Ancient History Seminar (80 volumes). N. Labusca and student D. Gafiteanu, who were in charge of the above reorganization, mentioned that in the case of the above two libraries they maintained the evidence sheets and the catalogue system introduced by professor Orest Tafrali.
The didactic preoccupations of Orest Tafrali were not exclusively limited to the field of university studies, but also dealt with secondary education, as he edited few history schoolbooks, remarkable by their clarity and stylistic qualities. Out of these, the most appreciated has remained his manual of the history of art, a precious repertoire, with righteous and interesting judgments, meant for the use of secondary schools for girls and for a larger public concerned with art-related topics.
Mention should also be made of professor Tafrali’s literary activity, which also showed the same moralizing intention, as can be noticed in Uncle Longtime’s Stories and Scenes of the Dobrogean Life.
During the economical crisis, when the Government cut off the budget also for the higher education, in the Council of Professors, of 25 February 1933, Orest Tafrali proposed to write a memo as an expression of their protest in order to “show the Minister that such cutting off could only completely disorganize the educational system”.
Delegate of the Faculty of Letters in the University Senate (1922-1924), assessing member of the Disciplinary Commission, member of the Commission for Hostels (1934-1935) etc., on 1 July 1936, Orest Tafral was chosen the dean of the Faculty of Letters, by the Council of Professors. Although he was dean only for a short period, as his death took place less than one year since his appointment, professor Tafrali had the necessary time to take some important measures for the smooth implementation of the activities of the organization, dealing with matters such as job openings, school fees, university autonomy and the dean’s right to control the didactic and administrative activities, visiting professors and university fields of study.
Yet, Orest Tafrali’s most important contribution consisted to the increase of the prestige of the University of Iasi, especially of the Faculty of Letters, and to the development of the study of history was the foundation in Iasi of the Museum of Antiquites, the first of its kind in Moldavia, a cultural initiative which in time proved its real value. The above organization, subordinated to the Department of Archaeology, was to function as a “practical laboratory” for the students and its opening required consistent efforts which were though limited by the short funds professor Tafrali had access to. Whatever the initial size of the organization, by the materialization of the idea of a “museum of antiquities”, thanks to his concerns for the collecting and preservation of cultural heritage, with a declared didactic and training scope, Orest Tafrali becomes one of the forerunners of the contemporary museum studies, the exhibits in his small museum being the core around which later on Moldavia’s History Museum was developed.
In 1927, professor Tafrali initiated the publication of the magazine Art and archeology, which he edited alone for one decade.
The activity of this remarkable personality in the field of historical research was much appreciates in