Emmanuel de Martonne et la géographie roumaine

Abstract

Abstract. The Romanian geographic historiography records a great personality, that of prof. E. de Martonne, who, for thirty-five years of beneficial scholarly research, has dedicated himself to the Romanian land and who has written more than seventy scholarly works, among which are two doctoral theses entitled « La Valachie » and « L'évolution morphologique des Alpes de Transylvanie ». Four main aspects define the coordinates of his activity, which coexist intrinsically. Predominant is, however, the scholarly research which comprises almost all the Romanian provinces, rendering the basis of regional study in examining the Romanian provinces. The sphere of scholarly interest includes almost all the domains of geography, beginning with geomorphology and ending with human geography. The second aspect of prof. De Martonne' s activity is closely connected with the organizing, together with prof. G. Vâlsan, of modern geographical higher education in Cluj. Thus, his name enters the gallery of the greatest professors the Transylvanean University has ever had. De Martonne was a steady fighter for a close mutual relationship between France and Romania, thus making Romania's hopes and aspirations known to the Western world. We cannot neglect, then, his contribution to the tracing of the borders of our country in 1918, at the Peace Conference from Paris, which meant, in fact, Romania's come-back « ... to its natural and legitimate destinies ». He has been awarded Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Cluj, Honorary Citizen of the Transylvanean capital, and as an apotheosis of his activity he has been awarded « The Order of Romania's Star » as « The Great Cross ». De Martonne's name, which was given to one of the streets close to the University of Cluj, will for ever be linked with the development of geography in our country.