,,160 years since the abolition of roma slavery in Romanian Principalities” February 19th, 2016

	The National Centre for Roma Culture – Romani Kher together with The National Contact Point for Roma – Ministry of European Funds and Ministry of Culture organized the event “160 Years from the Abolition of Slavery in Romanian Principalities”, at the Auditorium Hall, of the National Museum of Art of Romania, in February 19th, 2016.
The event was attended by Prime Minister of Romania, Mr. Dacian Cioloş, representatives of the European Funds Ministry, diplomats and representatives of public authorities and civil society. Prime Minister of Romania, Mr. Dacian Cioloş	Secretary of State Mr.Ciprian Necula
The online database with archive documents about Roma slavery in Romanian Principalities has been launched with this occasion. The data base – http://ro.sclavia.romilor.ro/ – a project of NCRC, coordinated by Mr. Nicolae-Adrian Furtună, counsellor with the Documentation and Research Department – may be accessed by anyone interested in this subject, in Romania or abroad.
	A new version of the docudrama ”Roma Slavery. The Long Road to Freedom” – a cultural products of NCRC – has been projected. The event also included other remarkable artistic moments performed by the young Roma actress Alina Șerban, and the film „Aferim!” One of the most interesting recent Romanian movies –Aferim!– tells the story of a local sheriff and his son trying to catch and bring back to his owner a fugitive Roma slave in 1830s Wallachia. What is striking in this story is the ”naturalness” of the Roma slavery itself. While the main protagonists might entertain some views that would cast slavery as morally wrong, the end of the movie leaves no room for ambiguity: the Roma are treated worse even than the animals.
The abolition of slavery was carried out following a campaign by young revolutionaries who embraced the liberal ideas of the Enlightenmnet. Notable among them was Mihail Kogălniceanu, who drafted the legislation related to the abolition of slavery in Moldavia. In 1843, the Wallachian state freed the slaves it owned and by 1856, in both principalities, all the categories of slaves had been freed.	Mihai Neacșu – director of NCRC

February 20^th. 1856 represents the date when last Roma slaves were freed of slavery by Ruler Barbu Știrbei

In Moldavia, in December 1855, following a proposal by Ruler Grigore Alexandru Ghica, a bill drafted by Mi9hai Kogălniceanu and Petre Mavrogheni was adopted by the Divan; the law emancipated all slaves to the status of taxpayers (that is, citizens). The measure was brought about by a personal tragedy: Ghica and the public opinion at large were scandalized when Dincă, the slave and illegitimate child of a Cantacuzino boyar, was not allowed to marry his French mistress and go free, which had led him to murder his lover and kill himself. The owners would receive a compensation of 8 galbeni for lingurari and vătrași and 4 galbeni for lăieși, the money being provided by the taxes paid by previously freed slaves.

In Wallachia, only two months later, in February 1856, a similar law was adopted by the National Assembly, paying a compensation of 10 galbeni for each slave, in stages over a number of years. The freed slaves had to settle to a town or village and stay there for at least two censuses and they would pay their taxes to the compensation fund.

The impact of slavery on Romanian society became a theme of historiographical interest in the decades after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. In 2007, Prime Minister Călin Popescu -Tăriceanu approved the creation of Comisia pentru Studierea Robiei Romilor (“Commission for the Study of Roma Slavery”), which was intended to present its findings in a report and make recommendations for the Romanian education system and on promoting the history and culture of the Roma. The commission, presided upon by Neagu Djuvara, recommended the creation of a museum of the Roma, a research center, a Roma slavery commemoration day and the building of a memorial dedicated to Roma slavery.