# How Romania learned to read

*Romania, 1899 – 1930 · Three censuses, one minister, the village school*

In 1899, out of 100 people over 7, *22 in 100* could read. In 1930, in the same counties, *56 in 100*. Below, the leap county by county, plus its story: one minister, two laws and the village school.

After the censuses of 1899, 1912 and 1930 · Published 19 September 2026

## The cartogram that fills in

In 1905, a Statistics clerk, D. Gomoiu, drew the map at the top of this page: every county colored by how many people could read and write. The map below continues his work two censuses later.

Pick a year or press Play. Colors show literates per 100 inhabitants aged 7 and over; the figures come from Table 33 (1905) and Table VII (1938).

- Argeș: 18.7 -> 36.6 -> 52.9
- Bacău: 17.6 -> 33.0 -> 52.4
- Baia (Suceava în 1899): 16.6 -> 46.3 -> 55.4
- Botoșani: 17.4 -> 35.3 -> 54.0
- Brăila: 36.8 -> 55.1 -> 69.0
- Buzău: 18.7 -> 36.7 -> 53.6
- Constanța: 23.8 -> 44.8 -> 63.2
- Covurlui: 34.2 -> 56.6 -> 69.7
- Dâmbovița: 17.7 -> 36.5 -> 53.1
- Dolj: 20.7 -> 33.3 -> 50.4
- Dorohoi: 13.5 -> 28.4 -> 47.5
- Fălciu: 19.6 -> 39.8 -> 57.5
- Gorj: 17.6 -> 33.3 -> 48.5
- Ialomița: 23.9 -> 43.4 -> 57.3
- Iași: 28.6 -> 47.6 -> 62.3
- Ilfov: 41.0 -> 54.8 -> 69.6
- Mehedinți: 18.1 -> 32.5 -> 48.4
- Muscel: 26.9 -> 44.1 -> 61.1
- Neamț: 21.0 -> 42.7 -> 61.0
- Olt: 12.6 -> 28.1 -> 44.4
- Prahova: 23.8 -> 40.9 -> 57.9
- Putna: 24.9 -> 43.3 -> 59.6
- Râmnicu Sărat: 22.3 -> 42.9 -> 61.1
- Roman: 17.2 -> 33.1 -> 54.6
- Romanați: 14.8 -> 32.4 -> 49.5
- Tecuci: 21.9 -> 39.0 -> 55.6
- Teleorman: 13.5 -> 29.6 -> 44.5
- Tulcea: 20.4 -> 45.7 -> 54.3
- Tutova: 23.7 -> 42.0 -> 57.4
- Vaslui: 14.4 -> 30.9 -> 50.3
- Vâlcea: 14.9 -> 36.5 -> 50.3
- Vlașca: 12.9 -> 24.7 -> 38.4

The 1930 county of Baia is the Suceava of 1899 and 1912. Caliacra and Durostor are missing: in 1899 they were in Bulgaria. County positions are approximate.

## I. The 1899 census

*1899 – 1905 · the photograph we start from*

- Can read (aged 7 and over): 22.0 in 100
- Men: 32.8 in 100
- Women: 10.9 in 100
- In villages: 15.2 in 100

In December 1899, the Kingdom counted its people for the second time in history. The final results came out in 1905, in a fat volume that called things by their name: out of 100 inhabitants aged 7 and over, 22 in 100 can read and write; the rest, 78 illiterates in 100, stand on the other side.

The gulf runs between village and town. In the villages, where the overwhelming multitude lives, barely 15.2 in 100 can read: a quarter of the men and 4.9 in 100 of the women. In the towns the scales sit nearly level: 60.9 in 100 of the men and 37.6 in 100 of the women.

The counties tell a story too. Ilfov, with the capital, reaches 41.0 in 100; next come Brăila with 36.8 and Covurlui with 34.2. At the tail, under 15 in 100: Vlașca, Olt, Teleorman, Dorohoi, Vaslui, Romanați and Vâlcea.

To show it at a glance, the volume printed cartogram no. 4: the map at the top of this page, every county colored, with circles splitting men from women. It is the first photograph of illiteracy, and the point our count starts from.

> La 100 locuitori de la țară de la 7 ani în sus nu întâlnim de cât 15 cari știu citi și scrie; în pătura adultă și matură procentul acesta scade la 12,8.
> – The 1899 census, analysis of results, 1905

**Meanwhile,** out of 1,000 recruits, 677 are illiterate, the last place in Europe: behind Serbia with 616 and Russia with 617; in Germany, 5, and in France, 47.

## II. Haret's laws

*1897 – 1910 · three mandates, two laws*

- Village classrooms, for 1898: 542
- Popular libraries, 25 November 1898: 320
- Trade schools, from 1 September 1901: 53
- Schools raised under Haret: 1,980 out of 2,343

On 31 March 1897, Spiru Haret, a mathematician aged 46, became Minister of Public Instruction and Cults. On 30 May he signed the standard plans for village schools and ruled: in 1898, 542 new classrooms go up in the countryside.

On 3 September 1897 came the compulsion circular: every child into school, with fines for parents who refused. Then school canteens (14 January 1898), popular libraries, 320 of them on 25 November 1898, and, on 4 March 1899, a headcount of school-age children in every village.

In Parliament, Haret passed two great laws. The secondary and higher education law, published 23 March 1898, made the 8-year liceu with three tracks and abolished the baccalaureate. The vocational education law passed the Chamber on 9 March 1899, and the decree was signed on 27 March, three days before the government fell.

Haret returned as minister on 14 February 1901 and a third time between 1907 and 1910. On 26 July 1901 he founded 53 trade schools, and the tally for 1897 – 1910 shows 2,343 schools raised across the country, 1,980 of them while he was minister.

> în anii 1897 – 1899 s-au construit mai multe localuri de școală decât se prevăzuse, iar numărul elevilor înscriși și frecvenți l-a depășit, de asemenea, pe cel scontat
> – N. Adăniloaie, History of primary education, via M. Andreescu (in Romanian: more school buildings than planned went up, and enrolled and attending pupils beat expectations too)

**Meanwhile,** village grooms able to sign the registers doubled within a generation: from 16 percent between 1881 – 85 to 32 in 1897.

## III. The village school

*1898 – 1912 · the unit of measure*

- Rural schools at the end of 1901: 3,653 with 4,593 teachers
- Village graduates: 9,118 in 1897/98, then 12,847 in 1901/02
- Village boys 7 – 15 who can read: 36.2 in 100
- Village girls 7 – 15 who can read: 8.2 in 100

The unit of the reform is the village school: one room, one teacher, one garden. At the end of 1901, 3,653 rural schools run with 4,593 teachers, and graduates rise from 9,118 in 1897/98 to 12,847 in 1901/02.

Haret dressed the school in many small things: canteens for faraway children, 24 January as a school holiday, oină games, with the first contest on 10 May, and teachers sent after hours to enlighten the village, side by side with the priests. For grown-ups there remained the adult schools and the army schools.

The first class book is called the Abecedar. The “new method of writing and reading”, by Creangă and his fellow teachers, had been approved by the Ministry on 11 September 1868; whole generations learned their syllables from it: han, ham, hop, hap, then whole sentences.

Results show first in children: among village boys aged 7 – 15, 36.2 in 100 can read. For girls, though, the hard part is just beginning: 8.2 in 100.

> ah! un hoț din han. / am un ban bun. nu am bot. / bat bob. boc! boc!
> – Abecedar (Creangă and others), 1868, the lesson of the letters h and b (in Romanian: ah! a thief from the inn. / I have a good coin. I have no snout.)

**Meanwhile,** in Oltenia, barely 5.6 in 100 women can read; 94.4 in 100 are illiterate, the grimmest figure in the country.

## IV. The 1930 census

*1912 – 1938 · the final reckoning*

- Old Kingdom, 1899 to 1930: 22.0 to 56.1 in 100
- Greater Romania, 1930: 57.1 in 100
- Biggest leap (Roman): from 33.1 to 54.6 (+21.5)
- Smallest leap (Tulcea): from 45.7 to 54.3 (+8.6)

On 19 December 1912 the Kingdom counted itself again; on 29 December 1930 Greater Romania did the same. Volume III, “Știința de carte”, came out in 1938 under Sabin Manuilă and set the counties face to face: in the Old Kingdom, from 22.0 to 56.1 in 100.

Covurlui leads with 69.7, Ilfov with 69.6 and Brăila with 69.0; at the bottom, Vlașca barely touches 38.4, while Olt and Teleorman pass just over 44. The biggest leap belongs to Roman: from 33.1 to 54.6, that is +21.5.

Women catch up slowly. In Gorj, 72.8 in 100 men can read, but only 28.3 in 100 women; in Vlașca, literate women are 19.3 in 100. And of all the country's literates, 85.1 in 100 have primary school only.

The decade-by-decade tally says the Old Kingdom gained 9.3 per 100 per decade, mostly, says the volume, in the 10 years before the world war. That is exactly the years of Haret's schools.

> Femeile din sate constituesc peste 40% din totalul populației țării dela 7 ani în sus. Și acest număr considerabil de femei dă o proporție de abia 38.7% știutori de carte.
> – The 1930 census, vol. III, 1938

**Meanwhile,** the Banat reaches 72.0 literates in 100, and Bessarabia 38.2: two Romanias in one country.

## Pass the 1912 exam

Six questions from the pages of the 1868 Abecedar, the first class book, approved by the Ministry on 11 September 1868. The 1912 exam papers we do not have; the book they learned from, we do.

1. **Syllables.** The teacher writes on the board: i-n. “Say them in turn, then read them at once.” What comes out? *“Spuneți pe rându: i-n și apoi le cetiți de-o-dată: in.” (Abecedar, 1868, lesson I)*
2. **The thief.** “ah! un hoț din han.” (Ah! a thief from the inn.) Where is the thief from? *“ah! un hoț din han.” The thief is from the inn, not the village. (Abecedar, 1868, p. 9)*
3. **The good coin.** “am un ban bun. nu am bot.” (I have a good coin. I have no snout.) What does the pupil lack? *“am un ban bun. nu am bot.” The pupil has the coin; the snout is missing. (Abecedar, 1868, p. 9)*
4. **The proverb.** “Cum te-i așterne, așa vei dormi.” (As you make your bed, so you sleep.) What does it mean? *“Cum te-i așterne, așa vei dormi.” The proverb is about the course of life, not sleep. (Abecedar, 1868)*
5. **The ant.** The grasshopper sang all summer and now begs for food. What does the ant answer? *“Ai cântat!... îmi pare bine, acum joacă dacă poți, iar la vară fă ca mine!” (You sang! Now dance if you can.) (Abecedar, 1868, “Grierul și furnica”)*
6. **The treasure.** A father tells his three sons a treasure is buried in the vineyard. Where do the boys dig? *“în vie este îngropată o comoară foarte scumpă”, and the treasure was work. (Abecedar, 1868, “Comoara”)*

## The figures

The whole reckoning at a glance: where we started, where we arrived, and with what.

- **22.0** – in 100 can read in 1899 (aged 7 and over)
- **56.1** – in 100 can read in 1930, in the same counties
- **57.1** – in 100 in Greater Romania, 1930
- **542** – village classrooms, ruled for 1898
- **320** – popular libraries at village schools, 25 November 1898
- **1,980** – schools raised while Haret was minister, out of 2,343
- **677** – illiterates per 1,000 recruits in 1900, the last place in Europe

## What they say and what the papers show

### Everything came from the state.

Not quite. Compulsion dates to Cuza's law of 25 November 1864: four grades, free, for boys and girls between 7 and 12. In Transylvania, the Transylvanian School had enlightened villages through the Church since the eighteenth century, and Haret himself worked with the priests: in March 1910 he asked them to cooperate with the teachers. In 1877/78 the villages had 68,756 pupils and the towns 28,472, against 545,000 in Belgium. The state built on old foundations.

### Haret invented compulsory school.

Compulsory it was on paper since 1864; Haret made it fact: the circular of 3 September 1897, fines for parents and, on 4 March 1899, the headcount of school-age children in every village.

### Girls did not go to school.

They did, but far less: in 1899, in the villages, out of 100 girls aged 7 – 15, 8.2 could read, against 36.2 boys. In 1930 women had reached 45.5 in 100 across the country, but in Vlașca 19.3.

### In 1930 everyone could read.

No: 57.1 in 100 in Greater Romania and 51.5 in the villages. And of those who could, 85.1 in 100 had primary school only. Bessarabia barely touched 38.2.

## Sources and method

We count literates per 100 inhabitants aged 7 and over, both sexes together. The 1899 figures come from Table 33 of the 1905 volume; the 1912 and 1930 ones from Table VII of the 1938 volume III, where the old column republishes the census of 19 December 1912.

The counties are the 32 of the Old Kingdom; the 1930 Baia is the 1899 and 1912 Suceava. Every figure was read off the scanned page, and the gains were recomputed: 1930 minus 1912, county by county.

### The 1899 census

- [The 1899 census, final results (1905): Table 33, literacy by county, and cartogram no. 4](https://archive.org/details/recensamantulgen00serv)
- [The 1899 census: Table 37, illiterates in Europe and among recruits (1900)](https://archive.org/details/recensamantulgen00serv)

### Haret's laws

- [M. Andreescu, Spiru Haret, politician and lawmaker (2012): mandates, circulars, the 1898 and 1899 laws](https://studii.crifst.ro/doc/2012/2012_4_05.pdf)
- [Spiru Haret (1851 – 1912): three mandates, 2,343 schools between 1897 – 1910](https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiru_Haret)
- [The public instruction law of 25 November 1864: free and compulsory primary school](https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/AUDJ/article/download/3647/3179/12328)

### The village school

- [Abecedar (Creangă and others), 1868, approved 11 September 1868: the exam pages](https://archive.org/details/creanga-i-abecedar)
- [The 1899 census: rural schools in 1901, graduates, children aged 7 – 15](https://archive.org/details/recensamantulgen00serv)

### The 1930 census

- [The 1930 census, vol. III, Literacy (1938): Tables VI – VIII, counties in 1930 against 1912](https://archive.org/details/recensamantul-romaniei-din-1930-vol.-3)
- [The 1912 census, of 19 December 1912: the old column of Table VII](https://www.philobiblon.ro/sites/default/files/public/imce/doc/2011-nr1/philobiblon_2011_16_1_03.pdf)

### The exam

- [Abecedar, 1868: lesson I, page 9, the proverbs, the grasshopper and the ant, the treasure](https://archive.org/details/creanga-i-abecedar)

### The map

- [Table 33 (1905) and Table VII (1938): the Old Kingdom counties in 1899, 1912 and 1930](https://archive.org/details/recensamantul-romaniei-din-1930-vol.-3)

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Map and text by [Marius Comper](https://mariuscomper.uk/en/) · https://mariuscomper.uk/haret/en/