Life
He was born in Cristineştii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine), northern Bessarabia, at the time part of Imperial Russia. His father was the writer Alexandru Hâjdeu, a descendent of the Hâjdău family of Moldavian boyars, with noted Polish connections. After studying law at the University of Kharkiv, he fought as a Russian hussar in the Crimean War. In 1858 he settled in Iaşi as a high school teacher and librarian. In 1865, Hasdeu published a monograph on Ioan Vodă the Terrible, renaming him for the first time cel Viteaz—"the Brave". The portrayal of this violent, short rule as a glorious moment (and of Ioan himself as a reformer) drew criticism from the Junimea society, a conflict which was to follow Hasdeu for the rest of his life. Still, Hasdeu's version of Ioan's character and his anti-boyar actions were to be reclaimed as a founding myth by Communist Romania.
In 1863, Hasdeu again moved his residence, from Iaşi to Bucharest; he began editing the satirical magazine Aghiuţă, which ceased publication the following year.
Read more about this topic: Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu
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