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capital of the county of Botoșani, Romania
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Botoșani (Romanian pronunciation: [botoˈʃanʲ] ⓘ) is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa.
The name of the city likely has its origin in the name of a boyar family called Botaș, whose name can be found in old records dating to the rule of Stephen the Great in the 15th century. Considered to be one of the most prosperous families in historical Moldavia, their lineage traces back to the 11th century.
Botoșani is first mentioned in 1439, in which one chronicle says that "the Mongols came and pillaged all the way to Botușani". In 1498, Moldavian voivode Stephen the Great defeated the Ottoman army of Sultan Bayezid II near Botușani. The town is then mentioned only during the conflicts between Moldavia and Poland: several battles were fought near the town, in 1500, 1505 and 1509. During the reign of Petru Rareș, the town was set ablaze by the Poles. Evidence indicates that the town had a hill fort during his reign.
In the 15th century, it was still not a fully-fledged town, but archeological evidence shows that it was a pre-urban settlement. During the second part of the 14th century, some Transylvanian colonists (most likely German or Hungarian) settled in Botoșani. Additionally, a large community of Armenian traders settled in the 14th or 15th centuries.
At the junction of several commercial roads including the "Moldavian Road", which linked Iași to Hotin, the city was initially a market town. By 1579 it already had "the biggest and the oldest fair of Moldavia".
Some of the most famous Romanian cultural representatives such as Mihai Eminescu, Romania's national poet, and Nicolae Iorga, the famous Romanian historian, were born in Botoșani. Contemporary poet Maria Baciu also hails from Botoșani.
It is also the location of A.T. Laurian National College, founded in 1859, one of Romania's oldest and most prestigious pre-university educational institutions.
Jews were present in Botoșani by the early 17th century, when the town's position on trade routes linking Moldavia with Poland, Bukovina and Bessarabia attracted Jewish merchants. The community subsequently grew through immigration from Galicia and Ukraine, becoming one of the largest and most important Jewish communities in Moldavia. In 1745, Moldavian prince John II Mavrocordatos granted the town's merchants, including Jews, the right to own houses, and in 1799 Alexander Ypsilantis granted the Jewish community the status of an autonomous corporation. By 1803, approximately 350 Jewish families were paying taxes in the town.
During the 19th century, Jews became an important part of Botoșani's commercial and artisanal life. A Jewish hospital was established in 1817, while secular Jewish schools for boys and girls opened in 1865 and 1896, respectively. The community also maintained numerous synagogues and prayer houses, charitable organizations and religious schools. By 1899, Botoșani had 16,817 Jewish inhabitants, comprising about 51% of the city's population. In the early 20th century, Jews constituted approximately three-quarters of the city's merchants and more than two-thirds of its registered artisans.
The community experienced recurrent antisemitism and official discrimination. During the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt, peasants entered Botoșani and looted Jewish homes, businesses, synagogues and schools; two Jews were killed and more than 1,600 Jewish families were affected. After World War I, Romanian Jews obtained citizenship rights, and Jews became active in municipal politics. The 1930 census recorded 11,840 Jews among Botoșani's 32,355 inhabitants. Jewish communal life included a hospital, schools, an old people's home, charitable societies and a library, while Zionism had a substantial following in the city.
Persecution intensified after the establishment of the National Legionary State in 1940. Jewish property was confiscated or looted, Jews were excluded from public schools and professions, and thousands of Jewish men were subjected to forced labour. Approximately 8,000 Jews from Botoșani were assigned to forced labour during the war, about half of them outside the city. In June 1941, Romanian authorities began holding prominent Jews as hostages and threatening reprisals in the event of Soviet attacks or alleged espionage. Jews were also required to wear the yellow star.
Botoșani became a place of refuge and forced resettlement for Jews expelled from smaller communities in northern Moldavia. Their arrival increased the city's Jewish population to 15,502 by 1942. The local community provided the displaced with accommodation, food and schooling. Romanian authorities deported 148 Jews from Botoșani to the Transnistria Governorate, including people accused of communist activity or other political offences. Unlike the Jewish populations of Bessarabia and Bukovina, however, the majority of Botoșani's Jews were not subjected to mass deportation to Transnistria.
As Soviet forces approached in April 1944, Romanian officials withdrew and deserters and armed groups began looting the city. The Jewish community assumed many municipal and administrative functions, established a civilian guard, maintained the public hospital and old people's home, and registered births and deaths. After Soviet troops entered Botoșani, representatives of the Jewish community formally handed over the city, and Jews were temporarily appointed to public offices in the absence of Romanian officials. The Soviet commander warned the new officials not to turn Botoșani into a "Jewish republic"; this brief episode later became known as the Botoșani Jewish Soviet Republic.
After the war, survivors, evacuees and refugees from Transnistria, Bessarabia and northern Bukovina settled in Botoșani. The Jewish population reached nearly 20,000 in 1945 and was recorded at 19,550 in 1947. Subsequent emigration, principally to Mandatory Palestine and later Israel, led to a rapid decline in the community. Approximately 200 Jews remained in Botoșani in 1990 and 92 in 2003.
Historically, Jews constituted a large proportion of Botoșani's population. They numbered 16,817, or about 51% of the population, in 1899; during World War II, the Jewish population rose to 15,502 in 1942 as Jews from surrounding communities were concentrated in the city.
As of 2011 census data, Botoșani has a population of 106,847, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census, making it the 19th largest city in Romania. The estimated population as of July 2018 was 120,535. The ethnic makeup was as follows:
Boasting a rich cultural life, the city of Botoșani has long produced major personalities in science and culture. Botoșani natives like Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Octav Onicescu have become major figures in diverse disciplines, and many have distinct claims to relevance not just within Romania, but on a worldwide level.
A series of historic churches built by the Lords of Moldavia :
Text from the Wikipedia article “Botoșani”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.