The Development of Higher Education and Elite Formation in the Romanian Space: From the Romanian Principalities to Greater Romania

This article examines the historical relationship between the development of higher education and the formation of elites in the Romanian space from the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The study aims to analyze the emergence of the modern university system in the Romanian Principalities and its subsequent expansion within Greater Romania, with particular attention to the universities of Iași, Bucharest, Cluj, and Cernăuți. Methodologically, the article adopts a historical-analytical approach based on official documents, archival sources, and specialized literature in order to investigate the institutional, political, and cultural dimensions of university development. The analysis shows that universities functioned not only as centers of instruction, but also as mechanisms of social selection, professional legitimization, cultural authority, and national integration. Special attention is given to the transformation of Cluj and Cernăuți from former imperial institutions into Romanian universities after the First World War, as well as to the effects of interwar reforms, political radicalization, and territorial disruption on university life. The study concludes that higher education played a fundamental role in the formation of modern elites in the Romanian space and that the evolution of universities must be understood within the broader processes of modernization, state-building, and identity formation.