Details on the family's more distant origins remain uncertain: Iorga was widely reputed to be of partial Greek-Romanian descent ; the rumor, still credited by some commentators, was rejected by the historian.

Iorga also credited this earliest formative period with having shaped his lifelong views on Romanian language and local culture: " I learned Romanian [...] as it was spoken back in the day: plainly, beautifully and above all resolutely and colorfully, without the intrusions of newspapers and best-selling books ".

Iorga is sometimes credited as a tutor to Crown Prince Carol ( future King Carol II ), who reportedly attended the Vălenii school.

In the 1930s, Iorga's status in regulating the official historical narrative was challenged by Constantin C. Giurescu, P. P. Panaitescu and Gheorghe Brătianu, who wanted to return academic discourse back to the basic Junimist caveats, and were seen by Iorga as " denialists ".

Historian Nicolae Iorga associated the Roma people's arrival with the 1241 Mongol invasion of Europe and considered their slavery as a vestige of that era, the Romanians taking the Roma from the Mongols as slaves and preserving their status.

A student at Botoşani's Laurian gymnasium and high school after 1881, the young Iorga received top honors, and, beginning 1883, began tutoring some of his colleagues to increase his family's main revenue ( according to Iorga, a " miserable pension of pittance ").

Iorga managed to publish roughly as many new titles in 1914, the year when he received a Romanian Bene Merenti distinction, and inaugurated the international Institute of South-East European Studies or ISSEE ( founded through his efforts ), with a lecture on Albanian history.

In Bucharest, Iorga received as a gift from his admirers a new Bucharest home on Bonaparte Highway ( Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard ).

Also then, Iorga was appointed Aggregate Professor by the University of Paris, received the honor of having foreign scholars lecturing at the Vălenii de Munte school, and published a number of scientific works and essays, such as: Brève histoire des croissades (" A Short History of the Crusades "), Cărţi reprezentative din viaţa omenirii (" Books Significant for Mankind's Existence "), România pitorească (" Picturesque Romania ") and a volume of addresses to the Romanian American community.

However, the publicized death threats he received from the Iron Guard eventually prompted Iorga to retire from his university position.

The system relied instead on the new Constitution of 1938, the financial backing received from large business, and the winning over of several more or less traditional politicians, such as Nicolae Iorga and the Internal Affairs Minister Armand Călinescu ( see National Renaissance Front ).

He was also interested in philosophy — studying, among others, Socrates, Vasile Conta, and the Stoics Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, and read works of history — the two Romanian historians who influenced him from early on were Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu and Nicolae Iorga.

His move was contrasted by the group of left-nationalists from the Poporanist faction, who were allied to the National Liberals and, soon after, in open conflict with Iorga.

A peak in Nicolae Iorga's own nationalist campaigning occurred that year: profiting from a wave of Francophobia among young urbanites, Iorga boycotted the National Theater, punishing its staff for staging a play entirely in French, and disturbing public order.

The perception that Iorga was a xenophobe also drew condemnation from more moderate traditionalist circles, in particular the Viaţa Literară weekly.

The consequences hit Iorga in May 1909, when he was stopped from visiting Bukovina, officially branded a persona non grata, and expelled from Austrian soil ( in June, it was made illegal for Bukovinan schoolteachers to attend Iorga's lectures ).

The heightened sense of crisis prompted Iorga to issue appeals against defeatism and reissue Neamul Românesc from Iaşi, explaining: " I realized at once what moral use could come out of this for the thousands of discouraged and disillusioned people and against the traitors who were creeping up all over the place.

Receiving another honoris causa doctorate, from the University of Lyon, Iorga went through an episode of reconciliation with Tudor Arghezi, who addressed him public praise.

Iorga embarked on a longer journey during 1930: again lecturing in Paris during January, he left for Genoa and, from there, traveled to the United States, visiting some 20 cities, being greeted by the Romanian-American community and meeting with President Herbert Hoover.

Iorga became Romanian Premier in April 1931, upon the request of Carol II, who had returned from exile to replace his own son, Michael I.

Their agrarian union, the National Peasants ' Party ( PNŢ ), took distance from Carol's policies, whereas Iorga prioritized his " Carlist " monarchism.

Once confirmed on the throne, Carol experimented with technocracy, borrowing professionals from various political groups, and closely linking Iorga with Internal Affairs Minister Constantin Argetoianu.

Iorga survived the election of June, in which he led a National Union coalition, with support from his rivals, the National Liberals.

Iorga was troubled by the outbreak of World War II and saddened by the fall of France, events which formed the basis of his essay Amintiri din locurile tragediilor actuale (" Recollections from the Current Scenes of a Tragedy ").

A funeral speech was delivered by the exiled French historian Henri Focillon, from New York City, calling Iorga " one of those legendary personalities planted, for eternity, in the soil of a country and the history of human intelligence.

Gheorghe Brătianu later took over Iorga's position at the South-East Europe Institute and the Institute of World History ( known as Nicolae Iorga Institute from 1941 ).

In Stanomir's assessment, this last period of Iorga's activity also implied a move toward the main sources of traditional conservatism, bringing Iorga closer to the line of thought represented by Edmund Burke, Thomas Jefferson or Mihail Kogălniceanu, and away from that of Eminescu.

In 1901, when he helped prevent Jewish linguist Lazăr Şăineanu from obtaining an academic position, Iorga wrote that Jews had a " passion for high praise and multiple earnings "; three years later, in Sămănătorul, he argued that Iaşi was " polluted " by a " business-minded ", " pagan and hostile " community.

Romanian historian of culture Alexandru Zub finds that Iorga's is " surely the richest opus coming from the 20th century ", while Maria Todorova calls Iorga " Romania's greatest historian ", adding " at least in terms of the size of his opus and his influence both at home and abroad ".

The definition of history followed by Iorga was specified in his 1894 Despre concepţia actuală a istoriei şi geneza ei: " History is the systematic exposition, free from all unrelated purpose, of facts irrespective of their nature, methodically acquired, through which human activity manifested itself, irrespective of place and time.

Iorga cautioned about the emergence of states from a stateless society such as the proto-Romanian one: " The state is a late, very elevated, very delicate form that, under certain conditions, may be reached by a people.

The only one of his children to train in history, known for her work in reediting her father's books and her contribution as a sculptor, Liliana Iorga married fellow historian Dionisie Pippidi in 1943.

The moment aggravated the running personal rivalry between the PND founder and Iuliu Maniu, but Iorga had on his side Maniu's own brother, lawyer Cassiu Maniu, who rejected the PNR's regionalistic stance.

The rivalry between, on one side, Codreanu, and, on the other, Carol and moderate politician Nicolae Iorga ended in the former's imprisonment at Jilava and assassination at the hands of the Gendarmerie.

In 1923, even an old friend like Sextil Puşcariu could accuse Iorga of behaving like a " dictator ".

In old age, Iorga had also established his reputation as a memoirist: Orizonturile mele was described by Victor Iova as " a masterpiece of Romanian literature ".

A major point of contention between Panaitescu and Iorga referred to Michael the Brave's historical achievements: sacrilegious in the eyes of Iorga, Panaitescu placed in doubt Michael's claim to princely descent, and described him as mainly the political agent of boyar interests.

His father Nicu Iorga ( a practicing lawyer ) and mother Zulnia ( née Arghiropol ) belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Iorga and his new family had relocated several times, renting a home in Bucharest's Gara de Nord ( Buzeşti ) quarter.

Other controversial aspects were his alleged favoritism and nepotism: perceived as the central figure of an academic clique, Iorga helped Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică's family and Pârvan, promoted young historian Andrei Oţetea, and made his son in law Colonel Chirescu ( m. Florica Iorga in 1918 ) a Prefect of Storojineţ County.

Borrowing Maiorescu's theory about how Westernization had come to Romania as " forms without concept " ( meaning that some modern customs had been forced on top of local traditions ), Iorga likewise aimed it against the liberal establishment, but gave it a more radical expression.

Notably in this context, Iorga reserved praise for some who had supported the Central Powers ( Carol I, Virgil Arion, George Coşbuc, Dimitrie Onciul ), but also stated that actual collaboration with the enemy was unforgivable.

Several Romanian cities have " Nicolae Ioga " streets or boulevards: Bucharest ( also home of the Iorga High School and the Iorga Park ), Botoşani, Braşov, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, Iaşi, Oradea, Ploieşti, Sibiu, Timişoara, etc.

* Translations from Iorga, in Plural Magazine ( various issues ): " Advice at Dark " ( excerpt ), " History of the Romanians-Before Decebalus ", " Language as an Element of the Romanian Soul ", " Museums: What They Are and What They Must Be.

Nicolae Iorga replied by filing a complaint with the Military Tribunal ( as the new law required in cases of insult to a minister in office ), and by writing Codreanu a letter which advised him to " descend in conscience to find remorse " for " the amount of blood spilled over him ".

Eventually ( in May of the same year ), Iorga gave in to the demands and became a supporter of the regime.

* Nicolae Iorga ( 1871 – 1940 ), a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet, and playwright.

After a deadlock over these issues in Parliament, Averescu's group and the National Liberals began negotiation a new parliamentary majority ; advised by Nicolae Iorga, who was president of the Chamber, Mihalache handed in his resignation ( March 12, 1920 ), with the expectation that the land reform project was to be endorsed by parliamentary initiative.

In his Naţionalism sau democraţie (" Nationalism or Democracy ") series of articles for Sămănătorul magazine ( an ethno-nationalist organ published by Iorga ), the Transylvanian-based thinker Aurel Popovici, who criticized the elites of Austria – Hungary on grounds that they were serving Jewish interests, alleged that the impact of Adevărul and Dimineaţa carried the same risk for Romania.