Dimitrie Cantemir was one of the greatest scholars of Romanian humanism. Born in the region of Moldova, in Silișteni, he distinguished himself in fields such as geography, ethnography, history, philosophy, linguistics, composed music and was a great encyclopedist.

 

His father Constantine and Dimitrie's older brother, Antiochus, were also rulers of Moldavia. Immediately after his father's death, the boyars and peasants demanded that Dimitrie be placed on the throne of Moldavia. He was installed on the throne, and after less than a month, in the absence of confirmation from the Ottomans at the Gate of Constantinople and with the influence of the ruler of the Romanian Country Constantin Brâncoveanu, Dimitrie Cantemir is replaced by Constantin Duca.

 

After this event, the young Cantemir lived in the Ottoman Empire as a hostage or envoy. In Istanbul he composes Turkish music and strengthens his relations with other great scholars of the time. Dimitrie Cantemir married Cassandra in Iasi in the spring of 1699 and had six children (Matthew, Constantine, Serban, Emerald, Mary - lady of honor and mistress of Peter the Great and Antiochus - who would be recognized as the father of Russian poetry. and the Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France). After his marriage to Cassandra, on the banks of the Bosphorus River, Cantemir builds a palace where he lived with his family. Today, this house is a memorial museum.

 

At the end of 1710, Cantemir returned to Iași to ascend the throne. The reforms it brings are largely about the taxes reducting them. He managed to remove from the domination of the church of Jerusalem three monasteries (Bistrita, Probota and Tazlau) and in April 1711 signed an alliance with Peter I of Russia on the coalition against the Ottoman Empire. This agreement would ensure the Cantemir family's hereditary right to the throne of Moldova and refuge in Moscow if the Gate continued to rule Moldova.

 

In the summer of 1711, Peter the Great arrived with great pomp in the capital of Moldavia, in Iasi. Ioan Neculce stipulates that "... the caimacamii, together with other boyars and older townspeople of honor and the metropolitan with all the clergy, all came out before him, outside Iasi, and nicely greeting them, they received him with all heart...". Peter and Dimitre Cantemir visit the monasteries of the Three Hierarchs, Golia and St. Nicolae Domnesc.

Dimitrie Cantemir and the Russian allies lost the battle with the Ottoman Empire in Stanilești in August 1711 and after only half a year as ruler of Moldavia he was forced to take refuge in Moscow. Peter I provides the Cantemir family and his relatives with estates and properties for a noble life in the Russian Empire. Two years later, his wife Casandra dies at the age of only 30.

 

Cantemir's scientific activity is developing a lot in Russia. He is recognized as a member of the Berlin Academy and they proposed him to write a book about the customs of his native places. Catemir accepted and in 1716 finished the book "Descriptio Moldaviae" which is a detailed description of the space, customs, political and educational system, religious system and cultural and social life of Moldavia.

 

Through his marriage to Anastasia, Cantemir becomes a Russian aristocrat, which facilitates his approach to Peter the Great. He became an adviser to the tsar and a member of the Senate, a position that allowed him to take part in important decisions on Russia's modernization reforms.

 

Dimitrie Cantemir died of diabetes in 1723 and was buried in Moscow. With the help of Nicolae Iorga, the remains of the great humanist were brought back to Iasi and reburied at the monastery of the Three Hierarchs.