Dimitrie Cantemir

I was born to Constantin Cantemir, raised from humble stock to the throne of Moldavia. Sent young to Istanbul as pledge and pupil, I learned more than patience. Latin, Greek, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic opened libraries and diwans. Among the court musicians I set down, with letters, the measures and modes I heard—makam and usul—so that music might be read, not merely remembered. My book gathered and notated many instrumental pieces, mine and others’, that might have perished with their players.

I wore the princely mantle twice: briefly in 1693, and again in 1710. The Porte held my country in suzerainty; I sought a lawful escape. At Lutsk I bound myself to Tsar Peter, pledging Moldavia to his campaign for our freedom. The Pruth in 1711 judged us harshly. Defeat carried me, my household, and my papers into Russian exile. Peter received me graciously, granted estates and the dignity of Russian prince; I served as his counselor in Moscow and later by the Neva.

Exile sharpened my pen. In Latin I composed the History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Court, an inquiry founded on sources I knew; the Berlin Academy elected me in 1714 and asked for an account of Moldavia, to which I answered with Descriptio Moldaviae. In Romanian I wrote the Divan între înțelept și lume and Istoria ieroglifică. I also noted that Moldavians, Wallachians, and Transylvanians call themselves români and share one tongue—plain testimony, not prophecy.