A Brief Journey through the Romanian Cultural Presence in Portugal. The Romanian Lectorate at the University of Lisbon

The present article briefly discusses the 80 years of Romanian presence in the Portuguese academic milieu. After a short historical contextualization under the umbrella of the Romanian – Portuguese diplomatic relationships, the activity of the Lectorate of Romanian at the University of Lisbon is integrated into the wider efforts made by the Romanian Language Institute in Bucharest to promote and teach Romanian in the world. It follows a succinct description of the activity developed by the Lectorate of Roamanian at the University of Lisbon from its initiation in 1943 until the present day: the arrival of Victor Buescu, the first lecturer of Romanian, in Portugal and his impressive scientific production and dedication to promote Romanian culture and language in Portugal even after he ceased to be the official lecturer of Romanian; the ups and downs of the Lectorate between 1946, the year in which it was discontinued, and 2005, when the Lectorate was reestablished under the coordination of the Romanian Language Institute in Bucharest; the activities that have been developed since then with the view to reigniting the interest for studying Romanian and to making Romanian culture better known and appreciated in Portugal.