Because I've noticed how heated the debate is over vandalized Confederate statues in the United States, I wondered how Romania reacted when it went through a similar process after the fall of communism - renaming streets.
So I wrote for Mindcraft Stories about some studies conducted in Romania about the changes of street names in our country and I discussed about them with a researcher from Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu - lecturer Mihai Stelian Rusu.
What I found interesting:
- one in ten streets has changed its name
- "23 August" was the most common name; among the names of personalities was "Lenin"
- there was only one Ceausescu street in Romania, but it was named after the dictator's father. Now it is called "Kindergarten Street".
- the greatest tensions were sparked by ethnic name changes
- there is no street in Bucharest named after a Hungarian or Roma personality
- only 5% of streets are named after women
The full article can be read here.
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