The Romanian Social Classes in Three Years in Romania by James William Ozanne

The paper analyses the image of the social classes existing in Romania in the second half of the 19^th century as it emerges from the work of the English writer James William Ozanne, the first president of the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris, between 1882-1912. The Romanian society is seen through the eyes of a diplomat with a keen sense of observation, yet also subjective sometimes, who manages to create an accurate depiction of the society of a state which he did not consider to be among the first ranking ones. It is interesting to notice that he borrows “valuable information“ from other writers, especially Vaillant, Regnault and Obedenare, but, unlike other foreign travellers who wrote about the Romanians and their way of life, he is not ashamed to acknowledge this fact. J.W. Ozanne openly admits the fact that he liked the people among whom he had lived for three years, but his book is not a happy one. He did his duty of respecting the truth as much as possible, without entering into too many details, and the image of the social classes that he managed to create is one that enjoys the “right combination of light and shadows”.