The Union of the Romanian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia has been an ideal of the nation for centuries, expressed by its intellectuals and policy makers. Its fulfillment was rendered possible in the enlightened era of the nineteenth century, following the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the Peace of Paris. The Peace Treaty of 1856, involving Russia, the Ottoman Empire, France, Great Britain and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and then the Paris convention of 1858, enabled the Union of the

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... alities in 1859. In this context, the progressive Romanian intellectuals played an essential role in awakening the national consciousness of the masses called upon to vote, as well as in the elaboration of the strategy to be implemented, both internally and internationally. The Society of Physicians and Naturalists of the Principality of Moldavia (SPN), the first scientific society not only in the Romanian Principalities but also in Southeast Europe (1830), got involved in this national unification process, seen as a condition of emancipation, stability and European integration of their country. SPN was therefore not only the seat where Colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza was appointed as the sole candidate for the Reign of Moldavia on January 3rd , 1859, but also a nucleus of struggle for the Union. It is plausible that, due to the participation of some of the leading SPN members, ideological confrontations took place within this scientific forum and tactics were envisaged meant to achieve the Union of the Principalities through the victory of the Unionist Party. Ever since SPN remained linked to the memory of Cuza's election in Moldavia, and this constituted another fundamental contribution of this academic institution to the overall establishment of modern Romania. Immediately after the Union, in 1860 the Society of Physicians and Naturalists of the Principality of Moldavia became the Society of Physicians and Naturalists of Iași and kept on integrating both national and international personalities from the entire world.