Alex Drace-Francis
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alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis
@alexdrace.bsky.social
1.8K followers 930 following 1.5K posts

Cultural historian, modern Europe @uvahumanities.bsky.social. Books: The Making of Mămăligă (CEU Press); Networks, Narratives and Nations (Amsterdam UP). Amateur gardener.
https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/d/r/a.j.drace-francis/a.j.drace-francis.html .. more

Videos
Political science 47%
Sociology 22%
Posts Replies Media Videos

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 20h
My article "Obiceiurile de căsătorie ale țăranilor români" (1837): O lucrare necunoscută a lui Mihail Kogălniceanu și soarta ei ["The Marriage Customs of the Romanian Peasants": An unknown work by Mihail Kogălniceanu and its fate] now #OpenAccess (in RO, w EN+DE abstracts)
aiix.ro/tomul-lxii-2...
Tomul LXII, 2025 - Anuarul Institutului de Istorie „A. D. Xenopol”
STUDII ŞI ARTICOLE MEDIAEVALIA » SUZANA SIMON, ALEXANDRU SIMON, Doamna Clara și Papa Inocențiu al VI-lea în vara anului 1360: înainte și după apariția Mitropoliei …
aiix.ro

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 1d
Punchy tourism slogan
slovakia.travel/en
Travel to Slovakia Good Idea (logo of tourism website)

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 5d
Idem, Eine Hochzeit in der Wallachei [A wedding in Wallachia], also 1840s
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?...
Karl Lanzedelli, Eine Hochzeit in der Wallachei [A wedding in Wallachia], 1840s

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 5d
Karl Lanzedelly, Ein Jahrmarkt in der Wallachei [A Wallachian Fair], coloured lithograph, 1840s
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Un...
Karl Lanzedelly, Ein Jahrmarkt in der Wallachei [A Wallachian Fair],

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 6d
"A Railroad through the Wild East. Ottoman Dobrudja at the Dawn of the Capitalist Era" - Constantin Ardeleanu's new book. Love the cover and as someone familiar with the project I can say the contents will be great too...
humanitas.ro/humanitas/ca...
Constantin Ardeleanu, "A Railroad through the Wild East. Ottoman Dobrudja at the Dawn of the Capitalist Era" (book cover, Romanian)

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 11d
But if brevity is the aim, surely the poor answer is the good answer?

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 12d
Elena Hartulari, “Nefericita petrecere a vieţii mele [My Life’s Unhappy Course]” the first Romanian-language women’s autobiography, now in a critical edition by the fabulous Constanţa Vintilă – a must read!
humanitas.ro/humanitas/ca...
Elena Hartulari, “Nefericita petrecere a vieţii mele [My Life’s Unhappy Course]” - book cover of new critical edition

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 13d
Letters from Bucharest to Prague, 1840s: feel the texture

Reposted by Alex Drace‐Francis

purseigle.bsky.social
Pierre Purseigle @purseigle.bsky.social · 15d
Please sign to protest the closure of Modern Languages programmes at Nottingham.

Solidarity with affected colleagues and students in Modern Languages and other departments.
👇👇👇
c.org/xYPmDLcXBn
c.org

Reposted by Joanna Bourke, Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn , and 4 more

illuminations.bsky.social
Illuminations @illuminations.bsky.social · 18d
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)

I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.

www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 19d
📖 Proofs! The introduction is called "A World in Motion"
O lume în mişcare [A world in motion], introduction proofs

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 22d
Quantitative analysis - I hope there's no mis-stakes in the data...
royalhistsoc.org Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 22d
Historian Dénes Harai appeared on Radio 4's 'More or Less' this weekend to discuss findings from his recent article published in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Dénes's TRHS article, 'Counting the Stakes', is available here bit.ly/49hXy2n #Skystorians
BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, Halloween special: How many people did the real Dracula impale?
Looking at the math's behind the myth
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Alex Drace‐Francis

royalhistsoc.org
Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 22d
Historian Dénes Harai appeared on Radio 4's 'More or Less' this weekend to discuss findings from his recent article published in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Dénes's TRHS article, 'Counting the Stakes', is available here bit.ly/49hXy2n #Skystorians
BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, Halloween special: How many people did the real Dracula impale?
Looking at the math's behind the myth
www.bbc.co.uk

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 23d
"We had some seriously good turnips" - good to see the real reveal in this feature on Paul McCartney
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
"We put our backs into it, tilling the fields, and grew all sorts in our vegetable garden. We had some seriously good turnips." (Paul McCartney)

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 23d
J’ai faim / Am foamé
French-Romanian dialogue about asking for food. From “Annuaire de la Principauté de Valachie” (1842)

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 23d
Plan de Bucarest, 1842
Map of Bucharest, 1842 (published in Annuaire de la Principaute de Valachie)

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 24d
In Bucharest Strada Mecet commemorates the site of a former Turkish cemetery. So much for 'no Turks ever settled here'
Snippet of Bucharest (Google Maps) showing Strada Mecet (= 'cemetery' < Turkish)

Reposted by Alex Drace‐Francis

houseofbast777.bsky.social
Susan DuBose @houseofbast777.bsky.social · 24d
Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato
by Anny Gaul
Shows how Egyptians' embrace of the tomato & the emergence of Egypt's modern national identity were both driven by the modernization of the country's food system & driven by predominantly woman cooks.
#Booksky

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 24d
November #Saturday ##ilfautcultiver

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 25d
Such a great colleague - such a sad loss. But what a lovely gesture!
uclssees.bsky.social UCL SSEES @uclssees.bsky.social · 26d
Earlier this week, SSEES staff gathered for the unveiling of a portrait of our late colleague, Dr Philippa Hetherington. Philippa was a historian and much-loved colleague, teacher and friend. The portrait now stands as a tribute to her scholarship, warmth, and enduring presence at UCL SSEES.
Colleagues gathered around the portrait of our late colleague Dr Philippa Hetherington on 29 October 2025. The portrait was unveiled by Philippa's husband, Dr Alessandro Iandolo.

Reposted by Alex Drace‐Francis

gilibug.bsky.social
Gili Bar-Hillel @gilibug.bsky.social · 26d
There once was a king, Ozymandias
Who was known as a cruel, commanding ass
After centuries gone by
All that’s left of the guy
Are two legs in the sand, and they too shall pass
thatandromeda.bsky.social Andromeda Yelton @thatandromeda.bsky.social · 26d
my name is Oz
and wen the stone
is broke to bits
and all alone
i lie in sand
it stretches bare
you read my words
you pls despair
sirosenbaum.bsky.social sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 26d
Ozyman, Ozyman-
dias does what no mortal can
and his works? are they there?
no, but maybe still despair

Reposted by Alex Drace‐Francis

uclssees.bsky.social
UCL SSEES @uclssees.bsky.social · 26d
Earlier this week, SSEES staff gathered for the unveiling of a portrait of our late colleague, Dr Philippa Hetherington. Philippa was a historian and much-loved colleague, teacher and friend. The portrait now stands as a tribute to her scholarship, warmth, and enduring presence at UCL SSEES.
Colleagues gathered around the portrait of our late colleague Dr Philippa Hetherington on 29 October 2025. The portrait was unveiled by Philippa's husband, Dr Alessandro Iandolo.

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · Oct 19
Maybe it was some kind of pitch-in party where each ethnic group brought a different food - Avars the beef, Balts the fish, Thracians the porridge, Romance speakers the lettuce..

alexdrace.bsky.social
Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · Oct 19
Controversially, Curta argues that Slavic was not an ethnic language with deep roots but a koine formed in a specific conjuncture. This involved not only beef and porridge but also lettuce (ibid.)
In other words, before contact with Romance, speakers of Thracian must have adopted the Common Slavic koiné in order to communicate with speakers of Iranian to the east and of Balto-Slavic to the north. Judging from the sound changes in the word for lettuce in modern Slavic languages (a word borrowed from Romance), contact between the koiné and Romance was established ca. 600.