Editing Vasile Alecsandri (section)

==Midlife==
===Political involvement===
In 1848, he became one of the leaders of the [[Moldavian Revolution of 1848|revolutionary movement based in Iași]]. He wrote a widely read poem urging the public to join the cause, "Către Români" (''To Romanians''), later renamed "Deșteptarea României" (''Romania's Awakening''). Together with Mihail Kogălniceanu and Costache Negri, he wrote a manifesto of the revolutionary movement in Moldavia, "Dorințele partidei naționale din Moldova" (''Wishes of the National Party of Moldavia'').

However, as revolution failed, he fled Moldavia through [[Transylvania]] and Austria, moving on to Paris, where he continued to write political poems.

===Literary achievements===
[[Image:Alecsandri and Ghica in Istanbul, 1855.jpeg|thumb|200px|[[Ion Ghica]] (seated) and Vasile Alecsandri, photographed in [[Istanbul]] (1855)]]

After two years, he returned to a triumphant staging of his new comedy, "Chirița în Iași". He toured the Moldavian countryside, collecting, reworking, and arranging a vast array of Romanian folklore, which he published in two installments, in 1852 and 1853. The poems included in these two enormously popular collections became the cornerstone of the emerging Romanian identity, especially the ballads "[[Miorița]]", "Toma Alimoș", "Mânăstirea Argeșului", and "Novac și Corbul." His volume of original poetry, "Doine și Lăcrămioare", further cemented his reputation.

Broadly revered in Romanian cultural circles, he oversaw the establishment of "[[România Literară]]", to which writers from both Moldavia and Wallachia contributed. He was one of the most vocal unionists, supporting the union the two Romanian provinces, Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1856, he published in Mihail Kogălniceanu's newspaper, Steaua Dunării, the poem "[[Hora Unirii]]", which became the anthem of the unification movement.

===New romantic interest===
The end of 1855 saw Alecsandri pursuing a new romantic interest, in spite of promises made to Elena Negri on her deathbed. At age 35, the now renowned poet and public figure fell in love with the young Paulina Lucasievici, the daughter of an innkeeper. The romance moved at a lightning pace: they moved in together to Alecsandri's estate at Mircești and, in 1857, their daughter Maria was born.

===Political fulfilment===
Alecsandri found satisfaction in the advancement of those political causes he had long championed. The two Romanian provinces united and he was appointed minister of External Affairs by [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza]]. He toured the West, pleading to some of his friends and acquaintances in Paris to acknowledge the newly formed nation and support its emergence in the turbulent [[Balkans|Balkan]] area.{{sfn|Gaster|1911|p=538}}