AMINTIRILE UNUI BOIER VALAH DE PE VREMEA LUI IOAN VODĂ CARAGEA (1814–1817)

Dumitrache Merişescu, an artisan from Bucharest, travelled from Bucharest
to Constantinople in various guises. His memoirs narrated his experiences from day
to day. The present article explores firstly this young man’s initiation into both
amorous and commercial liaisons, and secondly, the manner in which he reinvents
himself in the course of his journey, adopting new clothes and learning new languages.
These memoirs, unpublished and hitherto unknown to historians, demonstrate how
a mobile identity is fashioned across the Balkan region, uniting people of the same
religion (Orthodox Christians), who find a common cultural language even if they
belong to different ethnic groups.