Nichita Smochină

Nichita P. Smochină (Romanian pronunciation: [niˈkita smoˈkinə], Russian and Moldovan Cyrillic: Никита Смокинэ, Nikita Smokine; also known as M. Florin; March 14, 1894 – December 14, 1980) was a Transnistrian-born activist, scholar and political figure, especially noted for campaigning on behalf of ethnic Romanians in the Soviet Union. He was first active in the Russian Empire, serving with distinction in World War I, then in the Ukrainian People's Republic, where he earned his reputation as a champion of Transnistrian Romanian interests. An anti-communist, he narrowly escaped the Bolsheviks and crossed into Romania, which became his second home. A protégé of historian Nicolae Iorga, Smochină earned his academic credentials and also made himself known internationally as an expert on minority rights. Beginning in the 1920s, he contributed to historical research, ethnography and folkloristics, as well as jurisprudence.During most of World War II, Smochină backed the authoritarian regime of Ion Antonescu and paid service to Gheorghe Alexianu's Transnistria Governorate. His scientific work included a recovery of pre-Bolshevik or anti-Russian Romanian folklore in Transnistria and beyond. Such activities, along with his exposure of Soviet brutality, made him a wanted man once the communist regime took over in Romania. He was eventually captured, sent to prison and deprived of his academic honors. Partly reinstated by the late 1960s, he spent his final decades encouraging the second-generation communist authorities to take a firmer stand against controversial Soviet policies such as ""Moldovenism"".