Ion Nistor (1876–1962) was a historian, political and public figure of Romania and Bukovina, a scholar, professor, and rector of Chernivtsi University, a member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, and the author of more than 300 scholarly works. His research addressed literature, education, art, and the culture of Bukovina.
During the First World War, he became a proponent of the theory of “historical right.” In a number of his works, he argued that Moldavian territory had never belonged to the Galician Principality, that the Ruthenian language had never been officially used in Moldavia, that Romanians were the only autochthonous population of Bukovina, and that Ukrainians in Bukovina were an invention of the Austrians after 1848. Romania employed this anti-Ukrainian theory in 1918–1919 at the Paris Peace Conference to justify the occupation of the Ukrainian part of Bukovina.
This academic study on the history of Bukovina from ancient times to 1918 includes research on the migration processes of Hutsuls and Ruthenians in the region, as well as a comparative ethnographic analysis of Ruthenians (Ukrainians) in relation to Romanians, based on the first population census conducted after the incorporation of Moldavia and Bukovina into the Austrian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). The study examines interethnic relations, highlights local conflicts, and explores the role of the Greek Catholic Church.
The book is in soft cover, with a dark blue cloth spine made and attached in artisanal conditions. It contains 227 pages and includes tables, as well as bibliographic, name, and geographical indexes.