Vasile Stroescu illustrates an epoch and a spirit. The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was a period of unlimited confidence in culture and in the idea of national solidarity. Vasile Stroescu, born in an old noble family from Bessarabia (today the Republic of Moldova), owner of over 25,000 hectares of land, was one of the greatest Romanian philanthropists. In the period preceding the First World War, he provided approximately one million crowns in aid for the Romanian culture in Transylvania. Among the beneficiaries of the aid provided by Stroescu were also the Romanian students from Cluj and Budapest. The first book collection for the Romanian students from Cluj was achieved in 1912 with Stroescu's contribution. His action was considered by a newspaper of Cluj as "a historical gesture of today's Romanian consciousness.".