# The Golaniad in University Square (22 April 1990)

URL: https://allhistories.com/romania/timeline/1990-the-golaniad-in-university-square
Location: Bucharest, Wallachia
Themes: Society

On 22 April 1990 students and opposition supporters began a permanent protest in University Square, Bucharest, against the National Salvation Front (FSN), which they accused of hijacking the revolution and harbouring former communist cadres. They demanded point 8 of the Timișoara Proclamation, barring ex-nomenklatura and Securitate officers from public office. When Ion Iliescu dismissed the protesters as golani ('hooligans'), they adopted the label proudly, declaring the square a 'neo-communism-free zone' and singing the 'Hymn of the Hooligans'. The occupation lasted for 52 days, surviving the May elections, until police cleared the square on 13 June 1990, which triggered the violence of the June Mineriad.

## Why it matters
The Golaniad was the first great civic protest of post-communist Romania and became a lasting symbol of anti-communist, pro-Western civil society.

Ruler at the Time: [Ion Iliescu](https://allhistories.com/romania/rulers/ion-iliescu)

Prime Minister of Romania: Petre Roman (National Salvation Front (FSN))

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Golaniad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golaniad)
- [Wikipedia — University Square, Bucharest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Square,_Bucharest)
- [Wikipedia — Post-Communist Romania (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania)