The origins of the University and the Faculty of Letters go back to the year 1581, when a Jesuit College was founded in Cluj. In line with the educational model of the time, the discipline of philologia was considered one of the liberal arts, serving as ancilla theologiae — a handmaiden of theology.
In the 17th century, the college became the Academia Claudiopolitana, later continued by Habsburg educational projects under Maria Theresa and Joseph II. In 1872, the Hungarian Franz Joseph University was established, and under the leadership of Hugo von Meltzl, the first department of comparative literature was developed.
After the unification of Transylvania with Romania, the Romanian “Dacia Superior” University was founded in 1919, with the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy as its pillar, led by Sextil Pușcariu. This period saw the emergence of essential chairs for the study of the Romanian language, literature, and dialectology.
During the interwar period, the Faculty diversified through specializations in classical and modern philology (English, French, German, etc.), as well as in Slavic and Hungarian studies—reflecting the cultural diversity of the region. After World War II, the Romanian “Victor Babeș” University and the Hungarian “János Bolyai” University were unified in 1958, forming the “Babeș-Bolyai” University.
The Faculty was then renamed the Faculty of Philology. After 1989, it returned to its traditional name—the Faculty of Letters—and entered a period of significant academic expansion.
After the Revolution, new specializations were established: Classical Studies, Theatre Studies (later becoming the Faculty of Theatre), Comparative Literature, Asian Languages and Literatures, Scandinavian Languages, and more. These reflect the Faculty’s openness to linguistic and cultural diversity.
Today, the Faculty of Letters offers programs in Romanian, Hungarian, and German, as well as in international languages such as English, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Ukrainian, and others. There are two doctoral schools, nationally and internationally recognized.
The Faculty is an active research hub, with its own institutes, academic publications, and international partnerships. Through its library network, teaching staff, and wide academic offering, the Faculty of Letters in Cluj is today one of the most important academic institutions in Romania.