Figures from Romanian Culture

This section should be a large and endless one!

...oh boy, I just hope you won't find this to be too dense!!!

Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957)

Romanian sculptor whose works defined modern concepts of form in sculpture, painting and industrial design. His masterpieces include: the Infinite Column (Coloana Infinitului), the Kiss Gate (Poarta Sarutului) and the Table of Silence (Masa Tacerii). All of them can be visited in Targu Jiu (aprox. 350 km from Bucharest)

Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996)

He was the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic (1945-1952), Stockholm Radio Orchestra (1962-1972), Stuttgart Orchestra (1972-1977) and the Munich Philharmonic between 1979 and 1996.

Emil Cioran (1911-1995)

One of the most famous writers and philosophers of the last century.
Settled in Paris from 1937, he wrote his most important works in French:
On the edge of the despair, Tears and Saints and Exercices d’admiration (Admiration Exercices).

Mircea Eliade (1907-1986)

Writer and philosopher who imposed himself as an encyclopaedic spirit always seeking the true nature of the individual. At the age 21, he started out for India, where he studied Sanskrit, yoga and Indian philosophy . His phD was entitled: “Yoga: an essay on the origins of the Indian mysticism”, the first exhaustive study on yoga written by a Westerner.

Eugen Ionesco (1912-1994)
Father of the theatre of the absurd, a true innovator of dramatic techniques. His works render his vision on the individual’s struggle to survive in a society that isolates and alienates people. Some of his famous works are: The Lesson, The Chairs and The Rhinoceros.

Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)

Musician whom French composer Francis Poulenc called “an artist with a divine spirituality”. Known as a pianist of genius on an international scale, Lipatti earned the appreciation of the famous French pianist and conductor Alfred Cortot, who, in protest, resigned from the jury of an international competition that awarded Lipatti only second place.

Henri Coanda (1886-1972)
The Bucharest-born inventor of the jet plane. On the December 14th, 1910 he performed the first jet propelled flight in the world, with a plane he himself built, powered by a jet propulsion motor.

In 1934 he discovered the effect universally known today as “Coanda effect”, with practical applications in different areas.

George Enescu (1881-1955)
Composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and pedagogue, one of the most prominent musicians at the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. Enescu brought professional music to the level of universal musical values. Above you may listen his ROMANIAN RHAPSODY under Sergiu Celibidache's conduct.

Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889)
He is probably the best-known Romanian poet. Nicolae Iorga, the famous Romanian historian, considers Eminescu the godfather of the modern Romanian language. He is unanimously celebrated as the greatest and most representative Romanian poet.
His poems span a large range of themes, from nature and love to history and social commentary. His carefree early years were evoked in his later poetry with deep nostalgia.
Eminescu's work has been translated in over 60 languages. Famous poems include Luceafãrul (Morning star), Mai am un singur dor (The Boon that I Still Crave), Glossa, and the 5 Scrisori (Epistles).

- Difficult to translate due to his unique rhyme, rhythm and melody of the verses! -

Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907)
Romanian painter. Grigorescu's painting art, diverse as it was, from that of a young mural painter to that of an Impressionistic School cognizer, was always on the acme and reverberated in the 20th century, long after his death. Father of modern Romanian painting, with Andreescu and Luchian as successors, Grigorescu was the great master worshipped by new generations of artists, who, early this century, were striving to reveal the profound wealth of the Romanian soul.

Political System

According to the Constitution adopted in 1991, Romania is a parliamentary republic. Democratic rights and freedom are guaranteed by the Constitution.
Romania is a multi-political party state – many parties are currently registered, but only important ones are represented in the Parliament.

The President
The president of Romania is elected by direct, popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms. He or she represents the country in matters of foreign affairs and is the commander of the armed forces. According to the 1991 constitution, the president may not belong to any political party.
The actual president of Romania is Mr. Traian Basescu (since 12 December 2004).

The Executive Authority
The president appoints a prime minister to head the government. The prime minister is generally the leader of the party with the majority of seats in parliament. The prime minister is responsible for selecting a cabinet to help carry out the operations of government.
The actual prime minister of Romania is Mr. Calin Popescu Tariceanu (since 29 December 2004).

The Legislative Authority
Romania is a parliamentary republic with two chambers - The Senate and The Chamber of Deputies. Members of both houses of parliament are elected for four-year terms, according to a modified system of proportional representation. The ethnic minorities also have representation.

The Judiciary Authority
The Supreme Court is Romania's highest judicial authority. Its members are appointed by the president at the proposal of the Superior Council of Magistrates. In each of Romania's 40 counties and in the special district of Bucharest there is a county court and several lower courts, or courts of first instance. The country also has 15 circuits of appellate courts, in which appeals against sentences passed by local courts are heard; there is a right of appeal from the appellate courts to the Supreme Court. Romania has a Constitutional Court, charged with ensuring a balance of power among the organs of government. The procurator-general is the highest judicial official in Romania, and is responsible to the Parliament, which appoints him or her for a four-year term. The death penalty was abolished in December 1989 and is forbidden by the 1991 Constitution.

The National Day
The National Day of Romania or Union Day (Ziua Unirii) occurring on December 1, is the national holiday of Romania.
This holiday was set after the 1989 Romanian Revolution and it marks the 1918 unification of the Romanian Kingdom with Transylvania.

History

The continuity of human settlements in the territory of Romania goes back as far as the Paleolithic period. The diversity of its geographical conditions, its rich fauna and flora played a favorable role in assuring this continuity.

Before the period of Roma domination, various tribes populated present day Romania. The most important and famous ones were the Scythians and the Sarmatians, living in the south-east area, and the Geto-Dacians occupying the northern banks of the Danube and Transylvania. Herodotus mentioned the Geto- Dacians in his account of the expedition of Darius, the King of the Persians, against the Scythians. The Dacians succeeded in organizing a powerful state extending from Transylvania toward the Black Sea and the Danube River.

Their last king, Decebal, strongly resisted the invading Roman legions, but was defeated in 106 AD, when the Emperor Traian turned Dacia into a Roman Province. The Dacians in the northern part of Transylvania, who were free from Roman dominance, were a permanent menace to the north-eastern Roman Empire.

TRAIAN'S COLUMN from ROMA

Following the occupation, 165 years of intense Romanization of Dacia determined the Latinic character of the Romanian language. Christianity also entered Dacia during this time and consequently the basic religious vocabulary is of Latin origin.

The Romanian people are the descendants, through the millennia, of this mixed population of Roman colonists and Dacians.

For the next 1,000 years the Latinic character of the language survived the onslaught of the barbaric migrating people and has been preserved to this day. During all this time, Romanians lived continuously in the territories of Moldavia, Transylvania, the Northern side of Danube, and Dobrudja on the shores of the Black Sea, farming and raising livestock. Although there was no centralized government during this period, the Romanian people remained true to the Latin origins of their customs, religion and social laws, while maintaining a strong sense of unity throughout this tumultuous period of their history.

By the end of the 11th century, the Hungarian kings succeeded in conquering Transylvania by defeating the Romanian “Voievod” Gelu, Glad and Menumorut living in the northern and western part of Transylvania. “Voievod”, a title of Slavic origin, was given initially to military commanders and afterwards to governors of provinces.

In the 14th century Basarab founded the first Romanians state “Wallachia” bordered in the north and west by the Carpathians, to the south by the Danube and to the east by the Black Sea.

His son conquered other territories populated by Romanians north of the Danube Delta at that time controlled by the Tartars. This region became known as “Basarabia” after Basarab.

East of the Carpathians another Romanian state “Moldavia” was founded during the same period. The Moldavian Prince Bogdan “Voda” established its borders at the Dnister to the east and the Milcov to the south(two rivers), including Basarabia. However, the Romanian region between the Prut (another river) and Dnister remained known as Basarabia.

Throughout history the Romanians living in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania considered themselves brothers, spoke the same Romanian language, had the same religion, culture and customs and always fought to unite in a common state.

A Romania writer, Eusebiu Camilar, referred to Romania as “the gate of storm”. This name is well justified as the following will illustrate. First, Romania was like buffer squarely in the way of barbarian invasions from Asia, especially the Tartars. The Romanian Princes shouldered this burden keeping the invaders out of their own country, and at the same time protecting Western Europe and its culture. Second, Romania was for Europe the key to all exchange with the east. Third, with neighbors such as the Turks, the Austro-Hungarians and Russians all of whom were powerful empires at that time, the Romanians had to defend not only their borders, but also their national entity, religion and culture against being absorbed. Thus, until the unification in 1918, Romanian history was a continuous struggle for national unity and independence for all Romanians. When the expansion of the Turkish Empire and the roaming of the Tartars became a menace to Eastern and Central Europe, they were halted by Romanian princes such as Mircea the Old, Vlad the Impaler, Matei Basarab, Stefan the Great (described by Pope Sixtus IV as an “Athlete of Christ”), Petru Rares, Ioan the Terrible, who served as a buffer between these invaders and western Europe through more than 400 tumultuous years.

The first one to accomplish the centuries old dream of Romanian national unity was Mihai the Brave, who succeeded in uniting Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania in 1599. This state survived for less than one year, but it was burned into the national memory of all Romanians and they never again ceased to fight for unification. Though separated by political borders the Romanians kept their sense of unity, which is reflected in their customs and folk art.

In the quest to extend their spheres of influence, each of the three empires surrounding Romania attempted to conquer, or succeeded in conquering some region of the country. For long periods of time from the 16th to the 19th century, the Turks were kept at bay through payment of tribute which sapped the country’s wealth.

In 1775 Austria annexed Bucovina, the northern part of Moldavia, and in 1812, Russia took Basarabia. It was the policy of the occupying forces, to destroy the national spirit of their victims and to assimilate them. In spite of this, language, religion, culture and customs of the Romanians survived.

In the 19th century the great ideas and ideals of the 1848 French Revolution inspired the Romanian intellectual elite, which started to work toward unification. Literature and journalism reflected strong nationalistic feelings and the longing for national unity.

In 1859, the first two united were Moldavia and Wallachia and the country was named Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza being elected as ruler both in Moldavia and Wallachia at the same time.

In 1866 King Carol the First of Romania was crowned and a new era of economic and democratic development and stabilization began.

In 1877 Romania gained its independence from the Turks and in 1918 at the end of WWI the most treasured dream of all Romanians was accomplished. Transylvania, ancient Romanian territory was finally united with Romania.

Also, in 1918, Basarabia declared itself independent of Russia and united with Romania. The same year, Bucovina also came back to Romania.

However, during the WWII turmoil and due to machinations of the superpowers, Romania lost Transylvania to Hungary, and Basarabia to Soviet Union.

Through the peace agreements at the end of WWII, Transylvania was reincorporated into Romania, bur Basarabia and northern Bucovina remained part of the Soviet Union, as the Soviet Republic of Moldavia, suffering a fate similar to the Baltic States and other Soviet Republics.

From this time on, Romania was firmly within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, inside the area upon which the Iron Curtain came down. During the years that followed the communists took hold of and consolidated power and, in 1948, they forced the abdication of king Mihail of Romania, marking the beginning of the darkest and most shameful era of the Romanian's history.

The communist transformation of Romania’s political, economic, and social life was accomplished by the mid 1950s. During this time Romania was a satellite of Moscow. Many people were impresoned and died/killed due to different "reasons" whoever considered to be the slightest frighten to the regime!!!

An important dichotomy characterized Romanian politics under Ceausescu. On the one hand, its foreign policy evolved quite differently from ones practiced by the other communist states in the region. The tangible rewards of this phenomenon included membership in important international organization, Most Favored Nation trading status in the United States, and high level visits to Romania by Western Leaders. On the other hand, Ceausescu established an extremely centralized administration and o total dictatorship at home. He assigned top party and government position to members of his family, who were leading vulgar, ostentatious lifestyles, while the vast majority of the population lived in utter poverty. The pauperization process was so intense, that Romania became known as Europe’s Ethiophia, as opposed to the monarchy period, when its capital was referred to as Little Paris.

By the late 1980’s Bucharest’s blatant disregard for basic human rights and the gradual unmasking of Ceausescu’s unmitigated dictatorship led western powers to withhold concessions granted earlier.

Romania was the last of the six East European Warsaw Pact states to be shaken by revolutionary changes in late 1989. The collapse of Ceausescu’s regime, however, was far more precipitous and violent than the failure of communism elsewhere. The revolution swept away President Ceausescu. He and his wife, Elena, were executed following a hastily conducted trial by a military court - to which many of us disagreed, but who are we to understand different interests, at a much higher level?!

The violent revolution of 1989 proved that desire for democracy and freedom of the Romanian people was still alive after 45 years of dictatorship.

However, the regime which has emerged, retaining many key figures of the Ceausescu regime, doesn’t honor these aspirations. It has denounced and abolished communism (as they had no other choice!!!...), but its methods of government and treatment of political opposition are similar to those of the dictatorship it replaced. Attributes it has earned for itself, like: neo-communism and “new mask, old faces” are very meaningfully indeed. Reports of human rights violations were numerous, and members of the opposition parties were often harassed and abused.

Despite the repression and misinformation, the political parties which existed in the period between the two WWs, the National Liberal Party, the National Peasant Party and the Social Democratic Party have been re-established. Other political organizations formed in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution.

Many disappointments lead us to nowadays history when almost everybody watch astonished to the politicians fights for the "big bone" while proclaiming their huge concern for the people welfare?! -ye' ?!

Geography

Centered around the 45th parallel of the northern hemisphere and described either as a country of the Balkans, or as a southeastern European country, Romania offers a lot of geographical contrasts.

The Carpathian Mountains, covered with dense forests, enclose the Transylvanian Plateau in a wide arc, a distinctive feature, evident at first glance on any map of Romania. On the outside of this arc, the Moldavian Plateau stretches to the East and the Walachian Plain to the South.

The country covers an area of 91.669 square miles. It is comprised in almost equal proportions of plains, hills, plateaus and mountains.

Bordering countries are: Moldavia and the Ukraine, two former republics of the now defunct Soviet Union, to the East and North, Hungary to the North-West, Serbia of former Yugoslavia to the South-West and Bulgaria to the South. Romania also has 150 miles of coastline on the black Sea to the South-East.

The Carpathians, divided as Eastern, Southern and Western Carpathians, average 4,000 feet in height. Their composition offers a rich geological diversity of sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic rocks. The highest peaks are Moldoveanu and Negoiu (more than 8,300 feet) in the Fagaras Mountains, of the Southern Carpathians. The mountains are crossed by many rivers: the Olt, the Mures, the Prahova, the Bicaz, which create beautiful valleys and canyons, such as Turnu Rosu in the Olt valley and spectacular gorges like the Bicaz Gorge, in the Eastern Carpathians. There are also marvelous caves, the most famous being “Pestera Ursilor”. The mountains hold granite and basalt quarries, as well as lead, bauxite, iron ore, copper ore, gold and uranium mines.

Enclosed by the massive walls of the Carpathians, there are depressions, which played an important role in Romanian history. Romanians named them “countries” (the Oas Country, the Moti Country, the Olt Country, the Maramures Country) even though they have never had any political, social or administrative status.

The Subcarpathians form the transition between the Carpathians and the plains. The high hills offer good conditions for orchards, vineyards and hay-making. The soil is rich in coal, salt and oil.

Some of the Romanian plateaus, such as the Transylvanian Plateau, are in te center of the Carpathian arc, others, such as the Getic Plateau, the Moldavian Plateau, the Dobrudja Plateau are on the outside. They are generally covered with beech and oak forests, and vineyards on the gentler slopes. It is on these plateaus, where the famous Cotnari, Odobesti, Tarnave and Murfatlar vineyards are located.

The Romanian or Wallachian Plain is surrounded by the Carpathians to the West and North, by the Danube River to the South and by the Dobrudja Plateau and the Prut River to the East. It is the “bread-basket” of the country, formed mostly of layers of loess and alluvial soil. On the eastern part of this plain there are some sand dunes, salt lakes and the Baragan steppe, some of which was converted into arable land. The Western or Banat Plain in the West is smaller than Wallachian Plain.

Covering an area of 1,500 square miles the Danube Delta in the East of the country is a unique ecosystem in Europe. It is an extraordinary natural reservation consisting of marshes, sand banks and floating reed islands, crossed by hundreds of water channels.

Almost all major rivers of Romania flow into the Danube which is the largest river of the country and one of the largest in Europe. It forms the natural border to Serbia, Bulgaria and the Ukraine. It is an important water route for domestic and international ships. A powerful hydroelectric plant was built in 1972 at the Iron gates straits, where the Danube dug a narrow canyon across the Carpathians, to make its way toward the Black sea.

Other major rivers are the Olt, the Somes, the Mures, the Jiu, the Prut and the Siret, some of them being used for local transportation or logging. Most of the hydroelectric potential of the rivers is being utilized. Mineral springs with therapeutic properties have been long in use at Baile Herculane, Baile Felix, Tusnad, Vatra Dornei, Olanesti, Calimanesti, etc. Many health resorts were built in these areas.

Romania’s considerable diversity of fauna and flora derives from the complexity of the relief. One can distinguish the following three vegetation zones: alpine, forests and steppe.

The alpine zone begins at about 5,500 feet and consists of mountains pines, small bushes and shrubs scattered on mountain meadows. The fauna is represented here by the bearded vulture and the chamois.

Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), the knight of the mountines hights.

Romania’s forests cover more than 25% of the land. The coniferous forest is intermingled with birches and maples at lower altitude. The Transylvanian Plateau is covered with oak and beech trees. Large oak forests can also be found in Dobrudja, in the Western Plain, across the northern part of the Wallachian Plain and in southern Subcarpathians. Large numbers of deer, wolves, bears, lynxes, squirrels, hawks and owls roam these forests.

The steppe, although mostly cleared for agriculture, can still be found East of Bucharest and in the southern Dobrudja. It is the land of hares and bustards.

The Danube delta has a special vegetation of reeds and sedges and thousands of birds come here every year.

Romania’s climate is temperate-continental, with some local variations produced by the diversity of relief. The hottest months of the year are July and August, with the average temperature of 85° F and the coldest month is January with 25° F. The Carpathians affect the humidity and the winds causing weather modifications. The Mediterranean influence in Romania’s south-west and in southern Dobrudja results in mild winters and hot and dry summers.

(by now this is just theory as we experience extremes much over 104° F and below 5° F with sudden changes from could to warm and leading to lots of floods and other disasters!!!!)

Administratively Romania is divided into 42 counties (judete). Bucharest, the capital, is the most important political, economical and cultural center of the country. It is situated on the Dambovita River in the south-eastern part of the Wallachian Plain, and is surrounded by many natural lakes and forest. Other major cities are: Cluj, Timisoara, Jassy (Iasi), Constanta, Brasov, Sibiu, Arad, Oradea. There are several port cities such as Sulina, Galati, Giurgiu, and Orsova on the Danube, and Constanta on the Black Sea.

The population of Romania is approximately 23 million. Romanian-speaking people represent about 86% of the population. As ethnic minorities, Hungarian and Germans live mainly in Banat and Transylvania, Serbians in Banat, and Jews throughout Romania. The Gypsies form one of the largest ethnic groups. Some of them live a nomadic life, others are settled near large cities like Bucharest and Constanta. A limited number of Russians, Bulgarians and Turks live in Dobrudja, Ukrainians in Maramures and northern Moldavia.