Romanian superlatives

http://romanianmemory.blogspot.com/

2010-08-13T23:27:00.000+02:00

http://romanianmemory.blogspot.com/

H.M. King Michael of Romania- the monarch whose decision have shortened World War II by at least six months

2010-05-19T14:05:00.004+02:00

H.M. King Michael of Romania (born October 25, 1921) reigned as King of the Romanians (Romanian: Maiestatea Sa Mihai I Regele Românilor, literally "His Majesty Michael I King of the Romanians") from July 20, 1927 to June 8, 1930, and again from September 6, 1940, until forced to abdicate by the communists backed up by orders of Stalin to the Soviet armies of occupation on December 30, 1947.

He is also a Prince of Hohenzollern.

Married 10 June 1948 to Queen Anne of Romania

A great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria by both of his parents and a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, he is one of the last surviving heads of state from World War II, the others being Simeon II of Bulgaria and former King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

In 1944, World War II was going badly for the Axis powers, but the military dictator Prime Minister Marshal Ion Antonescu was still in control of Romania. As of August 1944, the Soviet conquest of Romania had become inevitable, being expected in a few months according to Encyclopedia Britannica. On August 23, 1944, Michael joined the pro-Allied politicians, a number of army officers, and armed communist-led civilians in staging a coup against Antonescu, whereas it was recognized in the late 1970s that King Michael ordered his arrest by the Royal Palace Guard. On the same night, the new Prime Minister, Lt. General Constantin Sănătescu—who was appointed by King Michael—gave custody of Antonescu to the communists (in spite of alleged instructions to the contrary by the King), who delivered him to the Soviets on September 1. In a radio broadcast to the Romanian nation and army, Michael issued a cease-fire just as the Red Army was penetrating the Moldavian front, proclaimed Romania's loyalty to the Allies, announced the acceptance of the armistice offered by Great Britain, the United States, and the USSR, and declared war on Germany. However, this did not avert a rapid Soviet occupation and capture of about 130,000 Romanian soldiers, who were transported to the Soviet Union where many perished in prison camps. Although the country's alliance with the Nazis was ended, the coup sped the Red Army's advance into Romania. The armistice was signed three weeks later on September 12, 1944, on terms the Soviets virtually dictated. Under the terms of the armistice, Romania recognized its defeat by the USSR and was placed under occupation of the Allied forces with the Soviets, as their representative, in control of media, communication, post, and civil administration behind the front. The coup effectively amounted to a "capitulation", an "unconditional" "surrender". It has been suggested that the coup may have shortened World War II by six months, thus saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Many historians believe that if Romania was not returning at the right time arms against the Nazis, end of World War II could be different, Hitler's laboratories preparing at that time for building nuclear bomb. Only a matter of time, probably a few months, prevented him to perform nuclear weapon.

King Michael was the last monarch behind the Iron Curtain to lose his throne. At the end of the war, King Michael was awarded the highest degree (Chief Commander) of the Legion of Merit by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. He was also decorated with the Soviet Order of Victory by Joseph Stalin "for the courageous act of the radical change in Romania's politics towards a break-up from Hitler's Germany and an alliance with the United Nations, at the moment when there was no clear sign yet of Germany's defeat," according to the official description of the decoration.

In March 1945, political pressures forced King Michael to appoint a pro-Soviet government dominated by the Romanian Communist Party. Under the communist régime King Michael functioned again as little more than a figurehead. Between August 1945 and January 1946, during what was later known as the "royal strike," King Michael tried unsuccessfully to oppose the first communist government led by the communist Prime Minister Petru Groza, by refusing to sign its decrees. In response to Soviet, British, and American pressures, King Michael eventually gave up his opposition to the communist government and stopped demanding its resignation.

In November, 1947 King Michael travelled to London for the wedding of his cousins, The Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and The Duke of Edinburgh, an occasion during which he met Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, who was to become his wife. According to unconfirmed claims by so-called Romanian 'royalists', King Michael did not want to return home, but certain Americans and Britons present at the wedding encouraged him to do so; Winston Churchill is said to have counseled Michael to return because "above all things, a King must be courageous." According to his own account, King Michael rejected any offers of asylum and decided to return to Romania, contrary to the confidential, strong advice of the British Ambassador to Romania.

However, on December 30, 1947, King Michael I was forced at gun point (by either Petru Groza or Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, depending on the source) to abdicate Romania's throne in his own Royal Palace which was surrounded by the Tudor Vladimirescu army units loyal to the communists. Later the same day, the communist-dominated government announced the 'permanent' abolition of the monarchy and its replacement by a People's Republic, broadcasting the King's pre-recorded radio proclamation of his own abdication

There are several accounts as to why King Michael abdicated. As recounted by Michael himself, the communist prime-minister Petru Groza had threatened him at gun point and blackmailed him that the government was to shoot 1,000 arrested students if King Michael didn't abdicate. In an interview with The New York Times from 2007, Michael recalls the events: “It was blackmail. They said, ‘If you don’t sign this immediately we are obliged’ — why obliged I don’t know — 'to kill more than 1,000 students' that they had in prison.” According to Time magazine,[1] the communist government threatened Michael that it would arrest thousands and steep the country in blood if he did not abdicate. In 1992, three years after the revolution which overthrew the Communist dictatorship, the Romanian government allowed Michael to return to his country for Easter celebrations, where he drew large crowds. In Bucharest over a million people turned out to see him. Michael's popularity alarmed the government of President Ion Iliescu so Michael was forbidden to visit Romania again for five years. In 1997, after Iliescu's defeat by Emil Constantinescu, the Romanian Government restored Michael's citizenship and again allowed him to visit the country. He now lives partly in Switzerland at Aubonne and partly in Romania, either at his Săvârşin castle in Arad county or in an official residence in Bucharest—the Elisabeta Palace—voted by the Romanian Parliament by a law concerning arrangements for former heads of state.

According to the succession provisions of the Romanian kingdom's last democratically approved monarchical constitution of 1923, upon the death of King Michael without sons, the claim to the Crown devolves once again upon the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family, (see "Line of succession to the Romanian throne").

However, on December 30, 2007, on the 60th anniversary of his abdication, King Michael signed the Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania, by which he designated Princess Margarita as heiress to the throne with the titles of "Crown Princess of Romania" and "Custodian of the Romanian Crown." On the same occasion, Michael also asked the Romanian Parliament that, should it consider restoring the monarchy, it should also abolish the salic law of succession.

Michael cannot be said to have encouraged monarchist agitation in Romania and royalist parties have made little impact in post-communist Romanian politics. He takes the view that the restoration of the monarchy in Romania can only result from a decision by the Romanian people. "If the people want me to come back, of course, I will come back," he said in 1990. "Romanians have had enough suffering imposed on them to have the right to be consulted on their future." King Michael's belief is that there is still a role for, and value to, the monarchy today: "We are trying to make people understand what the Romanian monarchy was, and what it can still do" (...for them). According to a 2007 opinion poll conducted at the request of the Romanian Royal House, only 14% of the Romanians would agree with the restoration of the monarchy. Another 2008 poll found that only 16% of Romanians are monarchists.

Michael has undertaken some quasi-diplomatic roles on behalf of post-communist Romania. In 1997 and 2002 he toured Western Europe, lobbying for Romania's admission into NATO and the European Union, and was received by heads of state and government officials.

Ştefan Lupaşcu

2010-05-02T18:44:00.002+02:00

LOGICAL AND ESTHETICAL EXPERIENCE WITH STEFAN LUPASCU
by Stefan Munteanu

Abstract. Stefan Lupascu is a French thinker of Romanian origin who tried to find a solution for the crisis of Epistemology by a new method of approaching philosophy to science. This article aimes at highlighting his original outlok. Starting from the belief that sub-stratum of existence is energy, characterized by interacting antagonist dynamism, Stefan Lupascu suggest that the dynamic logic of contradiction – which enlarges the possibility of understanding, including the artistic creation – should be accepted instead of classical logic.
Consequently, according to Lupascu’s logic, crisis is the perfect background for art. Therefore, art’s message is a traffic one. Comic is a degraded art and not a triumph of ethics over aesthetics. An artist’s ethics is that of the most intense contradiction, of the
ontologic efectiveness towards sufferance or joy.

Stefan Lupascu’s work (1900-1988) a French thinker of Romanian origin, is a complex philosophical system focused on the dynamic logic of contradiction. It is about a theoretical daresome creation meant to offer a solution to the epistemological contemporary crises, towards a new and original approach of the philosophy as a science. Further on Stefan Lupascu aims even an essential change of the human capacity to understand the reality. Having the new logic as a basis, without being classical, he places the whole explanation about the surrounding environment in other terms. The philosopher is convinced that the basis of existence is the energy characterised by antagonistic dynamisms, mutually balanced, and so the actualisation
of one implies the action of the other and the other-wayaround.
Through this dialectic, theorised under the name of antagonistic principle, the energy becomes systematised within the material. In other words the material is perceived as “energetic systematiser”. The idea is that depending on the stage of the balance of the
two energetic dynamisms (between symmetric and asymmetric), three private directions of the energetic systematise are identified, respective: a) physical material, having a tendency towards homogeneity and identification; b) the biological material, directed to
heterogeneity and diversity and c) psychic material, affectivity within which the two dynamisms stay balanced (an estate of an equal potentiality and actualisation between one and another). To better understand the three materials, dominated by specific causes, we need, in Stefan Lupascu’s opinion, three different logics, all of them
based upon the science of contradiction. And thus, after mankind searched thousands of years for order and peace within a logic of non-contradiction, Stefan Lupascu is
disposing the change of this structure, offering contradiction in order to save eternity. It is true that Stefan Lupascu does not reject the classical logic but he includes it into the dynamic logic of the contradiction. For him, the classical logic “does not apply but with
approximation to the macrophysical systems from which it is derived”.
The three types of energy as material systematisations are characterised not only through causes, respectively specific logic, but through conclusions, respectively different cybernetics. The central idea is that in the case of the antagonistic cause, inherent to each event, the cause determines not only an actualisation, an efficiency but also a potentiality, that is why a finality; thus parallel to the causal chain of
actualisations, there also exists a causal chain of potentialisations. And while the actualisations, or the efficient causes collapse in unconscious, the potentialisations or the teleological causes, make up the conscience. In the case of the human, because he is the centre of the three types of the material-energy, the antagonistic cause, viewed under the dimension of the three logics, creates three ethics or three energetic behaviours: the macrophysics ethics (of the mixed energy); the biological ethics (of the heterogenious energy) and the neuropsychic ethics (of the energy of equilibrium or of the “T”estate).
This means that for the understanding of the logic of the aesthetic, proposed by Stefan Lupascu, we must take into consideration the affectivity estate. The explanation comes from the fact that, apart from the three constituent phenomena of the three materials, that are sustaining each-other in a good relationship by being reported to something, the affection estates are to themselves sufficiently. And so without being relational, the affection does not become but it is an ontological existence, it is the extra-temporal and the extra-spatial embodiment, being both subject and object, but neither of them in fact. Affection invades all psychic, under the conditions that psychic is understood as a constitutive part of any substance existing in the world, a contradictorial energy which gives proportion. In this way, Stefan Lupascu writes that: “everything is a proportion, everything is a relationship of what existence means. In exchange, and this is extremely important and mysterious – everything that appears and disappears as affectivity estates, a certain pleasure, a certain pain, these are not balanced but to themselves: they are not in relationship, they simply exist and they are enough to themselves”. In this direction, to a great extent, the affectivity proves the existence of the three ethics. More over, starting from the affectivity one may explain the pathology estates of the neuropsychic, for example schizophrenia, neurotics or melancholia may be explained. And thus, the ethics, the one that must decide between “yes” or “no”, is a research of the contradiction. That is why, while becoming a science, ethics may be created without having its basis on affection. It is not the same with the aesthetics, where the affectivity is indispensable. Because affectivity is the engine, it is the springs for any crises estate, being just necessary there for the artistic experience. That is why, Stefan Lupascu thinks that: “ the logic of aesthetics must develop, must be turned around towards a contrary
direction of the logic of ethics; contrary to a rational or irrational, in other words, opposed to a process of contradiction” .
The esthetical experience implies contemplation and so, a desire to avoid action. This is the starting point of the process of knowing the knowledge. As an example, Stefan Lupascu says that drawing a reindeer means the perception of the conscience not of the
reindeer, but of the conscience of a reindeer. This is the resulting idea that any artistically event is a perception of knowledge, a conscience of the conscience. The idea is that the working of art must not be absolutely understood as being neither objective nor subjective. In other words the working of art is considered to be more esthetical “being lesser subjective and lesser objective at the same time, or, more precisely, simultaneously half-subjective and half-objective, meaning less unreal and less real or
further on, half real and, at the same time, half unreal. And this is in fact fiction” .
It is necessary, then, to overpass the current opinions concerning the understanding of “the concept” and recognising it as an essential synthesis of the psychic world. Because, in Stefan Lupascu’s opinion, inside the concept, we must discover not only an abstract scheme, but a concentration of all the perceived achievings having
as final target the human brains. The core of the concept must not be neglected for the sake of the exterior.
Because Stefan Lupascu says that the concept “is the essence, and it might be said, even the whole essence of psychic at the highest rate of its energetically existence”.
Such an aspect is the one of the artist, which is the house of “the conscience” and of the unconscious, respectively of “the understanding of the knowledge and unknown”. In other words the artist expresses a maximum estate of tension, emerging from the coexistence of the half-potentialising and half-actualising estate, together with their effects, too. Because the artist is a creator, “he must go down within the depths of the
soul, unless he wants to get, against his will, to the reproducer spying him all the time, temping him from all sides of the art phenomenon”.
The great pressure undertaken by the psyches upon man has its place within the idea, within the creative force of the concept. From images, the basically information and the extensive ones continue their way upwards towards the concept, in which they find themselves dialectically re-united, the homogeneity and the heterogeneity, and thus making a thing being identical and non-identical in the same time. It result the idea that the springs of the perception of the world, and of human conscience also, is the interaction between the practical effort of individual and reality. The fruit of this interaction is the creative imagination, specific to the psychic.
But Stefan Lupascu makes us aware of the fact that “there is no stronger phenomenon, more fertile and at the same time more dangerous, but that of the creative imagination specific to the psychic”.
It is true that, being in a continuous transformations, new dynamic phenomena appear constantly inside the physical material and inside the biological material. Different from physical and biological material, inside the physic material “the actualisations and potentialisations are stopped half-way of their path inside an equal antagonism and a contradiction that creates – once with the controlled field – a kind of liberty of what we might call the contradictorial determination”. We find out, thus, that creative imagination is “a world inhabited by dreams, but that they are different in many ways from the dreams of a simple sleep, a world of things and beings extremely light and changeable from a spatial and temporal point of view, within which the subject and the object relax,
making the unconscious and the conscience weaker within a mixture of subjectivity and objectivity of a thin texture, being fluid and gauzy, large and untouchable in present, past and future, promoting new horizons emerging within by themselves but which require mental efforts, a sustained attention being sufficient to themselves within an unstable and false polymorphism at the same time, as opposed to the classical logic”.
The liberty of spirit is the effect of mutual restraining of the systematically dynamism, waiting for the possibilities to be actualised and potentialised. Thus we may explain that the psychos is fragile and has the vocation to be responsible for the whole human activity.
This is the basis on which the logic of aesthetics rests, which “steps from non-contradictory to contradictory”. The aesthetics experience is defined by an escape from the action and contemplation, meaning putting an end to the development of one or another of the two antagonistically dimensions, throughout a contrary becoming. This estate means the starting point of the process of understanding the knowledge.
Even from this short presentation of the logical structure of art it may result some characteristics of the logic of the aesthetic fact. It results, first of all, the fact that the art is “a desire towards liberty (of indifference), towards unconditional”. It results, secondly, that the art has “a characteristic emptied of any interest”, meaning “an aimless finality” in Immanuel Kant’s opinion. Thirdly, it is about the characteristic of the aesthetic fact of being “a knot of possible ones”. Finally, a forth consequence of the logic of the aesthetics is that the history of art rests upon the becoming of knowledge.
Being the source of understanding the knowledge, “the art is less possible, the more the understanding is more developed”. Because, as it is known, in Stefan Lupascu’s
concept, the understanding fights against the understanding of knowledge.
Consequently, according to Stefan Lupascu’s logic, the estate of crises is the most adequate atmosphere for art. That is why the message of art is tragic, and the comic is deteriorated art, a triumph of the ethic upon the aesthetic. The artist is expected to wake up the affection.
This is a proof that the extremely logicallyformalised Stefan Lupascu’s philosophy, does not lose sight of man. And that is why, proposing an original concept, we think that this philosophy hardly starts its life.

Ştefan Lupaşcu

2010-05-02T18:44:00.000+02:00

Ştefan Lupaşcu, (fr. Stéphane Lupasco, n. 11 august 1900, Bucureşti, d. 7 octombrie 1988, Paris) este un filosof român de limbă franceză.

Viaţa şi cariera

Se naşte la 11 august 1900 în Bucureşti. Provine dintr-o familie de boieri moldoveni, tatăl său fiind politician şi avocat.

În 1916 ajunge în Franţa, unde va trăi până la sfârşitul zilelor sale. Studiază la Lycée Buffon, Paris. În 1920 îşi susţine bacalaureatul.

Între anii 1924-1927, studiază filosofia, biologia şi fizica (cu Louis de Broglie) la Sorbona, unde se şi licenţiază în 1928. În 1926 publică la Paris primul şi singurul său volum de poezii - Dehors....

Se căsătoreşte, la Paris, cu Georgette Ghica, în 1929.

În 1935 publică prima sa opera filosofică, teza de doctorat intitulată Du devenir logique et de l’affectivité, susţinută la Sorbona, sub conducerea lui Abel Rey. Teza este publicată în două volume: Le dualisme antagoniste et les exigences historiques de l'esprit şi Essai d'une nouvelle théorie de la connaissance. Publică, în acelaşi an, o teză complementară - La physique macroscopique et sa portée philosophique.

Se căsătoreşte a doua oară, cu Yvonne Bosc (1937).

În 1940 publică în România Experienţa microfizică şi gândirea umană, la Fundaţia Regală pentru Literatură şi Artă. Cartea este tradusă în ediţie franceză sub titlul L'expérience microphysique et la pensée humaine (P.U.F., Paris, 1941).

În 1944, în timpul celui de Al doilea Război Mondial, încearcă, fără succes, să îl scoată pe prietenul său, poetul Benjamin Fondane, din lagărul de concentrare de la Drancy. Poetul este însă deportat la Auschwitz, unde va muri executat în camera de gazare.

După război, în 1946, Ştefan Lupaşcu este numit cercetător la C.N.R.S. (Centre national de la Recherche Stientifique), la secţiunea epistemologie.

În 1947 îi apare volumul Logique et contradiction.

În 1951 publică Le principe d'antagonisme et la logique de l'énergie - Prolégomènes à une science de la contradiction. În paginile acestei cărţi îşi enunţă pentru prima dată principiul antagonismului, pe bazele căruia fundamentează o logică non-aristotelică (a terţului inclus).

În 1952, candidează, fără success, la Collège de France.

În 1953 primeşte titlul de Ofiţer al Academiei Naţionale de Educaţie.

În 1960 apare Les trois matières, carte prin intermediul căreia Lupaşcu se face cunoscut şi apreciat pe plan internaţional. Începe procesul de traducere a operei sale în diferite limbi (spaniolă, germană, italiană, portugheză, română). Acestei cărţi îi urmează: L'énergie et la matière vivante (1962); Science et art abstrait ( 1963); La tragédie de l'énergie (1970); Qu'est-ce qu'une structure ? (1971); Du rêve, de la mathématique et de la mort (1971); L'énergie et la matière psychique (1974).

Opera sa a fost admirată de-a lungul timpului de către diferiţi oameni de ştiinţă, filosofi, poeţi, pictori, teologi, printre care se numără: Bernard d'Espagnat, Basarab Nicolescu,Edgar Morin, Gilbert Durand, Georges Mathieu, Salvador Dali, Michel Camus, Thierry Magnin etc.

În 1976, i se gravează o medalie de către James Guitet (Club Français de la Médaille), pe o faţă aflându-se efigia lui Ştefan Lupaşcu, iar pe cealaltă faţă formulele fundamentale ale logicii terţului inclus.

Îi apar Psychisme et sociologie (1978) şi L'univers psychique (1979).

În 1984 primeşte premiul Academiei Americane de Arte şi Ştiinţe.

În 1986 publică ultima sa carte, L'homme et ses trois éthiques, în colaborare cu Solange de Mailly-Nesle şi Basarab Nicolescu.

În 1987 devine membru fondator al Centre International de Recherches et Études Transdisciplinaires (C.I.R.E.T.).

Moare la 7 octombrie 1988.
Activitatea jurnalistică

În timpul vieţii a fost redactor la revista "Revue philosophique", Paris; membru al comitetului de redacţie al revistei Ring des Arts (Cercul de Artă Contemporană, Zürich), apoi membru consiliului de redacţie al revistei "3e Millénaire".

Opera

Lucrări publicate

Dehors…, poezii (Stock, Paris, 1926)

Du devenir logique et de l’affectivité, teză de doctorat în 2 volume: vol. I - Le dualisme antagoniste et les exigences historiques de l'esprit, vol. II - Essai d'une nouvelle théorie de la connaissance (Vrin, Paris, 1935)

La physique macroscopique et sa portée philosophique (Vrin, Paris, 1935)

Experienţa microfizică şi gândirea umană (Fundaţia Regală pentru Literatură şi Artă, 1940)

Logique et contradiction (P.U.F., Paris, 1947)

Le principe d'antagonisme et la logique de l'énergie - Prolégomènes à une science de la contradiction (Coll. "Actualités scientifiques et industrielles" , n° 1133, Paris, 1951)

Les trois matières (Julliard, Paris, 1960)

L'énergie et la matière vivante (Julliard, Paris, 1962)

Science et art abstrait (Julliard, Paris, 1963)

La tragédie de l'énergie (Casterman, Paris, 1970)

Qu'est-ce qu'une structure ? (Christian Bourgois, Paris, 1971)

Du rêve, de la mathématique et de la mort (Christian Bourgois, Paris, 1971)

L'énergie et la matière psychique (Julliard, Paris, 1974)

Psychisme et sociologie (Casterman, Paris, 1978)

L'univers psychique (Paris, Denoël-Gonthier, Coll. "Médiations", 1979)

La topologie énergétique (în Pensées hors du Rond, La Liberté de l’esprit. 12: 13-30. Paris, Hachette, 1986)

L'homme et ses trois éthiques, în colaborare cu Solange de Mailly-Nesle şi Basarab Nicolescu (Le Rocher, Coll. "L'esprit et la matière", Paris, 1986)

Concepţia filosofică

Fundamentele ştiinţifice ale discursului lupascian sunt: principiul al doilea al termodinamicii, teoria relativităţii, teorema lui Zermelo, unele aspecte teoretice ale mecanicii cuantice: cuanta de energie a lui Max Planck, descoperirea naturii corpuscular-ondulatorii a luminii (Einstein), principiul de nedeterminare (Werner Heisenberg), principiul complementarităţii (Niels Bohr), principiul de excluziune (Wolfgang Pauli), descoperirea spinului particulelor - J. Uhlenbeck şi S. Goudsmidt, descoperirea pozitronului (Paul Dirac) ş.a. Aceste descoperiri sunt grăitoare din punctul de vedere al substanţialităţii discursului lupascian, deoarece ele înfăţişează multitudinea de forme prin care devine vizibil dualismul experienţei microfizice, pe baza căruia se valorifică noua semnificaţie a conceptului de contradicţie.

Pe deplin conştient de faptul că, în lumina noilor descoperiri ştiinţifice, procesul cunoaşterii trebuie refondat din punct de vedere logic şi epistemologic, Lupaşcu lansează ipoteza unei validări şi valorizări a naturii contradicţiei, acordându-i acesteia rolul de factor euristic cu mare putere predictivă în domeniul cunoaşterii ştiinţifice. Iar acest lucru nu îl putea realiza decât dacă îşi asuma riscul de-a relaxa fundamentarea filosofică absolutistă a logicii aristotelice. În acest sens, edificiul teoretic lupascian poate fi considerat ca un răspuns la următoarea întrebare: “ce se va întâmpla dacă se neagă caracterul absolut al principiului non-contradicţiei, dacă se introduce contradicţia, o contradicţie ireductibilă în structura, funcţiile şi operaţiile înseşi ale logicii?”.

În viziunea tradiţională, contradicţia semnala o situaţie anormală în cadrul unei teorii, anomalie asociată cu un impediment în aflarea legilor exacte ale naturii şi care, în consecinţă, trebuia numaidecât să fie înlăturat. Lupaşcu se distinge net de această atitudine, valorizând contradicţia, din punct de vedere logic şi epistemologic, ca pe un dat intrinsec oricărei achizitii ştiinţifice şi ca pe un factor propulsor în progresul cunoaşterii. În limitele acestor consideraţii, logica revendicată de Lupaşcu este definită ca: “ştiinţa primă a dinamismelor contradictorii din orice experienţă”, ceea ce implică urmări notabile în problema cunoaşterii. Logica cunoaşterii sau experienţa ştiinţifică se constituie în urma unor observaţii capitale:

i) Operatorul şi operatul logice sunt actualizarea şi virtualizarea (potenţializarea) valorilor logice . Valorile logice sunt văzute prin prisma operaţiei de actualizare care afectează direct “operatul” sau valoarea potenţializată.

ii) Subiectul şi obiectul sunt produse funcţionale ale operaţiei logice . Noţiunile de subiect şi obiect nu preced şi nu condiţionează procesele de actualizare şi virtualizare, ci sunt derivate ale lor. Subiectivizarea rezultă din actualizare, în timp ce obiectivizarea rezultă din virtualizare. Ceea ce se subiectivizează actualizându-se, respectiv ceea ce se obiectivizează virtualizându-se sunt identitatea sau afirmaţia identificatoare ori diversitatea sau negaţia diversificatoare. Valorile logice au deci, proprietăţile constitutive ale actualizării, potenţializării, subiectivizării şi obiectivizării, subiectul şi obiectul dovedindu-se a fi funcţii ale operaţiilor.

iii) Cunoaşterea şi necunoaşterea, realul şi irealul sunt fenomene funcţionale ale operaţiei logice. Orice proces de cunoaştere al unui anumit obiect presupune dispariţia din conştiinţa subiectului cunoscător a cunoaşterii de sine: “Consacrat în întregime observaţiei cutărui eveniment [...], pe masură ce observaţia mă acaparează, dispar ca observator” în consecintă, în orice proces cognitiv există un subiect al necunoaşterii şi un obiect al cunoaşterii. Experienţa logică se caracterizează astfel prin intermediul a două tipuri de logică: cea subconştientă, activă, a actualizărilor şi subiectivizărilor, a subiectelor şi cea conştientă, pasivă, a virtualizărilor, a obiectivizărilor sau a obiectelor. În cadrul acestui demers, noţiunea de realitate semnifică obiectivitatea unui dat, iar cea de irealitate exprimă subiectivitatea sa.

Acestea sunt principalele idei care au anticipat metoda gnoseologică şi epistemologică edificată de Lupaşcu, menită să confirme valabilitatea unei abordări non-identitare şi contradictoriale asupra realităţii. Metoda pe care Lupaşcu şi-a întemeiat întreaga construcţie filosofică constă în formularea unui postulat şi a unui principiu pe baza cărora se fundamentează un limbaj axiomatizat, o logică ce nu mai ţine cont, cel puţin în aparenţă, de principiile logicii aristotelice. Logica lui Lupaşcu defineşte natura energiei şi comportă trei orientări principale valabile atât în cadrul elementelor cât şi în cele ale operaţiilor logice. Prin intermediul acestei logici, Lupaşcu îşi revendică dreptul de-a relativiza non-contradicţia afirmând că tertium non datur (excluderea terţului) trebuie să fie înlocuit cu tertium datur (includerea terţului).

Aşadar, în Principiul antagonismului şi logica energiei, postulatul logicii contradictoriului este enunţat astfel: “Oricărui fenomen, sau element, sau eveniment logic, ca şi judecăţii care îl gândeşte, propoziţiei care îl exprimă sau semnului care îl simbolizează: lui e, de exemplu, trebuie să-i fie asociat întotdeauna, structural şi funcţional, un antifenomen, sau antielement, sau antieveniment logic, şi deci o judecată, o propoziţie, un semn contradictoriu: non-e sau ē”. Aceste două elemente, e şi ē, au proprietatea de-a se actualiza şi potenţializa periodic astfel încât actualizarea unuia condiţionează indispensabil potenţializarea celuilalt. Se înlocuieşte astfel principiul de bază al logicii clasice cu postulatul logicii dinamice a contradictoriului.

Dacă p • non-p era expresia unei inconsistenţe în logica clasică, Lupaşcu nuanţează legile acestei logici prin intermediul conjuncţiilor contradicţionale de bază: eA ∙ ēP; ēA ∙ eP; eT ∙ ēT. În această expresie, A semnifică actualizarea, P potenţializarea iar T o stare nici actuală, nici potenţială - T ≡ ~A~P. Starea a treia justifică faptul că elementele e şi ē pentru-a trece din starea de actualizare în cea de potenţializare, sau invers, trebuie să se afle cu necesitate într-un stadiu în care nu sunt nici actuale, nici potenţiale faţă de elementele lor contradictorii. Prin urmare, nu există actualizare absolută sau potenţializare riguroasă a unui constituent în detrimentul celuilalt. Din postulatul logicii contradictoriului se deduc trei disjuncţii, trei dialectici, trei tipuri de silogisme ş.a.

Desfăşurarea acestor implicaţii este în chip necesar transfinită, dovada evidentă a acestui lucru fiind aceea că o implicaţie, indiferent dacă este afirmativă sau negativă, nu poate fi actualizată riguros, implicând la rândul ei o implicaţie contradictorie. Cu alte cuvinte, în demersul filosofic al lui Lupaşcu, relativismul epistemologic şi logico-ontic este garanţia succesiunii transfinite a logicului şi a realităţii. Observăm în tabelul deducţiilor că fiecare dintre cele trei implicaţii se divid în alte trei implicaţii mai complexe ş.a.m.d. Dintre toate acestea, trei prezintă o importanţă deosebită:

i) Prima implicaţie reprezintă o actualizare progresivă a implicaţiei pozitive şi o potenţializare treptată a implicaţiei negative;

ii) A doua, o actualizare ascendentă a implicaţiei negative şi o potenţializare direct proporţională a implicaţiei pozitive;

iii) A treia redă nici-actualizarea, nici-potenţializarea celor două implicaţii contradictorii.

Acestea sunt orto-deducţiile, operaţii definite ca succesiuni convergente de implicaţii ale implicaţiilor fundamentale. Orto-deducţia pozitivă sau identificatoare este ansamblul de implicaţii orientată asimptotic spre polul logic imposibil în care se actualizează infinit implicaţia pozitivă. Aceasta alcătuieşte structura teoriei fizice clasice, a cauzalităţii acesteia şi a experienţei matematice corespondente. Orto-deducţia negativă sau diversificatoare evidenţiază actualizarea implicaţiei negative şi potenţializarea celei pozitive, este operaţia inversă care semnalează faptul că excluziunea sau legătura negativă organizează structura logicului conform unei cauzalităţi a variantului, ori a iraţionalului . Această deducţie reprezintă osatura logicii vieţii, care face continuu recurs la apariţia diversităţii fenomenului vital, biologic. Orto-deducţia cuantică este descrisă de al treilea lanţ de implicaţii, aflate în starea T, într-un echilibru simetric care actualizează contradicţia. Aceasta are semnificaţia cauzalităţii dialectice şi sistematice care dă forma unei a treia materii, materia T, un tip de materie-sursă din care se generează celelalte două materii divergente, fizică şi biologică. Celelalte şase implicaţii de implicaţii reprezintă ceea ce Lupaşcu denumeşte para-deducţii . Acestea, spre deosebire de orto-deducţii, nu au o orientare spre un anumit pol - al actualizării, potenţializării, sau al stării T. Orto-deducţiile nu se pot lipsi de para-deducţii şi invers, şi unele şi celelalte sunt articulaţiile logicii contradictoriului.

Pe baza acestor consideraţii, Lupaşcu ne propune distingerea a trei tipuri de spaţio-temporalitate: unul orientat spre actualizarea identităţii şi potenţializarea diversităţii, altul invers, în care se actualizează diversitatea şi se potenţializează identitatea şi unul contradictorial, denumit şi spaţiul T sau spaţiul cuantic. Spaţiul şi timpul nu sunt deci, nici realităţi independente şi absolute, nici intuiţii a priori ale sensibilităţii, precum a susţinut Immanuel Kant, ci “creaţii continue ale fecundităţii deductive a contradictoriului sau a energiei”.

Principiul antagonismului şi logica implicată de acesta, ca şi exprimările şi formalizările echivalente ale principiului şi, nu în ultimul rând, consecinţele constituirii logicii contradictoriului au valoare de prolegomene la un discurs care aduce cu sine o noutate şi mai radicală: trionticitatea .

Miezul tare al discursului lupascian constă, aşadar, în ideea de trionticitate, consolidată pe baza delimitărilor anterioare. Teza conform căreia realitatea este structurată pe trei niveluri de materialitate a fost publicată în 1960, în eseul Cele trei materii, operă de maturitate filosofică care a impresionat foarte mulţi gânditori ai vremii, unul dintre ei considerându-l: “Discursul asupra metodei din timpurile noastre”.

Pentru-a demara proiectul unei viziuni triontice asupra lumii, Lupaşcu porneşte de la câteva premise fundamentale: materia este forma “unei sistematizări energetice dotată cu o anumită rezistenţă”, prin urmare orice obiect al cunoaşterii ni se prezintă ca un sistem sau ansamblu de evenimente energetice, orice sistem fiind rezultatul echilibrării variate dintre forţele antagoniste constituente. Legea sine qua non a oricărei sistematizări este deci aceea că aceasta nu poate fi posibilă fără luarea în calcul a conflictului său inerent, tocmai de aceea principiul esenţial al logicii energiei se numeşte principiul antagonismului. În acest registru conceptual, Lupaşcu reacţionează idiosincrasic la orice tip de monism: nu este posibilă existenţa vreunui sistem experimental simplu sau primar care să limiteze definitiv întreaga realitate, orice sistem este un sistem de sisteme care, la rândul lui, nu poate exista altfel decât în câmpul de manifestare al unor relaţii de antagonism. Complexitatea acestor relaţii formatoare este direct proporţională cu complexitatea sistemelor de sisteme luate în calcul. Examinarea acestor sisteme complexe, înfăţişează “trei orientări privilegiate” ale sistematizării energetice care organizează materia în trei tipuri de structuri. Sunt deci posibile: un sistem sau un sistem de sisteme cu antagonism simetric, al stării T şi alte două sisteme aflate în echilibru disimetric, inverse unul altuia, dominate de un anumit dinamism sau sistem în care relaţiile de antagonism sunt mai slabe, ceea ce le conferă acestora un aspect mai pronunţat de materialitate . Cele trei sistematizări posedă logici sau orientări logice proprii cu legi specifice fiecăreia, cu tipuri de metode conceptuale şi tehnice menite să ajute procesul cunoaşterii lor. Cele trei materii sunt deci: materia-energie (macro)fizică (corespunzătoare orto-deducţiei pozitive), materia-energie biologică (corespunzătoare orto-deducţiei negative), materia-energie cuantică (corespunzătoare orto-deducţiei cuantice) similară energiei psihice.

Menţionăm că acestor trei tipuri de materii le corespund trei tipuri de cauzalitate, trei tipuri de spaţio-temporalitate, trei tipuri de sisteme şi sistemogeneze, trei tipuri de structuri şi tot atâtea tipuri de dialectici.

Umanul este, în concepţia lui Lupaşcu, exponentul ontic al dialecticii T iar tripla sa structurare: fizică, biologică şi psihică îl singularizează în ansamblul lumii ca manifestare plenară a materiei - energie. Şi aici, polarizarea între cele trei constante: A, P, T, este criteriul de disociere dintre diferitele aspecte ale sale: psihismul, esteticul, eticul, religiosul.

Adăugăm faptul că nimic nu este exclus în filosofia lui Lupaşcu, nici măcar actul excluderii. Dincolo de toate acestea, este evident faptul că logica sa energetică este de fapt o ontologie sau o onto-logică atotcuprinzătoare în care se disociază trei dimensiuni ale dinamismului. Iar această construcţie teoretică, în ciuda delimitărilor explicite ale autorului, este cât se poate de consistentă şi de coerentă din punct de vedere logic, tocmai de aceea poate fi considerată o filosofie non-contradictorie a contradictoriului.

Concepte cheie

antagonism energetic

dinamism

terţ inclus'

tridialectică

trionticitate

Afilieri

În timpul vieţii

Membru al Societăţii Franceze de Filosofie
Membru al Grupului Francez de Istorici ai Ştiinţei
Membru al Societăţii Franceze de Estetică
Membru de onoare al Academiei Americane de Ştiinte şi Arte
Membru fondator al Centrului Internaţional de Cercetări şi Studii Transdisciplinare (C.I.R.E.T.)

Post mortem

În 1991 a fost ales membru post-mortem al Academiei Române.

Citate din opera lui Ştefan Lupaşcu

“Cine stăpâneşte contradicţia [...], stăpâneşte lumea.”
Ştefan Lupaşcu, Tragedia energiei

Nu materia conţine o dialectică [...], ci dialectica este cea care creează materia.“ ”
—Ştefan Lupaşcu, Logica dinamică a contradictoriului

“Dacă există energie, există antagonism, contradicţie şi sistem.” ”
—Ştefan Lupaşcu, Cele trei materii

"Totul este legat în lume [...], bineînţeles, dacă lumea e logică." ”
—Ştefan Lupaşcu, Principiul antagonismului şi logica energiei

Opinii despre Ştefan Lupaşcu

"Lupaşcu este cel mai mare gânditor al secolului al XX-lea şi lasă cu mult în urma lui pe de-alde Sartre, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty şi alţi succesori ai fenomenologiei, ori ai structuralismului."
—Georges Mathieu

"Reconcilierea ştiinţei şi a filosofiei, [...] nevoia de a dota ştiinţa cu o teorie capabilă să îmbrăţiseze fenomenele înregistrate – nu există un contemporan care să i se fi dăruit cu mai multă pasiune decât Ştefan Lupaşcu." ”
—Alain Bosquet, Stéphane Lupasco et les trois matières

"Metodologia sa [a lui Ştefan Lupaşcu] de gândire şi interpretare a lumii îşi propune să abordeze epistemologic aproape toate domeniile realităţii şi cunoaşterii umane." ”
—Vasile Sporici, Postfaţă la Logica dinamică a contradictoriului

"Într-o lume în care filosofia se face cu istoria filosofiei, adică prin autofecundaţie, mergând până la autodevorare (Heidegger), [...], el (Ştefan Lupaşcu) aduce prospeţimea şi ingenuitatea unui principiu pe care nu l-a scos din istoria filosofiei, nici din ştiinţe, dar pe care îl rabate asupra amândurora."
Constantin Noica, Cuvânt înainte la Logica dinamică a contradictoriului

Lucian Blaga

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Lucian Blaga was a commanding personality of the Romanian culture of the inter-bellum period. He was a philosopher and writer acclaimed for his originality, a university professor and a diplomat. He was born on May 9, 1895 in Lancrăm, near Alba Iulia, Romania, into a family of priests. Although he could speak he did not speak any words until he was four, and he later described his early childhood as "under the sign of the incredible absence of word". In the poem "Self-Portrait" he describes himself : "Lucian Blaga is silent like a swan."

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His elementary education was in Sebeş (1902-1906), after which he attended the "Andrei Şaguna" school in Braşov (1906-1914), under the supervision of a relative, Iosif Blaga, who happened to be the author of the first Romanian treatise on the theory of drama. At the outbreak of the First World War, he began theological studies at Sibiu, where he graduated in 1917. From 1917 to 1920, he attended courses at the University of Vienna, where he studied philosophy and obtained his PhD.

Upon returning to the re-unified Romania, he contributed to the Romanian press in Transylvania, being the editor of the magazines Culture in Cluj and The Banat in Lugoj.

In 1926, he became involved in Romanian diplomacy, occupying successive posts at Romania's legations in Warsaw, Prague, Lisbon, Bern and Vienna. He was chosen member of the Romanian Academy in 1937. His acceptance speech was entitled Elogiul satului românesc (In Praise of the Romanian Village).

In 1939, he became professor of cultural philosophy at the University of Cluj, temporarily located in Sibiu in the years following the Second Vienna Award. In Sibiu he edited, beginning in 1943, the magazine Saeculum, which was published annually.

He was dismissed from his university professor chair in 1948 and he worked as librarian for the branch department (Cluj) of the History Institute of the Romanian Academy. Until 1960, he was allowed to publish only translations.

In 1956, he was nominated to the Nobel Prize for Literature on the proposal of Bazil Munteanu of France and Rosa del Conte of Italy, but it seems the idea was of Mircea Eliade. Still, the Romanian Communist government sent two emissaries to Sweden to protest the nomination, because Blaga was considered an idealist philosopher, and his poems were forbidden until 1962.

He died of cancer on May 6, 1961, and is buried in Lancrăm, Romania.

The University of Sibiu bears his name today.

Literature

Poetry

1919 - Poems of Light ( Poemele luminii );

1921 - The Prophet's Footsteps ( Paşii profetului );

1924 - In the Great Passage ( În marea trecere );

1929 - In Praise of Sleep ( Laudă somnului );

1933 - At the Watershed ( La cumpăna apelor ) ;

1938 - At the Courtyard of Yearning ( La curţile dorului ) ;

1943 - Unsuspected Steps ( Nebănuitele trepte );

1982 - 3 Posthumous Poems;

Drama

1921 - Zamolxis, A Pagan Mystery

1923 - Whirling Waters

1925 - Daria, The Deed, Resurrection

1927 - Manole the Craftsman ( Mesterul Manole )

1930 - The Children's Crusade

1934 - Avram Iancu

1944 - Noah's Ark

1964 - Anton Pann - published posthumously.

Philosophy

His philosophical work is grouped in three trilogies:

a cunoaşterii (knowledge) (1943)

a culturii (culture) (1944)

a valorilor (values) (1946).

His fourth, cosmologica (cosmology), remained in the project stage.

Philosophical works

1924 - "The Philosophy of Style"

1925 - "The Original Phenomenon" and "The Facets of a Century"

1931 - "The Dogmatic Aeon"

1933 - "Luciferian Knowledge"

1934 - "Transcendental Censorship"

1936 - "Horizon and Style" and "The Mioritic Space"

1937 - "The Genesis of Metaphor and the Meaning of Culture"

1939 - "Art and Value"

1940 - "The Divine Differentials"

1942 - "Religion and Spirit" and "Science and Creation"

1943 - The Trilogy of Knowledge (The Dogmatic Aeon, Luciferian Knowledge, Transcendent Censorship: in 1983 On Philosophical Cognition and Experiment and the Mathematical Spirit added by his daughter)

1944 - The Trilogy of Culture (Horizon and Style, The Mioritic Space, The Genesis of Metaphor and the Meaning of Culture)

1946 - The Trilogy of Values (Science and Creation, Magical Thinking and Religion, Art and Value)

1959 - Historical Existence

1966 - Romanian Thought in Transylvania in the 18th Century

1968 - Horizons and Stages

1969 - Experiment and the Mathematical Spirit

1972 - Sources (essays, lectures, articles)

1974 - On Philosophical Cognition

1977 - Philosophical Essays

1983 - The Cosmological Trilogy (The Divine Differentials, Anthropological Aspects, Historical Existence)

Other Works

1919 - Stones for My Temple, aphorisms

1945 - Discoblus, aphorisms

1965 - The Chronicle and Song of Ages, memoirs

1977 - The Élan of the Island, aphorisms

1990 - Charon's Ferry, novel

Lucian Blaga

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Lucian Blaga (n. 9 mai 1895 la Lancrăm, lângă Sebeş, judeţul Alba - d. 6 mai 1961 la Cluj) a fost un filozof, poet, dramaturg, traducător, jurnalist, profesor universitar şi diplomat român. Personalitate impunătoare şi polivalentă a culturii interbelice, Lucian Blaga a marcat perioada respectivă prin elemente de originalitate compatibile cu înscrierea sa în universalitate.

Primii ani

S-a născut la Lancrăm, lângă Alba Iulia, fiind al nouălea copil al unei familii de preoţi, fiul lui Isidor Blaga şi al Anei (n. Moga), de origine aromână. Copilăria i-a stat, după cum mărturiseşte el însuşi, "sub semnul unei fabuloase absenţe a cuvântului", viitorul poet – care se va autodefini mai târziu într-un vers celebru "Lucian Blaga e mut ca o lebădă" – neputând să vorbească până la vârsta de patru ani. Mama poetului, Ana Blaga, moare la Sibiu la vârsta de 74 de ani în 1933. În luna august 1949, fratele poetului, Login Blaga, moare în Sibiu.

Primele clase le-a făcut la Sebeş, la şcoala primară germană (1902-1906), după care a urmat Liceul "Andrei Şaguna" din Braşov (1906–1914), unde era profesor ruda sa, Iosif Blaga, autorul primului tratat românesc de teoria dramei. Încă de pe băncile liceului se va familiariza cu opera lui Friedrich Schiller.

Debutul

A debutat în ziarele arădene Tribuna, cu poezia Pe ţărm (1910), şi în Românul, cu studiul Reflecţii asupra intuiţiei lui Bergson (1914). După moartea tatălui, familia se mută la Sebeş în 1909. În anul 1911 călătoreşte în Italia, unde îşi petrece timpul în librării, căutând cărţi de filosofie, şi vizitând vestigiile istorice ale acestei ţări.

Studii

A urmat cursurile Facultăţii de Teologie din Sibiu şi Oradea în perioada 1914–1916, pe care le-a finalizat cu licenţă în 1917. A studiat filosofia şi biologia la Universitatea din Viena între anii 1916 şi 1920, obţinând titlul de doctor în filosofie. Aici a cunoscut-o pe Cornelia Brediceanu, cea care îi va deveni soţie. A revenit în ţară în ajunul Marii Uniri. În anul 1916, în timpul verii, Blaga vizitează Viena, unde descoperă Expresionismul.

Cariera literară

Activitatea publică şi academică

Imaginea lui Lucian Blaga pe o marcă poştală din Republica Moldova

Publică la Sibiu, în 1919, placheta de versuri Poemele luminii (reeditată în acelaşi an la Cartea Românească, în Bucureşti), precum şi culegerea de aforisme Pietre pentru templul meu. Prima sa dramă, Zamolxe, îi apare în ziarul Voinţa (1920), iar în volum în 1921, la Cluj, la Editura Institutului de Arte Grafice „Ardealul”. Academia Română îi decernează Premiul Adamachi pentru debut (1921). Universitatea din Cluj îi premiază piesa Zalmoxe (1922). I se tipăresc primele traduceri de poezie în limba germană în revista cernauţeană Die Brucke (1922) (Podul). În 1924-1925, locuieşte în Lugoj. A fost redactor la ziarele Voinţa şi Patria, membru in comitetul de direcţie al revistei Cultura, colaborator permanent la publicaţiile Gândirea, Adevărul literar şi artistic şi Cuvântul.

După Dictatul de la Viena, se află în refugiu la Sibiu, însoţind Universitatea din Cluj (1940–1946). Conferenţiază la Facultatea de Litere şi Filosofie din Cluj (1946–1948). Are un rol major în formarea tinerilor care fac parte din Cercul literar de la Sibiu şi o mare influenţă asupra lui Ion Desideriu Sârbu. Revenit în România reîntregită, s-a dăruit cauzei presei româneşti din Transilvania, fiind redactor la revistele Cultura din Cluj şi Banatul din Lugoj. A fost ales membru al Academiei Române în anul 1937. Discursul de recepţie şi l-a intitulat Elogiul satului românesc.

În anul 1939 a devenit profesor de filosofia culturii la Universitatea din Cluj, mutată temporar la Sibiu în anii ce au urmat dictatului de la Viena (1940–1944). La Sibiu redactează, începând cu 1943, revista Saeculum, care va apărea un an. A funcţionat ca profesor universitar până în 1948, când a fost îndepărtat cu brutalitate de la catedră. Motivul este de natură politică: se pare că Blaga a refuzat invitaţia de a conduce Partidul Naţional Popular, un satelit al Partidului Comunist. Împreună cu el au fost înlăturaţi şi conferenţiarul şi discipolul său, Ion Desideriu Sârbu, şi profesorii universitari Liviu Călin şi Nicolae Mărgineanu.

Activitatea diplomatică

În anul 1926 a intrat în diplomaţie, ocupând succesiv posturi de ataşat cultural la legaţiile ţării noastre din Varşovia, Praga, Lisabona, Berna şi Viena. A fost ataşat şi consilier de presă la Varşovia, Praga şi Berna (1926–1936), subsecretar de stat la Ministerul de Externe (1936–1938) şi ministru plenipotenţiar al României în Portugalia (1938–1939).

Luntrea lui Caron

Din 1948, fiind îndepărtat de la catedră, a lucrat în cadrul filialei din Cluj a Academiei Române ca bibliograf. Devine cercetător la Institutul de Istorie şi Filosofie (1949–1951). Apoi bibliotecar-şef (1951–1954) şi director-adjunct (1954–1959) la filiala clujeană a Bibliotecii Academiei. Nu îi mai sunt publicate volumele şi preferă să se ocupe de traduceri. În această perioadă a finalizat traducerea piesei Faust de Goethe, iar în 1958 apare primul volum din Opere de G.E. Lessing în traducerea lui Lucian Blaga. A tradus poeţi germani clasici şi moderni. Poeziile scrise acum vor fi publicate postum. Tot în această perioadă scrie romanul cu tentă autobiografică Luntrea lui Caron, publicat de asemenea postum. A trecut la cele veşnice pe 6 mai 1961, in Cluj. Lucian Blaga a fost înmormântat în ziua sa de naştere, 9 mai, în cimitirul din Lancrăm.

Propus pentru premiul Nobel

În anul 1956 Lucian Blaga a fost propus de Rosa del Conte şi de criticul Basil Munteanu, dar se pare că ideea a pornit chiar de la Mircea Eliade pentru a primi premiul Nobel pentru literatură. Cei doi nu locuiau în România, Rosa del Conte era autoarea unei cărţi despre Eminescu, iar Basil Munteanu locuia la Paris, unde se exilase din motive politice. Autorităţile comuniste nu au sprijinit în niciun fel aceste gesturi, pentru că Blaga era considerat un filosof idealist, iar poeziile lui au fost interzise până la ediţia din 1962 îngrijită de George Ivaşcu. Rosa del Conte a recunoscut că paternitatea ideii îi aparţine lui Mircea Eliade, cel care publicase la moartea lui Blaga, în 1961, un emoţionant necrolog intitulat Tăcerile lui Lucian Blaga.

Opera

Volume de versuri

1919 - Poemele luminii

1921 - Paşii profetului

1924 - În marea trecere

1929 - Lauda somnului

1933 - La cumpăna apelor

1938 - La curţile dorului

1942 - Poezii, ediţie definitivă

1943 - Nebănuitele trepte

Cicluri de versuri editate postum

Vârsta de fier 1940-1944

Cântecul focului

Corăbii cu cenuşă

Ce aude unicornul

Dramaturgie

1921 - Zamolxe, mister păgân

1923 - Tulburarea apelor, dramă

1925 - Daria, dramă în patru acte

1925 - Ivanca

1925 - Învierea, pantomimă în patru tablouri şi Fapta, joc dramatic

1927 - Meşterul Manole, dramă în cinci acte

1930 - Cruciada copiilor

1934 - Avram Iancu, dramă într-un prolog şi trei faze

1942 - Opera dramatică, 2 vol.

1944 - Arca lui Noe

1964 - Anton Pann, dramă într-un prolog şi patru faze (postumă)

Filosofie

Creaţia sa filosofică este grupată în trei trilogii:

1943 - Trilogia cunoaşterii în trei volume: Eonul dogmatic, Cunoaşterea luciferică, Cenzura transcendentă.

1944 - Trilogia culturii in trei volume: Orizont şi stil, Spaţiul mioritic, Geneza metaforei şi sensul culturii

1946 - Trilogia valorilor, Ştiinţă şi creaţie, Gândire magică şi religie, Artă şi valoare.

Cea de-a patra, Trilogia cosmologică, a rămas în stadiu de proiect. Din ea autorul a publicat un singur volum, Diferenţialele divine, primul din această ultimă trilogie.

Aforisme

1919 - Pietre pentru templul meu

1926 - Ferestre colorate, însemnări şi fragmente

1945 - Discobolul, aforisme şi însemnări

1977 - Elanul insulei, editată postum

Proza

Hronicul şi cântecul vârstelor, volum autobiografic, editat postum, 1965

Luntrea lui Caron, roman, editat postum, 1990, ediţia a II-a, 1998, ediţia a III-a, 2006

Volume de eseuri şi studii filosofice

1922 - Cultură şi cunoştinţă

1924 - Filosofia stilului

1925 - Fenomenul originar

1925 - Feţele unui veac

1926 - Daimonion

1931 - Eonul dogmatic

1933 - Cunoaşterea luciferică

1934 - Censura transcendentă

1934 - Orizont şi stil

1936 - Spaţiul mioritic

1936 - Elogiul satului românesc, discursul de recepţie la admiterea sa în Academia Română

1937 - Geneza metaforei şi sensul culturii

1939 - Artă şi valoare

1940 - Diferenţialele divine

1941 - Despre gândirea magică

1941 - Religie şi spirit

1942 - Ştiinţă şi creaţie

1947 - Despre conştiinţa filosofică

1948 - Aspecte antropologice

Eseuri publicate postum

1966 - Gândirea românească în Transilvania în secolul al XVIII-lea

1968 - Zări şi etape

1969 - Experimentul şi spiritul matematic

1972 - Isvoade

1977 - Fiinţa istorică

1977 - Încercări filosofice

Volume traduse în limba franceză

1988 - L'Eon dogmatique, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).

1989 - L'Éloge du village roumain, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).

1992 - L'Étoile la plus triste, (La Différence, trad. Sanda Stolojan).

1993 - L'Être historique, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Mariana-Georgeta Piscoci).

1993 - Les Différentielles divines, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).

1995 - Trilogie de la Connaissance, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).

1996 - Trilogie de la Culture, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).

Traduceri

J. W. Goethe, Faust, 1955

Din lirica universală, 1957

Din lirica engleză, 1958

Corespondenţă

Corespondenţă, 1989

Domniţa nebănuitelor trepte. Epistolar Lucian Blaga - Domniţa Gherghinescu-Vania (1941-1948), 1995

De amicitia: Lucian Blaga - Ion Breazu (corespondenţă), 1995

Corespondenţă de familie, 2000

Ediţii de referinţă

Opere, ediţie îngrijită de Dorli Blaga, vol. I-XII, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1974-1995

Opere, ediţie critică şi studiu introductiv de George Gană, vol. I-V, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1982-1993

Premii literare şi distincţii. Afilieri

1935 - Primeşte Premiul C. Hamagiu al Academiei Române pentru activitatea dramatică şi poetică din ultimii ani.

1936 - Este ales membru titular al Academiei Române.

1949 - Academia Română îi încredinţează redactarea a două capitole din Istoria filosofiei româneşti.

Carol Popp de Szathmary - the author of world's first war reportage

2010-04-19T11:10:00.000+02:00

Carol Popp de Szathmary ((November 1, 1812, Cluj - July 3, 1887, Bucharest), was a Romanian painter, graphic artist, lithographer, topographer and photographer, the first art photographer in the Kingdom of Romania and the author of world's first war reportage (Russian-Turkish Crimean War, 1853-1856).

Carol Popp de Szathmary was born in Cluj in 1812. He did studies school in Cluj, at the Reformed College. After obtaining the baccalaureate, he tried to enter the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire, but he failed and returned in his hometown, where studied law at the University of Cluj. After several years working as a clerk in the Transylvanian administration, Carol Popp gets hired at the imperial chancellery in Vienna. Passion for painting pushed it to make several trips through Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy. Going back in Transylvania, he painted a series of portraits of dignitaries of Transyvania's Dieta (parliament).

At the invitation of Prince George Bibescu - future ruler of Principality of Wallachia, he reaches Bucharest, where he made his the first daguerreotypes and published the volume "Transylvania in images", made with this technique. In 1847 he was the travel companion of great piano player Franz Liszt in his tournament by the Principality of Moldavia, Bukovina and Russia.

In 1853 made the first war photographs, in the Crimean War, in which he participated as war correspondent. His works, paintings and photos were collected in a new album which was presented at the International Exhibition of Paris of 1855 - then offered personally to the French emperor Napoleon III and Queen Victoria of England. In 1864 he participated to the official delegation of the United Romanian Principalities to Constantinople, where the High Gate recognized Alexandru Ioan Cuza as ruler. He is also created of the United Principalities logo.

He accompanied the new prince of the Romanians, Prince Carol of Hohenzollern, in his travel through the Kingdom of Romania, becoming the painter of the royal court in Bucharest.

Besides photo-stamps representing Bucharest those times, and made an album, "Costumes of Romania", a paper that gives personally to the Kings of Belgium and the Netherlands. In a trip to the East (Turkey, Afghanistan, China), Chinese emperor offered him the job of photographer of the imperial court, but he declined the offer, then returned home.

He made a series of art exhibitions in Bucharest, Vienna, Cluj, Târgu-Mureş, and in some towns in Austria. Carol Popp de Szathmary participated in the Rusian-Turkish war, known as the War of Independence as a photographer and war correspondent. He organized meanwhile, a photographic workshop in Cluj, in Biasini Hotel building, located on Avram Iancu street. In 1881, he organized the ceremony of coronation of the first king of Romania, King Carol I and Queen Elizabeth. He died July 3, 1887, and was buried in the Evangelical-Lutheran cemetery in Bucharest.

Carol Popp de Szathmáry-primul fotoreporter de razboi din lume

2010-04-19T11:06:00.000+02:00

Carol Popp de Szathmáry (n. 1 noiembrie 1812, Cluj - d. 3 iulie 1887, Bucureşti) a fost un pictor şi grafician transilvănean, primul fotograf de artă şi documentarist din Regatul Român şi unul dintre primii zece fotografi din Europa.

Pictor

Primele studii le-a făcut în Transilvania, apoi (1853) a lucrat cu Anton Chladek la Pesta. A călătorit intens în ţară şi străinătate, de unde a adus numeroase imagini pitoreşti cu caracter de reportaj, dintre care cele executate în acuarelă se disting prin vervă, spontaneitate şi poezie. În pictură, limbajul său este migălos şi greoi, dar vădind acelaşi spirit de observaţie ascuţit, mai ales în scenele reprezentând bâlciuri sau târguri. Ca litograf, Szathmáry a lăsat un Album cu vederi din Transilvania (1841), precum şi portretele deputaţilor din Dieta Transilvaniei. În 1860 a realizat o hartă topografică a ţării. Opera sa mai cuprinde cromolitografii şi acuarele înfăţişând tipuri şi porturi populare cu un caracter exclusiv documentar.

Fotograf

În anul 1843 a realizat primele dagherotipii, iar în urma unor cercetări, a realizat şi primele tabotipii.

În perioada 1860-1870, Carol Popp de Szathmary a publicat un volum cu 100 de fotografii. A fost printre primii 10 fotografi din Europa şi a realizat primul reportaj fotografic de război din lume în timpul Războiului Crimeii.

A călătorit în China, iar cu acordul Ţarului Rusiei, a ajuns şi în Siberia, unde a realizat fotografii artistice.

Distincţii

În anul 1855 a primit patru medalii, pentru albumele de fotografie realizate şi pentru activitatea sa fotografică, medaliile fiind acordate de Regina Angliei, Împăratul Austriei, Napoleon al III-lea al Franţei şi Regele Spaniei.

Activitate culturală

În anul 1860 a contribuit la înfiinţarea Bukuresti Magyar Közlöny, prima asociaţie culturală a maghiarilor din Bucureşti.

Johnny Weissmuller

2010-04-13T14:58:00.003+02:00

Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was a Romanian-born German-American swimmer and actor. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan in films, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive, ululating Tarzan yell is still often used in films.

Early life

Weissmüller was an ethnic German born to Peter Weissmüller and his wife Elisabeth Kersch, in the Romanian part of Banat, Austria-Hungary. The ship's roster from his family's arrival at Ellis Island lists his birthplace as Međa, in border area of Serbia. It has been claimed that he was actually named Peter by his parents, but when he arrived in the US he used his brother's name, Johnny, because it was more American. However, the records of St Rochus Church in Freidorf show that Johann, son of Peter Weissmüller and Elizabeth Kersch, was baptized there on 6 May 1904. The passenger manifest of the S.S. Rotterdam, which arrived in New York on 26 January 1905, lists Peter Weissmüller, a 29-year-old laborer, his 24-year-old wife Elisabeth, and seven-month-old Johann, The family is listed as Germans, last residence Temesvár, despite the fact that they lived for a long time in Freidorf (Szabadfalu). They were going to join their brother-in-law Johann Ott of Windber, Pennsylvania. On November 5, 1905, Johann Peter Weissmüller was baptized at St John Cantius Catholic Church in Windber. In the 1910 census, Peter and Elizabeth Weisenmüller as well as John and Eva Ott were living at 1521 Cleveland Ave in the 22nd Ward of Chicago, with sons John, age six, born in Temesvár and Peter Jr., age five, born in Illinois. Peter Weissmüller and John Ott were both brewers, Ott immigrating in 1902, Weissmüller in 1904. The ethnic group known as Banat Swabians had lived for several centuries in that region and developed a distinctive dialect and cultural traits.

When Weissmüller was a small child, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Rotterdam as steerage passengers. They left Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived at Ellis Island in New York harbor twelve days later as Peter, Elisabeth and Johann Weissmüller. The passenger list records them as ethnic Germans and citizens of Romania. After a brief stay in Chicago, visiting relatives, they moved to the coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania. (For most of Weissmüller's career, show business biographies incorrectly listed him as having been born in Pennsylvania. Some sources state that Weissmüller lied about his birthplace in order to ensure his place on the US Olympic swimming team.) Peter Weissmuller worked as a miner, and his youngest son, Peter Weissmüller, Jr., was born in Windber on 3 September 1905. Peter Jr. is listed on one census as born in Illinois.

At age nine, Weissmüller contracted polio. At the suggestion of his doctor, he took up swimming to help battle the disease. After the family moved from Western Pennsylvania to Chicago, Weissmüller continued swimming and eventually earned a spot on the YMCA swim team.While living in Chicago, Weissmüller's father owned a bar for a time and his mother became head cook at a famed restaurant. After Peter's business failed, he began drinking heavily and abusing both his wife and children. Elizabeth Weissmüller eventually filed for, and was granted, a divorce (various biographies erroneously state that Weissmüller's father died of tuberculosis leaving her a widow). According to draft registration records for World War I, Peter and Elizabeth were apparently still together as late as 1917. On his paperwork, Peter was listed as a brewer, working for the Elston and Fullerton Brewery. He and his family were living at 226 West North Avenue in Chicago. In his book, Tarzan, My Father, Johnny Weissmuller Jr. stated that although rumors of Peter Weissmüller living to "a ripe old age, remarrying along the way and spawning a large brood of little Weissmüllers" were reported, no one in the family was aware of his ultimate fate. Peter signed his consent for 19-year old John "Weissmuller"'s passport application in 1924, preceding Johnny's Olympic competition in France. In the 1930 federal census, Elizabeth Weissmüller, age 49, has listed with her, her sons John P. and Peter J., and Peter's wife Dorothy. Elizabeth is listed as a widow.

Careers

Swimming

As a teen, Weissmuller attended Lane Technical H.S. before dropping out to work various jobs including a stint as a lifeguard at a Lake Michigan beach. While working as an elevator operator and bellboy at the Illinois Athletic Club, Weissmuller caught the eye of swim coach William Bachrach. Bachrach trained Weissmuller and in August 1921, Weissmuller won the national championships in the 50-yard and 220-yard distances. Though he was foreign-born, Weissmuller gave his birthplace as Tanneryville, Pennsylvania, and his birth date as that of his younger brother, Peter Weissmuller. This was to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team, and was a critical issue in being issued an American passport. (This comment seems to be contradicted by data on his actual passport application - On his 1924 passport application, he listed his date of birth as June 2, 1904, and his place of birth as Windbar, Pennsylvania. His father, Peter signed an affidavit to this effect, giving his 19-year-old son permission to travel abroad to participate in the Paris Olympics and for other competitions in England and Belgium. His passport was issued in May, 1924.)

On July 9, 1922, Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record on the 100-meters freestyle, swimming it in 58.6 seconds. He won the title in that distance at the 1924 Summer Olympics, beating Kahanamoku for the gold. He also won the 400-meters freestyle and the 4 x 200 meters relay. As a member of the American water polo team, he also won a bronze medal. Four years later, at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won another two Olympic titles.
In all, he won five Olympic gold medals, one bronze medal, won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. Johnny Weissmuller never lost a race and retired from his amateur swimming career undefeated.

Motion pictures

In 1929, Weissmuller signed a contract with BVD to be a model and representative. He traveled throughout the country doing swim shows, handing out leaflets promoting that brand of swimwear, signing autographs and going on talk shows. In that same year, he made his first motion picture appearance as an Adonis, wearing only a fig leaf, in a movie entitled Glorifying the American Girl. He appeared as himself in the first of several Crystal Champions movie shorts featuring Weissmuller and other Olympic champions at Silver Springs, Florida.
He co-starred with Esther Williams in Billy Rose's Aquacade during the San Francisco World's Fair, 1939–41, pursuing her throughout a span of two years.

His acting career began when he signed a seven year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. Tarzan author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character.

Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane (with whom he had a brief affair) and Cheeta the Chimpanzee. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Then, in 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO and starred in six more Tarzan movies with markedly reduced production values. Unlike MGM, RKO allowed Weissmuller to play other roles, though a three picture contract with Pine-Thomas Productions led to only one film, Swamp Fire, being made, co-starring Buster Crabbe. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for RKO. Another co-star was Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller's last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies, (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (During an appearance on television's The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s, Weissmuller explained how the famous yell was created. Recordings of three vocalists were spliced together to get the effect—a soprano, an alto, and a hog caller).
When Weissmuller finally left that role, he immediately traded his loincloth costume for a slouch hat and safari suit for the role of Jungle Jim (1948) for Columbia. He made thirteen Jungle Jim films between (1948) and (1954). Within the next year, he appeared in three more jungle movies, playing himself. In 1955, he began production of the Jungle Jim television adventure series for Screen Gems, a film subsidiary of Columbia. His costars were Martin Huston and Dean Fredericks. The show produced only twenty-six episodes, which were subsequently played repeatedly on network and syndicated television. Aside from a first screen appearance as Adonis and the role of Johnny Duval in the 1946 film Swamp Fire, Weissmuller played only three roles in films during the heyday of his Hollywood career: Tarzan, Jungle Jim, and himself.

After movies

According to David Wallechinsky's Complete Book of the Olympics, while playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Cuba in 1958, Weissmuller's golf cart was suddenly captured by rebel soldiers. Weissmuller sized up the situation, got out of the cart and gave his trademark Tarzan yell. The shocked rebels soon began to jump up and down, calling "Tarzan! Welcome to Cuba!" Johnny and his companions were not only not kidnapped, but were given a rebel escort to the golf course.

In the late 1950s, Weissmuller moved back to Chicago and started a swimming pool company. He lent his name to other business ventures, but did not have a great deal of success. He retired in 1965 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Sometime in the 1960s, Weissmuller built a doomed tourist attraction called Tropical Wonderland, aka Tarzan's Jungleland, on US 1 in Titusville, Florida. In September 1966, Weissmuller joined former screen Tarzans James Pierce and Jock Mahoney to appear with Ron Ely as part of the publicity for the upcoming premiere of the Tarzan TV series. The producers also approached Weissmuller to guest star as Tarzan's father, but nothing came of it.

In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. That same year, he made a cameo appearance with former co-star Maureen O'Sullivan in The Phynx (1970).
Weissmuller lived in Florida until the end of 1973, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel for a time. In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney, in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and he also made his final public appearance in that year when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Weissmuller had five wives: band and club singer Bobbe Arnst (married 1931 – divorced 1933); actress Lupe Vélez (married 1933 – divorced 1939); Beryl Scott (married 1939 – divorced 1948); Allene Gates (married 1948 – divorced 1962); and Maria Baumann (married 1963 – his death 1984).

With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (September 23, 1940 – July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (b. June 1, 1942), and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944 – November 19, 1962).

Declining health and death

In 1974, Weissmuller broke both his hip and leg, marking the beginning of years of declining health. While hospitalized he learned that, in spite of his strength and lifelong daily regimen of swimming and exercise, he had a serious heart condition. In 1977, Weissmuller suffered a series of strokes. In 1979, he entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California for several weeks before moving with his last wife, Maria, to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie.

On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. He was buried in Acapulco at Valley of the Light Cemetery. As his coffin was lowered into the ground, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played three times, at his request.

Influence

His former co-star and movie son, Johnny Sheffield, wrote of him, "I can only say that working with Big John was one of the highlights of my life. He was a Star (with a capital "S") and he gave off a special light and some of that light got into me. Knowing and being with Johnny Weissmuller during my formative years had a lasting influence on my life."

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnny Weissmuller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Johnny Weissmüller

2010-04-13T13:15:00.004+02:00

Johnny Weissmüller, născut Peter Johann Weissmüller, (n. 2 iunie 1904, în cartierul Freidorf din Timişoara, pe atunci în Austro-Ungaria - d. 20 ianuarie 1984, Acapulco, Mexic) a fost un sportiv şi actor american de origine germană. Părinţii săi, şvabii bănăţeni Petrus Weissmüller şi Elisabeth Weissmüller născută Kersch, au emigrat în SUA împreună cu fiul lor în vârstă de şapte luni. Johnny Weissmüller a susţinut ulterior că s-ar fi născut în Windber (Pennsylvania), probabil pentru a fi selectat în lotul naţional de nataţie al SUA. Copil bolnăvicios, a fost sfătuit de un medic să se apuce de înot.

Aşa a ajuns de cinci ori campion olimpic la înot (1924-1928 ), deţinătorul a 67 de titluri mondiale şi 52 de titluri naţionale. A deţinut recordurile la stilul liber la toate probele de la 100 de yarzi la jumătatea de milă şi a fost primul care a înotat 100 m sub un minut. A devenit celebru prin seria de filme Tarzan, ecranizări inspirate de romanele lui Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Seria de filme a început la studiourile MGM, cu Tarzan the Ape Man (Tarzan omul-maimuţă), în 1932. Se povesteşte că în timpul revoluţiei cubaneze, pe când Johny Weissmüller juca golf cu nişte prieteni în Cuba, jucătorii s-au trezit înconjuraţi de revoluţionari înarmaţi. Fără să-şi piardă cumpătul, Weissmüller a lansat celebrul strigăt al lui Tarzan, iar soldaţii, recunoscându-l, au fost foarte încântaţi să escorteze grupul într-o zonă sigură.

Johny Weissmüller a fost căsătorit de cinci ori.

Respectându-i-se dorinţa, la înmormântarea sa, coşciugul a fost coborât în groapă având ca fond sonor celebrul strigăt al lui Tarzan.

Dimitrie Cantemir– philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer

2010-03-28T11:30:00.000+02:00

Dimitrie Cantemir (October 26, 1673 – August 21, 1723) was twice Prince of romanian province Moldavia (in March-April 1693 and in 1710–1711). He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer.

His name is spelled Dimitrie Cantemir in Romanian, Dmitri Konstantinovich Kantemir (Дмитрий Константинович Кантемир) in Russian, Dimitri Kantemiroğlu in Turkish, Dymitr Kantemir in Polish and Demetre Cantemir in several other languages.

Life and family

Born in Silişteni (renamed Dimitrie Cantemir and now located in Vaslui County, Romania), Dimitrie was the son of Moldavian Voivode Constantin Cantemir (and brother to Antioh Cantemir, himself Prince), of the low-ranking boyar Cantemireşti family. His mother, Ana Bantăş, was a learned woman of noble origins. (Cantemir never forgot his paternal ancestry, but while in Constantinople because of his name similarity locals inspired him to claim descent from Khan Temir, an early 17th century khan of the Budjak Tatars – see Moldavian Magnate Wars' on some occasions'.)
His education began at home, where he learned Greek and Latin and acquired a profound knowledge of the classics. Between 1687 and 1710 he lived in forced exile in Istanbul, where he learned Turkish and studied the history of the Ottoman Empire at the Patriarchate's Greek Academy, where he also composed music.

In 1693, he succeeded his father as Prince of Moldavia – in name only, as the Ottomans appointed Constantin Duca, favoured by Wallachian Prince and, despite many shared goals, forever rival of the Cantemirs Constantin Brâncoveanu; his bid for the throne was successful only in 1710, after two rules by his brother (whom he represented as envoy in the Ottoman capital). He had ruled only for less than a year when he joined Peter the Great in his campaign against the Ottoman Empire (see Russo-Turkish War, 1710–1711) and placed Moldavia under Russian suzerainty, after a secret agreement signed in Lutsk.

Defeated by the Turks in the battle of Stănileşti (July 18–July 22, 1711), Cantemir sought refuge in Russia, where he and his family finally settled (he was accompanied by a sizeable boyar retinue, including the chronicler Ioan Neculce). There, he was awarded the title of Knyaz (Prince) of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great and received the title of Reichsfürst (Prince) of the Holy Roman Empire from Charles VI. He died at his Dmitrovka estate near Oryol in 1723 (on the very day he was awarded the Roman-German princely title). In 1935, his remains were carried to Iaşi.

He was married twice: in 1699, to Kassandra Cantacuzene (1682–1713), member of the Cantacuzino family (the daughter of Prince Şerban Cantacuzino), and in 1717 to Anastasia Trubetskaya (1700–1755; from the Trubetskoy house).

Cantemir's children were rather prominent in Russian history. His elder daughter Maria Cantemir (1700–1754) attracted the attention of Peter the Great who allegedly planned to divorce his wife Catherine and marry her. Upon Catherine's ascension to the throne, she was forced to enter a convent. His son Antioh Cantemir (Antiokh Dmitrievich in Russian) (1708–1744) was also the Russian ambassador to London and Paris, a prominent satirical poet, and Voltaire's friend. Another son, Constantin (Konstantin Dmitrievich; 1703–1747), was implicated in the Galitzine conspiracy against Empress Anne and exiled to Siberia. Finally, Dimitrie's younger daughter Smaragda (1720–1761), the wife of Prince Dmitriy Mikhailovich Galitzine, was a friend of Empress Elizabeth and one of the great beauties of her time.

History, geography, philosophy and linguistics

In 1714 Cantemir became a member of the Royal Academy of Berlin. Between 1711 and 1719 he wrote his most important creations. Cantemir was known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages, and being well versed in Oriental scholarship. His oeuvre is voluminous, diverse, and original; although some of his scientific writings contain unconfirmed theories and inaccuracies, his expertise, sagacity, and groundbreaking researches are widely acknowledged.
The best known is his History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire. This volume circulated throughout Europe in manuscript for a number of years. It was finally printed in 1734 in London, and later it was translated and printed in Germany and France. It remained the seminal work on the Ottoman Empire up to the middle of the 19th century – notably, it was used as reference by Edward Gibbon for his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Afterwards, the work was largely contested, for some of its sources were doubtful.

In 1714, at the request of the Royal Academy in Berlin, Cantemir wrote the first geographical, ethnographical and economic description of Moldavia, Descriptio Moldaviae. As many of his books it circulated first in manuscript and was only later published in Germany (first in 1769 in a geographical magazine, and then in 1771 the first edition as a book). Around the same time he prepared a manuscript map of Moldavia, the first real map of the country. It contained a lot of geographical detail as well as administrative information. Printed in 1737 in the Netherlands, it has been used by all cartographers of the time as an inspiration for their own maps of Moldavia.

Other writings:

A history of Oriental music, which is no longer extant.

The first critical history of Romania as a whole, under the name of Hronicul vechimii a romano-moldo-valahilor – aprox. "Chronicle of the durability of Romans-Moldavians-Wallachians" (1719–1722).

The first Romanian language novel, the cryptic Historia Hieroglyphica (1705), to which he furnished a key, and in which the principal persons are represented by mythological beasts; it is the history of the two Wallachian ruling houses of Brâncoveanu and Cantacuzino.

A philosophical treatise, written in Romanian and also in Greek, translated into Arabic, under the title Divanul sau Gâlceava Înţeleptului cu lumea sau Giudeţul sufletului cu trupul (Iaşi, 1698) – Le divan ou la dispute du sage avec le monde ou le jugement de l'âme avec le corps in French ("The Divan or The Wise Man's Parley with the World or The Judgement of the Soul with the Body").

An unfinished second treatise (Istanbul, 1700), Sacrosantae scientiae indepingibilis imagio or Imaginea ştiinţei sacre, care nu se poate zugrăvi ("The Image of the Sacred, Undepictable Science").

An introduction to Islam written for Europeans, and a biography of Jan Baptist van Helmont.

Due to his many esteemed works he won great renown at the high courts of Europe. His name is among those who were considered to be the brightest minds of the world on a plaque at the Library of Sainte-Genevieve in Paris, next to those of Leibnitz, Newton, Piron, and other great thinkers.

Musicology

Some of the works are part of the regular repertory of Turkish music ensembles. In 1999, the Bezmara ensemble have recorded an album, Yitik Sesin Peşinde ("In Search of the Lost Sound") from the Cantemir transcriptions using period instruments.

In 2000, Golden Horn Records released a CD exploring Cantemir's compositions, European composers of Cantemir's era, and folk music of Moldavia. Featuring solo improvisations on kemençe (Turkish bowed fiddle) and tanbur (Turkish long-necked plucked lute) by famed master Íhsan Özgen and early music ensemble Lux Musica directed by Linda Burman-Hall, the project fulfills an ambitious endeavor by Özgen and Burman-Hall to meld early European music styles and instruments with today's Turkish art music styles and instruments, with Cantemir as their touchstone.

In 2009, Alia Vox published a CD and booklet of music performed by the Hespèrion XXI ensemble, including seven of Cantemir's compositions along with other Turkish, Armenian and Sephardic music.

He had around 40 compositions in the Ottoman music of which few are performed today, but his greatest service to the Ottoman music is the fact that he helped survival of 350 instrumental pieces by recording them in a certain notation (the ebced) script he developed in his work Edvar which he presented to Sultan Ahmed III.

The most recent publication of his abovementioned work, reprint along with complete transcription and explanations, is: Kantemiroğlu, Kitâbu 'İlmi'l-Mûsiki alâ Vechi'l-Hurûfât, Mûsikiyi Harflerle Tesbit ve İcrâ İlminin Kitabı, Yalçın Tura, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, Istanbul 2001, ISBN 975-08-0167-9. Romanian historian and musicologist Eugenia Popescu-Judetz has numerous works on Cantemir, the most recent of which being a monograph (in English, also translated into Turkish): Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, Theorist and Composer of Turkish Music, Eugenia Popescu-Judetz, Pan

Dimitrie Cantemir

2010-03-28T11:26:00.000+02:00

Dimitrie Cantemir (n. 26 octombrie 1673 - d. 21 august 1723), domn al Moldovei (martie - aprilie 1693 şi 1710 - 1711), autor, cărturar, enciclopedist, etnograf, geograf, filozof, istoric, lingvist, muzicolog, om politic şi scriitor român.

Viaţa şi cariera politică

Dimitrie Cantemir s-a născut la 26 octombrie 1673, în localitatea Silişteni din comuna Fălciu, azi comuna Dimitrie Cantemir din judeţul Vaslui, în partea de sud a oraşului Huşi. A fost fiul lui Constantin şi al Anei. La 15 ani a fost nevoit să plece la Constantinopol (1688-1690), unde a stat 17 ani, ca zălog al tatălui său pe lângă Înalta Poartă, înlocuindu-l pe Antioh, devenit ulterior domn al Moldovei.

În perioada martie - aprilie 1693 , după moartea tatălui său, a fost domn al Moldovei, dar Înalta Poarta nu l-a confirmat, astfel încât s-a întors la Constantinopol pentru a-şi continua studiile. Cu prilejul unui război turco-austriac, a efectuat o călătorie în Europa Centrală, ajungând şi în Banat, la Timişoara. A avut astfel ocazia să se convingă de unitatea lingvistică a poporului român. Antioh, fratele mai mare, şi-a însuşit întreaga moştenire, lăsându-l într-o situaţie precară. Din 1695 a fost capuchehaie la Constantinopol, al fratelui său Antioh, acesta fiind ales domn.

S-a căsătorit cu fiica lui Şerban Cantacuzino, Casandra, care i-a dăruit doi copii, Maria şi Antioh (viitorul poet, scriitor şi diplomat rus Antioh Dimitrievici Cantemir (1709 - 1744).)

Turcii l-au înscăunat pe Dimitrie Cantemir la Iaşi în 1710, având încredere în el, dar noul domn-cărturar a încheiat la Luţk în Rusia, în 2 aprilie-13 aprilie 1711, un tratat secret de alianţă cu Petru cel Mare, în speranţa eliberării ţării de sub dominaţia turcă. În politica externă s-a orientat spre Rusia. În subsidiar, s-a afirmat chiar faptul că ar fi încercat alipirea Moldovei la Imperiul Rus, aşa cum făcuse şi Ucraina. A fost un adept al domniei autoritare, adversar al atotputernicei mari boierimi şi a fost împotriva transformării ţăranilor liberi în şerbi.

După numai un an de domnie (1710 - 1711), s-a alăturat lui Petru cel Mare în războiul ruso-turc şi a plasat Moldova sub suzeranitate rusească. După ce au fost înfrânţi de turci în Lupta de la Stănileşti - ţinutul Fălciu pe Prut, neputându-se întoarce în Moldova, a emigrat în Rusia, unde a rămas cu familia sa. A devenit consilier intim al lui Petru I şi a desfăşurat o activitate ştiinţifică rodnică. Lângă Harkov i s-a acordat un întins domeniu feudal şi a fost investit cu titlul de Principe Serenissim al Rusiei la 1 august 1711.

A murit pe moşia sa Dimitrievka la Harkov în 1723 şi a fost înmormântat în Rusia. Actualmente, osemintele sale se odihnesc în Biserica Trei Ierarhi din Iaşi.

Dimitrie Cantemir - cărturar

A fost primul român ales membru al Academiei din Berlin în 1714. În opera lui Cantemir, influenţată de umanismul Renaşterii şi de gândirea înaintată din Rusia, s-au oglindit cele mai importante probleme ridicate de dezvoltarea social-istorică a Moldovei de la sfârşitul secolului al XVII-lea şi începutul secolului al XVIII-lea.

Opere principale
Divanul sau Gâlceava înţeleptului cu lumea sau Giudeţul sufletului cu trupul, scrisă în română şi tipărită la Iaşi în 1698. Această operă este prima lucrare filozofică românească. În această lucrare întâlnim disputele medievale despre timp, suflet, natură sau conştiinţă. Dimitrie Cantemir sugerează superioritatea omului asupra celorlalte vieţuitoare, face din om un stăpân al lumii, susţine superioritatea vieţii spirituale asupra condiţiei biologice a omului, încearcă să definească concepte filosofice şi să alcătuiască o terminologie filosofică.

Imaginea tainică a ştiinţei sacrosante 1700, lucrare filosofică în care încearcă să integreze fizica într-un sistem teist, un fel de împăcare între ştiinţă şi religie, între determinismul ştiinţific şi metafizica medievală. Cantemir manifestă un interes deosebit pentru astrologie şi ştiinţele oculte, sacre, specifice Renaşterii.

Istoria ieroglifică, scrisă la Constantinopol în română (1703 - 1705). Este considerată prima încercare de roman politic-social. Cantemir satirizează lupta pentru domnie dintre partidele boiereşti din ţările române. Această luptă alegorică se reflectă printr-o dispută filosofică între două principii, simbolizate de Inorog şi Corb. Lucrarea cuprinde cugetări, proverbe şi versuri care reflectă influenţa poeziei populare.

Istoria Imperiului Otoman (Istoria creşterii şi descreşterii curţii otomane), redactată în latină (Historia incrementorum atque decrementorum Aulae Othomanicae) între 1714 şi 1716. În această lucrare, Dimitrie Cantemir a relatat istoria imperiului otoman şi a analizat cauzele care ar fi putut duce la destrămarea sa. A insistat şi asupra posibilităţilor popoarelor asuprite de a-şi recuceri libertatea. Lucrarea a fost tradusă şi publicată în limbile engleză, franceză şi germană.

Hronicul vechimei a romano-moldo-vlahilor, scris mai întâi în latină dar tradus apoi de autor în română (1719 - 1722), cuprinde istoria noastră de la origini până la descălecare. Susţine ideea cronicarilor: originea comună a tuturor românilor. Pentru scrierea acestei lucrări, Dimitrie Cantemir a consultat peste 150 de izvoare române şi străine în limbile latină, greacă, polonă şi rusă.

Descriptio Moldaviae (Descrierea Moldovei), scrisă în latină (1714 - 1716), când trăia în Rusia, la cererea Academiei din Berlin.
Descriptio Moldaviae cuprinde trei părţi:

Prima parte este consacrată descrierii geografice a Moldovei, a munţilor, a apelor şi a câmpiilor. Dimitrie Cantemir a elaborat prima hartă a Moldovei. A prezentat flora şi fauna, târgurile şi capitalele ţării de-a lungul timpului.

În partea a doua a lucrării este înfăţişată organizarea politică şi administrativă a ţării. S-au făcut referiri detaliate la forma de stat, alegerea sau îndepărtarea din scaun a domnilor, la obiceiurile prilejuite de înscăunarea domnilor sau de mazilirea lor, de logodnă, nunţi, înmormântări.

În ultima parte a lucrării există informaţii despre graiul moldovenilor, despre slovele folosite, care la început au fost latineşti, după pilda tuturor celorlalte popoare a căror limbă încă e alcătuită din limba cea română, iar apoi înlocuite cu cele slavoneşti. Lucrarea prezintă interes nu numai pentru descrierea geografică sau politică bine documentată, ci şi pentru observaţiile etnografice şi folclorice. Dimitrie Cantemir a fost primul nostru cărturar care a cuprins în sfera cercetărilor sale etnografia şi folclorul.

Alte opere

Compendium universae logices institutionis (Prescurtare a sistemului logicii generale)

Monarchiarum physica examinatio (Cercetarea naturală a monarhiilor)

Sistema religiae mahomedane

Cartea ştiinţei muzicii (Kitab-i-musiki)

Kitab-i-musiki, Cartea muzicii, scrisă în limba turcă, este una dintre primele lucrări ale savantului domnitor, concepută în perioada vieţii acestuia din Istanbul. Lucrarea cuprinde un studiu aprofundat al muzicii otomane laice şi religioase, savantul punând în discuţie importanţa muzicii religioase şi influenţarea acesteia de către muzica bisericească bizantină. Studiul se referă la compozitori otomani, cuprinzând ilustrarea curentelor şi tematicilor, exemplificate printr-o redare a notelor şi gamelor într-un sistem de note. Este prima lucrare dedicată muzicii, concepută într-un stil savant. Finalul studiului este însoţit de o culegere de melodii a diverselor compoziţii, precum şi un număr de 20 de creaţii proprii. Datorită acestei lucrări, Dimitrie Cantemir a intrat în istoria muzicală a Turciei ca fondator al muzicii laice şi studios al celei religioase sub numele de Cantemiroglu (fiul lui Cantemir).

Vlad III the Impaler (DRACULA)

2010-03-18T00:09:00.000+01:00

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (c. 1431 – December 1476), more commonly known as the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Ţepeş ) or Dracula, was a three-time voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462.

Historically, Vlad is best known for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion[ and for the cruel punishments he imposed on his enemies.

In the English-speaking world, Vlad III is perhaps most commonly known for inspiring the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

Names

His Romanian surname Dracula (also spelled "Draculea", "Drakulya,"drackuliea"), which Vlad was referred to in several documents, means "Son of the dragon" and points to his father, Vlad Dracul, who received that moniker from his subjects because he had joined the Order of the Dragon. Dracul, derived from the Latin word Draco meant "dragon", derived from the Greek word Δράκων (Dracon), though in modern Romanian it means "devil".

His post-mortem moniker of "Ţepeş" ("Impaler") originated in his killing opponents by impalement, a practice popularized by medieval Transylvanian pamphlets. In Turkish, he was known as "Kazıklı Voyvoda" which means "Impaler Prince".

Early life

Vlad was born in Sighişoara, Transylvania in the winter of 1431 to Vlad II Dracul, future voivode of Wallachia, and his wife, Princess Cneajna of Moldavia, daughter of Alexandru cel Bun. He had two older half-brothers, Mircea II and Vlad Călugărul, from his father's first marriage, and a younger brother, Radu cel Frumos.

In the year of his birth Vlad's father, known under the nickname the Dragon (Romanian: Dracul) had traveled to Nuremberg, today located in Germany, where he had been vested into the Order of the Dragon. At the age of five, young Vlad was also initiated into the Order.

Like his father, who was the son of the Wallachian voivode Mircea the Elder, in the early years of childhood, the future ruling prince Vlad the Impaler got a distinguished education, and mastered German and Latin. During the first reign of Vlad II, Vlad the Impaler accompanied his father to Targoviste - capital of Wallachia at that time.

The Byzantine chancellor Mikhail Doukas showed that, at Targoviste, the sons of boyars and ruling princes got a distinguished education from either Romanian or Greek scholars, coming from Constantinople. The young prince learned for sure; combat skills, geography, mathematics, science, language; Romanian, Latin, Bulgarian (church Slavic) and the classical arts and philosophy.

Life in Edirne

In 1436, Dracul ascended the throne of Wallachia. He was ousted in 1442 by rival factions in league with Hungary, but secured Ottoman support for his return agreeing to pay tribute to the Sultan and also send his two younger sons, Vlad and Radu the Handsome, to the Ottoman court, to serve as hostages of his loyalty.

Vlad was locked up in prison and often whipped and beaten because of his verbal abuse towards his captors and his stubborn behavior, while his younger brother Radu the Handsome was much easier to control. Radu converted to Islam, entered the service of Sultan Murad II's son, Mehmed II (later known as the Conqueror), and was allowed into the Ottoman royal court.

These years had a great influence on Vlad's character and led to Vlad's well-known hatred for the Ottoman Turks, the Janissary, his brother Radu the Handsome for becoming an Ottoman, and the young Ottoman prince Mehmed II (even after he became sultan). According to McNally and Florescu, he was jealous of his fathers preference for his elder half-brothers Mircea II and Vlad Călugărul, he also distrusted his own father for trading him to the Turks and betraying the Order of the Dragon's oath to fight them. It was in Turkey where Vlad first witnessed the act of impalement (the Ottomans often beheaded traitors and deserters).

Vlad was later released, corrected and taken to be educated in logic, the Quran and the Turkish and Persian language and literature. He would speak these languages fluently in his later years . He and his brother were also trained in warfare and riding horses. The boys' father, Vlad Dracul, was released quickly, in 1443, and with the support of the Ottomans he returned to Wallachia and took back his throne from Basarab II.

Vlad the Impaler as Aegeas, the Roman proconsul in Patras, crucifying Saint Andrew. Approximately 1470–1480, Belvedere Galleries, Vienna

In later accounts of these stories, Vlad's atrocities against the people of Wallachia have sometimes been interpreted as attempts to enforce his own moral code upon his country. According to the pamphlets, he appears to have been particularly concerned with female chastity. Maidens who lost their virginity, adulterous wives, and unchaste widows were all targets of Vlad's cruelty. Vlad also insisted that his people be honest and hard-working. Merchants who cheated their customers were likely to find themselves mounted on a stake beside common thieves.

Russian stories about Vlad the Impaler

The Russian or the Slavic version of the stories about Vlad the Impaler called "Skazanie o Drakule voevode" ("The Tale of Warlord Dracula") is thought to have been written sometime between 1481 and 1486. Copies were made from the 15th century to the 18th century, of which some twenty-two extant manuscripts survive in Russian archives. The oldest one, from 1490, ends as follows: "First written in the year Byzantine calendar (1486), on 13 February; then transcribed by me, the sinner Elfrosin, in the year 6998 (1490), on 28 January". The Tales of Prince Dracula is neither chronological nor consistent, but mostly a collection of anecdotes of literary and historical value concerning Vlad Ţepeş.

There are 19 anecdotes in The Tales of Prince Dracula which are longer and more constructed than the German stories. It can be divided into two sections: The first 13 episodes are non-chronological events most likely closer to the original folkloric oral tradition about Vlad. The last six episodes are thought to have been written by a scholar who collected them, because they are chronological and seem to be more structured. The stories begin with a short introduction and the anecdote about the nailing of hats to ambassadors heads. They end with Vlad's death and information about his family.

Of the 19 anecdotes there are ten that have similarities to the German stories. Although there are similarities between the Russian and the German stories about Vlad, there is a clear distinction with the attitude towards him. The Russian stories tend to give him a more positive File: he is depicted as a great ruler, a brave soldier and a just sovereign. Stories of atrocities tend to seem to be justified as the actions of a strong ruler. Of the 19 anecdotes, only four seem to have exaggerated violence. Some elements of the anecdotes were later added to Russian stories about Ivan the Terrible of Russia.

The nationality and identity of the original writer of the anecdotes Dracula is disputed. The two most plausible explanations are that the writer was either a Romanian priest or a monk from Transylvania, or a Romanian or Moldavian from the court of Stephen the Great in Moldova. One theory claims the writer was a Russian diplomat named Fyodor Kuritsyn.

Vampire legend

See also: Dracula#Historical and geographical references

It is most likely that Bram Stoker found the name for his vampire from William Wilkinson's book, An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them. It is known that Stoker made notes about this book. It is also suggested by some that because Stoker was a friend of a Hungarian professor (Ármin Vámbéry) from Budapest, Vlad's name might have been mentioned by this friend. Regardless of how the name came to Stoker's attention, the cruel history of the Impaler would have readily lent itself to Stoker's purposes. However, recent research suggests that Stoker actually knew little about the Prince of Wallachia.

The legend of the vampire was and still is deeply rooted in that region. There have always been vampire-like creatures in various stories from across the world. However, the vampire, as he became known in Europe, largely originated in Southern Slavic folklore – although the tale is absent in Romanian culture. A veritable epidemic of vampirism swept through Eastern Europe beginning in the late 17th century and continuing through the 1700s. The number of reported cases rose dramatically in Hungary and the Balkans. From the Balkans, the "plague" spread westward into Germany, Italy, France, England, and Spain. Travelers returning from the Balkans brought with them tales of the undead, igniting an interest in the vampire that has continued to this day. Philosophers in the West began to study the phenomenon. It was during this period that Ludovico Fatinelli wrote his famous treatise on vampirism in Hungary. It was also during this period that authors and playwrights first began to explore the vampire legend. Stoker's novel was merely the culminating work of a long series of works that were inspired by the reports coming from the Balkans and Hungary.

Given the history of the vampire legend in Europe, it is perhaps natural that Stoker should place his great vampire in the heart of the region that gave birth to the story. Once Stoker had determined on a locality, Vlad Dracula would stand out as one of the most notorious rulers of the selected region. He was obscure enough that few would recognize the name and those who did would know him for his acts of brutal cruelty; Dracula was a natural candidate for vampirism.

Romanian attitudes

Romanian folklore and literature, on the other hand, paints Vlad Ţepeş as a hero. His reputation in his native country as a man who stood up to both foreign and domestic enemies gives him the virtual opposite symbolism of Stoker's vampire. In Romania he is considered one of the greatest leaders in the country's history, and was voted one of "100 Greatest Romanians" in the "Mari Români" television series aired in 2006.

A contemporary portrait of Vlad III, rediscovered by Romanian historians in the late 19th century, had been featured in the gallery of horrors at Innsbruck's Ambras Castle. This original has been lost to history, but a larger copy, painted anonymously in the latter half of the sixteenth century, now hangs in the same gallery. This copy, unlike the all the cryptoportraits contemporary with Vlad III, seems to have given him a Habsburg lip, although he was not a member of the Habsburg lineage.

His image in modern Romanian culture clashes with foreign perceptions. It is the last part of a rather popular 19th century poem by Mihai Eminescu, "Scrisoarea a III-a", that helped turn Vlad's image into modern legend, by having him stand as a figure to contrast with presumed social decay under the Phanariotes and the political scene of the 19th century (even suggesting that Vlad's violent methods be applied as a cure). Notably though, the first author to depict Vlad as a Romanian heroic character was a Transylvanian who probably never travelled to Wallachia, Ioan Budai-Deleanu. Around 1800 he wrote a Romanian epic heroicomic poem, "Ţiganiada", in which prince Vlad Ţepeş stars as a fierce warrior fighting the Ottomans. Well in advance of Romanian literature at that time, this work, unlike Eminescu's, remained unpublished and ignored for a century, and did not exert any influence.

All accounts of his life describe him as ruthless, but only the ones originating from his Saxon detractors paint him as sadistic or insane. These pamphlets continued to be published long after his death, though usually for lurid entertainment rather than propaganda purposes. It has largely been forgotten until recently that his tenacious efforts against the Ottoman Empire won him many staunch supporters in his lifetime, not just in modern day Romania but in the Kingdom of Hungary, Poland, the Republic of Venice, the Holy See, and the Balkans. A Hungarian court chronicler reported that King Matthias "had acted in opposition to general opinion" in Hungary when he had Dracula imprisoned, and this played a considerable part in Matthias reversing his unpopular decision. During his time as a "distinguished prisoner" before being fully pardoned and allowed to reconquer Wallachia, Vlad was hailed as a Christian hero by visitors from all over Europe.

Film adaptations

Unlike the fictional Dracula films, there have been comparatively few movies about the man who inspired the vampire. The 1975 documentary In Search of Dracula explores the legend of Vlad the Impaler. He is played in the film by Christopher Lee, known for his numerous portrayals of the fictional Dracula in films ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s.

In 1979, a Romanian film called Vlad Ţepeş (sometimes known, in other countries, as The True Story of Vlad the Impaler) was released, based on his six-year reign and brief return to power in late 1476. The character is portrayed in a mostly positive perspective though the film also mentions the excesses of his regime and his practice of impalement. The lead character is played by Ştefan Sileanu.

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, a film released in 2000, tells the life story of Vlad the Impaler mostly accurately while ending fictionally with Vlad rising from the grave and gaining eternal worldly life as well as supernatural abilities, implying that he has now become the fictional Dracula. Vlad is played in the film by Rudolf Martin.

Numerous film adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and original works derived from it have incorporated Vlad the Impaler's history into the fictional Count Dracula's past, depicting them as the same person, including, among others: the 1972–1979 comic book series The Tomb of Dracula from Marvel Comics, the 1973 film Dracula, starring Jack Palance, and the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, starring Gary Oldman as Dracula, apparently making a likeness to Vlad the Impaler

Vlad Ţepeş

2010-03-17T23:53:00.001+01:00

Vlad Ţepeş (n. noiembrie/decembrie 1431 - d. decembrie 1476), denumit şi Vlad Drăculea (sau Dracula, de către străini), a domnit în Ţara Românească în anii 1448, 1456-1462 şi 1476.

S-a născut în cetatea Sighişoara din Transilvania, ca fiu al lui Vlad al II-lea Dracul şi al unei nobile transilvănene.

A fost căsătorit de două ori : întâi cu o nobilă din Transilvania şi apoi cu Ilona Szilagyi, verişoară a lui Matei Corvin.

A avut trei băieţi: Mihail şi Vlad din prima căsătorie, Mihnea I cel Rău din a doua.

În timpul domniei sale, Ţara Românească şi-a obţinut temporar independenţa faţă de Imperiul Otoman. Vlad Ţepeş a devenit vestit prin cruzime şi pentru că obişnuia să îşi tragă inamicii în ţeapă. Din porunca sa 41 de oameni au fost executaţi astfel, iar 300 au fost arşi. Datorită conflictelor cu negustorii braşoveni, aceştia l-au caracterizat, propagandistic, ca pe un principe de o cruzime demonică.

În 1453, resturile Imperiului Bizantin sunt cucerite de otomani, care obţineau astfel controlul asupra Constantinopolului (actualul Istanbul) şi ameninţau Europa. Imperiul Otoman ajunge să stăpânească mare parte din Balcani (teritoriile statelor actuale Serbia, parţial Ungaria, parţial România, Bulgaria, Albania şi Grecia), extinderea spre occident oprindu-se la porţile Vienei, al cărei asediu eşuează. În acest context istoric, Vlad Ţepeş a luptat pentru a-şi apăra domnia şi ţara, folosind împotriva inamicilor metodele de disuasiune specifice epocii, din care făceau parte şi execuţiile şi supliciile cu caracter exemplar şi de intimidare.

Originea supranumelui „Drăculea“ şi a poreclei „Ţepeş“

Tatăl său, Vlad al II-lea Dracul, fusese primit în Ordinul Dragonului. Ordinul - care poate fi comparat cu cel al Cavalerilor de Malta sau cu cel al Cavalerilor Teutoni - era o societate militaro-religioasă, ale cărei baze fuseseră puse în 1387 de Sigismund de Luxemburg, rege al Ungariei (mai târziu împărat al Sfântului Imperiu Roman) şi de cea de-a doua soţie a sa, Barbara Cillei.

Există multe povestiri şi anecdote despre Vlad al III-lea Drăculea. Era recunoscut pentru ambiţia de a impune cinstea şi ordinea. Aproape orice infracţiune, de la minciună şi furt până la omor, putea fi pedepsită prin trasul în ţeapă. Fiind sigur de eficacitatea legilor sale, Vlad al III-lea a lăsat, se spune, o cupă de aur la vedere, în piaţa centrală din Târgovişte. Cupa putea fi folosită de călătorii însetaţi, însă trebuia să rămână la locul ei. Conform surselor istorice, în timpul domniei sale cupa nu ar fi fost niciodată furată şi ar fi rămas aproape nefolosită.

Vlad al III-lea ţinea de asemenea ca toţi locuitorii ţării să muncească şi să fie utili comunităţii. Îi privea pe bolnavi, vagabonzi şi cerşetori ca pe nişte hoţi. Ca urmare, într-o zi toti vagabonzii si bolnavii din Ţara Româneacă au fost invitaţi la curtea domnească din Târgovişte, la un ospăţ. După ce au mâncat şi au băut, domnitorul i-a întrebat dacă ar vrea să nu mai fie niciodată săraci. După ce a primit un răspuns afirmativ, a ordonat ca hala să fie închisă şi incendiată. Nimeni nu a supravieţuit.

O altă poveste spune că doi călugări sosiţi în Ţara Românească l-au vizitat pe Vlad la castelul său. Călugării îi cunoşteau reputaţia şi, când el le-a cerut părerea despre domnia sa, au răspuns fiecare în mod diferit. Unul a spus că Vlad era aspru, dar era prinţ, în vreme ce celălalt i-a condamnat fără ocol cruzimile. În funcţie de versiune, fie unul, fie celălalt dintre cei doi călugări a fost tras în ţeapă.

După altă legendă, Vlad ar fi înscenat un furt (o pungă cu 50 de galbeni) unui boier din Sfatul Ţării, după care acesta, în faţa domnitorului, a pretins că i se furaseră 100 de galbeni. Pentru minciuna sa, a fost tras în ţeapă.

Conflictul cu Imperiul Otoman

În 1459 Ţepeş refuză să mai plătească tribut turcilor (10.000 galbeni anual). Se pare că această răzvrătire s-a datorat existenţei unui proiect de cruciadă impotriva otomanilor, cruciadă susţinută de Papă şi în care regele Ungariei, Matei Corvin, ar fi urmat să joace rolul principal ( acesta chiar primeşte de la Papă suma de 40.000 galbeni, suficientă pentru a echipa 12.000 de oameni şi 10 nave de război).

În acest context politic, Vlad Ţepeş încheie o alianţă cu Matei Corvin, probabil la începutul lui 1460, pe care otomanii ar fi vrut să o împiedice. Mai mult, aceştia vor încerca prin intermediul lui Hamza paşa, beiul de Nicopole, şi al diacului sultanului, Catavolinos, să-l prindă pe Vlad prin vicleşug, fără succes însă. Odată dejucate planurile otomanilor şi pedepsiţi cei doi (au fost traşi în ţeapă împreună cu toţi soldaţii turci care-i însoţeau), Vlad Ţepeş organizează o campanie surpriză la sud de Dunăre în iarna 1461-1462.

O întinsă regiune, de la Obluciţa la Novoe Selo şi de la vărsarea Dunării în Marea Neagră până la Rahova, a fost devastată. Mai mult, cetatea Nicopole fiind ocupată prin vicleşug, peste 20.000 de turci au pierit sub armele valahilor, numărul celor ucişi fiind indicat de însuşi Vlad Ţepeş într-o scrisoare adresată lui Matei Corvin. Tot în această scrisoare, expediată din Giurgiu la 11 februarie 1462, Vlad îi solicita în mod insistent sprijin regelui ungar. Deşi l-a asigurat la 4 martie 1462 că îi va veni în ajutor, Matei Corvin a părăsit Buda abia la sfârşitul lui august, când campania otomană era deja încheiată.

În ceea ce-l priveşte pe Mahomed al II-lea, acesta, surprins de sfidarea lui Ţepeş, îi va pregăti un răspuns pe măsură. În primăvara lui 1462, sultanul, în fruntea unei armate uriaşe, cca 100-120.000 de oameni (a doua ca mărime după aceea care cucerise Constantinopolul) plus 175 de nave de război al căror scop era acela de a cuceri Chilia, se va îndrepta spre Dunăre. Efectivele domnului valah nu depăşeau, după estimările cele mai generoase, 30.000 de oşteni. Deşi Vlad încearcă să-i oprească pe turci la Dunăre, în dreptul cetăţii Turnu, aceştia, la adăpostul nopţii, reuşesc să treacă fluviul îndreptându-se direct spre Târgovişte (4 iunie 1462).

În aceste condiţii Ţepeş va aplica tactica hărţuirii: pustiirea pământului - mai ales drumul spre Târgovişte -, otrăvirea fântânilor, atacarea detaşamentelor turceşti plecate după hrană. În această atmosferă apasătoare în care oştile turceşti, flămânde şi înfricoşate, înaintau prin ţara pustiită, a avut loc marea lovitură a lui Vlad Ţepeş, atacul de noapte din 16-17 iunie 1462, menit să demoralizeze şi mai mult oastea otomană, atac despre care pomenesc toate izvoarele relative la campania din 1462. Ţinta atacului a fost însuşi sultanul, însă acesta a scăpat, cortul său fiind confundat cu al unui vizir. Totuşi efectul psihologic al atacului a fost important. Mulţi turci au fost ucişi, iar sultanul, conform relatărilor, "a părăsit în ascuns tabăra în chip ruşinos"; văzând "marea pierdere suferită de ai săi" a dat ordin de retragere. În apropierea Târgoviştei îl aştepta un spectacol care a băgat groaza în oştile sale: o pădure de ţepi în care atârnau o mulţime de turci ucişi în înainte sau în timpul bătăliei; în faţa acestei privelişti turcii "s-au înspăimântat foarte tare", iar sultanul a recunoscut că "nu poate să ia ţara unui bărbat care face lucruri aşa de mari" şi care "ar fi vrednic de mai mult".

Cu excepţia cronicilor turceşti, toate celelalte izvoare mărturisesc înfrângerea sultanului, care a fost silit "să se întoarcă în fugă spre Dunăre cu mari pierderi printre ai săi şi cu ruşinea de a fi dat dosul". Oastea turcă s-a îndreptat spre Dunăre, aşa de repede încât la 11 iulie 1462 sultanul ajunsese la Adrianopol. Conform cronicarului bizantin Chalcocondil, sultanul l-a lăsat la plecare, la Târgovişte, ca domn pe fratele lui Ţepeş, Radu cel Frumos, în ideea ca acesta să atragă de partea sa pe toţi cei ce i se împotriveau lui Ţepeş. Paşa de Nicopole urma să asigure sprijin armat lui Radu.

Perioada care a urmat a fost foarte tulbure pentru istoria Ţării Româneşti, cei doi fraţi căutând fiecare să-şi întărească forţele pentru a-şi elimina adversarul. Spre deosebire de Vlad Ţepeş care dorea continuarea luptei antiotomane, Radu cel Frumos oferea boierilor pacea şi prietenia cu sultanul. Aceştia trec până la urmă de partea lui. În aceste condiţii, părăsit de cea mai mare parte a boierilor, dar având încă o oaste destul de numeroasă cu care se pare că în jurul datei de 8 septembrie ar fi dobândit chiar o ultimă victorie asupra adversarilor săi, în octombrie 1462 Ţepeş trece în Transilvania pentru a se întâlni cu aliatul său Matei Corvin.

Cum acesta nu venise nici pregătit, nici prea hotărât de luptă, a decis destul de repede să-şi schimbe planul iniţial, recunoscând situaţia existentă în Ţara Românească şi renunţând să-l sprijine pe Tepeş. Mai mult, la decizia regelui ar fi contribuit şi o presupusă scrisoare a lui Vlad către sultan în care domnul muntean ar fi cerut iertare şi, mai mult decât atât, s-ar fi obligat să-l ajute împotriva oştilor maghiare. Drept urmare, în noiembrie 1462 Vlad Ţepeş, în loc să primească ajutorul aliatului său, este arestat sub acuzaţia de trădare şi încarcerat la Vişegrad vreme de 12 ani. După Vişegrad, e silit să locuiască aproape 2 ani la Buda, cu domiciliu forţat. Va fi eliberat în 1475, la cererea lui Ştefan cel Mare, domnul Moldovei, în contextul presiunilor turceşti tot mai mari asupra teritoriilor de la nord de Dunăre.

Ultima domnie, sfârşitul vieţii şi locul mormântului

Conform legendei, atunci a fost momentul în care soţia lui Vlad, pentru a scăpa de temniţa turcească, s-a sinucis aruncându-se de pe o creastă înaltă - o scenă exploatată de Francis Ford Coppola în filmul Bram Stoker's Dracula. Vlad a reuşit să scape asediului fortăreţei sale, folosind un pasaj secret prin munte. Ajutat de câţiva ţărani din satul Arefu, a reuşit să ajungă în Transilvania, unde s-a întâlnit cu regele Ungariei, Matei Corvin. Însă, Matei l-a arestat şi l-a întemniţat în capitala Ungariei, Visegrad. Motivul arestului poate fi discutat, pentru că dupa unii istorici faptul ca a fost direct dus la Budapesta este pus pe seama necesităţii lui Vlad de a fi protejat de saşii care voiau să îl omoare. Vlad a fost recunoscut ca prinţ al Valahiei pentru a treia oară în 1475, însă s-a bucurat de o perioadă foarte scurtă de domnie. A fost asasinat la sfârşitul lunii decembrie 1476. Corpul său a fost decapitat şi capul trimis sultanului, care l-a aşezat într-o ţeapă, ca dovadă a triumfului asupra lui Vlad Ţepeş. S-a emis ipoteza ca „Drăculea“ ar fi fost îngropat la Mănăstirea Snagov, pe o insulă din apropierea Bucureştilor. Examinările recente au arătat că „mormântul“ lui Ţepeş de la mănăstire conţine doar câteva oase de cal datate din neolitic şi nu rămăşiţele adevărate ale domnului valah. După opinia reputatului istoric Constantin Rezachevici, mormântul acestuia ar fi pe locaţia mănăstirii Comana, ctitoria voievodului.

Dracula

Cartea lui Bram Stoker, Dracula, nu se bazează în mod direct pe domnia lui Vlad Drăculea, ci este o ficţiune ce se petrece în Transilvania şi Anglia secolului XIX. De pe urma succesului romanului, Transilvania este asociată personajului fictiv Dracula.

Scriitorul britanic Bram Stoker putea uşor consulta la Royal Library din Londra câteva din acele gravuri săseşti din secolul XV, ce se găseau şi în colecţiile de la British Museum, în care Vlad Ţepeş este descris ca un monstru, un vampir ce bea sânge de om şi un mare amator de cruzimi. A avut probabil acces şi la cartea History of Moldavia and Wallachia a lui Johann Christian Engel, care îl descrie pe Vlad Ţepeş ca un tiran sângeros, ceea ce i-a dat probabil ideea să ia prinţul Valahiei ca model pentru personajul său fictiv, Dracula. Unii istorici au propus ideea că Stoker ar fi avut o relaţie de amiciţie cu un profesor maghiar de la Universitatea din Budapesta, Arminius Vambery (Hermann Vamberger), şi este posibil ca acesta să îi fi dat informaţii despre Vlad Ţepeş. Mai mult, faptul că Dr. Abraham Van Helsing îl menţionează pe prietenul său Arminius în romanul din 1897 ca sursă a cunoştinţelor sale despre Vlad al III-lea numit Dracula, pare să sprijine această ipoteză. Trebuie reţinut şi faptul că aceasta pare să fie singura cauză, neexistând o legătură reală între Vlad Drăculea din istorie (1431-1476) şi mitul literar modern al vampirului care este cartea lui Bram Stoker. Acesta s-a folosit de surse folclorice, menţiuni istorice şi experienţe personale pentru a realiza un personaj complex. Pe de altă parte, merită menţionat faptul că detractorii politici principali ai lui Vlad - în general saşii - se foloseau de sensul de diavol al cuvântului drac pentru a umbri reputaţia voievodului. Astfel, asocierea dintre cele două sensuri ale cuvântului, dragon şi diavol, şi porecla Drăculea ar putea să explice de ce Vlad al III-lea Ţepeş a fost asociat de către Bram Stoker cu vampirismul. Un important element simbolic al Ordinului Dragonului, din care s-a inspirat Stoker pentru a-şi crea personajul demonic, era îmbrăcămintea oficială a Ordinului - o capă neagră peste o haină roşie - ce era purtată doar vinerea pentru a comemora Patimile lui Iisus Hristos. Tot Bram Stoker a avut ideea să asociaze acestei legende europene un animal sud-american: liliacul hematofag zis Vampir (Desmodus rotundus).

Ecranizări

Pe lângă nenumăratele filme cu Dracula, care nu au decât vagi legături cu adevăratul Vlad Ţepeş, două încearcă să se apropie de realitate. În anul 1979, Doru Năstase a regizat un film istoric despre viaţa domnitorului. În rolul lui Vlad a jucat Ştefan Sileanu. Au mai interpretat: Alexandru Repan, Ernest Maftei, Emanoil Petruţ. O portretizare a copilăriei domnitorului încearcă Sergiu Nicolaescu, în filmul său „Mircea” (1989) - rol jucat de Vlad Nemeş. Desigur, aceasta reprezintă doar o licenţă, întrucât la moartea marelui voievod şi domn, Vlad nici măcar nu se născuse. Astfel, se încearcă o explicaţie asupra genezei comportamentului de mai târziu al lui Ţepeş: dragostea pentru ţară şi groaznica pedeapsă care i-a dat porecla.

Mircea Eliade-historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher

2010-03-06T23:49:00.000+01:00

Mircea Eliade March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential. One of his most influential contributions to religious studies was his theory of Eternal Return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but, at least to the minds of the religious, actually participate in them. In academia, the Eternal Return has become one of the most widely accepted ways of understanding the purpose of myth and ritual.

His literary works belong to the fantasy and autobiographical genres. The best known are the novels Maitreyi ("La Nuit Bengali" or "Bengal Nights"), Noaptea de Sânziene ("The Forbidden Forest"), Isabel şi apele diavolului ("Isabel and the Devil's Waters") and the Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent, the novellas Domnişoara Christina ("Miss Christina") and Tinereţe fără tinereţe ("Youth Without Youth"), and the short stories Secretul doctorului Honigberger ("The Secret of Dr. Honigberger") and La Ţigănci ("With the Gypsy Girls").

Early in his life, Eliade was a noted journalist and essayist, a disciple of Romanian far right philosopher and journalist Nae Ionescu, and member of the literary society Criterion. He also served as cultural attaché to the United Kingdom and Portugal. Several times during the late 1930s, Eliade publicly expressed his support for the Iron Guard, a fascist and antisemitic political organization. His political involvement at the time, as well as his other far right connections, were the frequent topic of criticism after World War II.

Remarked for his vast erudition, Eliade had fluent command of five languages (Romanian, French, German, Italian, and English) and a reading knowledge of three others (Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit). He was elected a posthumous member of the Romanian Academy.

Biography

Childhood

Born in Bucharest, he was the son of Romanian Land Forces officer Gheorghe Eliade (whose original surname was Leremia and Jeana née Vasilescu. An Orthodox believer, Gheorghe Eliade registered his son's birth four days before the actual date, to coincide with the liturgical calendar feast of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Mircea Eliade had a sister, Corina, the mother of semiologist Sorin Alexandrescu. His family moved between Tecuci and Bucharest, ultimately settling in the capital in 1914, and purchasing a house on Melodiei Street, near Piaţa Rosetti, where Mircea Eliade resided until late in his teens.

Eliade kept a particularly fond memory of his childhood and, later in life, wrote about the impact various unusual episodes and encounters had on his mind. In one instance during the World War I Romanian Campaign, when Eliade was about ten years of age, he witnessed the bombing of Bucharest by German zeppelins and the patriotic fervor in the occupied capital at news that Romania was able to stop the Central Powers' advance into Moldavia.He notably described this stage in his life as marked by an unrepeatable epiphany. Recalling his entrance into a drawing room that an "eerie iridescent light" had turned into "a fairy-tale palace", he wrote,

"I practiced for many years [the] exercise of recapturing that epiphanic moment, and I would always find again the same plenitude. I would slip into it as into a fragment of time devoid of duration—without beginning, middle, or end. During my last years of lycée, when I struggled with profound attacks of melancholy, I still succeeded at times in returning to the golden green light of that afternoon. [...] But even though the beatitude was the same, it was now impossible to bear because it aggravated my sadness too much. By this time I knew the world to which the drawing room belonged [...] was a world forever lost."

Robert Ellwood, a professor of religion who did his graduate studies under Mircea Eliade, saw this type of nostalgia for the past as one of the most characteristic themes in Eliade's life and academic writings.

Adolescence and literary debut

After completing his primary education at the school on Mântuleasa Street, Eliade attended the Spiru Haret National College in the same class as Arşavir Acterian, Haig Acterian, and Petre Viforeanu (and several years the senior of Nicolae Steinhardt, who eventually became a close friend of Eliade's).Among his other colleagues was future philosopher Constantin Noica[ and Noica's friend, future art historian Barbu Brezianu.

As a child, Eliade was fascinated with the natural world, which formed the setting of his very first literary attempts, as well as with Romanian folklore and the Christian faith as expressed by peasants. Growing up, he aimed to find and record what he believed was the common source of all religious traditions. The young Eliade's interest in physical exercise and adventure led him to pursue mountaineering and sailing, and he also joined the Romanian Boy Scouts. With a group of friends, he designed and sailed a boat on the Danube, from Tulcea to the Black Sea. In parallel, Eliade grew estranged from the educational environment, becoming dsenchanted with the discipline required and obsessed with the idea that he was uglier and less virile than his colleagues. In order to cultivate his willpower, he would force himself to swallow insects and only slept four to five hours a night.At one point, Eliade was flunking four subjects, among which was the study oif Romanian language.

Instead, he became interested in natural science and chemistry, as well as the occult, and wrote short pieces on entomological subjects.Despite his father's concern that he was in danger of losing his already weak eyesight, Eliade read passionately. One of his favorite authors was Honoré de Balzac, whose work he studied carefully. Eliade also became acquainted with the modernist short stories of Giovanni Papini and social anthropology studies by James George Frazer.His interest in the two writers led him to learn Italian and English in private, and he also began studying Persian and Hebrew. At the time, Eliade became acquainted with Saadi's poems and the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. He was also interested in philosophy—studying, among others, Socrates, Vasile Conta, and the Stoics Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, and read works of history—the two Romanian historians who influenced him from early on were Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu and Nicolae Iorga. His first published work was the 1921 Inamicul viermelui de mătase ("The Silkworm's Enemy"), followed by Cum am găsit piatra filosofală ("How I Found the Philosophers' Stone"). Four years later, Eliade completed work on his debut volume, the autobiographical Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent.

University studies and Indian sojourn

Between 1925 and 1928, he attended the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1928, earning his diploma with a study on Early Modern Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella. In 1927, Eliade traveled to Italy, where he met Papini and collaborated with the scholar Giuseppe Tucci.

It was during his student years that Eliade met Nae Ionescu, who lectured in Logic, becoming one of his disciples and friends.He was especially attracted to Ionescu's radical ideas and his interest in religion, which signified a break with the rationalist tradition represented by senior academics such as Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, Dimitrie Gusti, and Tudor Vianu (all of whom owed inspiration to the defunct literary society Junimea, albeit in varying degrees).

Eliade's scholarly works began after a long period of study in British India, at the University of Calcutta. Finding that the Maharaja of Kassimbazar sponsored European scholars to study in India, Eliade applied and was granted an allowance for four years, which was later doubled by a Romanian scholarship. In autumn 1928, he sailed for Calcutta to study Sanskrit and philosophy under Surendranath Dasgupta, a Bengali Cambridge alumnus and professor at Calcutta University, the author of a five volume History of Indian Philosophy. Before reaching the Indian subcontinent, Eliade also made a brief visit to Egypt. Once there, he visited large areas of the region, and spent a short period at a Himalayan ashram.

He studied the basics of Indian philosophy, and, in parallel, learned Sanskrit, Pali and Bengali under Dasgupta's direction. At the time, he also became interested in the actions of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met personally, and the Satyagraha as a phenomenon; later, Eliade adapted Gandhist ideas in his discourse on spirituality and Romania. In 1930, while living with Dasgupta, Eliade fell in love with his daughter, Maitreyi Devi, later writing a barely-disguised autobiographical novel Maitreyi (also known as "La Nuit Bengali" or "Bengal Nights"), in which he claimed that he carried on a physical relationship with her.

Eliade received his PhD in 1933, with a thesis on Yoga practices The book, which was translated into French three years later, had significant impact in academia, both in Romania and abroad.He later recalled that the book was an early step for understanding not just Indian religious practices, but also Romanian spirituality. During the same period, Eliade began a correspondence with the Ceylonese-born philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy. In 1936–1937, he functioned as honorary assistant for Ionescu's course, lecturing in Metaphysics.

In 1933, Mircea Eliade had a physical relationship with the actress Sorana Ţopa, while falling in love with Nina Mareş, whom he ultimately married. The latter, introduced to him by his new friend Mihail Sebastian, already had a daughter, Giza, from a man who had divorced her. Eliade subsequently adopted Giza, and the three of them moved to an apartment at 141 Dacia Boulevard. He left his residence in 1936, during a trip he made to the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany, when he first visited London, Oxford and Berlin.

Criterion and Cuvântul

After contributing various and generally polemical pieces in university magazines, Eliade came to the attention of journalist Pamfil Şeicaru, who invited him to collaborate on the nationalist paper Cuvântul, which was noted for its harsh tones. By then, Cuvântul was also hosting articles by Ionescu.

As one of the figures in the Criterion literary society (1933–1934), Eliade's initial encounter with the traditional far right was polemical: the group's conferences were stormed by members of A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League, who objected to what they viewed as pacifism and addressed antisemitic insults to several speakers, including Sebastian; in 1933, he was among the signers of a manifesto opposing Nazi Germany's state-enforced racism. In 1934, at a time when Sebastian was publicly insulted by Nae Ionescu, who prefaced his book (De două mii de ani...) with thoughts on the "eternal damnation" of Jews, Mircea Eliade spoke out against this perspective, and commented that Ionescu's references to the verdict "Outside the Church there is no salvation" contradicted the notion of God's omnipotence. However, he contended that Ionescu's text was not evidence of antisemitism.

In 1936, reflecting on the early history of the Romanian Kingdom and its Jewish community, he deplored the expulsion of Jewish savants from Romanian soil, making specific references to Moses Gaster, Heimann Hariton Tiktin and Lazăr Şăineanu.Eliade's views at the time focused on innovation—in the summer of 1933, he replied to an anti-modernist critique written by George Călinescu:

"All I wish for is a deep change, a complete transformation. But, for God's sake, in any direction other than spirituality".

He and friends Emil Cioran and Constantin Noica were by then under the influence of Trăirism, a school of thought that was formed around the ideals expressed by Ionescu. A form of existentialism, Trăirism was also the synthesis of traditional and newer right-wing beliefs. Early on, a public polemic was sparked between Eliade and Camil Petrescu: the two eventually reconciled and later became good friends. Like Mihail Sebastian, who was himself becoming influenced by Ionescu, he maintained contacts with intellectuals from all sides of the political spectrum: their entourage included the right-wing Dan Botta and Mircea Vulcănescu, the non-political Petrescu and Ionel Jianu, and Belu Zilber, who was a member of the illegal Romanian Communist Party. The group also included Haig Acterian, Mihail Polihroniade, Petru Comarnescu, Marietta Sadova and Floria Capsali.

He was also close to Marcel Avramescu, a former Surrealist writer whom he introduced to the works of René Guénon. A doctor in the Kabbalah and future Romanian Orthodox cleric, Avramescu joined Eliade in editing the short-lived esoteric magazine Memra (the only one of its kind in Romania). Among the intellectuals who attended his lectures were Mihail Şora (whom he deemed his favorite student), Eugen Schileru and Miron Constantinescu—known later as, respectively, a philosopher, an art critic, and a sociologist and political figure of the communist regime. Mariana Klein, who became Şora's wife, was one of Eliade's female students, and later authored works on his scholarship.

Eliade later recounted that he had himself enlisted Zilber as a Cuvântul contributor, in order for him to provide a Marxist perspective on the issues discussed by the journal. Their relation soured in 1935, when the latter publicly accused Eliade of serving as an agent for the secret police, Siguranţa Statului (Sebastian answered to the statement by alleging that Zilber was himself a secret agent, and the latter eventually retracted his claim).

1930s political transition

Eliade's articles before and after his adherence to the principles of the Iron Guard (or, as it was usually known at the time, the Legionary Movement), beginning with his famous Itinerar spiritual ("Spiritual Itinerary", serialized in Cuvântul in 1927), center on several political ideals advocated by the far right. They displayed his rejection of liberalism and the modernizing goals of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (perceived as "an abstract apology of Mankind" and "ape-like imitation of [Western] Europe"), as well as for democracy itself (accusing it of "managing to crush all attempts at national renaissance", and later praising Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy on the grounds that, according to Eliade, "[in Italy,] he who thinks for himself is promoted to the highest office in the shortest of times"). He approved of an ethnic nationalist state centered on the Orthodox Church (in 1927, despite his still-vivid interest in Theosophy, he recommended young intellectuals "the return to the Church"), which he opposed to, among others, the secular nationalism of Constantin Rădulescu-Motru; referring to this particular ideal as "Romanianism", Eliade was, in 1934, still viewing it as "neither fascism, nor chauvinism". Eliade was especially dissatisfied with the incidence of unemployment among intellectuals, whose careers in state-financed institutions had been rendered uncertain by the Great Depression.

In 1936, Eliade was the focus of a campaign in the far right press, being targeted for having authored "pornography" in his Domnişoara Christina and Isabel şi apele diavolului (similar accusations were aimed at other cultural figures, including Tudor Arghezi and Geo Bogza). Assessments of Eliade's work were in sharp contrast to one another: also in 1936, Eliade accepted an award from the Romanian Writers' Society, of which he had been a member since 1934. In summer 1937, through an official decision which came as a result of the accusations, and despite student protests, he was stripped of his position at the University. Eliade decided to sue the Ministry of Education, asking for a symbolic compensation of 1 leu.He won the trial, and regained his position as Nae Ionescu's assistant.

Nevertheless, by 1937, he gave his intellectual support to the Iron Guard, in which he saw "a Christian revolution aimed at creating a new Romania",and a group able "to reconcile Romania with God". His articles of the time, published in Iron Guard papers such as Sfarmă Piatră and Buna Vestire, contain ample praises of the movement's leaders (Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Ion Moţa, Vasile Marin, and Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul). The transition he went through was similar to that of his fellow generation members and close collaborators—among the notable exceptions to this rule were Petru Comarnescu, sociologist Henri H. Stahl and future dramatist Eugène Ionesco, as well as Sebastian.

He eventually enrolled in the Totul pentru Ţară ("Everything for the Fatherland" Party), the political expression of the Iron Guard, and contributed to its 1937 electoral campaign in Prahova County—as indicated by his inclusion on a list of party members with county-level responsibilities (published in Buna Vestire).

Internment and diplomatic service

The stance taken by Eliade resulted in his arrest on July 14, 1938 after a crackdown on the Iron Guard authorized by King Carol II. At the time of his arrest, he had just interrupted a column on Provincia şi legionarismul ("The Province and Legionary Ideology") in Vremea, having been singled out by Prime Minister Armand Călinescu as an author of Iron Guard propaganda.

Eliade was kept for three weeks in a cell at the Siguranţa Statului Headquarters, in an attempt to have him sign a "declaration of dissociation" with the Iron Guard, but he refused to do so. In the first week of August he was transferred to a makeshift camp at Miercurea-Ciuc. When Eliade began coughing blood in October 1938, he was taken to a clinic in Moroeni.Eliade was simply released on November 12, and subsequently spent his time writing his play Iphigenia (also known as Ifigenia). In April 1940, with the help of Alexandru Rosetti, became the Cultural Attaché to the United Kingdom, a posting cut short when Romanian-British foreign relations were broken.

After leaving London he was assigned the office of Counsel and Press Officer (later Cultural Attaché) to the Romanian Embassy in Portugal, where he was kept on as diplomat by the National Legionary State (the Iron Guard government) and, ultimately, by Ion Antonescu's regime. His office involved disseminating propaganda in favor of the Romanian state. In February 1941, weeks after the bloody Legionary Rebellion was crushed by Antonescu, Iphigenia was staged by the National Theater Bucharest—the play soon raised doubts that it owed inspiration to the Iron Guard's ideology, and even that its inclusion in the program was a Legionary attempt at subversion.

In 1942, Eliade authored a volume in praise of the Estado Novo, established in Portugal by António de Oliveira Salazar claiming that "The Salazarian state, a Christian and totalitarian one, is first and foremost based on love". On July 7 of the same year, he was received by Salazar himself, who asked assigned Eliade the task of warning Antonescu to withdraw the Romanian Army from the Eastern Front ("[In his place], I would not be grinding it in Russia"). Eliade also claimed that such contacts with the leader of a neutral country had made him the target for Gestapo surveillance, but that he had managed to communicate Salazar's advice to Mihai Antonescu, Romania's Foreign Minister.

In autumn 1943, he traveled to occupied France, where he rejoined Emil Cioran, also meeting with scholar Georges Dumézil and the collaborationist writer Paul Morand. At the same time, he applied for a position of lecturer at the University of Bucharest, but withdrew from the race, leaving Constantin Noica and Ion Zamfirescu to dispute the position, in front of a panel of academics comprising Lucian Blaga and Dimitrie Gusti (Zamfirescu's eventual selection, going against Blaga's recommendation, was to be the topic of a controversy). In his private notes, Eliade wrote that he took no further interest in the office, because his visits abroad had convinced him that he had "something great to say", and that he could not function within the confines of "a minor culture". Also during the war, Eliade traveled to Berlin, where he met and conversed with controversial political theorist Carl Schmitt, and frequently visited Francoist Spain, where he notably attended the 1944 Lusitano-Spanish scientific congress in Córdoba. It was during his trips to Spain that Eliade met philosophers José Ortega y Gasset and Eugeni d'Ors. He maintained a friendship with d'Ors, and met him again on several occasions after the war.

Nina Eliade fell ill with uterine cancer and died during their stay in Lisbon, in late 1944. As the widower later wrote, the disease was probably caused by an abortion procedure she had undergone at an early stage of their relationship. He came to suffer with clinical depression, which increased as Romania and her Axis allies suffered major defeats on the Eastern Front. Contemplating a return to Romania as a soldier or a monk, he was on a continuous search for effective antidepressants, medicating himself with passion flower extract, and, eventually, with methamphetamine. This was probably not his first experience with drugs: vague mentions in his notebooks have been read as indication that Mircea Eliade was taking opium during his travels to Calcutta. Later, discussing the works of Aldous Huxley, Eliade wrote that the British author's use of mescaline as a source of inspiration had something in common with his own experience, indicating 1945 as a date of reference and adding that it was "needless to explain why that is".

Early exile

At signs that the Romanian communist regime was about to take hold, Eliade opted not to return to the country. On September 16, 1945, he moved to France with his adoptive daughter Giza. Once there, he resumed contacts with Dumézil, who helped him recover his position in academia. On Dumézil's recommendation, he taught at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. It was estimated that, at the time, it was not uncommon for him to work 15 hours a day. Eliade married a second time, to the Romanian exile Christinel Cotescu. His second wife, the descendant of boyars, was the sister-in-law of prestigious conductor Ionel Perlea.

Together with Emil Cioran and other Romanian expatriates, Eliade rallied with the former diplomat Alexandru Busuioceanu, helping him publicize anti-communist opinion to the Western European public. He was also briefly involved in publishing a Romanian-language magazine, titled Luceafărul ("The Morning Star"), and was again in contact with Mihail Şora, who had been granted a scholarship to study in France, and by Şora's wife Mariana. In 1947, he was facing material constraints, and Ananda Coomaraswamy found him a job as a French-language teacher in the United States, at a school in Arizona; the arrangement ended upon Coomaraswamy's death in September.

Beginning in 1948, he wrote for the journal Critique, edited by French thinker Georges Bataille[. The following year, he went on a visit to Italy, where he wrote the first 300 pages of his novel Noaptea de Sânziene (he visited the country a third time in 1952). He collaborated with Carl Jung and the Eranos circle after Henry Corbin recommended him in 1949,and wrote for the Antaios magazine (edited by Ernst Jünger). In 1950, Eliade began attending Eranos conferences, meeting Jung, Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, Gershom Scholem and Paul Radin. He described Eranos as "one of the most creative cultural experiences of the modern Western world."

In October 1956, he moved to the United States, settling in Chicago the following year. He had been invited by Joachim Wach to give a series of lectures at Wach's home institution, the University of Chicago.Eliade and Wach are generally admitted to be the founders of the "Chicago school" that basically defined the study of religions for the second half of the 20th century. Upon Wach's death before the lectures were delivered, Eliade was appointed as his replacement, becoming, in 1964, the Sewell Avery Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions. Beginning in 1954, with the first edition of his volume on Eternal Return, Eliade also enjoyed commercial success: the book went through several editions under different titles, which sold over 100,000 copies.

In 1966, Mircea Eliade became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also worked as editor-in-chief of Macmillan Publishers' Encyclopedia of Religion, and, in 1968, lectured in religious history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was also during that period that Mircea Eliade completed his voluminous and influential History of Religious Ideas, which grouped together the overviews of his main original interpretations of religious history. He occasionally traveled out of the United States, notably attending the Congress for the History of Religions in Marburg (1960) and visiting Sweden and Norway (1970).

Final years and death

Initially, Eliade was attacked with virulence by the Romanian Communist Party press, chiefly by România Liberă—which described him as "the Iron Guard's ideologue, enemy of the working class, apologist of Salazar's dictatorship". However, the regime also made secretive attempts to enlist his and Cioran's support: Haig Acterian's widow, theater director Marietta Sadova, was sent to Paris in order to re-establish contacts with the two.Although the move was planned by Romanian officials, her encounters were to be used as evidence incriminating her at a February 1960 trial for treason (where Constantin Noica and Dinu Pillat were the main defendants). Romania's secret police, the Securitate, also portrayed Eliade as a spy for the British Secret Intelligence Service and a former agent of the Gestapo.

He was slowly rehabilitated at home beginning in the early 1960s, under the rule of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. In the 1970s, Eliade was approached by the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime in several ways, in order to have him return. The move was prompted by the officially-sanctioned nationalism and Romania's claim to independence from the Eastern Bloc, as both phenomena came to see Eliade's prestige as an asset. An unprecedented event occurred with the interview that was granted by Mircea Eliade to poet Adrian Păunescu, during the latters 1970 visit to Chicago; Eliade complimented both Păunescu's activism and his support for official tenets, expressing a belief that

"the youth of Eastern Europe is clearly superior to that of Western Europe. [...] I am convinced that, within ten years, the young revolutionary generation shan't be behaving as does today the noisy minority of Western contesters. [...] Eastern youth have seen the abolition of traditional institutions, have accepted it [...] and are not yet content with the structures enforced, but rather seek to improve them".

Păunescu's visit to Chicago was followed by those of the nationalist official writer Eugen Barbu and by Eliade's friend Constantin Noica (who had since been released from jail). At the time, Eliade contemplated returning to Romania, but was eventually persuaded by fellow Romanian intellectuals in exile (including Radio Free Europe's Virgil Ierunca and Monica Lovinescu) to reject Communist proposals. In 1977, he joined other exiled Romanian intellectuals in signing a telegram protesting the repressive measures newly enforced by the Ceauşescu regime.Writing in 2007, Romanian anthropologist Andrei Oişteanu recounted how, around 1984, the Securitate unsuccessfully pressured to become an agent of influence in Eliade's Chicagoan circle.

During his later years, Eliade's fascist past was progressively exposed publicly, the stress of which probably contributed to the decline of his health.By then, his writing career was hampered by severe arthritis. The last academic honors bestowed upon him were the French Academy's Bordin Prize (1977) and the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, granted by the University of Washington (1985).

Mircea Eliade died at the Bernard Mitchell Hospital in April 1986. Eight days previously, he suffered a stroke while reading Emil Cioran's Exercises of Admiration, and had subsequently lost his speech function. Four months before, a fire had destroyed part of his office at the Meadville Lombard Theological School (an event which he had interpreted as an omen). Eliade's Romanian disciple Ioan Petru Culianu, who recalled the scientific community's reaction to the news, described Eliade's death as "a mahaparanirvana", thus comparing it to the passing of Gautama Buddha.His body was cremated in Chicago, and the funeral ceremony was held on University grounds, at the Rockefeller Chapel. It was attended by 1,200 people, and included a public reading of Eliade's text in which he recalled the epiphany of his childhood—the lecture was given by novelist Saul Bellow, Eliade's colleague at the University.

The scholar

The general nature of religion

In his work on the history of religion, Eliade is most highly regarded for his writings on Shamanism, Yoga and what he called the eternal return—the implicit belief, supposedly present in religious thought in general, that religious behavior is not only an imitation of, but also a participation in, sacred events, and thus restores the mythical time of origins. Eliade's thinking was in part influenced by Rudolf Otto, Gerardus van der Leeuw, Nae Ionescu and the writings of the Traditionalist School (René Guénon and Julius Evola).For instance, Eliade's The Sacred and the Profane partially builds on Otto's The Idea of the Holy to show how religion emerges from the experience of the sacred, and myths of time and nature.

Eliade is noted for his attempt to find broad, cross-cultural parallels and unities in religion, particularly in myths. Wendy Doniger, Eliade's colleague from 1978 until his death, notes that "Eliade argued boldly for universals where he might more safely have argued for widely prevalent patterns". His Treatise on the History of Religions was praised by French philologist Georges Dumézil for its coherence and ability to synthesize diverse and distinct mythologies.

Robert Ellwood describes Eliade's approach to religion as follows. Eliade approaches religion by imagining an ideally "religious" person, whom he calls homo religiosus in his writings. Eliade's theories basically describe how this homo religiosus would view the world.This does not mean that all religious practitioners actually think and act like homo religiosus. Instead, it means that religious behavior "says through its own language" that the world is as homo religiosus would see it, whether or not the real-life participants in religious behavior are aware of it.However, Ellwood notes that Eliade "tends to slide over that last qualification", implying that traditional societies actually thought like homo religiosus.

Sacred and profane

An endowed chair in the History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School was named after Eliade in recognition of his wide contribution to the research on this subject; the current (and first incumbent) holder of this chair is Wendy Doniger.

To evaluate the legacy of Eliade and Joachim Wach within the discipline of the history of religions, the University of Chicago chose 2006 (the intermediate year between the 50th anniversary of Wach's death and the 100th anniversary of Eliade's birth), to hold a two-day conference in order to reflect upon their academic contributions and their political lives in their social and historical contexts, as well as the relationship between their works and their lives.

In 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, Eliade was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. In Romania, Mircea Eliade's legacy in the field of the history of religions is mirrored by the journal Archaeus (founded 1997, and affiliated with the University of Bucharest Faculty of History). The 6th European Association for the Study of Religion and International Association for the History of Religions Special Conference on Religious History of Europe and Asia took place from September 20 to September 23, 2006, in Bucharest. An important section of the Congress was dedicated to the memory of Mircea Eliade, whose legacy in the field of history of religions was scrutinized by various scholars, some of whom were his direct students at the University of Chicago.

As Antohi noted, Eliade, Emil Cioran and Constantin Noica "represent in Romanian culture ultimate expressions of excellence, [Eliade and Cioran] being regarded as proof that Romania's interwar culture (and, by extension, Romanian culture as a whole) was able to reach the ultimate levels of depth, sophistication and creativity." A Romanian Television 1 poll carried out in 2006 nominated Mircea Eliade as the 7th Greatest Romanian in history; his case was argued by the writer Dragoş Bucurenci (see 100 greatest Romanians). His name was given to a boulevard in the northern Bucharest area of Primăverii, to a street in Cluj-Napoca, and to high schools in Bucharest, Sighişoara, and Reşiţa. The Eliades' house on Melodiei Street was torn down during the communist regime, and an apartment block was raised in its place; his second residence, on Dacia Boulevard, features a memorial plaque in his honor.

Eliade's image in contemporary culture also has political implications. Historian Irina Livezeanu proposed that the respect he enjoys in Romania is marched by that of other "nationalist thinkers and politicians" who "have reentered the contemporary scene largely as heroes of a pre- and anticommunist past", including Nae Ionescu and Cioran, but also Ion Antonescu and Nichifor Crainic. In parallel, according to Oişteanu (who relied his assessment on Eliade's own personal notes), Eliade's interest in the American hippie community was reciprocated by members of the latter, some of whom reportedly viewed Eliade as "a guru".

Eliade has also been hailed as an inspiration by German representatives of the Neue Rechte, claiming legacy from the Conservative Revolutionary movement (among them is the controversial magazine Junge Freiheit and the essayist Karlheinz Weißmann). In 2007, Florin Ţurcanu's biographical volume on Eliade was issued in a German translation by the Antaios publishing house, which is mouthpiece for the Neue Rechte.The edition was not reviewed by the mainstream German press. Other sections of the European far right also claim Eliade as an inspiration, and consider his contacts with the Iron Guard to be a merit—among their representatives are the Italian neofascist Claudio Mutti and Romanian groups who trace their origin to the Legionary Movement.

Portrayals, filmography and dramatizations

Early on, Mircea Eliade's novels were the subject of satire: before the two of them became friends, Nicolae Steinhardt, using the pen name Antisthius, authored and published parodies of them. Maitreyi Devi, who strongly objected to Eliade's account of their encounter and relationship, wrote her own novel as a reply to his Maitreyi; written in Bengali, it was titled Na Hanyate (translated into English as "It Does Not Die"). Several authors, including Ioan Petru Culianu, have drawn a parallel between Eugène Ionesco's Absurdist play of 1959, Rhinoceros, which depicts the population of a small town falling victim to a mass metamorphosis, and the impact fascism had on Ionesco's closest friends (Eliade included).

In 2000, Saul Bellow published his controversial Ravelstein novel. Having for its setting the University of Chicago, it had among its characters Radu Grielescu, who was identified by several critics as Eliade. The latter's portrayal, accomplished through statements made by the eponymous character, is polemical: Grielescu, who is identified as a disciple of Nae Ionescu, took part in the Bucharest Pogrom, and is in Chicago as a refugee scholar, searching for the friendship of a Jewish colleague as a means to rehabilitate himself.In 2005, the Romanian literary critic and translator Antoaneta Ralian, who was an acquaintance of Bellow's, argued that much of the negative portrayal was owed to a personal choice Bellow made (after having divorced from Alexandra Bagdasar, his Romanian wife and Eliade disciple).She also mentioned that, during a 1979 interview, Bellow had expressed admiration for Eliade.

The 1988 film The Bengali Night, directed by Nicolas Klotz and based upon the French translation of Maitreyi, stars British actor Hugh Grant as Allan, the European character based on Eliade, while Supriya Pathak is Gayatri, a character based on Maitreyi Devi (who had refused to be mentioned by name). The film, considered "pornographic" by Hindu activists, was only shown once in India. In addition to The Bengali Night, films based on, or referring to, his works, include: Mircea Eliade et la redécouverte du Sacré (1987), part of the television series Architecture et Géographie sacrée, by Paul Barbă Neagră; Domnişoara Christina (1996), by Viorel Sergovici; Eu Adam (1996), by Dan Piţa; Youth Without Youth (2007), by Francis Ford Coppola.

Eliade's Iphigenia was again included in theater programs during the late years of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime: in January 1982, a new version, directed by Ion Cojar, premiered at the National Theater Bucharest, starring Mircea Albulescu, Tania Filip and Adrian Pintea in some of the main roles.Dramatizations based on his work include La Ţigănci, which has been the basis for two theater adaptations: Cazul Gavrilescu ("The Gavrilescu Case"), directed by Gelu Colceag and hosted by the Nottara Theater, and an eponymous play by director Alexandru Hausvater, first staged by the Odeon Theater in 2003 (starring, among others, Adriana Trandafir, Florin Zamfirescu, and Carmen Tănase). In March 2007, on Eliade's 100th birthday, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company hosted the Mircea Eliade Week, during which radio drama adaptations of several works were broadcast.In September of that year, director and dramatist Cezarina Udrescu staged a multimedia performance based on a number of works Mircea Eliade wrote during his stay in Portugal; titled Apocalipsa după Mircea Eliade ("The Apocalypse According to Mircea Eliade"), and shown as part of a Romanian Radio cultural campaign, it starred Ion Caramitru, Oana Pellea and Răzvan Vasilescu.Domnişoara Christina has been the subject of two operas: the first, carrying the same Romanian title, was authored by Romanian composer Şerban Nichifor and premiered in 1981 at the Romanian Radio;the second, titled La señorita Cristina, was written by Spanish composer Luis de Pablo and premiered in 2000 at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Mircea Eliade-filozof şi istoric al religiilor,

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Mircea Eliade (n. 13 martie S.V. 28 februarie 1907, Bucureşti - d. 22 aprilie 1986, Chicago), a fost un gânditor şi scriitor român. Filozof şi istoric al religiilor, Eliade a fost profesor la Universitatea din Chicago din 1957, titular al catedrei de istoria religiilor Sewell L. Avery din 1962, naturalizat cetăţean american în 1966, onorat cu titlul de Distinguished Service Professor. Autor a 30 de volume ştiinţifice, opere literare şi eseuri filozofice traduse în 18 limbi şi a circa 1200 de articole şi recenzii cu o tematică extrem de variată, foarte bine documentate. Opera completă a lui Mircea Eliade ar ocupa peste 80 de volume, fără a lua în calcul jurnalele sale intime şi manuscrisele inedite.

Copilăria şi adolescenţa

Născut în Bucureşti, a fost fiul lui Gheorghe Eliade (al cărui nume original fusese Ieremia şi al Jeanei născută Vasilescu. A avut o soră, Corina, mama semioticianului Sorin Alexandrescu.

Familia s-a mutat între Tecuci şi Bucureşti, în ultimă instanţă, stabilindu-se în capitală în 1914, şi şi-a achiziţionat o casă pe strada Melodiei (actualmente str. Radu Cristian la nr.1), în apropiere de Piaţa Rosetti, unde Mircea Eliade a locuit până târziu în adolescenţă.

După terminarea învăţământului primar la şcoala de pe strada Mântuleasa, Eliade devine elev al Colegiului Spiru Haret fiind coleg cu Arşavir Acterian, Haig Acterian, Petre Viforeanu, Constantin Noica şi Barbu Brezianu.

Devine interesat de ştiinţele naturii şi de chimie, ca şi de ocultism, şi a scris piese scurte pe subiecte entomologice. În ciuda tatălui său care era îngrijorat de faptul că-şi pune în pericol vederea şi aşa slabă, Eliade citeşte cu pasiune. Unul dintre autorii preferaţi este Honoré de Balzac. Eliade face cunoştinţă cu nuvelele lui Giovanni Papini şi cu studiile social-antropologice ale lui James George Frazer.

Interesul faţă de cei doi scriitori l-a dus la învăţarea limbilor italiană şi engleză; în particular începe să studieze persana şi ebraica. Este interesat de filosofie şi studiază lucrările lui Vasile Conta, Marcus Aurelius şi Epictet, citeşte lucrări de istorie şi în special pe Nicolae Iorga şi B.P Hasdeu. Prima sa opera a fost publicată în 1921 Inamicul viermelui de mătase urmată de Cum am găsit piatra filosofală.Patru ani mai târziu, Eliade încheie munca la volumul său de debut, volum autobiografic, Romanul Adolescentului Miop.

Eliade, gânditorul

Mircea Eliade avea o serioasă formaţie filozofică încă din România. După o pubertate dificilă de intens studiu solitar, începând din 1925 adolescentul este aproape unanim recunoscut ca "şef al generaţiei" sale. Încă de la vârsta de 14 ani, începuse să scrie articole de entomologie, care trădează o surprinzătoare imaginaţie, ceva mai târziu, primele romane. Romanul Gaudeamus, terminat în 1928, partea a doua din Romanul adolescentului miop, cuprinde informaţii autobiografice interesante despre prima întâlnire cu viitorul lui profesor de logică şi metafizică, Nae Ionescu, care avea să aibă o influenţă decisivă asupra carierei sale. Recunoscând talentul şi cunoştinţele lui Mircea Eliade, Nae Ionescu i-a dat o slujbă în redacţia ziarului Cuvântul. Deşi părerile posterităţii sunt împărţite, Nae Ionescu a avut meritul de necontestat de a fi sprijinit tinere talente ca Eliade sau Mihail Sebastian.

După moartea lui Eliade, acesta a fost atacat de Adriana Berger (cea care s-a ocupat de aranjarea hârtiilor din biblioteca lui Eliade incendiată pe 18 dec. 1985) cu acuzaţii de antisemitism, fără a aduce dovezi, prefigurând linia atacurilor repetate care au urmat. În România de după 1990 s-a început publicarea doar a unei părţi din cele patruzeci de volume de operă ştiinţifică şi literară, preferându-se reeditările, astfel că în douăzeci de ani nu s-a reuşit publicarea integrală a operei eliadeşti. Valorile spirituale promovate de Eliade au continuat să anime proiecte culturale şi după 1990, moment în care a (re)dobândit un statut de autor mitic, în sensul discuţiei în jurul unei opere neintegral publicată în România. Actualitatea scrierilor lui Eliade este probată de traducerea post-mortem a multora din scrierile sale (în spaniolă, italiană, portugheză etc.). În rândul tinerilor redescoperind libertatea religioasă, literatura fantastică şi fronda specifică tânărului Eliade s-a redeşteptat interesul pentru opera şi viaţa autorului.

Continuatorii

Evaluarea critică a posterităţii lui Eliade rămâne astfel importantă, tocmai datorită prestigiului şi imaginii culturale covârşitoare pe care un autor de factură enciclopedică, cu preocupări fascinante şi o biografie contradictorie continuă să o ofere. Congresul european de istorie a religiilor (Bucureşti, 20-23 Septembrie 2006) organizat de Asociaţia română de istorie a religiilor a dedicat o întreagă secţiune analizei operei lui Mircea Eliade.

Opere ştiinţifice

Yoga: Essai sur les origines de la mystique indienne (1936)

Cosmologie şi alchimie babiloniană (1937)

Comentarii la legenda meşterului Manole (1943)

Traité d'histoire des religions (1949)

Le Sacré et le Profane (1956)

Aspects du mythe (1963)

Le mythe de l'éternel retour (1969)

Le Chamanisme et les Techniques archaïques de l'extase (1974)

Opere literare

Maitreyi (1933)

Întoarcerea din rai (1934)

Huliganii (1935)

Domnişoara Christina (1936)

Nuntă în cer (1938)

Pe strada Mântuleasa (1968)

La ţigănci (1969)

Noapte de Sânziene (1971)

Bătrânul şi birocratul (1974)

Romanul adolescentului miop

Lucrările publicate în limba română

Romanul adolescentului miop, scris în 1927, publicat de Mircea Handoca abia în anul 1989, ediţie curentă, Humanitas, 2004

Gaudeamus, 1929 ediţie curentă, Humanitas, 2004

Isabel şi apele diavolului, 1929, ediţie curentă, Humanitas, 2003

Solilocvii, 1932

Maitreyi, 1933, roman indian

Oceanografie, 1934,

Întoarcerea din rai, 1934, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Lumina ce se stinge, 1934, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Alchimia asiatică, 1935 text integral în antologia Drumul spre centru, Univers, 1991

India, 1934, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Caietele maharajahului, 1934, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Huligani, 1935, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Şantier, Roman indirect, 1935, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Domnişoara Christina, 1936 ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Cosmologie şi alchimie babiloniană, 1937 text integral în antologia Drumul spre centru, Univers, 1991

Şarpele, 1937

Fragmentarium, 1938

Nuntă în cer, 1938

Secretul doctorului Honigberger, 1940, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Nopţi la Serampore, 1940 ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Mitul reintegrării, 1942

Salazar şi revoluţia în Portugalia, 1942

Jurnal portughez, scris în 1942, editat 2006

Insula lui Euthanasius, 1943, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2003

Comentarii la Legenda Meşterului Manole, 1943 în antologia Drumul spre centru, Univers, 1991

Pe strada Mântuleasa, 1968, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2004

Noaptea de Sânziene, 1971

În curte la Dionis, 1977, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2004

Tinereţe fără tinereţe, Nouăsprezece trandafiri, 1980, ediţie curentă Humanitas, 2004

Lucrările publicate în limbi străine

Os Romenos, latinos do Oriente, 1943, Despre Români, latinii orientului, apare în limba portugheză

Yoga, 1936, apare simultan în limbile franceză şi română

Tehnici ale Yoga, 1948

Yoga. Nemurire şi libertate, 1954

Făurari şi alchimişti, 1956

Tratatul de istorie a religiilor, 1949, ed. a doua, 1966

Mitul eternei reîntoarceri, 1949

Şamanismul şi tehnicile extazului, 1951

Imagini şi simboluri, 1952

Naşteri şi renaşteri, 1958

Mefistofel şi androginul, 1962

De la Zalmoxis la Genghis Han, 1970

Mituri, vise, mistere, 1957

Istoria credinţelor şi ideilor religioase, 1976-1983

Briser le toit de la maison, 1986

The Quest ( titlul versiunii în limba franceză este La Nostalgie des Origines), 1969

Sacrul şi profanul(1956)

Opere memorialistice

Jurnal, două volume (versiunea în limba română a fost restabilită de Mircea Handoca pornind direct de la manuscris)

Memorii, două volume, 1991 (autobiografia sa)

Jurnal portughez şi alte scrieri, Humanitas, 2006

Încercarea labirintului, ed. I, Dacia, 2000, ed. a II-a, Humanitas, 2006

Viorica Cortez- a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano

2010-02-21T11:52:00.000+01:00

Viorica Cortez (born December 26, 1935 in Bucium, Iaşi County, Romania) is a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '70s and '80s. An example of professional longevity, she is present on some of the most prestigious European opera scenes.

Early life

With a well-determined Spanish origin (her great-grandfather, Anastasie Cortez, was a coral seller on his way to the Middle East), Viorica Cortez is the eldest of three sisters (the other two being Stefania, a pianist, and Mioara, a truly Verdian soprano, who had a brief European career). She was born in Bucium, one of the most picturesque villages in the vicinity of Iaşi. Cortez enjoyed a particularly fervent artistic milieu in her parent's house, since there her passion and intense desire of studying music. Later on, she was received in the Iasi Conservatory and, for her final three years of academic studies, she switched to Bucharest's "Ciprian Porumbescu" Conservatory (today the University of Music). In Iasi, at only 17, Cortez made her debut in the alto part of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. She then toured for years the towns of Moldavia, starring almost exclusively in vocal-symphonical repertoire.

Studies and international recognition

In Bucharest, Viorica Cortez was the student of Arta Florescu, a renowed post-war Romanian soprano and a very esteemed professor (besides Cortez, some of her important apprentices were Marina Krilovici, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Maria Slătinaru-Nistor, Leontina Văduva and even Angela Gheorghiu). She vividly encouraged the young mezzo-soprano to consider international competitions. Cortez took her advice and applied for the International "George Enescu" Contest in Bucharest (1964), where she ranked only fourth. The same year, instead, she spectacularly and commandingly won the International Singing Contest in Toulouse, along with Romanian fellow tenor Ludovic Spiess. In Le Monde, the well-known critic Jacques Lonchampt praised her dark, velvety mezzo, her artistry and technique, as well as her glittering beauty on the stage. This victory took Toulouse by storm and was immediately followed by a contract in the city's noted Theatre du Capitole for the year to come. In the final gala, Cortez sang Leonora's aria from Donizetti's La favorita, which was to become one of her signature concert and recital pieces.

Also in 1964, Cortez graduated from the Bucharest Conservatory, making her debut in a staged opera production - Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice. Next year, she was triumphant again, this time in the s'Hertogenbosch International Singing Contest, where she obtained the Great "Kathleen Ferrier" Prize. She made her debut in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila opposite Ludovic Spiess in Toulouse the same year and she returned as Carmen one year later. In the following period of time, Viorica Cortez established herself as one of the most respected and recognized young Romanian opera singers, though in her native country she appeared mostly in concerts and recitals. After being hired by the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest in 1967, this changed, as she toured the country and Europe (the former Yugoslavia, France, Greece and especially Ireland), making her debut in Ambroise Thomas' Mignon, Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo, Aida and Il trovatore, Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorita and Jules Massenet's Werther.

In 1967, she won the Grand Prize and the Golden Medal of the International "George Enescu" Contest in Bucharest, ending in glory her competition itinerary. Already an established name in Romania, she toured France alongside Arta Florescu (in Aida) and made her Choregies d'Orange debut (as Amneris from Aida). The same year, coming from Dublin, she auditioned for the first and only time in her career for Sir Georg Solti, who was looking for a Carmen in the London Royal Opera House's new production. Apparently, after hearing Cortez, he declared: "This IS the Carmen we've been looking for. We found HER". The highly attained in-situ debut occurred in 1968 and, although the critics were not unanimously favorable to this newcomer, the performances were hailed as one the season's most notable events. For Viorica Cortez, that meant not only the launching in a new dimension of her professional career, but also the encounter of Sandor Gorlinsky, the legendary agent who added her on his star-studded roster.

More capital debuts came. While maintaining a particular relationships with French opera houses (Toulouse, Rouen, Bordeaux, Avignon, Nice) and still a member of the Bucharest Opera, Cortez sang her first performances in Barcelona (Gran Teatre del Liceu, La favorita, 1969), Vienna (Staatsoper, Don Carlo, 1969), Salzburger Festspiele (Carmen, 1969), Naples (Teatro di San Carlo, Norma and Aida opposite Leyla Gencer) and Paris (Grand Opera, Carmen, 1970).

1970s career

By 1970, Cortez was on the list of virtually every major opera house manager for booking. Still, for a Romanian artist, getting out of the country was a major challenge, very often insurmountable. The lack of a passport as well as endless difficulties with the local authorities (the famous Security who would have put her under suspicion for basically any trip to Western Europe) were obstacles not only for her, but for every Romanian performer who hoped for an international career. Many fabulous contracts were annulled because of this issue. In the winter of 1970, Viorica Cortez was in Naples for a series of performances of Samson et Dalila opposite Mario del Monaco. She would not return to Romania, deciding to continue her artistic destiny far from her native country and, for quite some time, far from any family member or close friend. It was the kick-off of a stellar career, but her personal sacrifices should not be forgotten.

Cortez's American debut occurred in 1970. She performed in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, then finally New York, where she first appeared alongside Martina Arroyo in Verdi's Messa da Requiem in Carnegie Hall. 1971 was a crucial year. Both La Scala and the Metropolitan scheduled her, the first in Samson et Dalila, the other in Carmen. In Milan, succeeding Shirley Verrett's Dalila, Cortez was asked by the opera management and conductor Georges Pretre to consider an extra performance, an exceptional decision of the theatre following the enormous success of her first appearance with the house. In New York, Richard Tucker (her Don Jose for the debut night) hailed her as one of the most attractive and convincing Carmens he has ever sung with.

From then on, Cortez's career covered every major opera house in the world. Claudio Abbado invited her for the Verdi Requiem at La Scala, along with Plácido Domingo and Nicolai Ghiaurov. The celebrated Bulgarian bass was her partner for Massenet's freshly revived opera, Don Quichotte, both in Paris and Chicago, the Parisian mise-en-scene being assigned to Peter Ustinov. Always in Chicago, Cortez was a commanding and electrifying Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda opposite Montserrat Caballé (1973). The friendship and mutual respect between the two divas represented a milestone in Cortez's career. For Norma and Maria Stuarda, as well as for Don Carlo and Il Trovatore, the Catalan soprano and the Romanian mezzo-soprano were scheduled together in Lisbon, Naples, Nice, Vienna, Cologne, Madrid and, of course, at La Scala (Norma, 1974) and at the Met (Il Trovatore, 1973).

In 1972, Viorica Cortez acceded to the Arena di Verona "hall of fame", interpreting Amneris opposite the Radames of Franco Corelli. In the following years, she would become a favourite of the notoriously picky audience of what is probably Italy's most demanding opera festival.

In 1975, having become a French citizen, she returned to her long-missed Bucharest for a recital at the Atheneum.

Cortez felt at home both in the Italian and French repertoire. She portrayed a rapturous Dalila (Teatro Sao Carlos, Lisabona - 1975, Grand Opera, Paris - 1978), a powerful, intense Azucena (Metropolitan, New York - 1973, 1977, 1978, Grand Opera, Paris - 1975, Staatsoper, Vienna - 1973, 1974, 1976, Teatro alla Scala, Milan - 1978), a fragile Charlotte in Massenet's Werther (almost always with Alfredo Kraus, who named her his "absolute favourite Charlotte"), a dramatic Eboli (notably in Vienna, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Bilbao and for La Scala Bicentennial - 1978), a delicate and interiorised Marguerite in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust (Paris, Verona), and a sovereign and shining Amneris (La Scala, Milan - 1973, Arena di Verona - 1977, Metropolitan, New York - 1979).

Nevertheless, her repertory widened with every passing year. Surprisingly, she was a shockingly tempestuous Klitemnestra in Richard Strauss' Elektra opposite Birgit Nillson (Rome, 1971). She felt no boundaries or shyness in jumping from one composer to another, mixing Monteverdi (L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Naples, 1976) with Giordano (Fedora, Bologna, 1977), Stravinsky (Oedipus Rex, La Scala, Milan, 1972, 1973, 1980) with Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov, Paris, 1980), Rossini (Tancredi, Martina Franca, 1976) with Lalo (Le Roi d'Ys, Nancy, 1979).

Career of the 1980s

During the 1970s, Viorica Cortez was practically unstoppable, going from one opera to another, jumping continents, singing Dalila in Paris one day, Azucena in Milan the next and Giulietta in Chicago the following week. Such self-imposed intensity was soon about to take its toll.

At the beginning of the '80s, Cortez's voice seemed to be slowly but certainly deteriorating. Critiques and objections became more and more frequent. Still, as the contracts were signed five years in advance, she had to sing. She was forced to cancel some L'Hérodiade performances in Avignon, some others in Marseille and she quickly searched for support besides her family and her vocal trainer. Completely healed, she returned to the stage after a couple of months, more cautious, more balanced, decided to abandon the tremendous turmoil of the past. She became quite selective in arranging her schedule. For almost 4 years, she was almost an exotic presence in Europe, due to her long-term Metropolitan engagements (Samson et Dalila - 1981, Il Trovatore, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Adriana Lecouvreur - 1982, 1983, 1984). Still, she starred in some larger-than-life, star-directed productions in Paris (Nabucco, alongside Grace Bumbry and Sherrill Milnes - 1979, Jorge Lavelli's Oedipus Rex - 1979, Joseph Losey's Boris Godunov - 1980 or Sonja Frissell's Un ballo in maschera, alongside José Carreras - 1981).

In 1984, she was a vehement Klitemnestra in Regina Resnik's San Francisco Opera production of Elektra. She sang in Denver, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Bagdad, Tokyo, Osaka, Amsterdam, but she also returned to some beloved stages such as L'Arena di Verona (La Gioconda and Aida - 1988), Grand Opera, Paris (Herodias in Richard Strauss' Salome in the fascinating mise-en-scene of her dear Jorge Lavelli), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (Il Trovatore, La Gioconda, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Il Matrimonio Segreto - 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989), Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Un Ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti - 1989). Still in 1989, she awed Paris once again, this time as La Star in Zygmund Krause's eponymous opera, directed by Jorge Lavelli. The former editor in chief of Opera International, Sergio Segalini, called her "diva assolutta".

Basis for a new career: the 1990s

Even from the middle of the '80s, Cortez, extremely conscious of the status of an artist of her calibre, started to abandon the prima donna roles in favour of more mature, real-life and age correspondent parts. She sang her last Eboli in 1982, her last Giulietta and Dalila in 1987, her last Amneris in 1988. For someone who, at a certain point, was hailed "the most beautiful mezzo-soprano in the world" it has been a question of refinement and elegance to maintain that image. She then alternated her signature roles with the ones that would become the landmarks of her new repertoire: La Cieca in La Gioconda (Verona, Barcelona), Madame Flora in Menotti's Medium (Paris, Catania), Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica (Nice, Madrid, Bilbao, Lisbon), La Marquise de Berkenfield in La Fille du Regiment (Torino, Oviedo, Madrid, Monte-Carlo, Strasbourg), Anaide in Leoncavallo's Zaza (Palermo), Ulrica in Un Ballo in maschera (Barcelona, Genova), Madame de Croissy in "Les Dialogues des Carmelites" (Avignon, Vichy), Quickly in "Falstaff" (Bordeaux, Buenos Aires, Hamburg). Her acting abilities as well as the richness of her voice made her one remarkably sought after mezzos for composition roles (character roles), a trend she followed for the next decade of her career.

Equally important, Cortez was able to sing in her native country again, after 20 years of exile. She appeared in numerous benefit galas and concerts, she gave recitals in Bucharest and Iasi, as well as opera performances ("Carmen" in Iasi - 1991, "Il Trovatore" at the National Opera in Bucharest - 1992).

The 2000s

A tragic episode marked Viorica Cortez's destiny at the beginning of 2001. Coming from Iaşi, the car her husband was driving crashed violently into a tree, killing the driver and seriously hurting the mezzo-soprano. After almost six months of recovery, she returned to the stage (La Comtesse de Coigny and Madelon in Giordano's Andrea Chénier in Sevilla), determined to pursue her career. Her comeback was emotionally highlighted by the Spanish press. Subsequently, as a confirmation of the very special relationship between the singer and the Spanish audience, she concentrated most of her career in Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla and Bilbao, without neglecting offers that were still coming from Italy or France (notably a highly praised Old Baroness in Barber's Vanessa in Strasbourg). At the Gran Teatre del Liceu, she added to her repertoire a role she had been dreaming of since the 80s: The Old Countess from Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. She reprised it in Madrid (Teatro Real, 2004). She later sang Buryovka in Janáček's Jenůfa in Barcelona (2005), where she also opened the 2007-2008 season as la Comtesse/Madelon. Again in 2008, Viorica Cortez made her return to the Monte-Carlo Opera (Starenka Buryovka in Janáček's Jenůfa). She also reprised one of her best recent characters, Madame de Croissy in Les Dialogues des Carmelites, for the opening of the 2008-2009 season at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, in the famed production of Robert Carsen. The performances were highly acclaimed by the press. Later on, she was scheduled to have her in-house debut with Teatro del Maggio in Florence (Cavalleria rusticana). In 2009, Viorica Cortez starred in the creation of a new opera (Une affaire etrangere) in Montpellier.

Carmen

"Carmen du siecle" - this is what the French press was headlining in the 1970s. Without any doubt, Viorica Cortez was one of the most sought after Carmens of the 1970s and '80s. She sang the opera for 278 times, more than Gianna Pederzini or Giulietta Simionato, and, since her big Covent Garden break (1968), she relentlessly deepened the character, almost identifying herself with Mérimée's and Bizet's heroine. The critics applauded her creamy, very extended voice, able to cover all three registers, her exquisite technique, her refinement in the French way of punctuating, as well as her breathtaking beauty and charisma on stage. With Carmen, Viorica Cortez gloriously entered the very exclusive club of opera stars. She sang the role at La Scala (1972, with Giuseppe di Stefano), Metropolitan Opera (1971, 1979), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1968, 1969, 1974), Grand Opera, Paris (1970), Staatsoper, Vienna (1970, 1971, 1973, 1976), Arena di Verona (1975, 1980), but also in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Salzburg, Bilbao, Oviedo, Rome, Trieste, Bologna, Chicago, Naples, Toulouse, Beograd, Piacenza, Rio de Janeiro, Pistoia, Montreal, Lille, Avignon, Málaga, Genova, Philadelphia, Strasbourg, San Antonio, Seattle, Lisbon, Messina, Lausanne, Bucharest, etc. Her last "Carmen" was in her native Iaşi, in 1991.

Discography

There were many voices who objected that Viorica Cortez arrived too late in Western Europe and all the major recording labels had under exclusive contracts more famous mezzo-sopranos. Thus, Cortez had to content herself with sporadic recordings. The first international one, made for EMI France, was maybe another missed step: Mercedes (!) in "Carmen" alongside Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni and Kostas Paskalis, under the baton of Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos. By that time, Cortez had already sung the role at Covent Garden and in all France, being a demanded Carmen herself. She then had the chance of recording Azucena in "Il Trovatore" with Bruno Bartoletti and Maddalena in "Rigoletto" with Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, both operas being filmed for the German Television. A celebrated recording was that of "Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze" by the world-famous film music composer Nino Rota. In 1977, Cortez recorded in Luxembourg her one and only aria recital, which won the Grand Prize of Academie Lyrique du Disque in France. It was later released as a CD. The lack of official recordings made Viorica Cortez always stay one step behind her illustruous colleagues Fiorenza Cossotto, Grace Bumbry, Shirley Verrett or Elena Obraztsova. Fortunately, the last decade brought, just like as in the cases of Magda Olivero, Leyla Gencer and Virginia Zeani, a flourishing of in-house live recordings: "Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio" (Bologna, 1977), "Aida" (Vienna, 1973, Denver, 1986), "Elektra" (Rome, 1971), "Norma" (Naples, 1973, Caracas, 1975), "Maria Stuarda" (Chicago, 1973), "Il Trovatore" (Paris 1975, New York 1978, 1981), "La Favorita" (Genova, 1976), "Don Carlo" (Milan, 1978), "Adriana Lecouvreur" (New York, 1983), "Gioconda" (Verona, 1988), "Suor Angelica" (Madrid, 1993), "Zaza" (Palermo, 1994), "La Fille du regiment" (Madrid, 1996), "Les contes d'Hoffmann" (Orange, 2002), "Jenůfa" (Barcelona, 2005).

Personal life

Viorica Cortez was married three times: first, with the noted Romanian sculptor Marcel Guguianu, then with the famous French composer Emmanuel Bondeville, former manager of the Paris Opera and Opera Comique and with the Romanian-born historian Adolf Armbruster. From the first marriage, the singer has one daughter - Catalina. The artist currently resides in Paris

Viorica Cortez-o celebră mezzo-soprană

2010-02-21T11:46:00.000+01:00

Viorica Cortez (n. 26 decembrie 1935, Iaşi) este o celebră mezzo-soprană română.

A început să studieze muzica la Conservatorul din oraşul Iaşi. Încă studentă fiind, a obţinut Marele Premiu la Concursul Internaţional de Canto din Toulouse (1964). Au urmat Marele Premiu special "Kathleen Ferrier" din t’Hertogenbosch (Olanda, 1965) şi Premiul I cu medalie de aur al Concursului Internaţional de Muzică „George Enescu” din Bucureşti (1967). Premiul de la Toulouse i-a deschis imediat toate marile scene. Fără a mai trece prin roluri mici, a obţinut un contract în Franţa pentru rolul principal din opera "Samson şi Dalila" de Camille Saint-Saëns.

În anul 1971 a decis să rămână în Franţa. După emigrare şi până în decembrie 1989 nu a mai avut voie să cânte pe nici o scenă din România. A obţinut cetăţenia franceză, dar nu a renunţat nici la cea română.

Michael Cretu-creator of the Enigma project.

2010-02-21T11:31:00.000+01:00

Mihai Creţu, also known as Michael Cretu or Curly M.C. (born 18 May 1957, in Bucharest, Romania), is a Romanian musician best known as the creator of the Enigma project.

He has worked with many producers, musicians, and artists in his long career. These include Sandra, Frank Farian, Boney M, Goombay Dance Band, Peter Cornelius, Manfred "Tissy" Thiers and Mike Oldfield in his pre-Enigma days, and Jens Gad, Frank Peterson, David Fairstein, ATB, Jam & Spoon, Peter Ries, Ruth-Ann Boyle and Andru Donalds during the course of the project.

In 2001, Crocodile-Music, Cretu's management stated that a total of 100 million Cretu-produced records had been sold.By the year 2008, Michael Cretu's Enigma project had sold over 50 million studio albums according to the official site.

He owned A.R.T. Studios, a recording studio, which was situated within a private home of his on the island of Ibiza. Since it was demolished in May 2008, he now uses a mobile computer based studio.

Background

Cretu was born to a Romanian father and a mother of Austrian ancestry. His uncle, Ion Voicu, a famous Romanian violinist and the director of the Bucharest Philharmonic told Michael's parents that he had talent in music and as such, he studied classical music at Liceul Nr. 2 in Bucharest in 1965 and in Paris, France, in 1968.He later attended the Academy of Music in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1975 to 1978, attaining a degree in music. Cretu was taken on as a keyboard player and producer for Frank Farian, the German mastermind behind successful acts of the 1970s and 1980s such as Boney M and Milli Vanilli.

In the 1980s, Cretu took over production for the pop quartet Hubert Kah and started writing songs with the band leader Hubert Kemmler, achieving a number of hits. Among his other work, Cretu was also one of the producers of Mike Oldfield's 1987 album Islands, specifically on its sixth track, "The Time Has Come" and the producer of Peter Schilling's 1989 album The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime), specifically on its first track, "The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)."

In 1998, Cretu teamed up with Jens Gad (they previously worked together on Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!) and created the album The Energy of Sound under the name Trance Atlantic Airwaves. Cretu and Gad also worked with Jamaican singer Andru Donalds, achieving some success in Europe with a cover version of the song "All Out of Love" (1999).

Cretu met his future wife, Sandra Lauer, when he was playing keyboards on the band Arabesque’s live touring show. In collaboration with several Hubert Kah band members, he co-wrote and produced several successful albums and singles for her, beginning with the song "Maria Magdalena" which topped the charts in 21 countries. The band was simply called Sandra, although Sandra's full name is now often used for filing and identification purposes. Cretu married her on 7 January 1988. They have twins named Nikita and Sebastian, who were born in July 1995. Michael and Sandra divorced in November 2007, citing "personal and professional differences".

Another band of Cretu's was called Moti Special ("Cold Days, Hot Nights"), which Cretu produced and performed with in the mid-1980s.

He owned the first A.R.T. Studios in Ibiza before moving to a new mansion in the Ibiza hills. His new house, near Sant Antoni de Portmany on the western coast of Ibiza, is a Moroccan-style mansion and was designed and built over nine years by Bernd Steber and Gunter Wagner. It also features a brand new, state-of-the-art recording studio. The Spanish High Court deemed the house to have been built illegally and in infringement of Spanish environmental regulations which led to the €18 million villa being razed in May 2009.

Cretu as a solo artist

Cretu's first solo release was the single Wild River in 1978. His first solo album was released in 1979 and was titled Ausgewählte Goldstücke as a German-language release, and Moon, Light & Flowers as an English-language release.

Cretu's second solo album, titled Legionäre, was released in 1983. This album had German-language lyrics and was sung by Michael. It was co-produced and supervised by Harald Steinhauer and mastered by Armand Volker.

Cretu's third solo album was titled Die Chinesische Mauer and was released in 1985. The literal English translation is The Chinese Wall, or as it is better known, The Great Wall of China. Like his previous album, this had German-language lyrics, was sung by Michael, and was co-produced by Armand Volker. This album was also released as a separate album with English-language lyrics and a different track listing under the name The Invisible Man. Several of the tracks on The Invisible Man were edited slightly and, therefore, was different length than the German-language versions on Die Chinesische Mauer. This featured the song "Samurai," which became a minor hit.

The Enigma project

After Cretu's marriage to Sandra in 1988, he had an idea, following suggestions made by David Fairstein, for a musical new-age dance project under the name, presented by Fairstein, of Enigma. Cretu worked with Frank Peterson and David Fairstein to create their ground-breaking first single "Sadeness," which became a surprise hit. MCMXC a.D., the album, which was released in 1990, was hugely successful. It is believed to have sold about 20 million copies worldwide. One of the aims of Enigma was to present music that has never been heard before and is not being produced anywhere, which also forced Cretu to continually move in new musical directions and to stay ahead of imitators.

MCMXC a.D. stayed on the charts for 282 weeks on the Billboard charts and dropped off two years after its second album, The Cross of Changes, was released in 1993. Prior to this, Frank Peterson had some disagreements with Cretu and he left the project in 1991. Cretu changed Enigma's direction from Gregorian chants to tribal chants for its second album, and this led to “Return to Innocence,” which became a worldwide hit.

Cretu was approached by Paramount Pictures to write the soundtrack of the movie Sliver and he came up with another 1993 single, “Carly's Song,” the title of the track based on the character of the leading actress in the movie.

In 1996, Enigma's third album, Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! was released. Stylistically, it sounded like a combination of the first and second albums, but it failed to achieve the same level of success.

For the fourth album, Cretu steered the project in another direction by using samples of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for the album The Screen Behind the Mirror. Andru Donalds and Ruth-Ann Boyle first appeared on this release. Although Jens Gad had been working with Cretu on the earlier albums, this was the first time that he had been given actual credits.

Deciding that the first chapter for Enigma was closed, Cretu released two sets of compilation albums: Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits and Love Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collection.

By then Cretu was undecided if he should continue with the project, but eventually he came up with Voyageur in 2003. Familiar sounds of the Shakuhachi flute, tribal, or Gregorian chants were replaced with more pop-oriented tunes and beats. In March 2006, a new single called "Hello & Welcome" was released in anticipation of another album.

A Posteriori was the sixth Enigma studio album. It was released 22 September 2006.

Seven Lives Many Faces became the seventh Enigma studio album. It was released 19 September 2008.

Discography

Solo Albums

1979 – Moon, Light & Flowers

1983 – Legionäre

1985 – Die Chinesische Mauer

1985 – Invisible Man (English version, different title though, of Die Chinesische Mauer) [#24 Switzerland, #16 Sweden]

Solo Singles

1978 - "Shadows Over My Head"

1978 - "Wild River"

1979 - "Moonlight Flower"

1983 - "Total Normal"

1983 - "Zeitlose Reise"

1983 - "Der Planet Der Verlorenen Zeit"

1983 - "Today, Today"

1984 - "Schwarzer Engel"

1985 - "Carte Blanche"

1985 - "Die Chinesische Mauer"

1985 - "Samurai" (German Version)

1985 - "Samurai (Did You Ever Dream)" (English Version) [#3 Austria, #2 Switzerland, #4 Sweden, #1 Greece, #4 Italy, #12 Germany]

1985 - "Silver Water"

1986 - "Gambit"

1987 - "School's Out" (Cretu & Thiers)

1987 - "When Love Is The Missing Word" (Cretu & Thiers)

1988 - "Don't Say You Love Me (Let Me Feel It)" (Cretu & Thiers)

1992 - "Rettungsringe sterben aus" (Cretu & Cornelius)

1992 - "Nur die Hoffnung nicht"(Cretu & Cornelius)

1993 - "Captain Right" (Cretu & Thiers)

Collaborations

1980 – Topaz: "Topaz"

1981 – Peter Kent "Happy Weekend"

1982 – Severine

1983 – Mireille Mathieu; "Ein Neuer Morgen"

1983 – Mary and Gordy

1983 – Peter Cornelius; "Fata Morgana"

1985 – Moti Special: Motivation

1987 – Mike Oldfield: Islands

1987 – Inker & Hamilton: Dancing Into Danger

1987 – Cretu And Thiers: School's Out

1988 – Cretu and Thiers: Belle Epoque

1992 – Cornelius and Cretu: Cornelius and Cretu

1998 – Trance Atlantic Air Waves: The Energy of Sound

Sandra

Michael Cretu worked as writer, producer and performer on most of his then-wife's releases:

1985: The Long Play [#12 Germany, #8 Norway, #2 Sweden, #18 Austria, #4 Switzerland]

1986: Mirrors [#16 Germany, #14 Norway, #40 Sweden, #13 Switzerland]

1987: Ten On One [#19 Germany, #28 Austria, #14 Switzerland]

1988: Into a Secret Land [#14 Germany, #18 Norway, #22 Sweden, #13 Austria, #9 Switzerland]

1988: Everlasting Love

1990: Paintings in Yellow [#4 Germany #30 Sweden, #14 Austria, #8 Switzerland]

1992: Close to Seven [#7 Germany, #20 Norway, #27 Sweden, #26 Austria, #13 Switzerland]

1992: 18 Greatest Hits [#10 Germany, #7 France, #36 Sweden, #27 Switzerland #1 Finland]

1995: Fading Shades [#42 Germany, #37 Switzerland]

1999: My Favourites [#16 Germany, #15 Norway, #43 Switzerland]

2002: The Wheel of Time [#8 Germany, #63 Austria, #68 Switzerland]

Enigma

Mihai Creţu-creatorul proiectului muzical Enigma.

2010-02-21T11:23:00.000+01:00

Mihai Creţu, cunoscut ca Michael Cretu şi Mihai Cretu (n. 18 mai, 1957, Bucureşti, România), este un muzician şi producător muzical român, activ muzical în Germania şi Europa de Vest, domiciliat în insula spaniolă Ibiza, cunoscut mai ales ca fiind creatorul proiectului muzical Enigma.

Michael Creţu s-a născut în 1957 în România, dintr-un tată român şi o mamă de origine austriacă. Unchiul său, celebrul violonist Ion Voicu, a fost cel care i-a descoperit talentul muzical. În 1988, Creţu s-a căsătorit cu cântăreaţa Sandra Lauer, cu care are doi băieţi gemeni, Nikita şi Sebastian, născuţi în 1995. În noiembrie 2007, Michael şi Sandra au divorţat, invocând 'divergenţe personale şi profesionale.

Mihai Creţu a studiat muzica clasică la liceul numărul 2 din Bucureşti şi la Paris, începând din 1968. În perioada 1975 - 1978, a urmat cursurile Academiei de muzică din Frankfurt, obţinând licenţa în muzică. De formaţie pianist Creţu a lucrat ca producător şi interpret la instrumente cu clape pentru Frank Farian, germanul care s-a aflat în perioada anilor 1970 - 1980, în spatele marilor succese comerciale numite Boney M şi Milli Vanilli.

Mihai Creţu, cunoscut sub pseudonimul artistic de Curly M.C., a lucrat înaintea proiectului său muzical Enigma cu numeroşi producători, muzicieni şi artişti, printre care se numără Sandra Creţu, Frank Farian, Boney M, Goombay Dance Band, Peter Cornelius, Manfred "Tissy" Thiers şi Mike Oldfield. În timpul rulării proiectului Enigma a colaborat cu alţi muzicieni precum sunt Jens Gad, Frank Peterson, David Fairstein, ATB, Jam & Spoon, Peter Ries, Ruth-Ann Boyle şi Andru Donalds.

Axat pe producere şi aranjament muzical, Creţu lucrează în propriul său studio muzical, numit Studioul A.R.T., situat chiar la reşedinţa personală a cuplului Michael şi Sandra Cretu, din insulele Baleare, pe insula Ibiza.

Conform propriului său web site, până la finele anului 2001, Mihai Creţu ar fi vândut peste 100 de milioane de albume .

Background

Creţu a studiat muzica clasică la Liceul Nr. 2 din Bucureşti în anul 1965 şi în Paris, Franţa în anul 1968. Mai târziu a urmat Academia de Muzică din Frankfurt, Germania din anul 1975 pînă în 1978, obţinând o diplomă universitară în muzică. Creţu a fost recunoscut ca un cântăreţ la pian electronic şi a produs melodii pentru Frank Farian, maestrul German care s-a aflat în spatele succesului din anii 1970 şi 1980 al cunoscuţilor cântăreţi Boney M şi Milli Vanilli.

In anii 80's Creţu a devenit producătorul cvartetului pop Hubert Kah şi a început să scrie melodii cu liderul de formaţie Hubert Kemmler, scoţând numeroase hituri. Among his other work, Creţu a fost deasemenea unul dintre producătorii albumului Mike Oldfield's 1987, Islands, mai ales cea de a şasea melodie, "The Time has Come" şi producătorul albumului din anul 1989 al lui Peter Schilling , The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime).

Creţu a întâlnit-o pe viitoarea lui soţie Sandra Lauer (mai târziu Sandra Creţu) atunci când cânta la orgă electrică în turneul live cu grupul Arabesque. În colaborare cu mai mulţi membri ai formaţiei, cum ar fi Hubert Kah, a fost co-producător şi a produs mai multe albume de succes pe care i le-a dedicat ei, începând cu melodia "Maria Magdalena" care a fost pe locul 1 în top în 21 de ţări. Noua formaţie s-a numit simplu Sandra, deşi numele întreg al Sandrei este foarte des folosit în scopuri financiare. Creţu s-a căsătorit cu Sandra Lauer pe data de 7 ianuarie, 1988. Au avut doi copii gemeni Nikita şi Sebastian, care s-au născut în anul 1995.

O altă formaţie lansată de Creţu s-a numit Moti Special ("Cold Days, Hot Nights"), cu care Creţu a produs melodii şi a cântat la mijlocul anilor 80.

A fost patronul casei de muzică A.R.T. Studios din Ibiza, înainte să se mute la o nouă reşedinţă din dealurile Ibizei. Noua lui casă din coasta vestică şi romantică a insulei Ibiza este o casă de stil marocan spectaculoasă şi a fost ridicată în 9 ani de către Bernd Steber şi Gunter Wagner. De asemenea deţine un studio de înregistrări foarte modern, care a păstrat numele iniţial, din care speră să scoată mai multe albume pe viitor.

În anul 1998, Creţu a mai făcut odată echipă cu Jens Gad (în trecut au lucrat împreună la Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!) şi au lansat albumul The Energy of Sound sub numele Trance Atlantic Airwaves. Creţu şi Gad au lucrat de asemenea cu cântăreţul Jamaican Andru Donalds, care a avut un succes în Europa cu melodia "All Out of Love" din anul (1999)..

Viaţa lui Creţu ca artist solo

Primul solo al lui Creţu a fost lansat o dată cu single-ul Wild River, în anul 1978. Primul său album solo a fost lansat în anul 1979 şi a fost intitulat Ausgewählte Goldstücke ca produs German, şi Moon, Light & Flowers ca producţie realizată în limba engleză.

Al doilea album solo al lui Creţu, intitulat Legionäre, a fost lansat în anul 1983. Acest album a avut versuri în limba germană şi au fost compuse de Mihai. A fost co-producător şi supervizat de Harald Steinhauer şi l-a avut ca profesor pe Armand Volker.

Al treilea album solo al lui Creţu s-a intitulat Die Chinesische Mauer, şi a fost lansat în anul 1985. În limba engleză traducerea titlului ar fi "The Chinese Wall", şi este mai bine cunoscut ca, "The Great Wall of China". În română s-ar traduce Marele zid chinezesc. La fel ca şi albumul precedent, acesta are versuri în limba germană, care au fost compuse de Mihai, şi coproducător a fost Armand Volker. Acest album a fost de asemenea lansat separat în limba engleză şi o versiune diferită a melodiei este cunoscut sub numele "The Invisible Man". Câteva din melodiile din "The Invisible Man" au fost uşor editate, şi de aceea diferă puţin de versiunea germană Die Chinesische Mauer.

Proiectul Enigma

După ce s-a căsătorit cu Sandra în 1988, Creţu a avut o idee bazată pe sugestiile lui David Fairstein, pentru un proiect muzical "new age dance", sub numele -sugerat de Fairstein- Enigma. Împreună cu Frank Peterson şi David Fairstein, Creţu a creat primul lor single, o melodie inovativă intitulată Sadness, care a avut un succes neaşteptat. Albumul MCMXC a.D., lansat în 1990, a avut un succes uriaş. Se presupune că s-au vândut cam 20 de milioane de exemplare în toată lumea. Unul dintre scopurile proiectului Enigma era de a oferi muzică nemaiauzită până atunci, şi care nu se mai producea nicăieri, ceea ce l-a obligat pe Creţu să caute mereu noi direcţii muzicale şi să nu se lase depăşit de imitatori.

MCMXC a.D. a rămas pentru 282 de săptămâni în topurile Billboard, şi a ieşit doar la doi ani după lansarea celui de-al doilea album Enigma, The Cross of Changes, în 1993. Peterson avusese deja neînţelegeri cu Creţu şi a părăsit proiectul în 1991. Enigma folosise până acum cânturi gregoriene, dar Creţu a decis să se axeze pe cântece tribale pentru al doilea album. Aşa a apărut Return to Innocence, care va deveni hit mondial.

Paramount Pictures i-a propus lui Creţu să compună coloana sonoră pentru filmul Silver, şi astfel, în 1993 a apărut încă un single Enigma, Carly's Song, numit după personajul principal din film.

În 1996, Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!, al treilea album Enigma, a fost lansat. Din punct de vedere stilistic, este o combinaţie între primele două albume, dar nu s-a bucurat de acelaşi succes.

Pentru al patrulea album, The Screen Behind the Mirror, Creţu a schimbat din nou direcţia muzicală, folosind fragmente din Carmina Burana. Andru Donalds şi Ruth-Ann Boyle au apărut pentru prima dată pe acest album. Deşi Jens Gad lucrase cu Creţu la albumele precedente, este creditat pentru prima oară acum.

Hotărând că primul capitol al proiectului Enigma se încheiase, Creţu a lansat două albume compilaţii: Love Sensuality Devotion: Greatest Hits şi Love Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collection.

Creţu nu mai era convins să continue proiectul, dar totuşi a compus Voyageur în 2003. Sunetele de flaut Shakuhachi şi cânturi gregoriene şi tribale cu care îşi obişnuise ascultătorii au fost înlocuite de ritmuri mai pop. În martie 2006, un nou single numit Hello & Welcome a fost lansat, în aşteptarea următorului album.

Ultimul său album, al şaselea din istoria Enigma, se numeşte A Posteriori. A fost lansat pe 22/25 septembrie 2006.

Discografie

Carieră solo

1979 – Moon, Light & Flowers

1983 – Legionäre

1985 – Die Chinesische Mauer

1985 – Invisible Man

2004 – Mystic hits (bootleg)

Colaborări

Michael Cretu worked as a writer, performer, or producer on these albums:

1985 – Moti Special: Motivation

1987 – Mike Oldfield: Islands

1987 – Cretu And Thiers: School's Out

1988 – Cretu and Thiers: Belle Epoque

1992 – Cornelius and Cretu: Cornelius and Cretu

1998 – Trance Atlantic Air Waves: The Energy of Sound

Enigma

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan-the tallest man to ever play in the NBA

2010-02-21T11:10:00.001+01:00

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan, (born February 14, 1971 in Triteni, Romania), also known as Ghiţă or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m), he is tied with Sudanese player Manute Bol as the tallest man to ever play in the NBA. Like Bol, both his parents are of average size, but unlike Bol his great height is the result of a pituitary disorder.

NBA career

Mureşan was born in Triteni, in the Romanian district of Cluj to a poor family, and played competitive basketball at Cluj University. He played professionally in the French league with Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season and was an instant hit with fans. The NBA took interest in him and he was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA Draft.[1] He played in the NBA from 1993 to 1994 showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries.

After returning to France and playing for the start of the 1995–96 season with Pau-Orthez, he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage. He joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his career. After retiring from the NBA, Mureşan returned to the French league for three more years before returning to settle in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey with his family. He normally wore number 77, in reference to his height.

Personal life

Outside of basketball, Mureşan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 film My Giant with his co-star, comedian Billy Crystal. He also played a ventriloquist in rap artist Eminem's breakout video "My Name Is", appeared in commercials for Snickers bars and ESPN. On March 11, 2007, he played a game for the Maryland Nighthawks as part of the tallest lineup in the history of basketball.This is also the only basketball game he's ever played where he is not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is 7 foot 9 (2.36m) - 2 inches taller.

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan-cel mai înalt jucător din istoria NBA.

2010-02-21T11:05:00.000+01:00

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan (* 14 februarie 1971) este un fost jucător NBA născut în România. La înălţimea de 2,31 m, deţine împreună cu Manute Bol titlul de cel mai înalt jucător din istoria NBA.

A încercat şi actoria, fiind un personaj principal în filmul Gigantul Meu din 1998, în care a jucat împreună cu Billy Crystal.

Recordul său pentru naţionala României este de 42 de puncte, reuşite într-un meci cu Suedia, în noiembrie 1992. În 1993 a pătruns în liga profesionistă nord-americană (NBA), evoluând cinci sezoane pentru Washington Bullets (1993-1998) şi două pentru New Jersey Nets (1998-2000). În sezonul 1995-1996 a primit premiul NBA Most Improved Player Award.

Maia Morgenstern

2010-02-14T18:27:00.001+01:00

Maia Morgenstern (born May 1, 1962) is a Romanian film and stage actress,described by Florin Mitu of AMOS News as "a symbol of Romanian theater and film". In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In Romania, she has been nationally known since her 1992 role as Nela in Balanţa, a film known in the United States as The Oak, set during the waning days of Communist Romania.

Biography

Born in Bucharest, in a Jewish family,she graduated from the Film and Theatre Academy of Bucharest in 1985. She then played at the youth theater (Teatrul Tineretului) in Piatra Neamţ until 1988, and at the Teatrul Evreiesc de Stat (State Jewish Theatre) in Bucharest 1988-1990. From 1990–1998 she was a member of the company of the National Theatre in Bucharest, and since 1998 of Teatrul Bulandra, also in Bucharest; in addition, she continues to act at the State Jewish Theatre and other Bucharest theaters and elsewhere in Romania. Among her notable stage roles in recent years, in a Romanian-language production of The Blue Angel (Îngerul Albastru in Romanian) at Bucharest's Odeon Theater, in 2001-2 she played (to great critical acclaim) Lola Lola, the character made famous by Marlene Dietrich. At the same time, she was also playing the role of Kathleen Hogan in a Romanian-language production of Israel Horovitz's Park Your Car in Harvard Yard at the State Jewish Theater.

Morgenstern has appeared in numerous films, primarily in Hungarian and Romanian-language roles. In The Passion of the Christ, she performs a role in Aramaic, but like the other actors in the cast of that film, she simply memorized her lines phonetically.

Her surname Morgenstern means "Morning Star", a title of the Virgin Mary, the character she played in The Passion of the Christ. Mel Gibson, a devout Traditionalist Catholic, thought this of great significance when casting her. In interviews, she has defended The Passion against allegations of antisemitism, saying that the high priest Caiaphas is portrayed not as a representative of the Jewish people, but as a leader of the establishment, adding that "Authorities throughout history have persecuted individuals with revolutionary ideas."

She has been married twice and has 3 children: Tudor Aaron, Eva Leea Cabiria and Ana Isadora.

She has won several major awards as an actress:

Best Actress for: Cei care platesc cu viaţa ("Those who pay with their lives", 1991), Romanian Filmmakers Union

UNITER (Romanian theater association) Lucia Sturdza Bulandra Prize (1990) for her stage role as Medea in Trilogia antică (Ancient Trilogy), directed by Andrei Şerban.

Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), European Film Awards

Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), Cinéma Tout Ecran (Geneva Film Festival)

Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), Romanian Filmmakers Union

UNITER best actress award (1993), for her role in Ghetto at the Romanian National Theatre.

UNITER (1995) award for her performance in the stage production of Lola Blau.

Best Film Actress for: The Passion of the Christ (2004), Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards (EMMA Awards), UK

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Maia Morgenstern

2010-02-14T18:17:00.001+01:00

Născută în Bucureşti, într-o familie evreiască, Maia Morgenstern a studiat la Academia de teatru şi film între 1981 şi 1985, iar apoi a jucat la Teatrul Tineretului din Piatra Neamţ până în 1988. A apărut apoi pe scena Teatrului Evreiesc de Stat din Bucureşti, după care s-a alăturat trupei de la Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale". Printre rolurile notabile pe scena de teatru se numără Lola Lola, din Îngerul albastru (der Blaue Engel), sau Kathleen Hogan în Park Your Car in Harvard Yard. Ea este cunoscută publicului român mai ales pentru rolurile din filmele Balanţa, Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni, Patimile lui Hristos.

Maia Morgenstern a fost căsătorită de două ori. Are 3 copii: Tudor Aaron, Eva Lea Cabiria şi Ana Isadora.

Numele ei, Morgenstern, înseamnă în germană "Luceafărul de dimineaţă", nume dat Fecioarei Maria, personajul pe care l-a jucat în filmul "Patimile lui Hristos". Regizorul Mel Gibson, un devotat romano-catolic, pare să fi luat în considerare, printre altele, acest detaliu ca fiind semnificativ pentru alegerea ei în acest rol.

Filmografie (selectivă)

Secretul lui Bachus , Geo Saizescu, 1984

Rămânerea (engleză, Forgotten by God) - 1990

Balanţa (engleză, The Oak) - 1992

Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni (engleză, The Earth's Most Beloved Son) - 1993

Trahir - 1993

Siódmy pokój (engleză, The Seventh Room) - 1995

Privirea lui Ulyse (engleză, Ulysses' Gaze) - 1995

Witman fiúk (engleză, The Witman Boys)-1997

Omul zilei (engleză, Man of the Day) - 1997

Patul lui Procust - 2001

Patimile lui Hristos (engleză, The Passion of The Christ) - 2004

Orient Expres - 2004

15 - 2005

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Mariana Nicolesco

2010-02-14T16:55:00.001+01:00

Mariana Nicolesco (November 28, 1948) is a Romanian operatic soprano, particularly associated with Mozart and the bel canto repertory.

Born Mariana Niculescu in Guajani, Romania, She trained first as violinist at the Cluj-Napoca Conservatory, she then went on a scholarship to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where she studied voice with Jolanda Magnoni, and later had lessons from Rodolfo Celletti and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in Milan. Upon graduation, she won the Rossini International Voice Competition organized by RAI. She came in contact with conductor Thomas Schippers, who did much to further her career, and invited her to Cincinnati, where she made her operatic debut as Mimi in 1972. She returned to Italy, and appeared at the opera houses of Trieste, Venice, Florence, and Rome. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1978, as Violetta (a role she has sung over 200 times around the world). She also appeared in Chicago and San Francisco.

Nicolescu went on to perform in a multitude of opera houses; notably La Scala in Milan, Opéra de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Munich State Opera, Liceo in Barcelona, Semperoper in Dresden, Berlin State Opera, Monte Carlo Opera, as well as numerous concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Moscow Conservatory), and classical music festivals (Salzburg Festival, Rossini Opera Festival, Casals Festival).

Nicolesco defended a wide repertoire from baroque to verismo, with a special affinity for Mozart and the Italian bel canto, notable roles included; Donna Elvira, Celia, Elettra, Anna Bolena, Beatrice di Tenda, Maria Stuarda, Elisabetta, Amalia, Desdemona, etc.

A soprano drammatica d'agilità, she has a rich and vibrant voice and a strong stage presence. She can be heard in a few recordings, notably; Beatrice di Tenda and Maria di Rohan. She had a rather surprisingly short career - the voice had top quality. One of many great Romanian Violettas: Zeani, Gheorghiu...

Honors

Nicolescu holds a Ph.D. in Arts and a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca. She is also Honorary Professor and Doctor Honoris Causa of Transylvania University of Braşov, Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy, and a member of the Honorary Committee of the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. She was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order Of the Star of Romania, the highest Romanian honor.

Mariana Nicolesco

2010-02-14T16:53:00.001+01:00

Mariana Nicolesco, născută Mariana Nicolescu, (n. 1948, Găujani, judeţul Giurgiu) este o soprană română.

Soprana Mariana Nicolesco a cântat pe renumite scene ale lumii, începând cu Teatrul Scala din Milano, unde a debutat în premiera mondială a operei La Vera Storia de Luciano Berio. Ulterior va apare în numeroase noi puneri în scenă, recitaluri şi concerte, atât la Milano cât şi la München, Viena, Paris, Chicago, Hamburg, San Francisco, Barcelona, Roma, Dresda, Tokyo, Berlin, la Festivalul de la Salzburg şi la Rossini Opera Festival de la Pesaro.

Mariana Nicolescu a strălucit în spectacole semnate de Giorgio Strehler, Patrice Chéreau, Luca Ronconi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jonathan Miller, sub bagheta lui Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Peter Maag, Filippo Patané, Alberto Zedda, Colin Davis, şi a cucerit publicul marilor săli de concert, Carnegie Hall din New York, Royal Festival Hall la Londra, Accademia Santa Cecilia de la Roma, Concertgebouw din Amsterdam, Musikverein la Viena, Marea Sală a Conservatorului din Moscova.

Soprana Mariana Nicolesco e aclamată pe cele mai renumite scene ale lumii, începând cu Teatrul alla Scala din Milano, unde a debutat în premiera mondială a operei La Vera Storia de Luciano Berio, unde apare apoi în numeroase noi puneri în scenă, recitaluri şi concerte, ca şi la Metropolitan Opera din New York, la München, Viena, Paris, Chicago, Hamburg, San Francisco, Barcelona, Roma, Dresda, Tokio, Berlin, la Festivalul de la Salzburg şi la Rossini Opera Festival de la Pesaro. Ea străluceşte în spectacole semnate de Giorgio Strehler, Patrice Chéreau, Luca Ronconi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jonathan Miller, sub bagheta lui Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Peter Maag, Filippo Patané, Alberto Zedda, Colin Davis, şi cucereşte publicul marilor săli de concert, Carnegie Hall din New York, Royal Festival Hall la Londra, Accademia Santa Cecilia de la Roma, Concertgebouw din Amsterdam, Musikverein la Viena, Marea Sală a Conservatorului din Moscova. Personalitate ieşită din comun, Mariana Nicolesco a captivat dintotdeauna publicul de pretutindeni, de la prima sa apariţie în rolul Violettei din La Traviata dirijată de Thomas Schippers şi pusă în scenă de Gian Carlo Menotti la Florenţa. Ea avea să interpreteze acest rol de peste două sute de ori. Alte culmi ale repertoriului său verdian sunt Leonora în Il Trovatore, Desdemona în Otello, Amelia în Simon Boccanegra, operă înregistrată de asemenea pe CD. Principalele sale roluri mozartiene sunt Donna Elvira în Don Giovanni, cu Sawallisch la München şi cu Muti la Scala, Cinna în Lucio Silla în regia lui Chéreau tot la Scala, Vitellia în La Clemenza di Tito cu Maag, Elettra în Idomeneo cu Ozawa la Tokyo şi Salzburg. La Teatrul alla Scala, Mariana Nicolesco a participat deopotrivă la renaşterea repertoriului baroc, cu L'Orfeo de Luigi Rossi şi Fetonte de Niccolò Jommelli, în regia lui Luca Ronconi, impunându-se în belcanto ca soprană drammatico d'agilità, cu interpretarea operei Beatrice di Tenda de Bellini la Teatrul La Fenice din Veneţia. Înregistrarea pe CD a acestei opere este considerată o piatră de hotar în discografia belliniană, alături de Maria di Rohan de Donizetti, de asemenea înregistrată pe CD, Elizabeta I în Roberto Devereux, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda de acelaşi compozitor, şi de recitalurile sale la Teatrul alla Scala, Carnegie Hall sau Marea Sală a Conservatorului din Moscova. Mariana Nicolesco a interpretat în premieră mondială şi înregistrat pe CD cantatele Gli Amori di Teolinda de Meyerbeer, precum şi Alyssa şi Alcyone de Ravel. Ea a înregistrat de asemenea pe CD Le Nozze di Figaro de Mozart şi La Rondine de Puccini. La invitaţia Papei Ioan Paul al II-lea, Mariana Nicolesco a cântat în primul Concert de Crăciun în Vatican, transmis în Mondovisione, vechile colinde româneşti ascultate de un miliard de oameni. Ea a interpretat în premieră mondială, sub bagheta lui Lorin Maazel, Seven Gates of Jerusalem, capodopera lui Krzysztof Penderecki dedicată celor 3000 de ani ai Oraşului Sfânt, partea sopranei fiind compusă pentru vocea sa. Mariana Nicolesco a terminat Şcoala de Muzică din Braşov cu Concertul pentru vioară de Bruch, s-a înscris la Conservatorul din Cluj şi a dobândit prin concurs o bursă de studii la Conservatorul Santa Cecilia de la Roma, unde studiază canto cu Jolanda Magnoni, lucrând apoi cu Rodolfo Celletti şi cu Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Câştigă Concursul Internaţional Voci Rossiniane organizat la Milano de Radioteleviziunea Italiană RAI, începând o remarcabilă carieră internaţională. Mariana Nicolesco apare în 1991 pentru prima dată în faţa publicului din ţara natală, la Ateneul Român din Bucureşti, şi oferă ulterior, în fiecare an, Concerte Extraordinare cu Orchestra Simfonică a Filarmonicii George Enescu, între altele celebrând în 1993 cei 125 de ani şi în 1998 cei 130 de ani ai acesteia. Revenind în România, Mariana Nicolesco şi-a pus toate eforturile în slujba tinerilor artişti de mare talent. Peste zece mii de persoane o întâmpină la Brăila la fiecare dintre concertele sale menite să susţină Concursul Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée pe care l-a creat, al cărui suflet este, şi care onorează memoria primei interprete a operei Tosca de Puccini, născută în oraşul de la Dunărea de Jos. În anii dintre o ediţie şi alta a Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée, Mariana Nicolesco oferă laureaţilor competiţiei Cursuri de Măiestrie Artistică, Master Classes. Preşedinta Fundaţiei Darclée şi a Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée, la care au luat parte până acum peste 1500 de tineri artişti din România şi alte 45 de ţări din 5 continente, pe care l-a situat de la bun început la nivelul celor mai importante manifestări de acest gen din lume, ea a izbutit să facă în aşa fel ca publicul său, entuziast şi numeros, să fie nelipsit în prezent şi de la concertele tinerilor artişti, cărora nu ezită să li se alăture, şi care au strălucit în reprezentaţiile dedicate muzicii lui Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi sau Puccini. Mariana Nicolesco a creat la New York The Romanian Atheneum International Foundation şi la Bucureşti Fundaţia Internaţională Ateneul Român. Aceste organizaţii non-profit sunt menite să sprijine perpetuarea vechilor tradiţii culturale ale ţării şi au participat la restaurarea Ateneului Român, construit în 1888. Fundaţiile au contribuit la restaurarea orgii Ateneului, cu piese comandate la Ludwigsburg fabricantului acesteia, şi au donat un mare pian de concert Steinway. O selecţie a înregistrărilor live din concertele şi recitalurile susţinute în ultimii zece ani în ţara natală a fost publicată într-un album de 3 CD-uri şi în video-casetă, sub titlul Mariana Nicolesco în România. Mariana Nicolesco obţine primul titlu ştiinţific de Doctor în Artă din România, cu o teză despre Belcanto. Doctor Honoris Causa al Academiei de Muzică din Cluj, Profesor Honoris Causa al Universităţii Babeş-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, Profesor Universitar şi Doctor Honoris Causa al Universităţii Transilvania din Braşov, membru în Comitetul de Onoare al Fundaţiei Internaţionale Yehudi Menuhin, Mariana Nicolesco este, de asemenea, Membră de Onoare a Academiei Române. Cetăţean de Onoare al Bucureştiului, Clujului, Brăilei şi Braşovului. A fost distinsă cu titlul de Mare Ofiţer al Ordinului Naţional Steaua României. Guvernul Franţei i-a acordat titlul de Ofiţer al Ordinului Artelor şi Literelor. A primit Medalia UNESCO pentru Merite Artistice. Comandor al Ordinului Steaua Solidarităţii Italiene. Mariana Nicolesco a organizat în 2003 la Braşov Primul Festival şi Concurs Naţional de Interpretare a Liedului Românesc, precum şi Gran Gala UNESCO-UNICEF România la Veneţia, care a fost salutată de presa italiană cu titluri ca Splendorile României. Ea a fost desemnată de revista Capital Numărul Unu în topul femeilor de succes din România. La împlinirea a 150 de ani de la premiera absolută a operei La Traviata de Verdi este sărbătorită în America drept o mare interpretă a rolului Violettei Valéry, împreună cu Virginia Zeani. Cu acea ocazie prezintă un spectacol cu opera verdiană în interpretarea tinerilor artişti români laureaţi ai Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée. Un studiu publicat recent arată că, în lunga istorie a Teatrului alla Scala din Milano, Mariana Nicolesco este soprana care a apărut în cele mai multe premiere absolute. Mariana Nicolesco a fost proclamată la Berlin Muzicianul Anului pentru performanţele sale excepţionale în arta cântului şi pentru tot ceea ce face în favoarea tinerei generaţii: O mare voce pentru renaşterea culturii. În anul 2005, cu prilejul comemorării a 50 de ani de la trecerea în eternitate a marelui compozitor român George Enescu, prezintă în premieră mondială integrala liedurilor sale, în interpretarea laureaţilor Concursului Naţional al Liedului Românesc pe care l-a creat la Braşov. Ca urmare a succesului obţinut, Mariana Nicolesco şi tinerii săi prieteni au fost invitaţi să prezinte aceste capodopere în Concerte Extraordinare la Expoziţia Universală de la Aichi în Japonia, apoi la Nagoya, Tokio, la Praga, Paris, Roma şi New York. Ecouri excepţionale n-au întârziat să apară în presa muzicală internaţională, de la Orpheus din Berlin la Amadeus de la Milano. În acelaşi an primeşte titlul de Artist UNESCO pentru Pace, constituind în prezent Catedra UNESCO dedicată Patrimoniului Vocal Mondial. Membră a Juriului Concursului Internaţional Schubert şi Modernitatea organizat de Universitatea de Muzică şi Arte din Graz, Austria. În cadrul Anului Internaţional Mozart, invitată în 2006 de Opera şi de Conservatorul din Lausanne, Mariana Nicolesco oferă o serie de Cursuri de Măiestrie Artistică, Master Classes, unor studenţi şi tineri artişti din Elveţia, Italia, Franţa, Argentina, Anglia şi România. Primeşte la Palermo Medalia Siciliei cu prilejul intrării României în Uniunea Europeană, în ianuarie 2007, prezentând în Chiesa del Gesù un concert la care a invitat mai multe remarcabile talente din ţara natală. Este invitată să inaugureze Academia Internaţională de Canto pe care o conduce în cadrul Universităţii din Cardiff, susţinând o serie de Master Classes. Apare pe coperta ediţiei noiembrie-decembrie 2007 a revistei Orpheus din Berlin care titrează: «Mariana Nicolesco – Europa cântă cu noi» şi dedică un amplu articol Festivalului şi Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée.» 28 noiembrie 2007 : Concert – Master Class Mariana Nicolesco cu laureaţii Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée în Sala Thalia în cadrul programului Sibiu – Capitală Culturală Europeană. Cu această ocazie Mariana Nicolesco primeşte din mâinile Preşedintelui Forumului Cultural European prestigiosul Premiu Special Kultur Preis Europa: “O mare voce a timpului nostru Mariana Nicolesco primeşte Medalia Europei pentru performanţele sale artistice, pentru calitatea sa de mentor şi formator al tinerei generaţii şi pentru rolul excepţional, încununat de succes, pe care-l asumă în relaţia României cu Europa şi a Europei cu România”. Februarie 2008: P.F. Daniel, Patriarhul Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, i-a remis Marianei Nicolesco Diploma de Onoare a Fundaţiei Internaţionale Omenia, “pentru crearea în România a unei şcoli de canto de cel mai înalt nivel european, pentru actele sale umanitare, pentru promovarea toleranţei şi reconcilierii.” Evenimentul a avut loc în cadrul unui Concert Extraordinar la Ateneul Român din Bucureşti susţinut de Mariana Nicolesco şi laureaţii Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée. Martie-mai 2009: la Opera Naţională din Bucureşti are loc premiera absolută pentru România a operei Parisina d’Este de Gaetano Donizetti, reprezentaţie coordonată de Mariana Nicolesco şi primită în triumf, ca şi în Salonul de Muzică al Castelului Peleş din Sinaia şi din nou la Bucureşti. Toţi tinerii artişti s-au dovedit remarcabili, începând cu interpreta rolului titular, soprana Aurelia Florian, laureată a Marelui Premiu Darclée.

Alte roluri

Principalele sale roluri mozartiene sunt Donna Elvira în Don Giovanni, cu Sawallisch la München şi cu Muti la Scala, Cinna în Lucio Silla în regia lui Chéreau tot la Scala, Vitellia în La Clemenza di Tito cu Maag, Elettra în Idomeneo cu Ozawa la Tokyo şi Salzburg.

La Teatrul alla Scala, Mariana Nicolesco a participat deopotrivă la renaşterea repertoriului baroc, cu L'Orfeo de Luigi Rossi şi Fetonte de Niccolò Jommelli, în regia lui Luca Ronconi, impunându-se în belcanto ca soprană drammatico d'agilità, cu interpretarea operei Beatrice di Tenda de Bellini la Teatrul La Fenice din Veneţia. înregistrarea pe CD a acestei opere este considerată o piatră de hotar în discografia bellinianî, alîturi de Maria di Rohan de Donizetti, de asemenea înregistrată pe CD, Elizabeta I în Roberto Devereux, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda de acelaşi compozitor, şi de recitalurile sale la Teatrul alla Scala, Carnegie Hall sau Marea Sală a Conservatorului din Moscova.

Mariana Nicolesco a interpretat în premieră mondială şi înregistrat pe CD cantatele Gli Amori di Teolinda de Meyerbeer, precum şi Alyssa şi Alcyone de Ravel. Ea a înregistrat de asemenea pe CD Le Nozze di Figaro de Mozart şi La Rondine de Puccini.

La invitaţia Papei Ioan Paul al II-lea, Mariana Nicolesco a cântat în primul Concert de Crăciun în Vatican, transmis în Mondovisione, vechile colinde româneşti ascultate de un miliard de oameni.

Ea a interpretat în premieră mondială, sub bagheta lui Lorin Maazel, Seven Gates of Jerusalem, capodopera lui Krzysztof Penderecki dedicată celor 3000 de ani ai Oraşului Sfânt, partea sopranei fiind compusă pentru vocea sa.

Mariana Nicolesco a terminat Şcoala de Muzică din Braşov cu Concertul pentru vioară de Bruch, s-a înscris la Conservatorul din Cluj şi a dobândit o bursă de studii la Conservatorul Santa Cecilia de la Roma, unde studiază canto cu Jolanda Magnoni, lucrând apoi cu Rodolfo Celletti şi cu Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Câştigă Concursul Internaţional Voci Rossiniane organizat la Milano de Radioteleviziunea Italiană RAI, începând o remarcabilă carieră internaţională.

Mariana Nicolesco apare în 1991 pentru prima dată în faţa publicului din ţara natală, la Ateneul Român din Bucureşti, şi oferă ulterior, în fiecare an, Concerte Extraordinare cu Orchestra Simfonică a Filarmonicii George Enescu, între altele celebrând în 1993 cei 125 de ani şi în 1998 cei 130 de ani ai acesteia.

Câteva aprecieri din ţară şi din străinătate O divă autentică, aclamată la Milano, la München, sau la Salzburg. O voce maleabilă, flamboaiantă, o frazare perfectă, un legato somptuos, o prezenţă scenică incandescentă. L’Express / Paris

Cântul ei dramatic a extaziat publicul. Asahi Shimbun / Tokyo

Divina Mariana Nicolesco. Corriere della Sera / Milano

Mariana Nicolesco a provocat un adevărat cutremur la Scala cu argintul viu al acelui surprinzător Mi tradì. The Independent / Londra

O mare voce, o măiestrie supremă. Süddeutsche Zeitung / München

Cu greu şi-ar putea cineva aminti să fi asistat la Balshoi Teatr sau la Marea Sală a Conservatorului la o astfel de perfectă, desăvârşită împlinire, ca acest concert al Marianei Nicolesco, Belcanto Gala, susţinut cu Orchestra Naţională a Rusiei. Vecernii Club / Moscova

O adevărată revelaţie. Sunt rarisime azi sopranele care posedă o măiestrie atât de desăvârşită. Il Gazzettino / Veneţia

Nici un alt artist liric n-a creat un eveniment comparabil cu debutul Marianei Nicolesco la New York. Nici unul n-a avut un astfel de impact. Vocea ei a răsunat cu o extraordinară expresivitate, revelând semnificaţii şi trăiri pe care nimeni nu le-ar fi crezut posibile. The New York Post / New York

O Divă excepţională numită Mariana Nicolesco. Il Mundo Diario / Barcelona

Mariana Nicolesco dă acestui rol (Beatrice di Tenda) o dimensiune inimaginabilă, ce ne taie pur şi simplu respiraţia, ne uluieşte şi ne umple sufletul de bucurie. Nu există azi soprană care să se poată compara cu Mariana Nicolesco. Ce cânt desăvârşit, cu adevărat dramatic, ce virtuozitate, ce linie muzicală! Bravo pentru această nouă şi sclipitoare înregistrare belcantistică! Orpheus / Berlin

Mariana Nicolesco, Regina della Scala. La Notte / Milano

Mariana Nicolesco, voce de star şi prezenţă de star. Le Point / Paris

Creaţia ei în rolul Violettei din La Traviata este superbă. Una dintre cele mai extraordinare apariţii din câte ne putem aduce aminte. The New York Times / New York

Mariana Nicolesco remarcabilă în recitative, strălucită în arii. Die Bühne / Viena

Vibrant, formidabil de bine cântat de Mariana Nicolesco. The Guardian / Londra

Mariana Nicolesco, noua stea a belcantoului, triumfă la Scala şi cucereşte Parisul. Paris Match / Paris

Mariana Nicolesco a devenit din prima clipă favorita iubitorilor de operă din New York. O mare voce cu un timbru cald, cu o personalitate distinctă, pură, cu acel vibrato ce-i asigură un vast registru de expresie. Controlul perfect al forţelor vocale permite sunetului să planeze cu o neobişnuită uşurinţă şi siguranţă. The New York Times / New York O mare Traviata. Il Noticiero Universal / Barcelona Una dintre cele mai frumoase voci ale timpului nostru. L’Evènement du Jeudi / Paris

Mariana Nicolesco a cântat cu un astfel de impact tragic încât până şi alţi artişti în scenă, odată cu o parte din public, erau mişcaţi până la lacrimi. The Boston Herald / Boston

Mariana Nicolesco, superbă voce de soprană lirico-spinto cu acute strălucitoare; fiecare sunet e în control ferm, ca şi întreaga linie de canto. Chicago Tribune / Chicago

Mariana Nicolesco, extraordinară soprană drammatico d’agilità, cu mari calităţi de actriţă, pe care publicul Teatrului alla Scala o cunoaşte de ani şi ani, a dat personajului o forţă şi o autenticitate superbe, meritând din plin ovaţiile primite după fiecare arie şi la sfârşitul spectacolului. Gente / Milano

Senzaţia anului trecut a fost Mariana Nicolesco. După premiera de ieri seară apare limpede că senzaţia acestui an e tot Mariana Nicolesco. Temperament fascinant, născută pentru scenă, de o frumuseţe ce-i serveşte talentul, ea este exact genul de artistă capabilă să declanşeze pasiuni, dacă nu chiar adevărate bătălii în rândul iubitorilor de operă. Eventualele ei slăbiciuni vor fi întotdeauna considerate mai interesante decât virtuţile altor soprane. The New York Post / New York Mariana Nicolesco, o voce plină, cu o emisie naturală şi cu un timbru de o evidentă eleganţă tragică. San Francisco Chronicle / San Francisco

Cea mai ataşantă voce era aceea a sopranei românce Mariana Nicolesco, voce dramatică, admirabil modulată, condusă cu o mare măiestrie. The Cleveland Press / Cleveland

Interpretarea marii dive românce Mariana Nicolesco a fost o adevărată lecţie de canto. ABC / Barcelona

Instrumentul vocal de o excepţională siguranţă al Marianei Nicolesco demonstrează, cu măiestria ei, de la un cap la altul al operei, o virtuozitate de neimaginat. Das Opernglas / Hamburg

Populara arie a Gildei îi oferă Marianei Nicolesco oportunitatea de a ne arăta cum melodii degradate prin uzură, decăzute, pot fi readuse la prospeţimea iniţială şi la o sublimă virtuozitate de o voce superb antrenată, printr-o concepţie nouă şi o trăire de o intensă spiritualitate. Fără îndoială, vocea Marianei Nicolesco este cea mai frumoasă voce care a cântat vreodată la O’Keefe Center. Toronto Sun / Toronto

Recitalul Marianei Nicolesco la Scala: un triumf senzaţional. Orpheus / Berlin

Prima Donna Assoluta. Opera Quarterly / New York

Fapt mai curând unic decât rar pentru o operă modernă, Mariana Nicolesco a fost aplaudată la scenă deschisă la Teatrul alla Scala din Milano. La Stampa / Torino

Diva Divină. Vanity Fair / New York

Sorin Bottez, Ambasador al României Din nimic, Doamna Mariana Nicolesco a creat un fenomen care, nu mă sfiesc a spune, este cea mai prestigioasă ctitorie artistică a României de după revoluţia din decembrie 1989.

Josef Hussek, Directorul Festivalului de la Salzburg Nu cunosc nici un alt concurs de canto care să se plaseze în toate momentele şi manifestările sale la un nivel atât de înalt ca acela dedicat memoriei Haricleei Darclée. Această manifestare, creată de Mariana Nicolesco, e mai mult decât un concurs de canto obişnuit, este totdeodată competiţie, master class şi adevărat festival al muzicii. Iată ce o face incomparabilă şi unică.

Alberto Triola, Teatro alla Scala, Milano Seria de iniţiative artistice, muzicale şi culturale promovate timp de două săptămâni de Mariana Nicolesco a fost pur şi simplu entuziasmantă. Concursul Darclée, - cum nu se poate mai antrenant, triumfal. M-am întors întărit; există, aşadar, în lumea muzicii posibilitatea de a se lucra cu pasiune, devotament, dragoste pentru teatru, pentru tineri, pentru voce!

Radu Gabrea, Regizor Ceea ce a realizat Fundaţia Darclée şi sufletul ei, Mariana Nicolesco, va intra în istoria culturii şi artei române. Totul a fost extraordinar! O minune fără echivalent în lumea noastră de azi.

Marco Balderi, Dirijor, Florenţa, membru al Juriului Internaţional Patru sunt azi în lume marile concursuri internaţionale de canto: Belvedere la Viena, Maria Callas la Atena, Luciano Pavarotti la Filadelfia şi Hariclea Darclée la Brăila. Nici unul nu se poate compara cu ce a creat Mariana Nicloesco în acest încântător oraş.

René Seghers, Muzicolog, Amsterdam, autorul unui volum fundamental, în pregătire, despre Hariclea Darclée Mariana, continuă ca şi până acum această lucrare absolut unică!

Clauspeter Koscielny, Editorul revistei Orpheus, Berlin Nu există vreun alt caz în care o Regină a cântului, cum este Mariana Nicolesco, să dorească şi să reuşească să transfere cu atâta dăruire unor tineri artişti măiestria interpretării şi capacitatea de-a exprima trăirile personajelor la un nivel atât de ridicat.

Stephan Poen, Medic foniatru, cercetător în muzicologie, Ierusalim S-a încheiat în magistral triumf o nouă ediţie a Festivalului şi Concursului Internaţional de Canto Hariclea Darclée, grandioasă lecţie de omenie şi de artă ce instituie o binefăcătoare influenţă a unor repere artistice de importanţa Haricleei Darclée şi a Marianei Nicolesco.

Lorenzo Fratini, Dirijor de cor, Florenţa Adevăratele şcoli de canto sunt din ce în ce mai rare în lume. Mariana Nicolesco perpetuează într-un mod cu adevărat miraculos marile tradiţii ale artei lirice, ale cântului.

Mihai Cosma, Critic muzical Festivalul şi Concursul Naţional al Liedului Românesc, create de soprana Mariana Nicolesco, unele dintre cele mai spectaculoase manifestări dedicate creaţiei autohtone, s-au impus drept o reuniune artistică de maxim interes, variată, complexă şi aureolată de colaborarea cu unii dintre cei mai reputaţi compozitori şi muzicologi.

Carmen Petra-Basacopol, Compozitor Nu mi-ar fi venit să cred vreodată că voi asista la o competiţie şi la recitaluri de lied de o asemenea excepţională ţinută.

Î.P.S. Daniel, Patriarhul României Mariana Nicolesco este o binecuvântare a Domnului pentru naţiunea română.

Traian Băsescu, Preşedintele României Graţie personalităţii extraordinare a sopranei Mariana Nicolesco, renumelui său internaţional şi generozităţii sale profesionale şi umane, Brăila aduce, prin prezenţa numelor sonore ale artei interpretative şi prin înalta ţinută a tinerilor participanţi la Concursul de Canto, un omagiu vibrant maestrei artei lirice Hariclea Darclée. Sunt bucuros că în primul an al României ca stat membru al Uniunii Europene, alături de programul Sibiu - capitală culturală europeană şi de Festivalul şi Concursul Internaţional George Enescu, Brăila celebrează prin Concursul de Canto Hariclea Darclée dimensiunea europeană a culturii noastre.

Dieter Topp, Preşedintele Forumului Cultural European, îi conferă Marianei Nicolesco “o mare voce a timpului nostru”, distincţia Kultur Preis Europa - Medalia Europei “pentru meritele sale artistice, pentru calitatea sa de mentor al tinerei generaţii şi pentru contribuţia sa la aducerea României în Europa şi a Europei în România“, distincţie pe care au primit-o în trecut personalităţi de rangul fostului Preşedinte al Germaniei, Johannes Rau. .

Victor Roncea, în ziarul Ziua, publică pe o întreagă pagină articolul Mariana Nicolesco, Ambasadoarea Culturii Române

Andrei Pleşu, filosof şi eseist, scrie în Dilema Veche: “Mariana Nicolesco a revenit pe scenele româneşti în 1991, după ce toată presa lumii o declarase, în repetate rânduri, Prima Donna Assoluta, Regina della Scala, Signora del Belcanto, Divina, “un monument al belcanto-ului”, etc. La câte laude extaziate a căpătat de-a lungul anilor, ar fi trebuit să se smintească şi să se preschimbe în statuie (...). Împlinită artisticeşte şi omeneşte, nu mai avea nimic de adăugat unei cariere strălucite şi unei biografii compacte. Dar ceea ce at fi putut fi o (simplă?) apoteoză a devenit un nou act fondator. Mariana Nicolesco a inaugurat în 1995 Concursul Darclée (...). Ceea ce nu pot face instituţiile, şcolile, statul, face un singur om, mobilizând, e drept, resurse personale ieşite din comun: resurse de talent, de mărinimie, de prestigiu, de credibilitate, greu de găsit pe “piaţa” curentă. Aceasta este soluţia Mariana Nicolesco. În România există - încă - “voci” literare, filosofice, teologice, matematice, pe care nu le aude nimeni. Ceea ce lipseşte, pentru fiecare domeniu în parte, este vectorul Mariana Nicolesco.”

Mariana Nicolesco a creat la New York The Romanian Atheneum International Foundation şi la Bucureşti Fundaţia Internaţională Ateneul Român. Aceste organizaţii non-profit sunt menite să sprijine perpetuarea vechilor tradiţii culturale ale ţării şi au participat la restaurarea Ateneului Român, construit în 1888. Fundaţiile au contribuit la restaurarea orgii Ateneului, cu piese comandate la Ludwigsburg fabricantului acesteia, şi au donat un mare pian de concert Steinway.

Distincţii

Mariana Nicolesco obţine titlul ştiinţific de Doctor în Artă din România, cu o teză despre Belcanto.

Doctor Honoris Causa al Academiei de Muzică din Cluj, Profesor Honoris Causa al Universităţii Babeş-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, Profesor Universitar şi Doctor Honoris Causa al Universităţii Transilvania din Braşov, membru în Comitetul de Onoare al Fundaţiei Internaţionale Yehudi Menuhin.

Mariana Nicolesco este, de asemenea, Membră de Onoare a Academiei Române.

Cetăţean de Onoare al Bucureştiului, Clujului, Brăilei şi Braşovului.

A fost distinsă cu gradul de Mare Ofiţer, iar din 1 decembrie 2008 detine Ordinului Naţional Steaua României în grad de Mare Cruce.

Guvernul Franţei i-a acordat titlul de Ofiţer al Ordinului Artelor şi Literelor.

A primit Medalia UNESCO pentru Merite Artistice.

Comandor al Ordinului Steaua Solidarităţii Italiene.

Mariana Nicolesco a organizat în 2003 la Braşov Festivalul şi Concursul Naţional de Interpretare a Liedului Românesc. Ea a fost desemnată de revista Capital (revistă) Numărul Unu în topul femeilor de succes din România.

Muzicianul anului la Berlin

Mariana Nicolesco a fost proclamată la Berlin Muzicianul Anului pentru performanţele sale excepţionale în arta cântului şi pentru tot ceea ce face în favoarea tinerei generaţii: O mare voce pentru renaşterea culturii.

În anul 2005, cu prilejul comemorării a 50 de ani de la trecerea în eternitate a marelui compozitor român George Enescu, prezintă în premieră mondială integrala liedurilor sale, în interpretarea laureaţilor Concursului Naţional al Liedului Românesc pe care l-a creat la Braşov. Ca urmare a succesului obţinut, Mariana Nicolesco şi tinerii săi prieteni au fost invitaţi să prezinte aceste capodopere în Concerte Extraordinare la Expoziţia Universală de la Aichi în Japonia, apoi la Nagoya, Tokio, la Praga, Paris, Roma şi New York.

În acelaşi an primeşte titlul de Artist UNESCO pentru Pace, constituind în prezent Catedra UNESCO dedicată Patrimoniului Vocal Mondial.

Mariana Nicolesco - Artist UNESCO pentru Pace

Ovaţionată pe trei continente

La 21 noiembrie 2005, în cadrul unei ceremonii speciale la Palatul UNESCO din Paris şi în prezenţa Preşedintelui României, domnul Traian Băsescu, Directorul General Koïchiro Matsuura i-a decernat marii soprane Mariana Nicolesco înaltul titlu de Artist UNESCO pentru Pace drept recunoaştere a meritelor sale artistice, a angajamentului său în favoarea patrimoniului vocal mondial şi a dialogului între culturi, ca şi pentru contribuţia sa la promovarea idealurilor Organizaţiei Naţiunilor Unite pentru Educaţie, Ştiinţă şi Cultură.

În 2005 Prof.Univ.Dr. Mariana Nicolesco, Şef al Catedrei de Canto a Facultăţii de Muzică a Universităţii Transilvania Braşov, a onorat Anul Internaţional George Enescu proclamat de UNESCO, cu o remarcabilă iniţiativă. În Recitalurile sale la Teatro alla Scala de la Milano, la Carnegie Hall din New York ori Marea Sală a Conservatorului din Moscova, bisul cu liedul enescian Languir me fais ridicase de fiecare dată sala în picioare. Mariana Nicolesco a întreprins aşadar o îndelungă cercetare pentru a reuni totalitatea liedurilor lui Enescu, dintre care multe erau uitate sau pierdute, organizând un simpozion naţional dedicat acestor creaţii enesciene, şi prezentându-le apoi în premieră mondială la Braşov unde, în 2003 a creat împreună cu Facultatea de Muzică şi Uniunea Compozitorilor şi Muzicologilor din România Festivalul şi Concursul Naţional de Interpretare a Liedului Românesc.

Urmare a marelui succes al evenimentului, Mariana Nicolesco şi tinerii interpreţi români, printre care soprana Mihaela Maxim şi mezzosoprana Iulia Merca, laureate ale Premiului I al Concursului Na\ional al Liedului Românesc şi ale Marelui Premiu Darclée, ca şi sopranele Marta Sandu, Oana Severin, tenorul Tiberius Simu, baritonii Bogdan Mihai şi Florin Estefan, laureaţi de asemenea ai celor două competiţii, împreună cu maeştrii acompaniatori Luminiţa Berariu şi Alexandru Petrovici, au fost invitaţi să prezinte liedurile lui George Enescu pe trei continente. Ei au fost aplaudaţi la Expoziţia Universală de la Aichi, în Japonia, la Nagoya şi la Tokio, apoi la Praga şi la Roma, unde Mariana Nicolesco a studiat arta cântului la Conservatorul Santa Cecilia, şi unde aceste creaţii erau prezentate de asemenea pentru prima dată.

Seria Recitalurilor enesciene a continuat în două mari centre muzicale intim legate de viaţa şi de opera marelui compozitor român: la Palatul de Béhague din Paris, monument istoric al Franţei, în prezenţa a 60 de ambasadori ai ţărilor francofone, şi la New York, în prezenţa Directorului General Adjunct al Organizaţiei Naţiunilor Unite.

2005 Mariana Nicolescu - "Ultima Divă"

Anul 2005 nu s-a încheiat pentru Mariana Nicolesco cu marea călătorie planetară pe acordurile liedurilor enesciene. La Berlin, prestigioasa revistă de operă Orpheus îi consacră splendida copertă cu titlul Mariana Nicolesco - Ultima Divă, precum şi un articol superlativ, pe mai multe pagini, închinat rolului său în destinul tinerei generaţii de artişti lirici din România şi din alte ţări ale lumii.

2006 Anul Mozart

În februarie 2006, la Universitatea din Graz, marea soprană ia parte la lucrările Juriului Concursului Internaţional Schubert şi Modernitatea. Iar în martie, în cadrul Anului Internaţional Mozart, a fost invitată în Elveţia, unde a oferit o serie de Master Classes la Opera şi la Conservatorul din Lausanne.

Justin Capră-inventor

2010-02-14T16:43:00.000+01:00

Justin Capră (born 22 February 1933) is a Romanian inventor. He was born in Măgureni, Prahova, Romania.

He invented and built small vehicles that consumed very little fuel. Before that, he invented an individual jet device, which allows a person to fly by jet.

His invention has never been patented or applied.

Without support from the Romanian government or private companies, he built his tiny vehicles mostly on his own. Capra's most famous car was the Soleta 150 Ecor; it had a total weight of 95 kg and was capable of covering 100 km on 0.5 liters of fuel.He also produced another model, the Soleta I.C.200, which could reach 67 km/h. None of his cars have been produced commercially.

Justin Capră

2010-02-14T16:39:00.000+01:00

Virgilius Justin Capră (Iustin Capră) (n. 22 februarie 1933 la Măgureni, Prahova, România) este un inventator şi inginer român.

În 1956, la nici 25 de ani, Justin Capră a inventat primul rucsac zburător, un aparat individual de zbor.

Justin Capră nu şi-a brevetat invenţia, deşi în 1956 în România se acorda importanţă mare mişcării de inovatori şi invenţii. În lipsa unui asemenea brevet nu se poate dovedi nici măcar dacă specialiştii americani au utilizat acelaşi principiu ca Justin Capră şi cu atât mai puţin o prioritate a ideii.

Justin Capră mai este şi realizatorul unui micro-autoturism, "Soleta", care consumă 0,5 l/100 km şi al unei motorete care funcţionează cu acumulatori (37 kg, 30 km/h, cu o autonomie de 80 km). Cea mai remarcabilă dintre aceste invenţii este Soleta 150 Ecor; are o greutate de 95 kg şi este capabilă să parcurgă 100 km cu 0,5 litri de combustibil. A mai produs şi un alt model, Soleta I.C.200, care poate ajunge la 67 km/h. Maşinile inventatorului Justin Capră nu au fost produse în serie.

Inventatorul Justin Capră a primit pe data de 20 mai 2008 Premiul Dan Voiculescu, în valoare de 300.000 RON

Cristian Mungiu-Romanian filmmaker, winner of the Palme d'Or

2010-02-14T16:28:00.000+01:00

Cristian Mungiu (b. 1968, Iaşi) is a Romanian filmmaker, winner of the Palme d'Or in 2007.

After studying English literature at the University of Iaşi, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist. After that, he enrolled at the University of Film in Bucharest to study film directing. After graduating in 1998, Mungiu made several short films. In 2002, he debuted with his first feature film, Occident. Occident enjoyed critical success, winning prizes in several film festivals and being featured in Director’s Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2007 Mungiu wrote and directed his second feature, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The film was received enthusiastically, attracting critical praise and being selected in the official competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it eventually won the coveted Palme d'Or for feature film,marking the first time that prize was awarded to a Romanian filmmaker.

Mungiu has said that early Miloš Forman and Robert Altman are important filmmakers who influenced him. He also respects the realism of Bicycle Thieves, among other famous realistic films. Mungiu is the brother of political analyst Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.

Filmography as director

2000 Corul pompierilor (short) 2000 Nicio întâmplare (short) 2000 Zapping (short) 2002 Occident 2005 Lost and Found - segment Turkey Girl 2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romanian title 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) 2009 Tales from the Golden Age

Cristian Mungiu - primul regizor roman premiat cu Palme d'Or

2010-02-14T16:22:00.000+01:00

Cristian Mungiu (n. 27 aprilie 1968, Iaşi) este un regizor şi scenarist român contemporan.

S-a născut în oraşul Iaşi în familia unui medic, profesor universitar la UMF Iaşi. Sora lui, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, medic de profesie, a devenit cunoscută ca analist politic. Cristian Mungiu a studiat limba şi literatura engleză şi americană şi a lucrat o perioadă ca profesor, precum şi ca ziarist şi moderator la radio şi la televiziune.

În anul 1998 a absolvit cursurile Academiei de Teatru şi Film din Bucureşti, contribuind apoi în calitate de regizor secund la filme cunoscute precum Le Capitaine Conan (1996, regia Bertrand Tavernier) şi Train de Vie (1998, regia Radu Mihăileanu).

A regizat câteva scurtmetraje, pentru care a primit mai multe premii, printre care şi cel pentru cel mai bun regizor, la Festivalul Dakino, în anul 2000, pentru Zapping. Lungmetrajul Occident (2002) a fost prezentat în cadrul secţiunii Quinzaine des Réalisateurs la Festivalul de la Cannes, obţinând Marele Premiu la Festivalul Internaţional de Film Transilvania.

Filmul 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (2007) l-a făcut celebru pe regizorul Cristian Mungiu, prin selectarea sa de către juriul Festivalului de Film de la Cannes. După ce a primit Premiul acordat de către Federaţia Internaţională a Presei Cinematografice şi premiul acordat de administraţia educaţiei naţionale din Franţa, regizorul Cristian Mungiu a câştigat la 27 mai 2007 Marele Premiu al Festivalului Internaţional de Film de la Cannes – Palme d'Or. Filmul a fost nominalizat şi la premiile "Globul de Aur".

La data de 28 mai 2007, preşedintele României, Traian Băsescu, i-a conferit printr-un decret Ordinul Naţional „Steaua României” în grad de Cavaler regizorului Cristian Mungiu, "pentru contribuţia sa, prin care s-a evidenţiat ca exponent al tinerei generaţii de regizori români, la promovarea la nivel mondial a cinematografiei naţionale".

Premii

Premiul pentru cel mai bun regizor la Festivalul Dakino (2000), pentru scurtmetrajul Zapping

Marele Premiu la Festivalul Internaţional de Film Transilvania (2002), pentru filmul Occident

Premiul acordat de către Federaţia Internaţională a Presei Cinematografice la Festivalul de Film de la Cannes (2007) pentru filmul 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile

Premiul acordat de administraţia educaţiei naţionale din Franţa la Festivalul de Film de la Cannes (2007) pentru filmul 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile

Marele Premiu "Palme d'Or" la Festivalul de Film de la Cannes (2007) pentru filmul 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile

"Cel mai bun regizor european" pentru filmul 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile, premiu oferit de Academia Europeană de Film, 2007

Filmografie

Ca regizor

Mariana (1998)

Mâna lui Paulista (1999)

Nicio întâmplare (1999)

Zapping (2000)

Corul Pompierilor (2000)

Occident (2002)

Obiecte pierdute (2005)

Obiecte pierdute - segmentul "Curcanii nu zboară" (2005)

4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (2007)

Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (2009)

Ca scenarist

Mariana (1998)

Zapping (2000)

Occident (2002)

Canton (2005)

Obiecte pierdute (2005)

4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (2007)

Amintiri din epoca de aur (2009)

Ca producător

Apartament 19 (2005)

Offset (2006)

Eugen Pavel-inventor of the Hyper CD-ROM

2010-02-14T16:02:00.001+01:00

Dr. Eugen Pavel is a Romanian scientist and the inventor of the Hyper CD-ROM, a 3D optical data storage medium with a claimed initial capacity of 10 TB and with a theoretical capacity of 1 PB[on a single disc. It is considered by some to be the next revolution in computer storage.

Dr. Pavel graduated with a physics degree from the University of Bucharest in 1976[2]. He was awarded the Romanian Academy Prize in 1991 and obtained his doctorate in Physics from the Romanian Institute of Atomic Physics in 1992[3].

He won the "Prix International de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Presse Periodique" and a gold medal at the November 1999 EUREKA Contest in Brussels for inventions that lead to the creation of the Hyper CD-ROM. Dr. Pavel has published more than 40 books and articles, and he is the holder of 62 patents and patent applications.

In an interview about his work on the Hyper CD-ROM, Dr. Pavel stated that "the research for this project is 100% personal, (and) so is the support for experiments." (English translation of quote originally published in Romanian)

Dr. Pavel's Hyper CD-ROM technology is patented in 21 countries: the USA, Canada, Japan, Israel and 17 European states. USA company Constellation 3D announced on June 7, 2000 a similar optical storage media under the name Fluorescent Multilayer Disc Recently Hyper CD-ROM was reported again but it is not clear what progress has been made since first announcement in 2000.

Eugen Pavel-inventatorul Hyper CD-ROM-ului

2010-02-14T16:00:00.000+01:00

Dr. Eugen Pavel este inventatorul Hyper CD-ROM-ului cu capacitate de stocare de peste 10.000 Gigabytes.

A absolvit Facultatea de Fizică din cadrul Universităţii Bucureşti în 1976 (ca şef de promoţie) şi i-au fost decernate numeroase premii de-a lungul timpului ca Premiul Academiei Române, în 1991 sau Who’s Who in the World, în 1997.

Eugen Pavel reuşit să creeze tehnologia de fabricare a unei sticle speciale, fluorescente şi fotosensibile, pentru care a primit, în 1991, Premiul Academiei Române. Aceasta stă la baza Hyper CD-ROM-ului.

Angela Gheorghiu “the world’s most glamorous opera star” and most gifted opera singer of our time

2010-01-31T18:50:00.000+01:00

Angela Gheorghiu “the world’s most glamorous opera star” (New York Sun).

Angela Gheorghiu (Romanian pronunciation: born Angela Burlacu) (born September 7, 1965) is a Romanian soprano opera singer. The most famous soprano of our days. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca.

Biography

Gheorghiu was born in 1965 in Adjud, Romania. Along with her sister Elena Dan, she sang opera music from an early age. At age 14, Gheorghiu began to study singing at the National University of Music Bucharest, primarily under Mia Barbu. Her graduation in 1990 coincided with the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu, enabling her to seek an international career immediately. Her professional opera debut took place at the Cluj Opera as Mimì in La bohème in 1990, the same year she won the Belvedere International Competition.

Gheorghiu made her international debut in 1992 at the Royal Opera House as Zerlina in Don Giovanni.She debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Adina in L'elisir d'amore and at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimi in La bohème. In 1994, she was auditioned by the conductor Sir Georg Solti for a new production of La traviata at the Royal Opera House. Her debut as Violetta led her to international stardom.

Gheorghiu has concentrated her repertoire on several different roles: Violetta, Mimì, Magda, Adina, and Juliette. In 2003, she debuted as Nedda in Pagliacci and as Marguerite in Faust. A soprano with a large range and a dark coloured voice, Gheorghiu is also able to sing spinto roles. She has recorded Tosca (also made into a film directed by the French Benoît Jacquot) and Leonora in Il trovatore for EMI and sang in her first Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2006. Her performance was an overall success, although because the famous Zeffirelli production of 1964 was replaced by a new production (which premiered with her), there was comparison between the Toscas of Gheorghiu and Maria Callas, for whom the Zeffirelli production was designed.

She has recorded many recital albums and complete opera recordings and often appears on television and in concerts. The EMI recording of Massenet's Manon with Angela Georghiu in the title role won the 2001 Gramophone Award for "Best Opera Recording", was nominated for "Best Opera Recording" in the 2002 Grammy Awards.

Gheorghiu at the Met and elsewhere

On occasion, Gheorghiu has had difficult relationships with opera house managements and directors. Some, but not all, of them have stemmed from her opposition to directors who, as she put it in an interview with ABC "want to express their own fantasies, forgetting about the characters. At times, she says, what they put on stage goes against both the story and the music."She has attributed her outspokenness to her upbringing in Romania under the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu:

"Because I grew up in a country where there was no possibility of having an opinion, it makes me stronger now. Lots of singers are frightened about not getting invited back to an opera house if they speak out. But I have the courage to be, in a way, revolutionary. I want to fight for opera, for it to be taken seriously. Pop music is for the body, but opera is for the soul.".

Gheorghiu had a problematic relationship with former Metropolitan Opera General Manager Joseph Volpe after her debut there as Mimi in 1993. In 1996, Gheorghiu was cast as Micaela in a new production of Carmen, opposite Waltraud Meier and Plácido Domingo. The production by Franco Zeffirelli called for Micaela to wear a blonde wig, a nuance to which the soprano refused to wear it. Volpe famously declared, "The wig is going on, with you or without you". Gheorghiu eventually accepted and appeared in ten performances of Carmen that season, including the Met's tour to Japan, although she kept the hood of her cloak up to cover the wig as much as possible[citation needed]. She appeared at the Met again in 1998 for six performances of Roméo et Juliette with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna as Roméo. Volpe had planned to engage Gheorghiu in Violetta Valery for a new production of La traviata, to premiere in November 1998 and directed by Zeffirelli. Alagna was to sing the role of Violetta's lover, Alfredo Germont. According to Volpe, Gheorghiu and Alagna argued with the staff and the director over production details and continually delayed signing the contract. They eventually signed their contracts, and faxed them to the Met one day past their deadline. Volpe refused to accept them. The production opened with Patricia Racette and Marcelo Álvarez as the lovers.

In September 2007, Gheorghiu was dismissed from Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of La bohème by General Manager William Mason, for missing rehearsals and costume fittings, and generally "unprofessional" behavior. Gheorghiu said in a statement that she had missed some rehearsals to spend time with her husband, who was singing at the Met in Roméo et Juliette and rehearsing for Puccini's Madama Butterfly and added "I have sung 'Boheme' hundreds of times, and thought missing a few rehearsals wouldn't be a tragedy. It was impossible to do the costume fitting at the same time I was in New York. .

Six weeks later, Gheorghiu made her debut at San Francisco Opera receiving favorable reviews for her Magda in that company's new production of La rondine.The San Francisco Opera production originated with London's Royal Opera House, where it premiered on May 7, 2002 with Gheorghiu and Alagna as Magda and her lover Ruggiero. It is one which she particularly admires:

"When the curtain opened on La rondine at Covent Garden, the audience gasped and applauded. People want to dream. If directors want to do something new with operas, why not do something beautiful?"

Despite these issues, Gheorghiu and Alagna returned to the Metropolitan Opera for five performances of L'elisir d'amore in 1999 and for four performances of Faust in 2003. Gheorghiu also performed at the Met as Liu in Turandot in 2000; as Violetta in La traviata opposite Jonas Kaufmann in 2006 and 2007; as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra in 2007; as Mimì in La bohème in 2008; as Magda in the 2008-09 season in the ROH/SFO production of La rondine, the Met's first performance of the opera since 1936; and for the 2009-10 season she will be seen as Violetta, replacing her previous engagement as Marie Antoinette in a rare revival of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles replaced due to the recession.

In August, 2009, Gheorghiu canceled all her scheduled 2010 Met performances of Carmen, for "personal reasons".It was to be her first public performance of the title role (normally sung by mezzo-sopranos). She also cancelled other Met performances scheduled near the end of 2010.

Personal life

Divorced from her first husband, from whom she retained her surname, Gheorghiu married tenor Roberto Alagna in 1996. The couple have sung together often on stage and on studio recordings. She was once chosen the 74th "most beautiful" woman in the world by the magazine FHM. In October 2009, Alagna said in an interview in Le Figaro that he and Angela Gheorghiu had separated. This has been confirmed on Gheorghiu's website where she has made it clear that she and Alagna have not been in a relationship for over two years. Following the separation, she declined to appear opposite Alagna in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2009.

Recordings

La traviata (Verdi) Decca 1994 CD/DVD

The Puccini Experience RCA 1995

L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) Decca 1996 CD/DVD

Arias Decca 1996

La rondine (Puccini) EMI 1996

Carmen (Bizet) Teldec 1996

Duets and Arias EMI 1996

Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) EMI 1998

My World Decca 1998

Verdi per Due EMI 1998

La bohème (Puccini) Decca 1999

Il trittico (Puccini) EMI 1999

Werther (Massenet) EMI 1999

Verdi Heroines Decca 2000

Manon (Massenet) EMI 2000

Verdi: Messa da Requiem (Verdi) EMI 2001 CD/DVD

Casta Diva EMI 2001

Mysterium - Sacred Arias Decca 2001

Tosca soundtrack (Puccini) EMI 2001 CD/DVD

Live From Covent Garden EMI 2002 CD/DVD

Il trovatore (Verdi) EMI 2002

Proms at the Palace Opus Arte 2002 DVD

Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Arthaus Musik 2003

Carmen (Bizet) EMI 2003

The Essential Angela Gheorghiu Decca 2004

Diva EMI 2004

Puccini EMI 2005

Art of Angela Gheorghiu Decca 2004 DVDx2

Live From La Scala EMI 2007

La traviata (Verdi) Arthaus Musik 2007 DVD/Blu-ray

Marius et Fanny Larghetto 2008

Angela & Roberto Forever" EMI 2008

My Puccini EMI 2008

Madama Butterfly (Puccini) EMI 2009

La traviata (Live from La Scala) (Verdi) Arthaus-musik 2007 DVD

La bohème (Live from the Met) (Puccini) EMI 2008 DVD

Angela Gheorghiu -una dintre cele mai renumite cântăreţe de operă din lume

2010-01-31T18:41:00.001+01:00

Angela Gheorghiu (n. 7 septembrie 1965 la Adjud, judeţul Vrancea) este o soprană română, una dintre cele mai renumite cântăreţe de operă din lume.

Familia

Numele de fată este Burlacu. Sora ei, decedată foarte tânără, se numea Elena Dan (n. Burlacu). Angela a fost căsătorită cu Andrei Gheorghiu, fiul violonistului şi profesorului Ştefan Gheorghiu. Actualmente este măritată cu tenorul Roberto Alagna.

Cariera

Elevă a Miei Barbu, absolvă Conservatorul din Bucureşti în anul 1990. În străinătate cântă pentru prima dată la Basel în Elixirul dragostei de Gaetano Donizetti. Debutează în 1992 la Royal Opera House din Londra cu rolul Zerlina, în Don Giovanni, urmată de Mimì din Boema de Giacomo Puccini, apoi în Adina la Opera de Stat din Viena şi la Opera din Hamburg. În 1993 debutează la Metropolitan Opera în Boema. La Covent Garden a debutat în mult aplaudata Traviata, dirijată de Sir Georg Solti, în 1994, spectacol pentru care, ca să poată fi transmis în direct, au fost anulate programele de la BBC. Spectacolul a fost înregistrat de casa de discuri Decca.

Interpretează rolul protagonistei în filmul "Romeo şi Julietta" publicat de EMI Classics. În anul 2001 interpretează Floria Tosca alături de soţul ei, tenorul francez Roberto Alagna, în rolul Cavaradossi în filmul-operă Tosca de Jacquot, film prezentat în afara concursului la Festivalul de Cinema de la Veneţia.

Vocea ei este considerată de către critica internaţională drept o combinaţie între vocile a doua celebre cântareţe de operă, Maria Callas şi Renata Tebaldi.

În anul 2002 participă cu spectacolul "Prom at the Palace" la celebrarea Jubileului Reginei Elisabeta II. Este premiată cu “La Medaille Vermeille de la Ville de Paris” şi devine “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres”.

Cu compania Metropolitan Opera a cântat deja în peste 70 de reprezentaţii, dintre cântăreţele românce fiind depăşită doar de marea solistă clujeancă Stella Roman care a cântat 126 de spectacole, între anii 1941 - 1951.

Discografie selectivă

Arias Decca 1996

L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) Decca 1997

Mysterium - Sacred Arias Decca 2001

La Bohème (Puccini) Decca

La Traviata (Verdi) Decca

La Rondine (Puccini) EMI

Werther (Massenet) EMI

Manon (Massenet) EMI

Tosca soundtrack (Puccini) EMI

Il Trittico (Puccini) EMI

Verdi: Requiem (Verdi) EMI

Il Trovatore (Verdi) EMI

Romeo et Juliette (Gounod) EMI

Live From La Scala EMI 2007

Primul contract exclusiv l-a semnat cu Decca în 1995, unde a înregistrat Traviata de la Covent Garden, Elixirul dragostei de la Lyon, Boema cu Orchestra de la Scala din Milano, recitalurile Arias cu orchestra teatrului Regio din Torino, Verdi Heroines cu orchestra „Giuseppe Verdi” din Milano, My World şi Misterium cu orchestra filarmonicii din Londra.

Al doilea contract exclusiv l-a semnat cu EMI în 1998, unde a înregistrat Duets and Arias cu Roberto Alagna şi orchestra ROH Covent Garden, La Rondine de Puccini cu orchestra filarmonicii din Londra, Romeo şi Julieta cu orchestra Capitol din Toulouse, Verdi per due cu Roberto Alagna şi orchestra din Berlin, Gianni Schicchi de Puccini, Werther de Massenet cu orchestra din Londra, Manon de Massenet, Trubadurul cu orchestra filarmonicii din Londra şi Carmen cu orchestra Capitol din Toulouse. După recitatul Casta Diva au urmat Classics on a Summer's Evening, Verdi Requiem şi recitalul Live from Covent Garden din 2001.

În proiect se află Amicul Fritz de Mascagni pentru Deutsche Grammophon, cu George Petean şi Roberto Alagna în rolurile principale.

Discurile sale au fost premiate în nenumărate rânduri cu premii ca: Premiul Grammy, Dyapason D'or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Premiul Cecillia, Deutsche Schallplattenkritik, Musica e dischi, USA Critics Award, „Premio Zenatello” sau „Echo Klassik”.

Sergiu Celibidache -ONE OF THE BEST MUSICIANS OF XX CENTURY

2010-01-31T17:45:00.001+01:00

Sergiu Celibidache June 28, 1912 – August 14, 1996) was a Romanian conductor.

Biography

Celibidache was born in Roman, Romania, and began his studies in music with the piano, after which he studied music, philosophy and mathematics in Bucharest, Romania and then in Paris. One of the most important influences in his life was his introduction to Martin Steinke, who, being knowledgeable about Buddhism, heavily affected Celibidache's outlook for the rest of his life.

Career

He studied in Berlin and, from 1945 to 1952, he was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. He later worked with radio orchestras in Stockholm, Stuttgart and Paris. He also worked in Britain in the late 1940s and 1950s, due partly to the promotional efforts of the pianist Eileen Joyce and her partner, an artists' agent. Joyce said that Celibidache was the greatest conductor she had ever worked with - "he was the only one who got inside my soul".In 1970 he was awarded Denmark's Sonning Award. From 1979 until his death he was music director of the Munich Philharmonic. He regularly taught at Mainz University in Germany and in 1984 taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Teaching was a major focus throughout his life and his courses were frequently open to all without fee.

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Celibidache's approach to music-making is often described in terms of what he did not do instead of what he did. For example, much has been made of Celibidache's "refusal" to make recordings even though almost all of his concert activity actually was recorded with many released posthumously by major labels such as EMI and Deutsche Grammophon with consent of his family. Nevertheless, Celibidache did pay little attention to making these recordings, which he viewed merely as by-products of his orchestral concerts.

Celibidache's focus was instead on creating, during each concert, the optimal conditions for a what he called a "transcendent experience". Aspects of Zen Buddhism, such as ichi-go ichi-e, were strongly influential on him. He believed that musical experiences were extremely unlikely to ensue when listening to recorded music, so he eschewed them. As a result, some of his concerts did provide audiences with exceptional and sometimes life-altering experiences, including, for example, a 1984 concert in Carnegie Hall by the Orchestra of the Curtis Institute that New York Times critic John Rockwell touted as the best of his twenty-five years of concert-going.

Sergiu Celibidache giving a conducting lesson at the Curtis Institute in 1984 to Curtis Student David Bernard

Celibidache was well known for his demands for extensive rehearsal time with orchestras. An oft-mentioned feature of many of his concerts, captured in the live recordings of them, is a slower tempo than what is considered the norm, while, in fast passages, his tempos often exceeded expectations.In Celibidache's own view, however, criticism of a recording's tempo is irrelevant, as it is not (and cannot be) a critique of the performance but rather of a transcription of it, without the ambience of the moment – for him, a key factor in any musical performance. As Celibidache explained, the acoustic space in which one hears a concert directly affects the likelihood of the emergence of his sought-after transcendent experience. The acoustic space within which one hears a recording of one of his performances, on the other hand, has no impact on the performance, as it is impossible for the acoustic features of that space to provide feedback to the musicians that might impel them to, for example, play slower or faster.

That his recorded performances differ so widely from the majority of other recordings has led them to be seen by some as collectors' items rather than mainstream releases, 'one-offs' rather than reference recordings. The reality is that the recordings and their relationship to other recordings are the arena within which his artistic importance is now judged, while the contributions he made in the concert hall fade along with the memories of those who were there.

Notable releases have been his Munich performances of Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Robert Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gabriel Fauré and a series of live performances with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

One controversial incident during his tenure with the Munich Philharmonic was a protracted legal battle to oust principal trombonist Abbie Conant that lasted 12 years, with Conant ultimately prevailing. Ms. Conant alleged sexism in an internet article published by her husband, William Osbourne. The controversy is discussed in Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink.

Celibidache died in La Neuville-sur-Essonne, arrondissement Pithiviers near Paris in 1996 at 84.

Sergiu Celibidache-UNUL DINTRE CEI MAI VALOROSI MUZICIENI AI SECOLULUI XX

2010-01-31T17:39:00.000+01:00

Sergiu Celibidache (n. 28 iunie 1912, Roman, judeţul Neamţ, România; d. 14 august 1996, La Neuville-sur-Essonne, departamentul Loiret, Franţa) a fost un dirijor şi compozitor român, membru de onoare al Academiei Române.

Biografie

S-a născut la Roman. Primii ani după liceul absolvit în oraşul natal şi i-a petrecut la Iaşi, unde ia lecţii de pian şi compoziţie, apoi se înscrie la cursurile de filosofie şi matematică ale Universităţii din Bucureşti.

În 1936 pleacă la Berlin unde studiază la Academia de Muzică, având ca profesori pe Walter Gmeindl şi Heinz Tiessen (compoziţie), Fritz Stein (arta dirijatului). În acelaşi timp audiază cursurile de filosofie ale lui Eduard Spranger (psihologie) şi Nicolai Hartmann (metafizică).

Abia sfârşite studiile, devine în 1945 dirijor pro tempore al faimoasei Orchestre Filarmonice din Berlin, întrucât directorul acesteia, Wilhelm Furtwängler, fusese suspendat din funcţie, fiind suspectat de a fi colaborat cu regimul nazist. Până în 1952, când Furtwängler, reabilitat, redevine şef al orchestrei, Celibidache dirijează peste 400 concerte cu orchestra filarmonică din Berlin, impunându-se ca personalitate muzicală de o excepţională exigenţă artistică, nu totdeauna comodă pentru componenţii unei orchestre. Suferă o mare deziluzie când aceştia, în 1954, îl aleg pe Herbert von Karajan dirijor pe viaţă, ca succesor al lui Furtwängler.

Pentru un timp, nu mai are o funcţie permanentă, fiind invitat cu regularitate la pupitrul unor renumite orchestre simfonice europene: Orchestra Radio din Stuttgart (Germania), Orchestra Naţională din Paris (Franţa), Orchestra Simfonică Radio din Stockholm (Suedia). Între 1960 şi 1962 ţine cursuri de perfecţionare în arta dirijorală la Accademia Musicale Chigiana din Siena (Italia), iar mai târziu la Fontainebleau (Franţa) şi la München (Germania) pentru tineri dirijori selecţionaţi cu multă severitate.

În 1979 primeşte funcţia de director muzical general al oraşului München şi de dirijor permanent al orchestrei filarmonice din acest oraş. Sub conducerea sa, Filarmonica din München devine una din cele mai bune orchestre simfonice din lume.

Sergiu Celibidache cu David Bernard în cursul unei lecţii de dirijat la "The Curtis Institute of Music", Philadelphia (1984). David Bernard este în prezent director muzical al "Lawyers Orchestra", New York

Pentru activitatea sa artistică, Sergiu Celibidache a primit diverse distincţii, printre care: cetăţean de onoare al oraşului München (1992), membru de onoare al Academiei Române (1992), doctor honoris causa al Universităţii din Iaşi (1992), Ordinul Maximillian pentru Ştiinţă şi Artă (Germania, 1993).

A murit la 14 august 1996, la reşedinţa sa din comuna La Neuville-sur-Essonne, departamentul Loiret (în apropiere de Paris).

Nadia Comăneci -the first ever gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event

2010-01-31T15:26:00.010+01:00

Nadia Elena Comăneci ( born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and the first ever gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 summer Olympics. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world and, along with Olga Korbut, is credited with popularizing the sport around the world.

Early life

Comăneci was born in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (now Oneşti), Romania, as the daughter of Gheorghe and Ştefania-Alexandrina. Her pregnant mother was watching a Russian film in which the heroine's name was Nadya, the diminutive version of the Russian name Nadyezhda (which means, literally, "Hope"). She decided that her daughter would be named Nadia, too. Comăneci also has a younger brother named Adrian.

Early gymnastics career

Nadia began gymnastics in kindergarten with a local team called "Flame", with coaches Duncan and Munteanu. At age 6 she was chosen to attend Béla Károlyi's experimental gymnastics school after Karolyi spotted her and a friend turning cartwheels in a schoolyard.

Nadia was training with the Károlyis by the time she was 7 years old, in 1969. She was one of the first students at the gymnastics school established in Oneşti by Béla and his wife, Marta, who would later defect to the United States and become coaches of many prominent American gymnasts. Unlike many of the other students at the Károlyi school, Comăneci was able to commute from home for many years because she lived in the area.

Nadia placed 13th in her first Romanian National Championships in 1969. A year later, in 1970, she began competing as a member of her hometown team and became the youngest gymnast ever to win the Romanian Nationals. In 1971, she participated in her first international competition, a dual junior meet between Romania and Yugoslavia, winning her first all-around title and contributing to the team gold. For the next few years, she competed as a junior in numerous national contests in Romania and additional dual meets with nearby countries such as Hungary, Italy and Poland. At the age of 11, in 1973, she won the all-around gold, as well as the vault and uneven bars titles, at the Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba), an important meet for junior gymnasts.

Nadia first major international success came at the age of 13, when she nearly swept the 1975 European Championships in Skien, Norway, winning the all-around and gold medals on every event but the floor exercise, in which she placed second. She continued to enjoy success in other meets in 1975, winning the all-around at the "Champions All" competition and placing first in the all-around, vault, beam, and bars at the Romanian National Championships. In the Pre-Olympic test event in Montreal, Comăneci won the all-around and the balance beam golds, as well as silvers in the vault, floor, and bars behind accomplished Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim, who would prove to be one of her greatest rivals over the next five years.

In March 1976, Comăneci competed in the inaugural edition of the American Cup at Madison Square Garden in New York. She received unprecedented scores of 10.0, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, on vault in both the preliminary and final rounds of competition and won the all-around. Comaneci also received 10s in other meets in 1976, including the prestigious Chunichi Cup competition in Japan, where she posted perfect marks on the vault and uneven bars.

The international community took note of Comăneci: she was named the United Press International's "Female Athlete of the Year" for 1975.

Montreal Olympics

At the age of 14, Comăneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars was scored at a 10.0. It was the first time in modern Olympic gymnastics history that the score had ever been awarded. The scoreboards were not even equipped to display scores of 10.0—so Nadia's perfect marks were reported on the boards as 1.00 instead. Over the course of the Olympics, Comăneci would earn six additional 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam, and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise. The Romanian team also placed second in the team competition.

Comăneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics. She also holds the record as the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever; with the revised age-eligibility requirements in the sport (gymnasts must now turn 16 in the calendar year to compete in the Olympics; in 1976 gymnasts had to be 14 by the first day of the competition), it is currently not possible to legally break this record.

Comăneci's achievements at the Olympics generated a significant amount of media attention. The theme song from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless became associated with her after cinematographer/feature reporter Robert Riger used it against slow-motion montages of Nadia on the television program ABC's Wide World Of Sports. The song became a top ten single in the fall of 1976, and the composer, Barry De Vorzon, renamed it to "Nadia's Theme" after her.However, Comăneci never actually performed to "Nadia's Theme." Her floor exercise music was a medley of the songs "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Jump in the Line" arranged for piano.

She was the 1976 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in the overseas athletes category and the Associated Press's 1976 "Female Athlete of the Year". She also retained her title as the UPI Female Athlete of the Year. Back home in Romania, Comăneci's success led her to be named a "Hero of Socialist Labor;" she was the youngest Romanian to receive such recognition during the administration of Nicolae Ceauşescu.

1977–1980

Comăneci successfully defended her European all-around title in 1977, but when questions about the scoring were raised, Ceauşescu ordered the Romanian gymnasts to return home. The team followed orders and controversially walked out of the competition during the event finals.

Following the 1977 Europeans, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation removed Comăneci from her longtime coaches, the Károlyis, and sent her to Bucharest to train at the 23 August sports complex. The change was not positive for Comăneci. Grappling with both the stress of her parents' divorce and the new training environment, she was extremely unhappy and her gymnastics and overall fitness suffered. An overweight and out-of-shape Comăneci showed up at the 1978 World Championships. A fall from the uneven bars resulted in a 4th place finish in the all-around behind Elena Mukhina, Nellie Kim, and Natalia Shaposhnikova, but Comăneci won the beam title.

After the 1978 Worlds, Comăneci was permitted to return to Deva and to the Károlyis. In 1979, a newly slim and motivated Comăneci won her third consecutive European all-around title, becoming the first gymnast, male or female, to achieve the feat. At the World Championships that December, Comăneci led the field after the compulsory competition but was hospitalized before the optional portion of the team competition for blood poisoning caused by a cut in her wrist from her metal grip buckle. Against doctors' orders, she left the hospital and competed on the beam, where she scored a 9.95. Her performance helped give the Romanians their first team gold medal. After her performance, Comăneci spent several days recovering in All Saints Hospital and underwent a minor surgical procedure for the infected hand, which had developed an abscess.

Comăneci participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, where she placed second, by a small margin, to Yelena Davydova. She defended her Olympic title in the balance beam and tied with Nellie Kim for the gold medal in the floor exercise. The Romanian team finished second overall.

Comăneci retired from competition in 1981. Her official retirement ceremony took place in Bucharest in 1984 and was attended by the International Olympic Committee Chairman.

Post retirement

In 1981, Comăneci participated in a gymnastics exhibition tour in the United States.During the tour, her coaches, Béla and Marta Károlyi, along with the Romanian team choreographer Géza Pozsár, defected.[Upon her return to Romania, Comăneci's actions were strictly monitored. She was granted leave to attend the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles but was supervised for the entire trip. Aside from that journey, and a few select trips to Moscow and Cuba, Comăneci was forbidden to leave the country for any reason." "Life..." she wrote in her autobiography, "took on a new bleakness."

In Romania, between 1984 and 1989, Comăneci was a member of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and helped coach the Romanian junior gymnasts. In November 1989, a few weeks before the Revolution, she defected with a group of other young Romanians. Her overland journey took her through Hungary, Austria, and finally, to the United States.Her initial arrival in the United States generated some negative press, focusing on her penchant for heavy makeup and trashy clothes, the fact that Constantin Panait (a Romanian exile who helped her escape from Romania and was her constant companion) was a married father of 4, and hinted at an eating disorder and an unsavory life left behind in Romania.

Comăneci initially settled in Montreal. With the help of friends, she successfully distanced herself from Panait and the image problems of her initial arrival from Romania. Comăneci spent most of her time touring and promoting lines of gymnastics apparel and aerobic equipment. She also dabbled in modeling, appearing in advertisements for wedding dresses and Jockey underwear.[

While she was living in Montreal, Bart Conner, whom she had met for the first time in 1976 at the American Cup, contacted her and invited her to live in Oklahoma. They became engaged in 1994. Together with Conner, she returned to Romania for the first time since her defection (and since the fall of Communism and Ceauşescu's death), and the couple were married in Bucharest on April 27, 1996. The ceremony was broadcast live in Romania, and the reception was held in the former presidential palace.

On June 29, 2001, Comăneci became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has also retained her Romanian passport, making her a dual citizen.

In December 2003, Comăneci's book Letters To A Young Gymnast was published, a combination of mentoring book and memoir. The book answered questions that she has received in letters from fans. She has also been the subject of several unofficial biographies, television documentaries and a made-for-television film, Nadia, that was broadcast in the United States shortly before the 1984 Olympics.

Comăneci and Conner welcomed their first child, a son named Dylan Paul Conner, on June 3, 2006 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Recent activities

Comăneci is active in many charities and international organizations. In 1999, she became the first athlete to be invited to speak at the United Nations to launch the Year 2000 International Year of Volunteers. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board Of Directors of the International Special Olympics and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She has also personally funded the construction and operation of the Nadia Comăneci Children's Clinic, a clinic in Bucharest that provides low-cost and free medical and social support to Romanian children.

In 2003, the Romanian government appointed her as an Honorary Consul General of Romania to the United States to deal with bilateral relations between the two nations. She performs this function based out of her Norman, Oklahoma, office.

In the world of gymnastics, Comaneci is the Honorary President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, the Honorary President of Romanian Olympic Committee, Ambassador of Sports of Romania and a member of the International Gymnastics Federation Foundation. She and her husband own the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, the Perfect 10 Production Company and several sports equipment shops. They are also the editors of International Gymnast magazine. Additionally, Comăneci and Conner have provided television commentary for many gymnastics meets, most recently the 2005 World Championships in and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In 2004, her 10.0 Montreal uneven bars routine was featured in a commercial for Adidas which ran during the Athens Olympics.

On August 10, 2007, Nadia was a "mob" participant on the American version of the game show 1 vs 100, and was not eliminated until the last 20 members of the mob were left. In January 2008, she was one of the contestants in the celebrity edition of Donald Trump's television program The Apprentice.

Awards

Comăneci received the Olympic Order, the highest award given by the International Olympic Committee, in 1984 and 2004. She is the only person to receive this honor twice, and was also the youngest recipient. She has also been inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Special skills

Comăneci was known for her clean technique, innovative and difficult original skills, and her stoic, cool demeanor in competition.

On the uneven bars, Comaneci performed her own release move, a kip to front salto. The skill is named after her in the women's Code of Points and, as of 2005, was rated as an 'E' element and a 'Comaneci dismount' a half twist to back salto.

On balance beam, Comăneci was the first gymnast to successfully perform an aerial walkover and an aerial cartwheel-back handspring flight series. She is also credited as being the first gymnast to perform a double-twist dismount.

Comăneci's skills on the floor exercise included a double back salto and a double twist.

Pop culture references

Nadia is a 1984 made-for-television biopic of Nadia Comăneci.

When Joanne Charis states that the girls need to stay and practice their routines in the movie Stick It, Meena responds: "Who died and made you Nadia?"

In the ABC hit television show, Lost season 3 episode 11, the character Mikhail Bakunin (named after the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin) has a cat named Nadia, named after Nadia Comăneci, whom he calls "the greatest athlete the world has ever known." He also reveals that they share a birthday. In addition, the station Mikhail works in is called the "Flame", which is also the name of Comăneci's first gymnastics team.

In the CBS TV series, Dallas the character Nicholas Pearce (Jack Scalia) states he knows Romania so well since he's a good friend of Nadia Comăneci.

Gilda Radner played Comăneci on several episodes of Saturday Night Live, as well as in an extended skit in her 1979 stage show Gilda Live.

Nadia Turner, singer and actress, and American Idol Season 4 Finalist was named after Nadia Comăneci.

Swimmer Anita Nall, who won three Olympic medals including a relay gold, was named Nadia as her father was watching television awaiting her birth.

In the 1979 Film Love at First Bite, Dracula is evicted from his castle when the Romanian state claims it as a gymnastic training facility. Dracula, played by George Hamilton is informed that they will be coming with "parallel bars, swings and Nadia Comăneci. Don't be here".

In the Japanese drama Honey and Clover, Shinobu Morita makes a reference to Comăneci's signature stance during episode two.

In the anime Sohryuden, Matsuri Toba makes a reference to Comăneci as she uses her body's flexibility to free herself from ropes. Her quote was, "Fortunately, the thugs didn't know that when I was in grade school, I had aspired to becoming Japan's answer to Comăneci".

Nadia Comăneci-una dintre cele mai bune gimnaste ale lumii, din toate timpurile

2010-01-31T15:18:00.000+01:00

Nadia Elena Comăneci (n. 12 noiembrie 1961, Oneşti, judeţul Bacău) este o gimnastă română, prima gimnastă din lume care a primit nota zece într-un concurs olimpic de gimnastică. Este câştigătoare a cinci medalii olimpice de aur. Este considerată a fi una dintre cele mai bune sportive ale secolului XX şi una dintre cele mai bune gimnaste ale lumii, din toate timpurile, "ZEITA DE LA MONTREAL", prima gimnasta a epocii moderne care a luat 10 absolut (adevarul e ca 10-le l-a luat in 1975 la campionatele europene (Norvegia) iar la olimpiada din 1976 a repetat acel ceva de neuitat, adica 10).".

Viaţa

Nadia s-a născut la Oneşti, fiică a lui Gheorghe şi Ştefania-Alexandrina Comănici; a fost botezată după "Nadejda" ("Speranţă"), eroină a unui film.

A concurat pentru prima dată la nivel naţional în România, în 1970, ca membră a echipei oraşului său. Curând, a început antrenamentele cu Béla Károlyi şi soţia acestuia, Márta Károlyi, care au emigrat mai târziu în Statele Unite, devenind antrenori ai multor gimnaste americane. La vârsta de 13 ani, primul succes major al lui Comăneci a fost câştigarea a trei medalii de aur şi una de argint la Campionatele Europene din 1975, de la Skien, Norvegia. În acelaşi an, agenţia de ştiri Associated Press a numit-o "Atleta Anului în România".

La 14 ani, Comăneci a devenit o stea a Jocurilor Olimpice de Vară din 1976 de la Montreal, Québec. Nu numai că a devenit prima gimnasta care a obţinut scorul perfect de zece la olimpiadă (de şase ori), dar a şi câştigat trei medalii de aur (la individual compus, bârnă şi paralele), o medalie de argint (echipă compus) şi bronz (sol). Acasă, succesul său i-a adus distincţia de "Erou al Muncii Socialiste", fiind cea mai tânără româncă distinsă cu acest titlu.

Comăneci şi-a apărat titlul european în 1977, dar echipa României a ieşit din competiţie în finale, în semn de protest contra arbitrajului. La Campionatele Mondiale din 1978 a concurat o Nadia Comăneci cu greutate peste medie şi ieşită din formă. Căderea la paralele a trimis-o pe locul 4, însă a câştigat titlul la bârnă.

În 1979, Comăneci, din nou la greutate normală, a câştigat cel de-al treilea titlu suprem (devenind primul sportiv din istoria gimnasticii care a reuşit această performanţă). La Campionatele Mondiale din decembrie, ea a câştigat concursul preliminar, dar a fost spitalizată înainte de a participa la concursul pe echipe, din cauza unei infectări a sângelui în urma unei tăieturi la încheietura mâinii, cauzată de o cataramă din metal. În ciuda recomandărilor doctorilor, ea a părăsit spitalul şi a concurat la bârnă, unde a obţinut nota 9,95. Performanţa sa a conferit României prima medalie de aur în concursul pe echipe.

A participat şi la Jocurile Olimpice din 1980 de la Moscova, clasându-se a doua după Elena Davîdova la individual compus, când a fost nevoită să aştepte pentru notă până ce Davîdova şi-a încheiat exerciţiul. Nadia şi-a păstrat titlul la bârnă, dar a câştigat şi o nouă medalie de aur, la sol, şi una de argint, împreună cu echipa.

Comăneci s-a retras din activitatea competiţională după aceste Jocuri. Între 1984 şi 1989 ea a fost membră a Federaţiei Române de Gimnastică şi a ajutat la antrenarea gimnaştilor juniori români. În noaptea de 27/28 noiembrie 1989 a trecut ilegal graniţa româno-maghiară, stabilindu-se în cele din urmă ca emigrantă în Statele Unite. Acest gest dramatic a avut un efect major asupra opiniei publice, chiar asupra familiei conducătoare a Romaniei. Nadia şi-a petrecut următorii ani promovând linii vestimentare pentru gimnastică, lenjerie Jockey, echipament de aerobic şi rochii de mireasă. În 1994, s-a logodit cu gimnastul american Bart Conner şi s-a întors în România pentru prima dată de la plecare. Comăneci şi Conner s-au căsătorit în România în luna aprilie a anului 1996.

În 1999, Comăneci a devenit primul sportiv invitat să vorbească la Naţiunile Unite, pentru a lansa Anul 2000, Anul Internaţional al Voluntariatului. Nadia este în prezent ocupată cu gimnastică şi muncă de caritate în întreaga lume. Ea şi soţul său sunt propietarii Academiei de Gimnastică Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, Perfect 10 Production Company şi ai câtorva magazine de echipamente sportive, precum şi editori ai Magazinului de Gimnastică Internaţională.

Nadia Comăneci este vice-preşedinte al Consiliului Director al Special Olympics, Preşedinte Onorific al Federaţiei Române de Gimnastică, Preşedinte Onorific al Comitetului Olimpic Român, Ambasadorul Sporturilor Româneşti, Vice-Preşedinte în Consiliul Director al Asociaţiei Distrofiei Musculare, şi membră a Fundaţiei Federaţiei Internaţionale de Gimnastică. A fost distinsă de două ori cu Ordinul Olimpic, acordat de CIO.

În decembrie 2003, i s-a publicat prima sa carte, Scrisori către o tânără gimnastă (în engleză: Letters To A Young Gymnast). Nadia a creat o clinică de caritate în Bucureşti pentru a ajuta copii orfani din România

GHEORGHE HAGI - Romanian football player of the century- "The Maradona of the Carpathians",

2010-01-28T03:54:00.000+01:00

Gheorghe Hagi ( born February 5, 1965 in Săcele), is a Romanian former football player of Aromanian origin. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s.

Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he is considered a hero in his homeland as well as in Turkey. He has won his country's "Player of the Year" award six times, and was recently named Romanian football player of the century.

He played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, being ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and scored 35 goals, being ranked first.

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[1] Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

In March 2004, he was named among the top 125 living footballers by Pelé.

In a 2006 poll conducted by Romanian Television to identify the "greatest Romanians of all time", Hagi came in 15th.

Club career

He started his career playing for the youth teams of Farul Constanţa in the 1970s, before being selected by the Romanian Football Federation to join the squad of Luceafărul Bucureşti in 1980 for two years. In 1982 he returned to Constanţa, but one year later, aged 18, he was prepared to make the step to a top team. He was originally directed to Universitatea Craiova, but chose Sportul Studenţesc of Bucharest instead.

In the winter of 1987 Hagi was transferred to Romanian giants Steaua Bucureşti as the team prepared for their European Super Cup final against FC Dynamo Kyiv. The original contract was for one game only, the final. However after winning the trophy, where Hagi scored the only goal of the game, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studenţesc and retained him. During his Steaua years (1987 - 1990), Hagi played 97 Liga I games, scoring 76 goals. He and the team reached the European Cup semifinal in 1988 and the final in the following year. Hagi and Steaua were the champions of Romania in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and as well as winning the Romania Cup in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

After the 1990 World Cup, he was signed by Real Madrid. The La Liga side paid $4.3 million to Steaua Bucureşti for him. Hagi played two seasons with Real Madrid and then was sold to Brescia Calcio.

Hagi helped Brescia Calcio win the Italian Serie B and get promoted to Serie A, but in the next season the club was relegated back to Serie B. After performing memorably during the 1994 World Cup, Hagi was signed by FC Barcelona.

After two years at FC Barcelona, Hagi signed for Galatasaray S.K.. At Galatasaray, he was both successful and highly popular among the Turkish supporters. Hagi and manager Fatih Terim built a team that would win four league titles. Over the years, Galatasaray, led by Hagi, managed to win the UEFA Cup after defeating Arsenal in the finals. This was followed by the capture of the European Super Cup with a historic win against Hagi's former club Real Madrid. The mass hysteria caused by these wins in Istanbul raised Hagi's popularity even further with the fans and made French ex-international Luis Fernández to say that "Hagi is like wine, the older it gets, the better it is". In 2000, at the age of 35, Hagi had the best days of his career, winning every possible trophy with Galatasaray. When he retired in 2001, he remained one of the most beloved players in the Turkish and Romanian championships.

National team

Hagi made his debut for the Romania national team at the age of 18 in 1983 in a game against Norway played in Oslo. He was part of the Romanian team until 2000.

Hagi led the Romanian team to its best ever international performance at the 1994 World Cup, where the team reached the quarterfinals before Sweden ended their run after winning the penalty shoot-out. Hagi scored three times in the tournament, including a memorable goal in their 3-2 surprise defeat of South American powerhouse and previous runners-up Argentina. In the first of Romania's group stage matches, against Colombia, Hagi scored one of the most memorable goals of that tournament, curling in a 40-yard lob over Colombian goalkeeper Oscar Córdoba who was caught out of position. He was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Four years later, after the 1998 World Cup, Hagi decided to retire from the national team, only to change his mind after few months and play at the 2000 European Football Championship.

Hagi retired from professional football in 2001, age 36, in a game called "Gala Hagi" on the 24th of April. He still holds the record as Romanian national team top scorer.

Career as coach

In 2001 Hagi was named the manager of Romania, replacing Ladislau Bölöni, who left the squad to coach Sporting Clube de Portugal. However, after failing to qualify the team for the World Cup, Hagi was sacked. His only notable achievement during the six months as Romania's manager was the win in Budapest against Hungary, the first of this kind for the Romania national football team.

In 2003, Hagi took over as coach of Turkish first division side Bursaspor, but left the club after a disappointing start to the season. He then became manager of Galatasaray in 2004, leading the team to the Turkish Cup in 2005 final with 5-1 as a score vs. their rivals Fenerbahçe SK

Romanian team Steaua Bucureşti wanted to hire him in the summer of 2005, but Hagi's requested wage could not be met by the Romanian champions. Hagi became manager of FCU Politehnica Timişoara instead, and after a string of bad results and disagreements with the management, he left the club after a few months. Constanţa's main stadium used to bear his name, but the name was changed after Hagi signed with FCU Politehnica Timişoara.[2]

From June 2007 to September 20, Hagi coached Steaua Bucureşti, had a mediocre start in the internal championship mainly due to the large number of unavailable injured players, managed to qualify the team for the second time in line to Champions League Groups passing two qualifying rounds. He resigned due to a long series of conflicts with the team's owner Gigi Becali, which also happens to be his godson. The main reason for resigning was the owner's policy of imposing players, making the team's strategy and threats. Hagi's resignation happened just a few hours after Steaua's first Champions League game in the actual season with Slavia Prague in Prague, Czech Republic, lost with 2-1.

Honours

As player

Sportul Studenţesc

Romanian League: Runner-up 1985-86

Steaua Bucureşti

Romanian League: 1987-88, 1988-88, 1988-89

Romanian Cup: 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89

European Super Cup: 1987

European Cup: Runner-up 1988-89

Real Madrid

Supercopa de España: 1990

La Liga: Runner-up 1991-92

Spanish Cup: Runner-up 1991-92

Brescia

Anglo-Italian Cup: 1993-94

FC Barcelona

Supercopa de España: 1994

Spanish Cup: Runner-up 1995-96

Galatasaray

Turkish Super League: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00

Turkish Cup: 1998-99, 1999-00

UEFA Cup: 1999-00

UEFA Super Cup: 2000

Individual

Romanian League: Top Scorer 1985, 1986

European Cup: Top Scorer 1988

Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1985, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1994

FIFA 100

As manager

Galatasaray

Turkish Cup: (2005)