Romania

Entries Tagged as 'Romania'

“Blouse Roumaine – The Unsung Voices of Romanian Women” – Selected and Introduced by Constantin Roman (Extracts from the Biography of Carmen Sylva – Queen Elisabeth of Romania)

April 28th, 2014 · No Comments · Books, Diaspora, History, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Reviews, Translations

Vincent van Gogh about Elisabeth of Romania:
“A childless woman is like a bell without a clapper—the sound of the bronze would perhaps be beautiful, but no one will ever hear it.”
Quoted by Vincent van Gogh In a Letter to Theo Saint-Rémy, 19 September 1889

Poetry in Translation, (CCLXXXI) – SPAIN / Cantabria, José Luis HIDALGO (1919, Torres – 1947, Madrid): “Ai coborât“, “Has bajado“

April 6th, 2014 · No Comments · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Ai coborât
José Luis HIDALGO (1919-1947)

Ai coborât din ceruri, când nimeni nu te auzea.
Ai privit pe cei vii si ai numărat pe cei morţi.
Pace Ţie, Doamne! Timpul tău a trecut.
Acum poţi închide ochii care erau mari deschişi.

Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN
© 2014 Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

The Rev. Canon Patrick Comerford on the Centenary of the Anglican Church, Bucharest: 1913 – 2013

December 10th, 2013 · Comments Off on The Rev. Canon Patrick Comerford on the Centenary of the Anglican Church, Bucharest: 1913 – 2013 · Diary, Diaspora, History, OPINION, PEOPLE

In 1900, the British Minister or Ambassador, Sir John Gordon Kennedy (1836-1912), obtained the grant of a piece of land at the junction of Strada Pictor Verona and Strada Xenopol, in the corner of the Gradina Icoanei (The Park of the Icon) from the Commune of Bucharest in a deed of gift dated 2 December 1900.
The cornerstone of the church was laid 100 years ago today on 20 October 1913. The external fabric was completed by 1914, and the interior furnishings had been ordered from England. However, building work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War I.

The first service was held in the new church on Easter Day, 4 April 1920, and it was soon completed, and was dedicated by the Bishop of Gibraltar on 5 November 1922.

Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIII): Hélène VACARESCO (Elena Văcărescu, b. 1866 Bucharest – d. 1947, Paris): “Romania”

December 5th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIII): Hélène VACARESCO (Elena Văcărescu, b. 1866 Bucharest – d. 1947, Paris): “Romania” · Diaspora, History, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

You may well recognise in these qualities Romania, land of suffering, land of enlightenment and of valour placed across the promontory against the dredge of Asian invasions and like a beacon being mightily conscious of defending the civilization, which gave it its people and its laws”.

(Hélène Vacaresco, Diplomat, Poet,
addressing the Societe des Nations,
Paris, 27th April 1925)

Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II)

November 2nd, 2013 · Comments Off on Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II) · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews

From a prima facie evidence it seems that this collection is not matched by similar efforts in the public domain, either in Romania, or elsewhere. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, also has not got this material although it covers immediately adjacent areas, such as the Levant and the Middle East, through the recent acquisition of a collection from a retired Shell executive.
The late Professor’s Oprescu’s collection, given to the Romanian Academy Prints Department, has some beautiful examples of watercolours and sketches, some by Count Prezziosi, but does not overlap with our prints. Prince Nicholas of Romania’s collection of maps has been dispersed soon after the Second World War. Sadly “Ceausescu’s surrogate “Muzeul Colectiilor” of Calea Victoriei, in Bucharest has relegated an important inter-war collection of historic engravings, donated by a private collector, to a “deposit” in a damp basement, sadly forgotten and most certainly ruined: such is the wisdom of our Wallachian luminaries, otherwise, known as “boierii mintii”(…).

What has President Nicolas Maduro got in common with the late (dearly departed) President Nicolae Ceausescu?

September 22nd, 2013 · Comments Off on What has President Nicolas Maduro got in common with the late (dearly departed) President Nicolae Ceausescu? · Books, Diaspora, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Christmas Carol, 1980 –
(A Parody sung by Romanian Gypsy Children)

Father Christmas we do beg
Bring us butter, bring us egg.
If you ever come on foot
Bring some cabbage, or beetroot
If your bag is large enough
Add some maize and garlic cloves.
Christmas Father don’t miss either
The potatoes and the flour.
Should you come, though, in a sleigh
Don’t forget for the New Year
Toilet paper that’s so sparse,
To wipe at least our arse.”

«COMPTES RENDUS D’OUVRAGES – BOOK REVIEWS – BOEKGESPREKINGEN». Geologica Belgica,

February 28th, 2013 · Comments Off on «COMPTES RENDUS D’OUVRAGES – BOOK REVIEWS – BOEKGESPREKINGEN». Geologica Belgica, · Books, International Media, OPINION, quotations, Reviews

“Cambridge was almost like a mythical mistress, whose eroticism would excite my resolve against obstacles put in the way by sundry bureaucratic tormentors and moral dwarfs”.
This is an exhilarating book and I can fully subscribe to Professor J. F. Dewey’s view (Oxford), who wrote the Foreword of the book: “Continental Drift offered me a relaxing excellent read full of humour, wisdom and good science, way beyond the History of Science”.

Poetry in Translation (CLXIV): Lucian BLAGA (1895 – 1961), “Notre légende”, “Legenda noastră”, “Our Legend”

January 30th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLXIV): Lucian BLAGA (1895 – 1961), “Notre légende”, “Legenda noastră”, “Our Legend” · Poetry, quotations, Translations

Ce soir-là, sur un fond de graves tumultes
quelque chose ineffablement changea
ici, dans la terrestre époque de brumes et d’argile
et dans les contrées lunaires voisines de là-haut.
Le pays acquit des carat
qu’aucune balance n’a pesés.

D’argent se firent, ô, les marches, les fronts,
des purs témoins aux créations de l’univers.
Et nous deux, nous nous devinions, delivrés des pénombres,
comme deux êtres de soie en marche.

À cette heure exaltée, d’alchimie célèste,
nous obligeames la lune – et quelques autres astrres
à tourner
autours de nos coeurs.

Poetry in Translation (CLX): Lucian BLAGA (1922 – 1985), “Dernier mot” (Ultimul cuvânt)

January 26th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLX): Lucian BLAGA (1922 – 1985), “Dernier mot” (Ultimul cuvânt) · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

If Cioran is considered the contemporary extension of Nietsche, and his thoughts written in French are translated in many languages, Lucian’s Blaga’s works remain highly mystical, close to the primeval myth and to his village roots and, sadly, very little translated in foreign languages.
Like Cioran, Blaga was born the son of an Orthodox priest in a small village of Transylvania at the time when this province was still part of the Habsburg empire. By the time of his maturity his contribution to Phylosophy and poetry was recognised by being elected a Fellow of the Romanian Academy, just before the Second World War. With the advent of Communism in Romania the last two decades of his life were spent in obscurity, interspersed with time in the Communist prisons, reduced to silence and physical incapacity.

Poetry in Translation (CLIX): Ion VINEA (1895 – 1964), “Vieille chanson” (Cântec vechi)

January 25th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLIX): Ion VINEA (1895 – 1964), “Vieille chanson” (Cântec vechi) · PEOPLE, Poetry, Translations

VIEILLE CHANSON
(Cântec vechi)
Ion VINEA (1895 – 1964)

J’ai peur des derniers regards,
Des adieux faits en partant,
Des signes de main et de mouchoir
Au son des pas s’étiolant.

J’ai peur, du silence, du néant,
Du nom à l’appel sans echo,
Des nuits au répis angoissant
J’ai peur des regrets à huis clos.

Du rêve au retour illusoire,
De l’ombre touchant le parvis,
J’ai peur de toute cette histoire
Frolant un perdu paradis.

Centre for Romanian Studies