Famous People

Entries Tagged as 'Famous People'

People I met: Jim EDE – Cambridge Art Aficionado and Collector

April 18th, 2017 · Comments Off on People I met: Jim EDE – Cambridge Art Aficionado and Collector · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Education, Famous People, OPINION, PEOPLE

It was a window open to a completely new world of peace, tranquillity and timelessness, all achieved through the marriage of beautiful things, put together with the greatest sensitivity in a living space, which was a Home. By going there we learned a new way of life, a new way of love and, in the process, our spirit became richer.

Lauren BACALL (Blouse Roumaine – extrait)

March 26th, 2017 · Comments Off on Lauren BACALL (Blouse Roumaine – extrait) · Diaspora, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, quotations, Translations

Lauren se souvient dans ses mémoires (By Myself), que lorsque sa mère et sa grand-mère ne voulaient pas partager leurs secrets avec le reste de la famille, elles parlaient roumain à la maison, un langage alors ‘mythique’, codé, et accessible seulement par les adultes. Leur cas n’était pas différent de celui des autres familles originaires d’Europe Centrale, arrivant de provinces aux frontières changeantes en fonction d’invasions armées, et comme Lauren le souligne (cf. la citation Les jours heureux,) la connaissance de plusieurs langues étrangères était banale.

PEOPLE I MET – Nathalie DUMITRESCO & Alexandre ISTRATI

March 24th, 2017 · Comments Off on PEOPLE I MET – Nathalie DUMITRESCO & Alexandre ISTRATI · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Diary, Diaspora, Famous People, PEOPLE, Uncategorized

Looking back at the dinner in Brancusi’s old atelier, the memories are like a replay of a magic dream. In the summer evening the narrow lane of Impasse Ronsin, now completely vanished, was deserted. As I rang the bell, I remember I was not a little surprised, that before I was let in, Istrati looked up and down the lane, I presume to check if I may have been shadowed by some unwanted troll… For the uninformed reader one should point out that Paris of the ‘60s to late 1980s was replete with cloak and dagger stories, which would have made Agatha Christies’ stories a child’s play: indeed, one could not be too careful.

PEOPLE I MET – Haroun TAZIEFF (1914-1988)

March 23rd, 2017 · 1 Comment · Diary, Diaspora, Famous People, PEOPLE, Poetry, Science, Short Stories & Cameos

Madame Tazieff-mère was, as one would have expected, a formidable lady, in every respect, and, for that matter, larger than life… At the age of 70 she just returned from riding in the forest nearby. Beside her sporting pursuits, Madame Tazieff was a dedicated artiste painter, in strong chromatic touches and her canvasses decorated the walls of the entire house. In true Russian fashion, she made sure that she remained the focus of attention.

David OLDROYD – Book Review: Continental Drift, Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures

February 20th, 2017 · Comments Off on David OLDROYD – Book Review: Continental Drift, Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures · Books, Diary, Education, Famous People, History, PEOPLE, Reviews, Science

Constantin Roman a Romanian patriot and is presently a professor honoris causa in Bucharest, while residing with his family in salubrious Glyndebourne. Roman must, by his account, surely be one of the world’s most upwardly mobile earth scientists. Starting in England with only £5 in his pocket, by ability, persistence, and charm, and using Newcastle as a stepping‐stone, he became acquainted with the right people and obtained a scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge, to do a Ph.D. on the tectonics of the Caucasus and across into Central Asia.

Constantin ROMAN, Londra – Sfidarea Idiocratiei sau Breviarul unui Neconformist

February 18th, 2017 · Comments Off on Constantin ROMAN, Londra – Sfidarea Idiocratiei sau Breviarul unui Neconformist · Books, Diary, Diaspora, Education, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Science

Exaltat de aceste amintiri vii legate de “experienta” mea canadiana, m-am indreptat intr-o stare de euforie exaltata de adrenalina, spre sectia de vize a Marelui Comisariat Canadian (the Canadian High Commissioner). Le-am explicat ca aveam nevoie de o viza pentru un doctorat in Geofizica la Universitatea din Toronto. Cu aceste spuse le-am prezentat scrisoarea profesorului Tuzo Wilson, care-mi oferea un loc de doctorand.

Herta Müller – el Viaje al Premio Nobel para Literatura:

February 12th, 2017 · Comments Off on Herta Müller – el Viaje al Premio Nobel para Literatura: · Diaspora, Famous People, History, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Translations

El Müller está acostumbrado a ello y ella sabe el juego. Después de veinte años de la oposición persistente le permitieron sólo inspeccionar su archivo Securitate de Bucarest – tres volúmenes de 900 páginas con la ausencia de cachos enorme …

Curso de …of, esto era todo doctored …

Moving Here – A Continental’s Drift

February 9th, 2017 · Comments Off on Moving Here – A Continental’s Drift · Books, Diary, Diaspora, Famous People, History, International Media, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

My greatest trouble in England arose from my refusal to give up my Romanian nationality. In retrospect this may seem bizarre, especially that I was menaced on a number of fronts: by Securitate operatives masquerading as diplomats, keen to end my flouting of socialist order and drag me back to Romania; by a prospective mother-in-law who refused to allow her daughter to marry me, unless I accepted British citizenship… and by officials of the British Home Office, who assumed that my desire to retain what I saw as my unalienable right of birth, my nationality, might stem from communist loyalties.

“Blouse Roumaine”, ou le rayonnement de la culture Roumaine en France: par Constantin ROMAN

January 30th, 2017 · Comments Off on “Blouse Roumaine”, ou le rayonnement de la culture Roumaine en France: par Constantin ROMAN · Books, Communist Prisons, Diaspora, Famous People, History, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Reviews, Science, Translations

“Blouse Roumaine” is not intended as a feminist book, although it will interest feminists. However this Anthology reflects the social history of a corner of Europe through the perception and the avatars of Romanian women, who remained native, or those who took the sad road of exile.
This anthology covers both 19th and the 20th centuries, with an emphasis on women since WWII. A number of ‘unknown illustrious’ women, whom the author considers quite exceptional for their character, are also included, such as political prisoners, women of the maquis, who perished in the Romanian gulags, (not just the upper classes and the dispossessed, but also the less formally educated, farming, or working class women).

“Blouse Roumaine”: Henriette-Yvonne Stahl (Mrs. Petru Dumitriu), (1900-1984), Romania, “Prisoner of Conscience”

January 4th, 2017 · Comments Off on “Blouse Roumaine”: Henriette-Yvonne Stahl (Mrs. Petru Dumitriu), (1900-1984), Romania, “Prisoner of Conscience” · Books, Communist Prisons, Diary, Diaspora, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Reviews, Translations

By contrast to Stahl, Dumitriu was an unknown quantity, a rough diamond from the provinces, the young-man-in-a-hurry, ready to climb the greasy pole of the communist political establishment. This may not be the place to discuss this ‘fatal attraction’, which the fragrant 45 year-old Stahl had for the handsome 22 year-old muscle.

Centre for Romanian Studies