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Entries Tagged as '“Doina CORNEA”'

Romanian Dictionary of Quotations, Selected & Translated by Constantin ROMAN: Letter ‘G’

July 21st, 2013 · No Comments · Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Translations

Guilty:
“You are guilty of the spiritual impoverishment of the individuals, of their intellectual sterility, of the stifling of their personal duty, as well as of the creativity and inventiveness with which our people have been endowed. When they are treated as objects, deprived of their dignity, locked up in existentialist structures which do not suit them, paralized by the fear of the repressive regime, . Human beings end up behaving as objects. You are responsible for the physical debility of millions of citizens whom you have constrained through unheard of deprivations – of foodstuff, of heating, of medicines. The degrading of the human factor (the subversion of values, the egocentrism, the corruption) has jointly contributed, together with your political and economic errors, to the decadence of institutions, to the bankruptcy of trade and Industry, to the ruin of agriculture. Furthermore, you are also responsible for the demolition of churches and of prestigious historical monuments, of the falsifying and destruction of our past and lately of the destruction of our villages and of our rural traditions. In the historical past, our princes were building churches, after each military victory and perhaps sometime even after their defeat. You yourself, you are demolishing them, instead.”
(Doina Cornea (b. 1930), University Lecturer, Dissident)
(Open Letter to Nicolae Ceausescu, 23rd August 1988,
broadcast the same day on “Radio Free Europe” and published in Doina Cornea’s “Liberte?”, Eds Criterion, Paris, 1990)

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Romanian-Jewish Topics (Part I)

May 10th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE, quotations

Romanian-Jewish Topics (Part One of Two): Quotations from an Alternative Anthology: “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women” Presented and edited by Constantin Roman, Preface by Catherine Durandin, published by the Centre for Romanian Studies (London), 2009 1,100 pages, 160 biographies, 600 quotations, 4,000 references, credits, discography and URLs , 6 Indexes http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html […]

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ROMANIAN-JEWISH TOPICS: (Part two of two)

May 10th, 2009 · Comments Off on ROMANIAN-JEWISH TOPICS: (Part two of two) · Books, PEOPLE, quotations, Translations

ROMANIAN-JEWISH TOPICS: (PART TWO OF TWO) (continued from Part ONE) Quotations from an Alternative Anthology: “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women” Presented and edited by Constantin Roman, Preface by Catherine Durandin, published by the Centre for Romanian Studies (London), 2009 1,100 pages, 160 biographies, 600 quotations, 4,000 references, performances & exhibition credit, […]

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Pourquoi Matisse?

May 6th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Books, Communist Prisons, Diaspora, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Reviews, Translations

Après la chute de Ceausescu, l’image de la Blouse roumaine retrouva graduellement sa place, lentement, comme le réveil après un cauchemar surréaliste : est-ce que la transition existe ? Est-ce pour de vrai ? Le passé va-t-il se répéter ? Dans ce sens, une mise en garde fut émise par le porte-parole du Parlement polonais lorsqu’il déclara : « Il ne faut que quelques semaines aux Empires pour s’écrouler, mais la mentalité impérialiste a besoin de plusieurs générations avant de disparaître. »

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Alternative Romania: Women Celebrities an Anthology of Unsung Voices

May 5th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE

Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women
WHAT THE READERS SAY:

* “It is a Herculean Work…” (Editor, Buenos Aires)

* “It is beautifully written and meticulously researched and presented. It is accessible to the lay reader and will be a treasure-trove for further research by academics drawn from a wide range of disciplines ” (Political Analyst, UK)

* “For those who think that Romania is nothing more than Dracula and Ceausescu, the book has a lot to teach you… ‘ (IT geek, London)

* “Constantin Roman invites us for a walk, during which he enjoins past and present alike, in a brisk coming and going of the narrative. It is a narrative that cannot suddenly end, but rather one which compels us to start all over again and revisit. It is a truly wonderful gift, a very happy surprise indeed of an inherently original book, which haunts us like the persistent music of those Romanian women’s voices.” (French Government Adviser, Paris)

* There is no doubt, what so ever, that if Romania is the creation of a male society as well as of political conjectures, its place in the Western European psyche is entirely due to its women, who knew how to impose their reputation in the aristocratic salons of Paris, in the world of literature, or in the English clubs so intimately linked to politics. For “Blouse Roumaine” is an incursion charged with passion, which conjures varied names, such as Queen Marie of Romania, Countess Anna de Noailles, the Princess Bibesco, or the actress Elvire Popesco, not forgetting the diabolic Ana Pauker and Elena Ceausescu.” (Art Historian, Paris)

* “… an audaceeous choice…” (Reader, France)

* “So long as the masculine and the feminine are not absolutely complementary notions in terms of fair percentages, it is a good idea to write a book about Romanian Women of World repute.” (Novelist, Argentina)

* “… it represents the idea of metamodernism as cultural paradigm to an alternative synthesis of modern and postmodern paradigms” (Researcher, New Zealand)

* …an easy book, which offered me, at least, the joy of reading an interesting, well-documented Anthology, without being bored.” (American Scientist)

* ‘ Blouse Romaine’ is a fascinating book about women who, for the sake of their ideals, sacrificed everything in order to safeguard basic values of humanity, generosity and compassion, women who fought the communist dragon imposed by fellow women. (Researcher, Cluj, Transylvania)

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/buy-the-book/index.html

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Romanian Destinies in The Times of London Obituary: Monica Lovinescu

April 27th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Books, Diaspora, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations

Romanian dissident whose broadcasts from exile in Paris enraged the communist authorities
Monica Lovinescu
Asked in April 2002 about her opinion on the desirability of a Nuremberg-style trial of communism, Lovinescu answered:

The trial of communism might have offered Romanian mentality a real chance for change. The handful of initiatives taken so far are built entirely on moving sands. We cannot consider a Nuremberg-style trial simply because that involves winners and losers. Or, in this particular instance, communism lost its own war: it simply imploded, not exploded. But one should consider at least a moral prosecution. It is impossible to contemplate the fact that torturers in Romania have not been yet morally indicted.

Monica Lovinescu, M.Litt., Grand Officer, Order of the Star of Romania, was married to fellow journalist, literary critic and political analyst Virgil Ierunca (1920-2006). They leave no children and their estate has been bequeathed to a Romanian government foundation.

Monica Lovinescu
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The voice of the journalist and human rights activist Monica Lovinescu in her regular Paris broadcasts to the people of Romania during the postwar decades became synonymous with freedom and was a lifeline for those listeners behind the Iron Curtain.

As a result she was severely beaten up on the orders of the communist authorities in Bucharest, and, in a vengeful act, her elderly mother was sent to prison, where she died.

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ROMANIA VAZUTA “ALTFEL”: ‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’

April 26th, 2009 · Comments Off on ROMANIA VAZUTA “ALTFEL”: ‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’ · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE, quotations, Translations

In primul rand mesajul lucrarii NU este unul ‘oficial’, parafat de cei care ne dramuiesc adevarul. Autorul este constient de faptul ca traim intr-o perioada a nesfarsitei “Tranzitii” unde bajbaim inca, pe carari intortocheate, ca sa ne aflam identitatea, Pe aceleasi carari misuna ‘experti’, autoproclamati ‘boieri ai mintii’, care nu numai ca isi dau coate intre ei ca sa ramana in capul bucatelor, dar sunt gata ori si cand sa ne abureasca memoria si sa ne re-scrie istoria. Metodele sunt aceleasi care au fost folosite sub dictatura: o amnezie preprogramata, urmata de un facsimile cosmetizat atat de neverosimil incat tipa dela distanta.

Acest fenomen nu este unul propriu Romaniei ci se afla in speta in toate tarile ‘ex-comuniste’ fiind insumat perfect de simplu si plastic de catre un parlamentar Polonez cand a afirmat:

‘Imperiile se destrama doar in cateva saptamani, in timp ce mentalitatea imperiala are nevoie de cateva generatii ca sa dispara’.

Antologia de fata nu isi poate permite sa ‘corecteze’ dintr-un condei aceste aberatii care se impamantenesc, dar isi propane in schimb sa ofere cititorului o lucrare sub un unghi ‘alternativ’ si pe undeva neconformist, despre o realitate istorica perceputa ‘de partea cealalta a baricadei’.

In al doilea rand alegerea subiectului si al punctului de referinta, plasarea lui intr-un context istoric si social dar si intr-un cadru European, plaseaza antologia “Blouse Roumaine” intr-o categorie foarte diferita.

In al treilea rand, ca Forma, lucrarea se adreseaza nu numai specialistilor din Universitati dar si publicului larg, facand-o accesibila unei categorii mari de cititori romani si straini.

In acest context formatul Antologiei ofera pentru prima data cititorilor Anglo-Saxoni, nefamiliarizati cu Romania, posibilitatea de a intelege ca Romanii nu au fost doar simpli consumatori ale unor valori Euuropene dar au contribuit in mod substantial la cultura Europeana si de peste Ocean. Aici Antologia evoca o panoplie intreaga de voci de femei de profesii foarte diverse si uneori neasteptate evocand astfel imagini cu totul insolite si admirabile: femei ramase in Romania dar si femei desradacinate, care au luat drumul exilului sau care s-au nascut pe pamant strain doar pentru ca parintii sau bunicii lor s-au exilat, femei care au reusit in mod extraordinar sa isi pastreze valentele romanesti.

Pe parcursul cartii vom putea face o selectie dintre cele o suta saizeci de biografii critice sau ne vom putea delecta alegand dintre cele sase sute de citate, in majoritate traduse pentru prima oara in limba engleza. Aici se vor gasi nu numai citate in proza dar si versuri. Cei care ar dori sa aprofundeze unele aspecte specifice au la dispozitie o bibliografie de circa 4.000 referinte inclusiv situri web (URL), credite de spectacole, recitaluri si expozitii, inregistrari audio, s.a.
Iata de ce, fara nici un dubiu “Blouse Roumaine” se poate considera o carte “altfel”. o Antologie foarte diferita care ramane, totusi, o carte de capatai si poate un manual de studiu pentru aprofundarea subiectelor de interes mai specializat.
Cautarea selectiva este usurata considerabil de existenta a nu mai putin de sase Indexuri organizate pe profesii, subiecte de citate, localitati geografice, nume de familie, sau ordine alfabetica sau cronologic.

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An Alternative Anthology of Romanian Women

April 26th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Books, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Translations

‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’
An E-Book Anthology by Constantin ROMAN
Synopsis

A Spanish grandee and Ambassador to the Court of St James’s once compared the success of an Anthology to that of a culinary chef d’oeuvre: for Santiago de Mora Figueroa y Williams, Marques of Tamarón, a great Anglophile but also a refined European:

The perfect anthology, like the perfect hors d’oeuvre, should turn us into gluttons. The many small dishes add up to a balanced and nourishing meal, but they are so exquisite that they whet one’s appetite for more. And the anthology should also include unexpected delicacies, things that even the literary gourmet had not heard about.

blouse-roumaine-cover2On a deeper reflection, Tamarón’s metaphor encapsulates perfectly well the ethos of the ‘Blouse Roumaine’. Yet, as an Anthology of Romanian women, this corpus was initially conceived to connect with a French painting of Henri Matisse – the eponymous canvas, ‘La Blouse Roumaine’ (1940), which hangs today in the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris: for every and each biography contained in this Women’s Anthology is like a minutely embroidered stitch on an ethnic tapestry, such as we have admired, not so long ago in the Retrospective exhibition of Matisse’s collection of textiles, presented at the Royal Academy in London and later also shown in New York. For those of us who missed this exhibition the analogy to the current book is like a roll call of women presented in a sequence of biographical cameos. These sketches are displayed like a series of miniatures in a virtual National Portrait Gallery: they are all glittering stars from Western galaxies and Eastern nebulae, in all 160 of them…

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Le rayonnement de la culture Roumaine en France

July 5th, 2006 · Comments Off on Le rayonnement de la culture Roumaine en France · Books, PEOPLE, Reviews, Translations

Le rayonnement de la culture Roumaine en France

(Plaidoyer pour la traduction en Français de l’Anthologie “Blouse Roumaine” par Constantin ROMAN – Juin 2006)

Blouse Roumaine – The Unsung Voices of Romanian Women (Centre for Romanian Studies, London, 2009) http://www.blouseroumaine.com/freeexcerpt_download.html
Blouse Roumaine – The Unsung Voices of Romanian Women (Centre for Romanian Studies, London, 2009) http://www.blouseroumaine.com/freeexcerpt_download.html

Inspirée de la toile homonyme de Henri Matisse, oeuvre exposée au Musée d’Art Moderne du Centre Pompidou à Paris, “La Blouse Roumaine” est une anthologie des Femmes de Roumanie, présentant des personnalités incontournables de la culture universelle. Cet ouvrage contient une majorité des femmes francophones – des femmes qui se sont exprimées a un moment ou un autre dans cette langue, ont écrit ou écrivent en Français, ont vécu en France ou bien y vivent actuellement, contribuant à la culture française comme professeurs, écrivains, peintres, sculpteurs, psychologues, philosophes, médecins, analystes politiques, poètes, actrices de cinéma ou de théâtre (sociétaires de la Comédie française), des femmes qui ont tenu des salons littéraires à Paris, les égéries qui ont inspiré les artistes Rodin, Brancusi, Renoir, Vuillard, Matisse, Fantin Latour, les compositeurs Chausson, Poulenc, Gounod, Fauré ou Saint Saens et Ysaÿe, des écrivains comme Proust, Colette, Cocteau, Morand ou Anatole France et Sacha Guitry, des cinéastes comme Jean Renoir, Marc Allegret, Christian Jacques, Jean Boyer, ou Pierre Colombier et Claude Autant-Lara, des pianistes et violonistes, des chanteuses d’opéra, des ballerines, enfin, des françaises qui ont épousé des Roumains ou la cause de la Roumanie et qui ont eu par la suite une contribution à l’histoire culturelle et politique de ce pays, des conseillères politiques, ou des Roumaines naturalisées françaises ou des Françaises d’origine Roumaine.

Le fait qu’une partie du public français ne connaisse pas ou ne saurait concevoir l’apport de la Roumanie au rayonnement de la France n’est point étonnant si l’on pense que la seule femme écrivain dont l’appartement soit minutieusement reconstitué et conservé au Musée Carnavalet de l’histoire de la ville de Paris, Anna de Noailles, poétesse Parnassienne soit présentée comme étant d’origine “Grecque”, alors qu’elle est née – Princesse de Bassaraba-Brancovan, issue d’une famille historique Roumaine. Malheureusement, ce genre de malentendu est emblématique en France.

Countess Anna de Noailles, nee Pss Bassaraba-Brancovan (by Ignacio Zuloaga)
Countess Anna de Noailles, nee Pss Bassaraba-Brancovan (by Ignacio Zuloaga)

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Poetry: Constantin ROMAN (XXVII) – Smaranda, In Memoriam Smaranda Braescu (1897-1948)

May 29th, 2006 · Comments Off on Poetry: Constantin ROMAN (XXVII) – Smaranda, In Memoriam Smaranda Braescu (1897-1948) · Books, PEOPLE, Poetry, Translations

SMARANDA BRAESCU s-a nascut intr-o familie de tarani moldoveni din judetul Barlad. A fost parasutista, pilot, campioana europeana la parasutism (1931) si mondiala (in 1932, cu recordul de 7.200m la Sacramento, SUA). Pentru acest record Braescu a fost investita cu Crucea de aur “Virtutea Aeronautica”. In 1932 a stabilit primul record de traversare a Marii Mediterane in 6 ore 10 minute, strabatand distanta de 1100 Km, intre Roma si Tripoli, in propriul sau avion de tip Milles Hawk. Desi in Statele Unite i s-au oferit contracte lucrative Braescu a preferat sa se intoarca in Romania refuzand sa exploateze gloria de campioana in scopuri comerciale.
In timpul raboiului a fost activa ca pilot in celebra “Escadrila Alba” pe frontul de Rasarit si apoi pe frontul de Vest in Transilvania, Ungaria si Cehoslovacia.

Smaranda Braescu – Romanian Pioneer Pilot & Parachutist
Smaranda Braescu – Romanian Pioneer Pilot & Parachutist

Protestul transmis de Braescu Natiunilor Unite si Comandamentului Aliat din Romania demascand alegerile masluite din 1946 i-au atras urmarirea de catre politia politica a regimului Petru Groza. In continuare Braescu a activat in rezistenta anti-comunista, dar in 1948 a fost internata grav bolnava de cancer intr-un spital din Cluj. Aici a decedat in urma interventiei chirurgicale si a fost ingropata sub numele conspirativ de Maria Popescu. Totusi, la putin timp Securitatea a interogat si arestat toate persoanele implicate inclusiv medicii care au ingrijit-o la spital.

Dar ura administratiei comuniste a urmarit-o pe eroina noastra pana si in locul ei de veci, “unde nu este nici durere nici suspin” asa cum ne asigura ortodoxia noastra. In anul 1970 mormantul Smarandei Braescu, ingropata sub numele conspirativ de Maria Popescu a fost vandut unei alte familii si ori si ce urma a existentei acestei femei-erou din cimitirul central sin Cluj a disparut. Prin acest act s-a consfiintit conspiratia tacerii impuse de regimul comunist.

Dupa caderea regimului totalitar memoria eroului pilot Smaranda Braescu a fost reabiltata si mai multe strazi din Romania ii poarta numele, iar prin decretul prezidential din 1996, batalionul de parasutisti 498 a primit “drapelul de lupta Smaranda Braescu”: prea putin, prea tarziu!

“SMARANDA”

Smaranda, unde esti?
Te-ai avantat in zboruri printre nori
Din ceruri coborat-ai ca un fulg
Peste Ocean, cantata indelung
Urale ti-au adus de-atatea ori.

N-ai vrut onoruri si nici bani mai multi
Cinstit-ai vrut sa stai printre Romani
Si te-ai intors atunci la noi in munti…
Cu “Escadrila Alba” ai rapus
Dusmani din Rasarit si din Apus.

In ’46 cand s-au masluit
Alegerile suflul ti-au taiat
Ca bunii tai cu jalba in protap
Mai-marilor de-atuncea te-ai jelit
Dar soarta ta fugar-ai fost sa fii.

Din talcul vietii tale ti-a fost dat
Sa nu renunti la lupta nici de cum
Cu fruntea-n sus sa mergi pe-acelasi drum
Cand boala floarea vietii ti-a curmat
Si-n groapa zaci sub nume de-mprumut.

N-au fost nici popi, nici rude, nici parinti
O candela sa-ti puna pe mormant
Nici vesnici pomeniri, pomeni sau sfinti
Nu s-au aflat s-aline trupul tau
De cine-ai fost sa sufle vre-un cuvant.

Dar pilda ta n-a fost intr-un zadar
Acum ca roata vietii s-a rotit
Si patru zeci de ani trecut-au, chiar
O strada cu-al tau nume in sfarsit
Te va slavi atata cum mai stim.

Constantin ROMAN
Londra, Mai, 2006

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Read more about Smaranda Braescu in:

Blouse Roumaine – The Unsung Voices of Romanian Women

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