“Constantin Roman”

Entries Tagged as '“Constantin Roman”'

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”(…).

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

October 29th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Reviews

Constantin ROMAN bought his first prints whilst a postgraduate student in Cambridge, in the early 1970s, when very few people were interested in the subject and prices were accessible. Over the following thirty years, as a Geophysicist, he had the opportunity to travel extensively and added substantially to his collection, mostly from dealers in England, France and Holland. His particular interest concentrated on images from the Ottoman Empire in Europe, with emphasis on Wallachia and Moldavia (the Lower Danube and the Carpathians) as well as the Eastern part of the Habsburg Empire, (the Principality of Transylvania). Auxiliary themes of a wider regional interest (Polish, Russian, Balkan, Hungarian, Austrian, Turkish) are also present.

Subject Matter:

The subject of the collection has a strong topographical interest. It consists of maps (including plans of battles and strategic fortifications), views (landscapes and townscapes), costumes, portraits of historical characters, scenes of social and political interest, architectural / natural monuments, political cartoons of the 19th century, etc.

Şerban Veliciu: Recenzie – Deriva Continetală – Coliziunea Continentelor şi Convergenţa Culturilor”, sau – “Un Român în Derivă”

October 18th, 2013 · Comments Off on Şerban Veliciu: Recenzie – Deriva Continetală – Coliziunea Continentelor şi Convergenţa Culturilor”, sau – “Un Român în Derivă” · Books, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews, Translations

Deriva Continetală – Coliziunea Continentelor şi Convergenţa Culturilor” “Un Român în Derivă” Dr. Ing. Şerban Veliciu Profesor la Universitatea din Bucureşti, Citind “Deriva Continentală” aflăm despre meandrele carierei lui Constantin Roman, cel care a reuşit să strălucească în domenii în care, la începuturi, nu promitea prea mult. Am fost amândoi colegi de an la Facultatea […]

Poetry in Translation (CCXVI): Ferruccio GRECO, Poet of CALABRIA, “Tenerezze ”, “O mamă Calabreză

September 30th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXVI): Ferruccio GRECO, Poet of CALABRIA, “Tenerezze ”, “O mamă Calabreză · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

O mamă Calabreză

Abea doi ani de-aveam, şi îmi aduc aminte
Cum visuri din trecut în suflet se perindă.
Cât de amar plângeam, cu lacrimă fierbinte,
Iar mama mă strângea, la pieptu-i să m-alinte;

Ea mă-ntreba, duios , de ce, şi unde oare?
Şi-i arătam, plângând, la locul ce mă doare …
Atunci ma săruta, ca plânsul să-mi aline,
Şi lacrima să-mi treacă, din nou să zburd, în lume.
Versiune în limba Română
Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Poetry in Translation (CCXV): Anonymous, ROMANIA, “The Ecologic Princess and Prince Charming“, “Prinţesa Ecologică şi Făt Frumos”

September 23rd, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXV): Anonymous, ROMANIA, “The Ecologic Princess and Prince Charming“, “Prinţesa Ecologică şi Făt Frumos” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

Once upon a time,
In far-away lands,
There was a beautiful princess
Who just found a frog
Whilst she was contemplating ecologic aspects,
On the shore of an unpolluted lake,
In a green meadow
(recently re-granted by the Constitutional Court).

A fost odată
Ca nici odată
Şi dacă n-ar fi
Nu s-ar povesti.
A fost odată,
Pe meleaguri îndepărtate,
O mandră prinţesă
Care tocmai zări o broască,
În timp ce contempla aspecte ecologice,
Pe malul unui lac nepoluat,
Dintr-o luncă verde,
Lâng-un vechi castel,
(Restituit de Curtea Constituţională).

Adaptare liberă după un poet Anglo-Saxon anonim,
Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London, 2009

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.”

Poetry in Translation (CCXIV): Ono no KAMACHI (c. 825 – c. 900) JAPAN, “Youmeni “, “Dream Path”, “Căi de visuri”,

September 19th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXIV): Ono no KAMACHI (c. 825 – c. 900) JAPAN, “Youmeni “, “Dream Path”, “Căi de visuri”, · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Ono no Komachi
c. 825 – c. 900, Japan
“Căi de visuri”
în somn,
cu paşii osteniţi,
pe căi de visuri
ajung la tine
şi-n zori
o clipă de-ndoieli
e trează-n mine.

Versiune în limba Română
Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Poetry in Translation (CCXIII): Francis of ASSISI,(1181/1182, Assisi, Umbria – October 3, 1226, Assisi), Poet of UMBRIA, “Preghiera”, “Prayer”, “Rugăciune”

September 13th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXIII): Francis of ASSISI,(1181/1182, Assisi, Umbria – October 3, 1226, Assisi), Poet of UMBRIA, “Preghiera”, “Prayer”, “Rugăciune” · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Sf. Francisc din Assisi
(1181/82 – 3 Octombrie, 1226)

O, Doamne, Dumnezeule, lasă-mă să primesc pacea ta.
Acolo unde este ură, lasă-mă să pot semăna iubire.
Unde este daună, iertare.
Unde este îndoiala, credință.
Unde este disperare, speranță.
Unde este întuneric, lumină.
Unde este tristețe, bucurie.

Doamne, Dumnezeul meu,
daruieşte-mi, nu atât mângâierea, cât putința de a mângâia;
nu atât harul de a fi înțeles, cât să pot înțelege;
nu să fiu iubit, cât să pot iubi.
Căci prin dăruire de sine putem primi,
prin iertare putem fi iertați,
și prin moartea spre moarte putem afla viață veșnică.
Amin
Versiune în limba Română
Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Poetry in Translation (CCXII): Romeo ÇOLLAKU, (b. 1973, Greece) Albanian poet, “The Piggy Bank of Time”, “Puşculiţa Timpului”

September 10th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXII): Romeo ÇOLLAKU, (b. 1973, Greece) Albanian poet, “The Piggy Bank of Time”, “Puşculiţa Timpului” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

uşculita Timpului
Romeo Çollaku (n. 1973)
Poet Albanez, născut in Grecia
În amurg, când cenuşa serii se revarsă peste sat, iar ochii câinelui păzitor apar ca doua fitiluri de lampă, pâlpâind, tu stai la fereastră, ascunzându-ţi coatele, fără să arunci vre-o privire prunilor, sau gardului de pe uliţă.

În noaptea de Sân Dumitru, vei avea destul timp să dormi şi să visezi, mă aţâţă in şoaptă glasul abea perceptibil, dar tu stai acolo, ore in şir, năucită.

Iar când, intr-un tarziu, te ridici, spargi din greşeală puşculiţa de lut (un obicei din strămoşi care nu-l poţi evita)

Poetry in Translation (CCXI): Paul ANCEL, aka Paul CELAN, (b. 1920, Bucovina, Romania – d. 1970, Paris), ROMANIA, “Whichever stone you lift”, “Orice lespede de-ai ridica”

September 4th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXI): Paul ANCEL, aka Paul CELAN, (b. 1920, Bucovina, Romania – d. 1970, Paris), ROMANIA, “Whichever stone you lift”, “Orice lespede de-ai ridica” · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Paul CELAN
Orice lespede ai ridica
vei desveli doar
pe cei ce au nevoie de adăpostul lespezilor:
despuiaţi,
ei se strâng iarăşi împreună.
Orice arbore de-ai tăia
vei ridica, doar,
din nou, patul
sufletelor adormiţilor,
ca şi cum veşnicia
n-ar mai zvâcni.
Orice cuvânt ai rosti
îl datorezi
prigoanei.
Versiune în limba Română
Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Centre for Romanian Studies