juillet 2008

Dear Everyone, The more I dig, the more I find, and the more depressed I get. The owner, says Dan Ghelase, President of Artrad, is a Spanish Real Estate company who bought it with view to demolish in order to construct a 'spectacular' (??) twenty storey building in its place. No, no, noooooo!!!!! He also adds the following: "I - with my ngo ARTRAD stopped this happening by introducing a legal demand asking for classification as an object of Historical Architectural Patrimony, adressed to DCCPCNB and the Culture Ministry.... [Lire la suite]

It is truly horrifying to see that beautiful house on str. Scoalei, 8 in such a terrible state, looted and vandalised repeatedly as it stands there empty, its fate uncertain. A battle to save the house has been ongoing for the last year. In February of this year, the Artrad Association requested that it be classed urgently as a building of national heritage in order to protect it from demolition. No reply was given. An impressive campaign was launched by TVR, the Association of Architects, Jurnalul National, Save Bucharest and... [Lire la suite]

Lena Constante, Roumanian artist, essayist and memoirist, known for her work in stage design and tapestry, was born in Bucharest, daughter of an Aromanian journalist (immigrated from Macedonia) and his Roumanian wife, in 1909. Her family's peregrinations during the First World War took her to Iasi, Odessa, London and Paris. She returned to Romania after the war and studied painting at the Royal Art Academy in  Bucharest. During this period, she became sympathetic to left-wing politics and joined the sociological... [Lire la suite]

The unthinkable pain of exile, the ripping away of all that is known and taking a leap off a precipice into the unknown...How Sanda Golopentia explains this with profound insight, depth and first-hand knowledge. It almost had me in tears, as I thought of all those I love and have loved who walked the path of such a departure. Sanda Golopentia is a Romanian-American intellectual living in Providence, state of Rhode Island, married to Constantin Eretescu. She is a French professor at the prestigious Brown University and has a very... [Lire la suite]

Virgil Ierunca (1920-2006) was a Roumanian philosopher, poet and literary critic, who also wrote under the pseudonym Virgil Untaru. He was utterly opposed to the communist regime under Gheorghe-Dej who came into power after the second world war. His works was censured. Arrested and imprisoned, when at last freed he had no other choice than to flee Roumania and settle in France in September 1947. He and his wife, Monica Lovinescu, obtained political asylum in France in 1948. They were unable to return to Bucharest until a year... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, Today, having spent a morning teaching and helping Tantza white-wash her little flat, I met Mihai at Pta Romana for a walk with Rosie. We began meandering our way down to str. Ion Campaneanu with the intention of visiting the roads adjacent to Cismigiu. There are some lovely houses there and it's an area I have neglected. We passed a shop full of t'shirts, mugs and shopping bags covered in witty phrases and sayings. I dawdled there a little, in front of the window, wondering if a good present for Lucia and George was... [Lire la suite]

This Romanian family really is an incredible one. Every member is fascinating, their lives mostly sad, mostly terribly unjust. The Bratianu's (of which Ileana von Kripp's mother, Maria Emanuelle dit 'Manola' is a member, and thus Ileana herself, also - see last post) were related to the Stirbey's by marriage, and George was Manola's father, thus Ileana von Kripp's grandfather. George I. Bratianu was born in 1898 in Iasi, and died in Sighet Penitentiary on 27th April, 1953. He was a historian, politician, university professor, author... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody, The time has come to tell you a little about another colourful Roumanian personality, Prince Barbu Stirbey (1873-1946). Why? Well, frankly why not. And because he was quite a character. His mother was Maria Ghika-Comanesti (important to remember when I tell you about an admirable baroness later on), father Prince Alexandru Stirbey and he was grandson of another Barbu Stirbey (born Bibescu and adopted Stirbey), Prince of Wallachia and died in 1869. Quite well connected, wouldn't you say? He married Princess Nadèje... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody, Just when I think I should be getting to bed and that, really, I should turn off the computer, I remember I have more to tell you. I already said that I'd met Nicole's great and much loved friend, Nely, last Friday for tea in a café on Dorobanti. Let me introduce you to her. Here she is on the left. Thilled to see her again today, albeit ever so briefly. She will leave on holiday this Saturday and was in the area for chores pre-trip. How lovely to have her in front of me once more, looking most regal and... [Lire la suite]

Born in 1958, Corneliu is by far my favourite translator of Eminescu to date (my apologies to all others who have tried). When I first arrived in Bucharest all those years ago, I decided that to understand the Romanian soul, I would have to study its literature. Huh. Not easy when the translations online are, on the whole, dreadful, and so many authors aren't even translated. Then I found Corneliu M. Popescu, genius and child prodigy. 19 year old Corneliu was killed in the earthquake 1977 in the massive earthquake along with his... [Lire la suite]