Personalities - Culture, Sports

1. CULTURE

The main representatives of Romanian culture:
Settled in France in 1941, Eugene Ionesco, a member of the French academy, is considered together with Samuel Becket and Jean Genet, as being the founder of avant-garde theatre and the creator of the theatre of the absurd. “The problem that obsessed me was quite simple…”, the writer said in an interview. “What is this, this everything that surrounds me? Why am I on this earth? Where is the world heading? Questions without an answer…”

Emil Cioran who settled in France in 1937 left us some of the most troubling written works of the past century. After the publication of the “Treaty on decomposition” in 1949 in France, the philosopher was labeled “the skeptic on duty of a world in decline”, or the “nihilist of the 20th century”. Cioran himself confesses that he “made himself shatter all our illusions and preserve for us, unaltered, the memory of nothingness”.
Writer and historian of religions, Mircea Eliade studied assiduously as early as his teenage years in various fields, from chemistry and biology to philosophy and Oriental studies. From 1942, when he left Romania for good, he gave lectures at prestigious universities the world over. His basic works are “The Treatise of the History of Religions”, “The Myth of Eternal Return”, and “The History of Faiths and Religious Ideas. ”In 1957, he settled in Chicago as professor of the history of religions, being the head of this department till his death in 1986.

Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912) was said to be “the greatest creator of life in our entire literature” and the only playwright that has created a tradition in Romanian theatre.His comic plot and language as well as his well-shaped characters turned “A Stormy Night”, premiered in 1879, into one of the most successful plays to date. Caragiale, who attended all the rehearsals of his plays and talked about each detail with the actors, even created an acting style that bears his name.

“Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) is the poet who brought about the most radical changes to Romanian poetry. He is the linchpin of Romanian poetry, in a way that no great poet who came after him could claim to be. No matter how much they changed poetry, none of the other poets gave us the feeling that they ended a history chapter and inaugurated another”, said Nicolae Manolescu, one of the most important contemporary Romanian critics.

At the turn of the 19th century, continuing the work of the two great forerunners Nicolae Grigorescu and Ioan Andreescu, Stefan Luchian, dubbed “the innovator”, opened Romanian painting to modernism. In the monograph devoted to him, critic Jacques Lassaigne writes: “In the matter of expression, Luchian comes up with a typically Romanian solution, which, being authentic and original, acquires a general value that goes far beyond the local problems of a country…"

Constantin Brancusi is one of the creators who decisively marked the evolution of modern sculpture, with a considerable impact on art today. A representative of post-modernism, Carl Andre acknowledged Brancusi as a model for his work. A commentator on post-modernism, Richard Kostelanetz tried to explain the substance of Brancusi’s work through the great sculptor’s power to keep in touch with spiritual forces that are inaccessible to ordinary people: “Brancusi’s forms are not abstract, but laden with symbols, with meanings which are often philosophical, with reality in its essence appearing in his creations.”

Alexandru Ciucurencu made his debut after returning from his studies in Paris, having been a winner of the Official Show in 1930. In 1937, he represented Romania at the World Exhibition in Paris and a few years later, at the Venice Biennial. Radu Ionescu, author of a monograph on Ciucurencu, wrote: “The place held by Ciucurencu in Romanian art is considerable and often we do not dare to compare him with Luchian. In their times, both of them opened a window to the renewal of art. In this way, they marked their epoch not only through their work, but also through their authority, which directly or indirectly bore on their contemporaries.”

George Enescu was born on August 19th 1881 in the village of Liveni, in northern Romania. A violinist, composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, George Enescu is considered one of the most prominent musicians of the first half of the 20th century. He died in Paris on May 4th 1955. The best known works created by Enescu are: the Symphony Suite Opus 1 “Romanian Poem”, the two Romanian rhapsodies (1901- 1902), Suite No. 1 for orchestra, his first Symphony, Seven Songs on lyrics by Celement Marot, Suite for Orchestra No. 2, the “Oedipus” opera, the Strings Quartet No. 2, the Chamber Symphony for 12 solo instruments and the “Vox Maris” Symphonic Poem for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra. The “George Enescu” International Festival was officially set up in May 1955, the same month in which George Enescu died. The festival was a tribute paid to Romania’s greatest composer by musicians from all over the world. Virtuoso Romanians and outstanding visiting orchestras, ensembles and artists have graced the festival’s stage over the years, such as Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Enescu’s dearest and closest disciple (the festival’s president of honor in 1998), the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

A conductor, composer, philosopher and mathematician - an uncommon artistic personality in world music in the second half of the 20th century - Sergiu Celibidache was born on June 28th, 1912 and died on August 15th,1996. He almost became a legend in the world of conducting, being often compared with the greatest conductors of the world. Celibidache stood out both through his spectacular shows, his expressive and fascinating gestures and through his original, unique thinking when performing in a variety of musical styles.

Just as in the field of composition George Enescu is considered a symbol of Romanian culture, in the piano; Dinu Lipatti has been considered a peerless musician. He was born in Bucharest on March 19th, 1917 and died of leukaemia, aged only 33, in a locality close to Geneva, on December 2nd, 1950. Dinu Lipatti holds pride of place among the great performers, due to his uncommon musicality and sensitiveness, his soft touch, exquisite technique, and his deep, consuming emotional depth.

2.SPORT
NADIA COMANECI
She is the most worldwide known gymnast from Romania, being accredited as the greatest gymnast of the 20 century. She was born in 1961, stared gymnastics at the age of 6 and at the age of 11 she was already a national champion.
In 1975 she won the European title defeating world champion Ludmila Turisceva.
At the 21’st edition of the Olympic Games from Montreal, Canada, Nadia Comancei won the Olympic title by taking the biggest mark until that moment, 10, premiere in the Olympic Games history.
At that time, the biggest mark from the scoreboards was 9, 90, and for that reason her mark was displayed with 1.00
At the same Olympic Game Nadia Comaneci also earn six additional 10s and won the Olympic title of the world champion on all around, uneven bars and balance beam.
Nadia Comaneci opened a new era in feminine gymnastic, thus the gymnast’s evolutions becoming more attractive and sophisticated.
In 1979 Nadia Comaneci won her third consecutive European all – around title becoming the first gymnast, male or female, to achieve the performance. In 1996 she was designate as the best competitor from the last 100 years at the Olympic Games, and in 1999 she gained the price for the best sportsman of the 20 century, equivalent for the Oscars in the international sport. In 2000 Romanian Gymnastics Federation declared Nadia as being the most prestigious gymnast of the 20 century, and Forbes selected her as being the best sportsman in 150 years of the sports history. 

ILIE NĂSTASE
Born in July 1946, Bucharest, Ilie Năstase is a former professional tennis player, one of the world’s top players of the 1970, being the world no 1 tennis player in 1972 and 1973.
Among the 57 singles titles, that Ilie Năstase won we can mention US Open in 1972 and French Open in 1973.As for the doubles titles, he won the Wimbledon tour in 1973, French Open in 1970 and US Open in 1975.He also won four times the Masters tour in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975.For the Romanian Davis Cup team Năstase played in 18 years a number of 146 games at single and double tournaments, and winning 109 of them.
Together with Ion Ţiriac in the Davis Cup competition, they was a three times runners up in 1969, 1971 and 1972.
In 1972, he became the second ranked player in the world at single Wimbledon competition, playing in the final against Stan Smith and in 1976 against Björn Borg. Năstase was known for his jokes from the tennis field and also for his agresive technique, and after a number of incidents he received the nickname "Nasty".
He wrote a couple of novels wrote a couple of novels in French in the 1980s and entered politics in the 1990s, making an unsuccessful run for mayor of Bucharest in 1996.
In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put Năstase in the 28th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.
He was for times designated for the „Best Romanian sportive of the year” award (in 1969, 1972, 1973 and 1974).
For 11 years he was the chairman of the Romanian Tennis Federation, and he resign in February 2008, declaring himself “defeated by Romanian press and law”. In December 1’st Nastase was made “general major(r)” (with 2 stars) in Ministry of Defense by a Presidential Decree.

GHEORGHE HAGI
Born February 5, 1965 in Săcele, is a famous Romanian football player. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s.
Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he is considered a hero in his homeland as well as in Turkey. He has won his country's "Player of the Year" award six times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of the twentieth century. 
He played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 125 caps for Romania, being ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and scored 35 goals, being ranked first. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
In March 2004, he was named among the top 125 living footballers by Pelé. In a 2006 poll conducted by Romanian Television to identify the "greatest Romanians of all time", Hagi came in 15th. Hagi was a classical carrier of number 10 (game manager)