As
the wheel of time is turning once again, we were glad to welcome a new December
1st, occasion which gave us all the opportunity to bring our annual
tribute while celebrating together Romania’s National Day (on Wednesday – December 1, 2021).
This
time, I also chose the ‘on-line’ option for my event, given that out there a pandemic
related anxiety is still sensed by many.
At
this reunion, once again, I enjoyed having with us a dear guest of honor – Dr.
Ovidiu Grecea, who is the General Consul of Romania and the Head of the
Romanian Diplomatic Mission in Vancouver, as well as Plenipotentiary Minister
of Romania in Canada.
After
my opening remarks were delivered, the program began with the Romanian
Anthem (since we were
honoring Romania's National Day), promptly followed by the Canadian
Anthem (since this is our
county of adoption) – needless to say that those musical notes deeply touched
our hearts!
Then,
I proceeded with a concise slide show I’ve prepared for the occasion, meant to
emphasize the uniqueness of Romania and I was truly happy to hear from all my guests that they really enjoyed and much appreciated my lecture; their in plenary remarks were very flattering for me.
On the other hand, most of you know that my website is read by many Romanians, as well as many fellow Canadians, friends and professional colleagues, let alone lots of friends from around the world, & as a
courtesy to all, in order to help my readers learn more about Romania, below
I’m publishing my presentation. Enjoy it!
Further, the program progressed with Consul Grecea’s talk who emphasized the
significance of unity, refreshing that “union brings the real growth –
intellectual, moral and spiritual, as well as the continuity of the Romanian
spirit in Vancouver”.
Consul Grecea also recited a splendid poem, composed by Nichita Stănescu, which
I’m publishing in comments section.
Next, almost every guest of our gathering expressed different heart-felt
remarks about our homeland, and here are only few highlights:
-
Our dear friend Dorina talked
about Dr. Victor Babeș (who was a
Romanian physician, bacteriologist, academician and
professor, as well as one of the founders of modern microbiology). Dr. Babeș introduced rabies vaccination in
Romania, only three years after its initiation by Louis Pasteur, and he is
considered to be the second radiologist in the world (after Pasteur), as well as the father of serotherapy (precursor to modern immunology). In
recognition of his innovative work in medicine, Dr. Babeș was elected member of
the French “Académie nationale de
médecine” and received three times the award of the “French Academy
of Sciences”. Likewise, he was awarded the title of Knight of the “Legion
of Honor”. Additionally,
Dorina mentioned few heroes of the nation (men & women), recalling their enormous courage, sacrifices,
defeats and cherished victories over time.
Also, since the current year almost reached its completion and
many people have an overall review analysis, our dear friend Dorina wrote an
article (here is the link) for “Observatorul”
Magazine from Toronto, including a descriptive paragraph about the activities of ALICE & Friends Circle™ during
2021. Definitively, a beautiful gesture deeply appreciated! -
After that, our friend Sandu
gave a descriptive summary of his mentor from a personal perspective – an angle
that very few people knew the man Pavel Corutz (who recently transitioned).
-
Then our friend Victor
brought into conversation several well-known Romanians, who brought significant
contributions to humanity, and these are:
⚪ Dr.
Ioan Cantacuzino (a renowned Romanian
physician, bacteriologist, & professor at the School of Medicine & Pharmacy of the University of Bucharest),
⚪ Dr. Nicolae Paulescu (who was
a Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, and politician, most famous for
his work on diabetes, including patenting pancreine, which is a pancreatic
extract containing insulin), and
⚪ Dr. Mina Minovici (a Romanian forensic scientist,
the founder of the modern medico-legal system in Romania; he was one of
the most prominent personalities in this field of activity in Europe at that
time). -
Further, our friend John reminded
several famous Romanians, and these are:
⚪ Dr. Gheorghe Marinescu (who was a pioneer and founder of the
Romanian School of Neurology),
⚪ Emil Racoviță
(who was a Romanian biologist, zoologist,
speleologist, and Antarctic explorer, who together with
⚪ Grigore Antipa ( who was one of the most noted promoters of natural
sciences in Romania), and
⚪ Dr. Emil Palade (who was a Romanian cell
biologist, described as the most influential cell biologist ever. Dr. Palade was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his innovations in electron
microscopy and cell fractionation which together laid the
foundations of modern molecular cell biology). -
Last but not least, Ileana briefly mentioned
the chronology of Romania's national anthems throughout history and at the end she
did recall Badea Cârțan (who was a self-taught Romanian shepherd who
fought for the independence of the Romanians in Transylvania, distributing
Romanian-language books that he secretly brought from Romania to their villages.
At that time Transylvania was not yet united with the rest of the country). Our
time together was pleasing in every way, making each of us realize how important
and beneficial it is to surround ourselves with like-minded people.
Without any doubt, we all had a lovely evening together, abundantly filled with
fond memories and special moments, and for this I’m passing along my genuine
appreciation to each of my guests.
Until
we meet again, dear friends, my best wishes to each of you for a peaceful and
satisfying rest of the year!
Alice
Mesaj personal din partea lui Alice,
adresat în limba română, la ceas aniversar:
Dragii mei,
Sincerele mele mulţumiri pentru timpul petrecut împreună cu această ocazie specială – Ziua Naţională a României, pe anul 2021! A fost o reală plăcere să putem depăna amintiri de suflet, să evocăm mari oameni ai neamului
nostru şi să aducem un prinos de recunoştinţă strămoşilor de la care am dobândit înţelepciunea, integritatea, verticalitatea, demnitatea şi respectul cinstit pentru valori şi repere, pentru cultură şi tradiţii.
De asemenea, tot cu această ocazie
doresc să-mi
exprim certa bucurie şi pentru faptul că în acest context putem colabora cu eleganţă, lejeritate
şi eficacitate, unindu-ne eforturile pentru a păstra şi promova o imagine
potrivită
ţării
de obârşie – România! Vă mulţumesc şi pâna la proxima revedere, vă doresc la fiecare numai bine,
pace şi bucurii!
Cu preţuire,
Alice
One world – many cultures…the perfect opportunity to celebrate our similarities & respect our differences, remembering that history is the best guide to the future!
This event has been delivered in Romanian Language,
featuring Romanian culture.
Also,
while at this page, here I’m briefly sharing that this year (on Romania’s National Day), the Romanian
Consulate in Vancouver through Consul Grecea offered a number of appreciation diplomas
to several Romanians from the community for their contribution to Romanian
culture and I was grateful to be one of them.
● Previous events I organized on the same theme: ROMANIA's NATIONAL Day – 2020, 2019, 2018
● Some of my greetings referring to ROMANIA's NATIONAL Day – 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 NOTE: Dear readers, please be advised that on this website each of the previous postings, pertaining to the recurrent annual themes, portray a different perspective of the subject/s presented (same theme/s, but a different outlook without duplication due to the cultural richness of the specific topic/s discussed).
