January 2023: Eminescu & Romania’s Culture Day

 Annual celebration dedicated to:

January 15, 2023 – the anniversary of Mihai Eminescu & Romania's National Culture Day

January 24, 2023 – Little Union of the Romanian Principalities

This year, on Sunday (January 15, 2023) I was able to organize a Romanian literary evening, featuring the annual Mihai Eminescu Day, Romania’s National Culture Day, as well as January 24th (which is a popular celebration in Romania, marking the Little Unions of the Romanian Principalities). For everybody’s convenience, this event was online. Being a festive gathering, the program began with the Romanian Anthem (since the focus was on the Romanian culture), followed suit by the Canadian Anthem (this being our country of adoption)….needless to say that this particular music set the perfect tone for our talks.

Next, I continued with a concise presentation about Eminescu and I’ve read a poem (of course, composed by Eminescu).

Then, all my guests shared their perspectives about Romania’s national poet - Mihai Eminescu, about culture in general, and about a page of Romanian history concerning the day of January 24th - past, present and foreseeable future.  

On the other hand, since the highlight of the evening was the Romania’s Culture Day, here are only few additional names from so many remarkable Romanians that brought fame to this realm over time, proving that Romania is an old country, with a very rich and long lasting cultural life:

– Neagoe Basarab (1459–1521) was the Prince of Wallachia (see NOTE 1 below about what Wallachia means) and wrote one of the earliest literary works of Wallachia, called "The teachings of Neagoe Basarab to his son Theodosie" (Ro: "Învăţăturile lui Neagoe Basarab către fiul său Teodosie"), where he touches various subjects such as philosophy, diplomacy, morals and ethics.

• NOTE 1 – Wallachia or Walachia
  Wallachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania, located on the North of the Lower Danube and at the South of the Southern Carpathians Mountains; traditionally, Wallachia is divided into two sections, Muntenia and Oltenia

– Miron Costin (1633–1691) was an old Romanian political figure and chronicler. His main work is called "The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia, from the rule of Aron Vodă onward" (Ro: "Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei, de la Aron Vodă încoace"), covering events from 1594 to 1660. The Chronicles were first published in 1675. He also wrote "The Polish poem" (Ro: "Poema polonă - Istoria în versuri polone despre Ţara Moldovei şi Munteniei").

– Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723) was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant early Enlightenment figures, and twice he served as voivode of Moldavia (a region in Romania). Cantemir was also a prolific writer, variously philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer and geographer.

– Anton Pann (1790–1854) was a Wallachian composer, musicologist, and Romanian-language poet, also noted for his activities as a printer, translator, and schoolteacher. Pann was an influential folklorist and a collector of proverbs, as well as a lexicographer and textbook author.

– Ion Heliade-Rădulescu (1802–1872, also known as Eliade Rădulescu) was a Romanian academic, a Romantic (see NOTE 2 below about what Romanticism means) and a Classicist (see NOTE 3 below about what Classicism means). He was a poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician. A prolific translator of foreign literature into Romanian, he was also the author of books on linguistics and history. For much of his life, Heliade Rădulescu was a teacher at Saint Sava College in Bucharest, which he helped reopen. He was a founding member and first president of the Romanian Academy.

• NOTE 2 –  Romanticism: "it is an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century; in most areas it was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism, idealization of nature as well as the glorification of the past with strong preference for the medieval rather than the classical."
• NOTE 3 – Classicism: "in its purest form, classicism is an aesthetic attitude dependent on principles based in the culture, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome, with the emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, clarity of structure, perfection, restrained emotion, as well as explicit appeal to the intellect."

– Nicolae Filimon (1819–1865) was a Romanian novelist and short-story writer, remembered as the author of the first Realist novel in Romanian literature, called "The Old and the New Parvenus" (Ro: "Ciocoii vechi şi noi"), which was centered on the self-seeking figure Dinu Păturică (who drew comparisons with Stendhal's Julien Sorel). He was also a noted travel writer, folklorist, musician, and the first musical critic in his country.

– Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea (1858–1918) was a Romanian writer and poet, considered one of the greatest figures in the National awakening of Romania.

– Alexandru Macedonski (1854–1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his "Literatorul" journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.

– Eugen Lovinescu (1881–1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, and was elected to the Romanian Academy posthumously, in 1991. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu.

– Gellu Naum (1915–2001) was a Romanian poet, dramatist, novelist, children's writer, & translator. He is known as the founder of the Romanian Surrealist group.

– Octavian Paler (1927–2007) was a Romanian writer, journalist, politician and civil society activist in post-1989 Romania.

– Andrei Pleșu (born 1948) is a Romanian philosopher, essayist, journalist, literary and art critic. He has been intermittently involved in politics, having been appointed Minister of Culture (1989–91), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997–99) and presidential counsellor for external affairs (2004–05).

– Dumitru Constantin Dulcan (born 1938) is a Romanian neurologist and psychiatrist, author of philosophical and metaphysical literature. He is best known for his work "The Intelligence of Matter", published in Romania in a censored form during the communist period, but republished entirely and with additions after the Revolution of 1989. The author is a military doctor specialized in neurology, university professor at the "Titu Maiorescu" University of Bucharest.

– Leon Dănăilă (born 1933) is a Romanian neurosurgeon, a prolific author and a senator. He is a graduate of the Faculty of General Medicine of Iaşi, as well as the Faculty of Psychology and Philosophy of Bucharest, and was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 2004. At the 2016 parliamentary election, he won a seat in the Romanian Senate for Bucharest.

We all had such a lovely time together, filling our hearts with admiration, gratitude, nostalgia and national pride. Above and beyond anything else, Eminescu was Romanian like all of us and this is something we all keep very close to our hearts. 

Wrapping up my briefing here, once again, much appreciation to each of my guests who were able and willing to join the call in order to honor the Culture's Day of our country of origin! Until next time, my best to each of you!

Alice

“The purpose of your life is to find yourself.” (Mihai Eminescu)

This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture.

A grateful acknowledgement 

Message received from the "Observatorul" Newspaper from Toronto together with the enclosed meritorious diploma:

Dear friends, here I’m glad to announce that on January 15, 2023, I was pleased to receive a meritorious diploma from the “Observatorul” Newspaper from Toronto for some of my professional achievements, for my dedication in several areas of expertise, as well as my continuous community work.

RO:  Bun găsit doamna Alice Vasile,

2023 în sănătate şi cu speranţe împlinite vă dorim!

Grupul de la Observatorul (colaboratori şi prieteni ai revistei Observatorul, cenaclul Nicăpetre, editura de pe lângă Observatorul) acordă diplome meritorii  anuale, de ziua lui Mihai Eminescu şi a culturii naţionale, unor persoane cu activitate deosebită din comunitatea românească.

Ne face plăcere să vă comunicăm ca aţi fost nominalizată şi apreciată pentru dedicaţie, pasiune şi profesionalism 

Cu prietenie şi consideraţie,

În numele grupului de la Observatorul

Dumitru Puiu Popescu

● Two short video clips I've created in the past for similar occasions: Eminescu Day & January 24
● Previous events I organized on the same theme: Eminescu & ROMANIA’s CULTURE Day – 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

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).