Socializing: 2025 – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s Day

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Celebrating “Mărțișor” 2025 with ALICE & Friends

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January 2025: Eminescu & Romania’s Culture Day

 Annual celebration dedicated to:

January 15, 2025 – the anniversary of Mihai Eminescu & Romania's National Culture Day

January 24, 2025 – Little Union of the Romanian Principalities

I was very happy to be able to organize on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) at my Circle the annual commemoration of the famous Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu, whose birthday has been chosen in 2011 as Romania’s National Culture Day. On this occasion, the Little Union of the Romanian Principalities has been highlighted as well, reemphasizing its historic significance. We had a large group of Romanians attending our event this time (17 friends) and for everybody’s convenience, like the winters before, we successfully connected via modern technology.
On the other hand, before I proceed with my usual briefing, I would like to let all of you know that year 2025 marks the 175^th anniversary of the birth of Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), and the Romanian Academy declared the entire 2025 “Eminescu Year”…a great period of time that allows us to promote even more the Romanian arts and culture.

Further talking about our Circle, on January 15, 2025, we were delighted to have with us two special guests – Hon. Gabriel Rotaru (who is Consul General of Romania in Vancouver and the Head of the Romanian Diplomatic Mission here, as well as Minister Plenipotentiary of Romania in Canada) together with his lovely wife, Hon. Ştefana Rotaru (who is Deputy Consul General and Minister Plenipotentiary of Romania in Canada).

The program of the evening began with much enthusiasm! After I delivered my welcoming remarks, Hon. Gabriel Rotaru was invited to address the group.
Consul G. Rotaru did open his speech with beautiful words of appreciation for the activity of our literary & socio-cultural Circle constantly carried out over the last seven years, encouraging all of us to continue with this beautiful community work. Needless to say that his honest appreciation for our Circle’s existence and ongoing activity deeply touched our hearts! Then Consul G. Rotaru’s speech reemphasized Eminescu’s geniality as well as the vastness and complexity of his writings. 

He also underlined the importance of culture and its positive impact on people and society at large.

We all were very pleased that Consul G. Rotaru stayed with us for the entire event! When the conversation of the evening was focusing on the historic significance of the ’Little Union of the Romanian Principalities’, he shared with all of us his views on this as well.

Then Hon. Ştefana Rotaru was sharing with our group that the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver, together with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, celebrate National Culture Day by promoting the “The Retreat” – a play inspired by the opera “Vision of the Burrow” (of Marin Sorescu, one of the most revered literary voices in Romania) and created especially for a North American tour – with stops in New York, Washington, D.C. and Vancouver, BC (a ‘tour de force’ for actress Simona Măicănescu and Mircea Florian; in Vancouver this will take place on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at the Firehall Arts Center – in downtown Vancouver). After that, Consul Ş. Rotaru mentioned that the Romanian flag will fly at the ’Invictus Games’, Vancouver-Whistler 2025 (you can find more details about the coming games on the Consulate’s face-book page).

Next, our evening together continued with lots of heartfelt remarks from all our participants, firstly expressing their genuine appreciation for the seven years of existence of our literary & socio-cultural Circle! For me, these were really heart touching words and heart touching moments!  

Further, my guests offered a beautiful recital of favorite poems composed by the reputable Mihai Eminescu (some of them published in the comments section), there were also few small dissertations about culture in general and poetry in particular.

For instance, our dear friend Dorina read a beautiful material about Eminescu and Queen Maria of Romania (materials published in comments section), and our old friend, the poet Teodor Trandafir recited few original poems (composed by himself) and sang for us few songs (on lyrics composed by Mihai Eminescu).

Aside of that, my dear friends, Tina & Viorica, recited few beautiful poems of Eminescu, published for your convenience in comments section as well. 

Personally, I was delighted to see that all my friends this evening generously opened their hearts and many fond memories from our motherland were cherished with love, kindness and deep sensibility….truly remarkable!

While at this page, I would like to refresh that our website is read not only by very many Romanians (friends, collaborators or simply observers), but also by very many Canadians as well, and for the general interest of all our readers, here I’m sharing few concise facts about the 3 distinct themes encompassed this evening at our event:

1) About the famous Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu

• Brief biography of MIHAI EMINESCU (15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889)
  Mihai Eminescu was born on January 15, 1850, in Botosani. He was a poet, prose writer, playwright and journalist, considered by posthumous literary critics as the most important poetic voice in Romanian literature. He had a good philosophical education, his poetic work being influenced by the great philosophical systems of his time, by ancient philosophy, from Heraclitus to Plato, by the great systems of thought of Romanticism, by the theories of Arthur Schopenhauer, Immanuel Kant and the theories of Hegel.
  He was active in ’Junimea’ literary society and worked as editor for the newspaper ’Timpul’. He published his first poem at the age of 16, and at the age of 19 he went to study in Vienna. The manuscripts of the poet Mihai Eminescu, 46 volumes, approximately 14,000 pages, were donated to the Romanian Academy by Titu Maiorescu, in the meeting of January 25, 1902. Eminescu died on June 15, 1889, at the age of 39.
  He was elected, post-mortem (October 28, 1948), as member of the Romanian Academy.

2) About Culture (in general) & about Romania's National Culture Day (also mentioning few Romanian cultural Personalities, who honored their country & its culture over time)

• Culture (general remarks)
  A common way to understand culture is by defining it in terms of its component parts: values ​​(ideas), norms (behavior), and artifacts (things or parts of material culture).
  Values ​​are ideas about what is important in life, and they guide the rest of the culture.
  Norms are expectations of how people should behave differently in different situations. Each culture has different methods (sanctions) for enforcing its norms. Sanctions also vary depending on the importance of the norm. The most important norms formalized by sanctions are called laws.
  Artifacts derive from cultural values ​​and norms.
  
  
• Romania's National Culture Day
  Romania’s National Culture Day has been celebrated for the first time on January 15^th, 2011, and since then, the birthday of poet Mihai Eminescu (January 15, 1850) has also been the day when culture as a whole is celebrated in this country. 
  "On the National Culture Day, we recognize the role of the Romanian cultural personalities in the modernization and democratization of Romania, in getting in line with the European values. The exemplary involvement of thinkers, artists, promoters and founders of cultural institutions in asserting the identity, statehood and national unity of Romania will remain inscribed in capital letters in the chronicles.”
  
  
• Few notable Romanian personalities who honored Romania and its culture over time
  ● Ciprian Porumbescu (1853–1883) was a Romanian composer, among the most celebrated of his time. His popular works include ’Crai nou’, Song of the Tricolour, Song for Spring, Ballad for violin and piano, & ’Serenada’. In addition, he composed the music for the Romanian patriotic ’Song of Unity’, also known as ’On our flag is written Unity’ (Ro: ’Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire’), which was Romania's anthem from 1975 to 1977 and is currently used for Albania's national anthem. His work spreads over various forms & musical genres, but the majority of his work is choral and operetta.
  ● Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983) was a Romanian poet, essayist and playwright. He becomes the fifth important model of Romanian poetry in the 20th century, alongside Bacovia, Barbu, Blaga and Arghezi. In a history of poetic forms of expression, Stănescu's style proposes an original discourse.
  ● Petre Ispirescu (1830–1887) was a Romanian editor, folklorist, printer and publicist. He is best known for his work as a gatherer of Romanian folk tales, recounting them with a remarkable talent.
  ● Carol Davila (1828– 1884) was a Romanian physician, considered to be the father of Romanian medicine. It was due to his many activities that several scientific associations appeared in Romania, such as: ’The Medical Society’ (1857), ’The Red Cross Society’ (1876), ’The Natural Sciences Society’ (1876). With his assistance, two medical journals entered print: ’The Medical Register’ (1862) and ’The Medical Gazette’ (1865). During the Independence War (1877-1878) he was the head of the Army's sanitary service. Davila is also credited with the invention of the ’Davila tincture’ for the treatment of cholera. Today, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, the largest of its kind in Romania, is named in his honor.
  ● Tudor Vianu (1898–1964) was a Romanian literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher of culture, academic and translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Romanian literature and art. He was married to Elena Vianu, herself a literary critic, and was the father of Ion Vianu, a psychiatrist, writer and essayist.
  ● Ion Barbu (1895 –1961) was a Romanian mathematician and poet. His name is associated with the ’Mathematics Subject Classification’ number ’51C05’, which is a major posthumous recognition reserved only to pioneers of investigations in an area of mathematical inquiry. As a poet, he is known for his volume ’Mirrored Play’ (Ro: ’Joc secund’), in which he sought to fulfill his vision of a poetry, which he adhered to with the same virtues that he found in mathematics.
  ● Ștefan Odobleja (1902– 1978) was a Romanian physician, scientist, philosopher and precursor of cybernetics. He was known for his contributions to the study of cybernetics and artificial intelligence. His major work, ’Psychologie Consonantiste’, first published in 1938-39 in Paris, introduced the concept of feedback in psychology.
  ● Grigore Alexandrescu (1810 – 1885) was a nineteenth-century Romanian poet and translator, noted for his fables with political undertones. He founded a periodical, called ’Albina Românească’. Alexandrescu wrote ’Poezii’ (1832, 1838, 1839) and ’Meditații’ (1863), many of which were fables and satires influenced by French literature.
  ● Grigore Moisil (1906–1973) was a Romanian mathematician, computer pioneer, and titular member of the Romanian Academy. His research was mainly in the fields of mathematical logic (Łukasiewicz–Moisil algebra), algebraic logic, MV-algebra and differential equations. He is viewed as the father of computer science in Romania. Moisil was also a member of the ’Academy of Sciences of Bologna’ and of the ’International Institute of Philosophy’. In 1996, the ’IEEE Computer Society’ awarded him posthumously the ’Computer Pioneer Award’.
  ● Dumitru Prunariu (1952– present) is a Romanian cosmonaut, who flew in space aboard ’Soyuz 40’ spacecraft and ’Salyut 6’ space laboratory.
  
  
  On a personal NOTE about the Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu:
  I’m pleased to share that on January 21, 2025, we were absolutely delighted to meet in person the Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu together with his lovely wife, who were guests of honor at a reception organized by the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver.
  In a very enjoyable atmosphere, cosmonaut Prunariu referred to the event he is participating at, here in Vancouver (at the official invitation extended by the UBC – Outer Space Institute); an event focusing on the current programs to reach the Moon, to next year's initiatives regarding astronaut incursions, including Canadians in Cosmos, as well as to the projects he has in collaboration with other international associations, with an interest in outer space and lunar landing. He also presented the initiatives, in which he is directly participating, to expand and intensify programs related to the Moon, in which the main players are the United States of America and China. In this context, he also pointed out the importance of the projects promoted by “Space X” and the programs for colonizing the planet Mars. He also referred to the activity of the “Romanian Space Agency”, to the projects and the progress in space exploration, and to the prospects for new participation of young Romanians in space exploration missions.
  
  For more biographical details about the Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu, please follow these quick links:
  Romanian Space Agency, Moon Village Association, Romanian Academy & ROSA.
  

Together with the Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu & his lovely wife

Additional media exposure of Dumitru Prunariu’s visit to Vancouver

Cosmonaut Prunariu’s participation at the agreeable reception organized by the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver, on January 21, 2025 was highlighted in an article written by our friend Dorina (“Dumitru Dorin Prunariu în dialog cu comunitatea româno-canadiană din Vancouver“) –
article further published by a number of reputable organizations, such as:
 “Uniunea Ziariștilor Profesioniști din România” (from Romania),
 “Observatorul” (from Toronto) &
“Litoral Press” (from Romania). 

3) About Little Union of the Romanian Principalities

The Little Unification (Ro: ’Mica Unire’) celebrates the political union of 2 principalities (Moldavia & Wallachia), which is considered the foundation of modern Romania. The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, also known as "The Romanian United Principalities", was the official name of the Romania following the 1859 election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as the ruling prince (Ro: ’domnitor’) of both territories. Years later, on December 1, 1918, the Great Union happened 
(Ro: ’Marea Unire’), when the 3 Romanian Principalities (Wallachia, Moldavia & Transylvania) became one country, one voice, called ’Romania ’, and the day of
1 December became Romania's National Day. 

As usual, we all liked our time together and promised ourselves to meet more often because the joy that’s always in our midst when we gather at our Circle is valuable and beneficial for each of us. We all are glad that we are able to recognize our blessings and properly appreciate them!

Wrapping up my briefing here, I want to express once again my most sincere gratitude for all those who were by my side this fantastic evening and until our paths will meet again, from me only the best!

Alice

“People are divided into two parts:

some of them look for something and cannot find anything, and others find it but are not satisfied.“ (Mihai Eminescu)

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

● The official PRESS RELEASE featuring our festive annual celebration published on their official website, by the GENERAL CONSULATE OF ROMANIA IN VANCOUVER

● A social media POSTING  featuring our festive annual celebration published on their official face-book page, by the GENERAL CONSULATE OF ROMANIA IN VANCOUVER

 ● ARTICLE featuring our event on January 15, 2025, published on their official website by OBSERVATORUL (a well read newspaper from Toronto, Canada)

● Previous events I organized on the same theme: 
Eminescu & ROMANIA’s CULTURE Day – 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

Socializing: Pre-Christmas Reunion 2024

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Meanwhile, I’m wishing you all happy holidays!

December 2024: ALICE & Friends™ – winter charity

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Group celebration – ROMANIA’s NATIONAL DAY 2024

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Philosophers’ Café with ALICE & Friends: October 2024

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Alice’s Book Club – AUTUMN session of 2024

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Alice’s Book Club – SUMMER session of 2024

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Socializing: Summer Picnic 2024 & Travel Stories

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Meanwhile, please continue to enjoy the ongoing summer!

Warm regards,

Alice

Socializing: CANADA Day 2024 – Morning Coffee Talks

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PARTNERSHIP: June 2024 – The ROMANIAN BLOUSE Day

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Alice’s Book Club – SPRING session of 2024

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6 Years Anniversary of ALICE & FRIENDS CIRCLE™

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Meanwhile, please continue to enjoy and appreciate the ongoing spring, as there is always, always something to be grateful for.

Alice’s Book Club – WINTER session of 2024

“READING:
Some people call it a hobby;
I call it a passion!”

As the current winter is slowly coming to an end, on Friday (March 15’24) I was glad to organize my first book club of the year (the winter session of 2024), this time selecting together the book we will discuss as a group, as well as a brief brainstorming regarding other educational subjects, which we might like to touch on during our future gatherings.

Lovely meeting, lovely ladies, lovely vibes….awesome books were proposed and fantastic topics were added to our agenda….stay close to us to learn more about our reading “adventures”, as well as our themes of interest…indeed, there is a lot to be grateful for!

As usual, my most sincere appreciation for those kind & dear friends who honored my invitation!

Until we meet again, my best regards to all for a beautiful spring to come!

Alice 

  “The man who doesn’t read has no advantage over the man who can’t read.” (Mark Twain) 

Socializing: 2024 – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s Day

‘8 Martie – Ziua Internaţională a Femeii’
(in Ro language)
‘March 8 – International Women’s Day’
(in English language)

     A beautiful Friday on March 8, 2024, when we had a brief on-line reunion around noon time, honoring the annual
International Women’s Day! A super busy day for most of us, but we’ve quickly meet to voice few thoughts within our lovely Circle before we each spread out for different engagements of the evening.

     At this gathering, my guest of honor was Deputy Consul General Stefana Rotaru & Plenipotentiary Minister of Romania in Vancouver, who shared with us her vision as she begins a new mandate in Vancouver, as well as a beautiful message for the Romanian women who are competent contributors to the society they live in.
Consul Stefana Rotaru was kind to offer only to all participants of this gathering a consular consultation without previous appointment...indeed, a very nice gesture!

     Aside of that, during our group discussions I’ve read a poem about women, and our dear friend Dorina enumerated few remarkable Romanian women who brought significant contributions to the world; also, Dorina wrote for “Observatorul” from Toronto, an article called “Ochii Mamei” (please follow this link to read it).
     On the other hand, I would like to let you know that in Romania, on March 8^th people salute not only the International Women’s Day, but also Mother’s Day as well, making it a double celebration of womanhood.

     Our group conversations this time as well were heart-felt and to the point, reminding us to appreciate even more all the women we each have in our lives.
     Pondering a bit further on this, I would like to refresh that women have the power to take the world by storm, and at the same time they could help the world transform into a better place for all.
     We concluded our gathering on a warm note, wishing each-other only the best for the spring to come!

Until next time, my warmest regards dear ladies, and once again: Happy International Women’s Day!

● Prominent feminine personalities:
Since the focus of this meeting was International Women’s Day, here I’m glad to share with you some names of famous women who changed the world.
          ✰ Few prominent ROMANIAN WOMEN:
– Dr. Ana Aslan (1897- 1988) was a Romanian biologist & physician, founder of the first National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics in the world, having famous patients, such as John Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, Augusto Pinochet, Indira Gandhi, Salvador Dali, Charile Chaplin, Claudia Cardinale, Josiph Broz Tito, Marlene Dietrich, Konrad Adenauer, Kirk Douglas, Miguel Asturias, etc.
– Architect Virginia Andreescu Haret (1894–1962) was a Romanian architect and is credited as the first woman to graduate with a degree in architecture in Romania. She is also the first woman to reach the rank of Romanian Architectural Inspector General
– Eng. Aurora Gruescu (1914-2005) was the world’s first female forestry engineer as well as the first Romanian person in the Guinness Book
– Mathematician Silvia Creangă (1894-1952) was the first female in Romania mastering the PHD in mathematics
– Physicist Ștefania Mărăcineanu (1882-1944) was an internationally renowned Romanian chemist and physicist who formulated theories about radioactivity, artificial radioactivity and the process of artificial rainfall
          ✰ Few prominent WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD: 
– Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179):  Mystic, author and composer, she lived a withdrawn life, spending most of her time behind convent walls. However, her writings, poetry and music were revelatory for the time period. She was consulted by popes, kings and influential people of the time. Her writings and music have influenced people to this day.
– Joan of Arc (1412–1431) The patron saint of France, Joan of Arc inspired a French revolt against the occupation of the English. An unlikely hero, at the age of just 17, the diminutive Joan successfully led the French to victory at Orleans. Her later trial and martyrdom only heightened her mystique
– Jane Austen (1775–1817) One of the most famous female authors of all time. She wrote several novels, which remain highly popular today. These include Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen wrote at a time when female writers were not encouraged, helping pave the way for future writers
– Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) One of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson lived most of her life in seclusion. Her poems were published posthumously and received widespread literary praise for their bold and unconventional style. Her poetic style left a significant legacy on 20th Century poetry
– Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) Wife and political aide of American president F.D.Roosevelt. In her own right Eleanor made a significant contribution to the field of human rights, a topic she campaigned upon throughout her life. As head of UN human rights commission she helped to draft the 1948 UN declaration of human rights.

● Previous events I organized on the same theme: 
Socializing – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s Day: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
● Some of my additional greetings referring to the same matter: 
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN's Day! – March 8: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019