Annual celebration dedicated to:
January 15, 2026 – Romania's National Culture Day
January 24, 2026 – Little Union of the Romanian Principalities
On
Thursday (January 15, 2026) I
was delighted to be able to organize a well-received Romanian literary evening,
featuring Romania’s National Culture Day (as well as Mihai Eminescu’s
commemoration, since his birthday was chosen by the Romanian government as being
the National Culture’s Day of the country), and the yearly observance of
the Day of The Unification of the Romanian Principalities (a highly-regarded
event in Romania, on January 24th). We had a large group of Romanians attending our event this
time (22 friends) and for everybody’s convenience, like the
winters before, we successfully connected via modern technology.
We all appreciate that Romania celebrates National Culture Day – a holiday dedicated
to Romanian cultural values, symbolically marked by the birthday of the great
poet, Mihai Eminescu. But
before I progress with my usual briefing, I need to share that year 2026 also has
been declared by the Romanian government as being:
1) 2026: “Constantin Brâncuși Year” (Ro…2026: “Anul Constantin Brâncuși”)
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great
Romanian sculptor who brought the name of our country to the heights of
international recognition...
2) 2026: “Nadia Comăneci Year” (Ro…2026: “Anul Nadia Comăneci”)
This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the legendary performances (the first mark of 10 in the history
of the Olympic games) of the Romanian gymnast at the 21st Summer
Olympic Games, held between July 17-August 1, 1976, in Montreal…
Truly
beautiful!
Further focusing on our event, at this gathering we all were glad to have with
us two very special guests – Hon. Gabriel Rotaru (who is the 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).
We all were very pleased that both diplomats stayed with us for the entire
event!
The program of the evening was fully packed and began with much passion! After
I delivered my introductory remarks, my guests of honor were invited to address
the group. In their speeches, the Romanian diplomats referred to the role of Romanian culture in the educational process, meant
to continue from generation to generation, reminding the relevance of promoting
cultural and artistic values in the Canadian society, while emphasizing the
significance of organizing such cultural events by non-governmental
organizations (such as our Circle) present in this province.
In this context, evoking the steps of the Romanian
authorities in the field of cultural diplomacy and sports diplomacy envisaged
for the current year, they presented the calendar of actions intended to be
implemented by the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver during 2026, given
that 2026 is an anniversary year, celebrating 15 years since the opening of the
consular office in western Canada.
After that, the program of the evening continued with a number of several interesting
presentations, and my beautiful friends prepared very interesting materials (covering
in details the lives, professional achievements, awards, extensive media
exposure, international recognition, etc.) of the following famous
Romanians:
● Constantin Brâncuși – who was a Romanian
sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France ●
Sergiu Celibidache – who was a Romanian
conductor, composer, musical theorist and teacher The recently released movie –
“The Yellow Tie” (which depicts the extraordinary life of Sergiu Celibidache)
was also brought into conversation. ●
George Enescu – who was a Romanian
composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher & statesman, regarded
as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history ●
Mihai Eminescu – who
was a
fantastic Romanian Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, generally regarded
as the most famous and influential Romanian poet ●
Mihail Sadoveanu – who was a Romanian novelist, short story
writer, journalist and political figure ●
Nadia Comăneci – who is a well-known Romanian gymnast
and a five-time Olympic gold medalist ●
Emil Racoviță – who was a Romanian
biologist, zoologist, speleologist and Antarctic explorer ● Asiza Demetrian – who is a talented Romanian painter,
a dear friend and a great supporter of our Circle ●
Henri Coandă
– who was a Romanian
inventor, aerodynamics pioneer and the builder of an experimental aircraft (the
Coandă-1910) ●
Ana Aslan – who
was a
Romanian scientist who pioneered gerontology and geriatrics, and developed
Gerovital-H3 (the first anti-aging medicine of the world) ●
Emil Palade – who
was a Romanian cell
biologist, physician and Nobel laureate.
During
our time together as a group, also few poems were recited and few others were
referred to and here I'm sharing them, as well as some additional materials,
relating to the theme of the evening:
– ”Și dacă…” (a poem composed by Mihai Eminescu & recited
by George Vraca) – ”Luceafărul” (a
poem composed by Mihai Eminescu & recited by Gheorghe Cozorici….TVR archive) – ”Odă în metru antic” (a poem
composed by Mihai Eminescu & recited by Valeria Seciu….TVR archive) – ”Ce te legeni?” (a poem
composed by Mihai Eminescu & recited by Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan….TVR archive)
–
”Glossă” (a poem composed by Mihai
Eminescu & recited by Adrian Pintea…TVR archive) –
”Poezii” (few poems composed by Mihai Eminescu & interpreted by several well-known Romanian
actors…TVR archive) –
”La steaua” (a
poem composed by Mihai Eminescu) As
usual, we all enjoyed our time together, realizing once again that no matter
how long the session/s would be, there is still something left for next
time.
Wrapping up my briefing, I would like to express once again my most sincere
appreciation for all those who were able and willing to join me this evening in
order to honor the Culture's Day of our country of origin! Until next
time, my warmest regards to all!
To further honor the National Culture’s Day and pay a supplementary tribute to our national poet,
I would like to share some additional reflections
here, penned in Romanian language,
with respect and admiration...
To translate this
into English or into any other language, please use the automated translator
installed at the bottom of the page. Thank you!
”Nu este posibil să vorbești despre Mihai
Eminescu, ’poet, poet în toată puterea cuvântului’ (Titu Maiorescu),
fără a-i citi creaţiile, fără a le înţelege și fără a reține versuri, în care
se regăsesc marile teme ale literaturii de pretutindeni – cunoașterea,
timpul, iubirea, presentimentul morții, geniul, panorama deșertăciunilor,
transcendența, dorul infinit, etnogeneza românească și altele – toate
cuprinse în scrieri care pot sta alături de capodoperele literaturii
universale.
Ce expresivitate, ce cadenţă desăvârşită,
ce desitate de sensuri mai frumoase, decât, de exemplu, în inegalabila ’Odă
(în metru antic)’ – ’Nu credeam să-nvăț a muri vrodată;/ Pururi tânăr,
înfășurat în manta-mi,/ Ochii mei nălțam visători la steaua/ Singurătății’.
În plus, într-o realitate a relativizării
valorilor, în contextul în care receptarea critică a operei eminesciene s-a
situat între elogiul necondiţionat şi contestare vehementă (de către
pretinşi ’oameni de cultură’, cu statut moral incert), a
păstra vie imaginea marelui poet este un gest de apărare a ’modelului românesc
al fiinţei’ (Constantin Noica), o şansă de supravieţuire a
esenţei noastre ca individualităţi şi ca popor, amintindu-ne şi făcându-ne să
înţelegem, mai mult ca oricând, că ceea ce contează sunt adevărul, onestitatea,
educaţia, munca, talentul, ’nu frazele lustruite şi negustoria de vorbe’
(Mihai Eminescu).
Un mod autentic şi ’curat’
de a prețui contribuția lui Eminescu și a tuturor celor care au avut și au un
impact semnificativ asupra culturii românești şi asupra devenirii noastre ar fi
să le cunoaștem opera și efortul creator, să le apreciem și să le integrăm în
reperele noastre individuale și colective.”
Mărturisirea
Monahului Nicolae Steinhardt despre poetul Mihai Eminescu:
”Am învățat și predat euforic multe poezii
eminesciene la Jilava, Gherla și Dej. Îl iubesc pe Eminescu. Ziua de 15
ianuarie e pentru mine o zi sfântă. Nu uit, când sunt în București, să depun și
eu o floare la statuia din fața Ateneului, operă a sculptorului Gheorghe D.
Anghel.
Cu ce drept îl iubesc pe Eminescu? Fără niciun drept. Prin declarație
unilaterală de voință, pentru că oricine are dreptul să iubească, oricît de
nevolnic și neîndeptățit este. Pentru că, după cum spun englezii, o pisică
poate privi un rege, tot astfel, fără nicio justificare, iubesc în mod orbitor
și total poporul românesc și ’fenomenul românesc’. Și apoi Eminescu, prin fermitate și curăția caracterului, îmi e sprijin de
nădejde în credința că poporului român îi e menit a se împărtăși în cultură și
în viața spirituală de o soartă cu mult deasupra mediocrității, acea
binecuvântată soartă în care au crezut Hașdeu, Pârvan, Blaga, Mircea Eliade și
Constantin Noica.
Cât de fericit sunt că mi-ați dat prilejul să-mi mărturisesc dragostea despre
Eminescu și fenomenul românesc!”
”Deci, cel mai frumos catren, dacă ar fi să-l scriu eu,
ar fi următorul:
M-aș gândi, măi, cine e cel mai mare din profesie? MIHAI EMINESCU, poetul
nostru drag.
Cine a dat primul imaginea luptătorului nostru la Războiul de Independență,
de-a-n călare pe un cal aburind, uitându-se așa, într-o ceață, semănând
întrucâtva și a sergent român, și a ciobanul mioriței? NICOLAE GRIGORESCU.
Cine ne-a încântat nouă sufletul cel mai ales scriind rapsodia română? ENESCU.
Și cine ne-a făcut nouă coloana fără de sfârșit? BRÂNCUȘI.
Deci, cel mai frumos catren, de-aș fi în stare să îl scriu vreodată, ar avea
patru versuri – unu, doi, trei, patru:
EMINESCU, GRIGORESCU, ENESCU, BRÂNCUȘI.” (spunea cândva NICHITA STĂNESCU)
This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture.
