Conferences

On Sunday, September 25^th, starting with 11 a.m., at The Black Box from NTB there will be held the first conference of the new season: "Chances lost, chances grasped" by Nicolae Raţiu. Tickets can be found at the price of 23 lei or 10 lei.

About Nicolae Raţiu

Nicolae Raţiu is a business man and a philanthropist. He is the General Director of the Regent House Properties Ltd (Properties of the royal house) and of other companies from Great Britain, France and Romania with an important portfolio in the Real Estate field and also that of the furniture manufacturing and printing.

Although he was born in Davos, Switzerland and educated in Great Britain and USA, Nicolae Raţiu's roots are deeply Romanian, being the youngest son of the great patriot Ion Raţiu - ex-vice-president of PNŢCD and runner for the Romanian presidential election.

Nicolae Raţiu is also the President of the Raţiu Foundation, organization established in 1979 in London by Ion and Elisabeth Raţiu. The foundation offers annual study scholarships and financial support for projects from various fields.

Nicolae Raţiu is interested in humanitarian actions and so he is part of the Board members of several charity organizations from Romania and Great Britain: The Romanian Cultural Centre in London, The Pro Patrimonio Foundation, The Relief Fund for Romania Foundation and The Radiological Research Trust.

About the conference

"Naturally that Ion Raţiu was disappointed when his candidacy in presidential elections did not succeed. Naturally that he was disappointed when his house was rubbed and burned down by the miners in 1990.  Naturally that he was disappointed when his own party refused to support his second candidacy for president.  Nevertheless, his patriotism always came first. Ion Raţiu refused to leave the country even though there were many - actually too many - who wished it. He refused to abandon politics, the financial world or the media. If my father ever learned a lesson during exile, that was not to give up fighting, not to disappoint people and to keep on working.                                

It is true that Raţiu has lost many battles but history shows us that he has won the war. There were many who said that because of the communist heritage, the Romanian civil society does not have a chance to develop. Nevertheless, many of today's youth are involved in non-governmental organizations, activating in the field of Ecology, in keeping the patrimony, human rights and equal chances. Romania is a member of the European Union and NATO: the country has returned to its natural path.

Ion Raţiu did his part of sowing the seeds of the future. It's a shame that in some cases only now does Romania reap the benefits. Maybe than, immediately after the revolution, the time was not right but I am grateful to my father for having kept on fighting and never turning his back to his people and country. I am grateful because after fifty years of exile he has dedicated his final ten years, spent in Romania, still to the present and future of his country.

I like to believe that no matter where he may be, my father smiles now, knowing that his heritage is being perpetuated and that Romanian people do remember him dearly as ‘the best president that Romania did not have' ". (Nicolae Raţiu)