NTB Conferences

Video-streaming On Sunday, 4th February 2018, from 11.00, in the Black Box Hall of NTB, Mrs. Ileana Mălăncioiu shall hold the conference on the topic Exercises of Survival. One of the best-known voices of contemporary poetry, Ileana Mălăncioiu shall be present again within the framework of the series Conferences at the National Theatre, in a discussion with the audience on poetry and life. NTB actors shall recite from the work of the poet, a well-voiced and balanced oeuvre in its evolution from the first to its last tome. About Ileana Mălăncioiu Ileana Mălăncioiu, poet and essayist, was born on 23rd January 1940, in Godeni, Argeș. Since 2013, she has been a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy. In 1968, she graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Bucharest University, with a thesis entitled The Place of Culture Philosophy in the System of Lucian Blaga. After several years, she also earned a PhD in philosophy, after defending the thesis The Tragic Guilt. The Greek Tragics, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, book published in 2001 at Polirom Publishing. Before 1989, she worked, among others, for the Romanian Television, at the Animafilm Studios and the Viaţa românească literary magazine, and after the Revolution she worked at the Revista 22 magazine, at Litera Publishing (editor-in-chief) and for the România literară weekly newspaper. In the communist period, writings by Ileana Mălăncioiu have been censored, so that the poet was obliged, in 1992, to republish the volume The Climbing of the Mountain. Poetry volumes (selection): The Headless Bird, Tineretului Publishing, 1967; Unto Hieronymus, Albatros Publishing, 1970; Poems, Cartea Românească Publishing, 1973; Lilies for Her Ladyship the Bride, Cartea Românească Publishing, 1973 (Academy Award); Across the Forbidden Zone, Cartea Românească Publishing, 1979 (Writers’ Guild Award); The Most Beautiful Poems, Albatros Publishing, 1980; The Line of Life, Cartea Românească Publishing, 1982 (Bucharest Writers’ Guild Award); Across the Forbidden Zone / À travers la zone interdite, Eminescu Publishing, 1984 (bilingual French-Romanian anthology with a preface by Eugen Negrici); The Climbing of the Mountain, Albatros Publishing, 1985 (Writers’ Guild Award); Across the Forbidden Zone, Eminescu Publishing, 1985 (bilingual anthology in the English translation of Dan Duțescu and with a preface by Valeriu Cristea); The Climbing of the Mountain, Litera Publishing, 1992 (second edition, not censored and enlarged); Burnt Offering (anthology), Eminescu Publishing („Romanian Contemporary Poets” series), 1992 (anthology and unpublished verses); The Line of Life (anthology), Polirom Publishing, 1999 (anthology of all volumes and unpublished verses, with a preface by Nicolae Manolescu)   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Video-streaming  On Sunday, January 18th, 2009, at 11 o'clock, at the Black Box Hall, together with Alex Leo Şerban, we invite you to a conference that attempts to answer the question And yet, why do we watch movies? "Following in the footsteps of the book published in 2007 by Polirom and awarded by the Filmmakers’ Union, the conference And Yet, Why Do We Watch Movies? proposes a journey through cinematic Arcadia, trying to answer some practical questions: What are we looking for in a movie? What are the most suitable stories for this art? How do they touch us? When are we most available to see a movie? And: Where is it preferable to see it - in a movie theatre, on TV, on a computer?" Alex Leo Şerban   About Alex Leo Şerban He is a film critic and senior editor at Dilema (Veche) magazine. He made his debut in 1976 with a poem in Chicago Review, USA He was a fellow of the French Ministry of Culture, "International Visitor" in the USA, GE / NEC fellow. He taught at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​of Bucharest and at UATC, and currently holds a master's degree course at the Center of Excellence for Image Study. He has been on the juries of many Romanian and international film festivals. He has been published in various foreign journals (Cahiers du cinéma, France, Carta di cinema, Italy, Cover Magazine, USA). Collaborates on Elle, Idei în dialog, Libertatea, LiterNet, Observator Cultural, Suplimentul de cultură. Several photography exhibitions (in the country and USA). He wrote (in collaboration with Mihai Chirilov and Ştefan Bălan) the volume Lars von Trier: The Films, the Women, the Ghosts (Idea Publishing House), earning the Prize of the Romanian Film Critics Association and (in collaboration with Şerban Foarta) Jeu de paume (LiterNet, exchange of versified letters in French). Other published books: Robinson's Dietetics (Curtea Veche Publishing House, nominated for the Literary Romania Awards and the Writers' Union Awards) and Why We Watch Films (Polirom Publishing House, Film Critics Award of the Union of Filmmakers). A second volume about (Romanian) film will soon be published by Polirom Publishing House. He supervises the "Film Library" collection of Humanitas Publishing House. He was the only Romanian critic invited to Bernard Pivot's "Double Je" show and was interviewed by "The New York Times". In January 2008, he was voted - following a poll on the Cinemagia website -" The favourite film critic of Romanian moviegoers ". Photo: Rareş Avram   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 8th October 2017, from 11.00 a.m., the Black Box Hall of NTB shall host the conference on the topic Pinocchio’s Army. How We Lie to the People through Television?  held by Brîndușa Armanca. About the Conference The controversies around „fake news” ignited by the presidential elections of Great Britain and the USA have sounded the alarm regarding the infringement of a fundamental right of the audience: the right to receive correct, updated and verified information. Numerous media studies have revealed the mechanisms through which mystified information can influence the outcome of elections or can distort the audience’s opinions and actions. The new technologies, modern platforms such as Google, Facebook, YouTube contribute to the rapid dissemination of „fake news” and render their circulation practically uncontrollable. Surveys show that the Romanian audience gathers information in a percentage of over 80% from television, so this is the medium through which it can be contaminated. The countless „news” channels which appeared in our country are frequently channels of intoxication, disinformation, manipulation, and the favourite areas of distortion are politics, mundane events, business and internal news. „Although Romanians seem to be aware of their exposure to fake news – 9 out of 10 claim that they happen to discover that a piece of news which they initially deemed true is fake, only half of them verify the truthfulness of information, even before sharing it with other people. Moreover, the majority continue to use the same channels on which they have discovered fake news, but their confidence in them decreases.”, an iSense Solutions study shows. The conference focuses on the explanation of the phenomenon, on identifying the ”agents” of television manipulation through the presentation of notorious case studies. Brîndușa Armanca About Brînduşa Armanca Journalist and university professor, Brîndușa Armanca was part of the prestigious editorial offices from Radio Free Europe, Expres or Ziua and she led for several years the regional studio of the Romanian Television of Timişoara. From 2006 to 2012, she managed the Romanian Cultural Institute of Budapest. She is currently a university professor and edits the weekly press review column „Media culpa” in 22 magazine. Member of the Romanian Writers’ Guild and of numerous media organisations, such as International Communication Association or ECREA, AZIR etc., she is the author of several journalism tomes, like Regional Television in Romania (2002), Media culpa (2006), Learn to Win (2006), Recent History through Media. The Border-Crashers (2009, 2012), also translated into Hungarian in 2011, Dalnic. Untold Stories from Doja’s Village (versions in Romanian, English, Hungarian, 2016), communication books such as A Communication Guide for Journalists and PR (2002), or of literary history and literature like Crypto’s Message. Communication, Code, Magical Metaphor in the Modern Romanian Poetry (2005), Abolishing Dumbfounded Time (2016), Ending to the Book of Losers (2017). Her television movies were awarded at national festivals and international competitions, and her activity was rewarded with the Cultural Award of the Romanian Academy, as well as with the Distinction of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture for cultural diplomacy.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming Sunday, the 30th of January, 11:00 o'clock, at the Black Box of the National Theatre, Andrei Şerban will hold a conference named About Chekhov or Who else wants to go to Moscow?. The tickets were put up for sale at the price of 23 and 10 lei. About the conference Through his characters, Chekhov shows us that we, people, are so obsessed of what we would like to be in an ideal manner, so concerned about the future, an illusive future, that we ignore what we are and where we are in the present. Or we design everything in the past, intent upon an idealistic image, sweetened, sentimentalist, of what we once were - a different way of escaping the present and the fear of seeing ourselves just as we are. "To Moscow, to Moscow..." repeat the three sisters obsessively, life would be perfect there... Andrei Şerban - biography                                                                            In his full international career in theatre and opera in the most important cultural centers from America and Europe, Andrei Şerban accepted to come back home, asked by Ion Caramitru and Andrei Pleşu right after December '89, and he took over the National Theatre board, "hoping to change the old and bony mentality of this institution, to bring it back to life. The Greek Trilogy was the oxygen dose needed to restore an agonizing mechanism. Then, 4 other spectacles followed - attempts to create a flexible climate, open towards the new and the unknown, but after three years he was bound to give up, for causes which do not deserve any commentaries". Şerban is tenured professor and the artistic director of Hammerstein Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University in New York. He received many awards and distinctions: Tony Award, Drama Desk and Obie Awards, George Abbott Award for his career in the American theatre, Eliott Norton and Robert Brustein Awards for his spectacles in Boston, the Romanian Star, many Uniter awards, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj, and during this year, five nominations at the prestigious Golden Mask in Moscow, among others. His book, "A Biography", published by Polirom in 2006, was reprinted. Two photographic volumes, published by ICR, follow his career in images from his theatre and opera performances.

Video-streaming Romanian physicist established in France, honorary member of the Romanian Academy since 2001. Theoretical physicist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Paris VI. He is currently a professor at the Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. He was born on March 25th, 1942 in Ploieşti. He attended the courses of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Bucharest (1960-1964). In 1965, he defended his diploma thesis entitled Yang-Mills Fields and the Self-Interaction of Vector Fields. He was a teaching assistant (1965-1968) at the University of Bucharest. In 1968, he settled in France, being a fellow of the French government, at the University of Paris VI. Between 1969 and 1970, he was a fellow of the Commissariat for Atomic Energy. In 1970, he joined the CNRS as a physicist, after three years defending his state doctorate in physical sciences (Contribution à l'étude théorique de la diffusion pion-nucléon). In 1973, he introduced a new concept (Odderon), which opened a new field in the physics of strong interactions. In 1976, he obtained French citizenship. He was a "senior visiting scientist" at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1976-1977) and the University of London (1979), as well as a visiting professor at the University of Girona (Spain) (2000-2001). His oeuvre materializes in over 130 specialized scientific works and in numerous works on transdisciplinarity, all quoted worldwide. Honorary member abroad of the Romanian Academy (November 29, 2001). Honorary Doctor of the "Al. I. Cuza" University of Iaşi (2000). Honorary Citizen of the cities of Iaşi and Ploieşti. Director of the Transdisciplinarity collection (Editions du Rocher, Monaco) and of the Les Roumains de Paris collection (Editions Oxus, Paris). Member of the International Academic Council of the International Institute for Complex Thinking of the University of Buenos Aires. Honorary President of the "Ştefan Lupaşcu" International Foundation for science and culture in Iasi.                       Awards                        Silver Medal of the French Academy for the volume Nous, la particle et le monde (1986). Honorary Diploma of the Romanian-American Academy (1987). The Omnia Opera at the Nichita Stănescu International Festival (Ploieşti, 2006), the Romanian Writers' Union Award and the Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best History Book (USA) for Science, Meaning and Evolution - Essay on Jakob Böhme (1993). “Faithful Service" National Order to the rank of Grand Officer (2002). Books Les Racines de la liberté, Éditions Accarias-L'Originel, Paris, 2001, in collaboration with Michel Camus (Romanian translation. The Roots of Freedom, Curtea Veche, Bucharest, 2004); Ion Barbu - Cosmology of "the Second Game", Publishing House for Literature, Bucharest, 1968; second edition: Universul Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 2004); Nous, la particule et le monde, Éditions Le Mail, Paris, 1985 (work awarded by the French Academy , Romanian translation. Prize of the Romanian Writers' Union, 1993; Romanian translation. Science, meaning and evolution - Essay on Jakob Boehme, Vitruviu Publishing House, Bucharest, 2000); La transdisciplinarité (manifesto), Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1996 (transl. Transdisciplinarity (manifesto), Polirom Publishing, Iaşi, 1999); Théorèmes poétiques, Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1994 (transl. Poetic Theorems, Cartea Românească Publishing, Bucharest, 1996). Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Video-streaming The actor Radu Beligan returned, on Saturday evening (March 2008), on the stage of the Bucharest National, to an encounter with friends and the audience, talking about his 70-year career on the theatre stage, being applauded for minutes in a row by those over 1,000 colleagues, acquaintances and admirers gathered in the Grand Hall. "I am antiquated, ladies and gentlemen," Beligan stated at the beginning of the meeting with the audience, adding that for 70 years, that is, half of the history of Romanian theatre, he has been on stage without interruption. "The art of the actor cannot be learned at school (...) you can discover the mystery of creation on your own after many years," said Radu Beligan. He told viewers about his exam at the Academy of Dramatic Art and Music, where he was not admitted. After sending a letter to Lucia Sturdza Bulandra, he was accepted to attend classes as an auditor. Beligan also evoked Victor Ioan Popa. He learned from him that "the only kind of theatre that will never go out of style is the one that puts its finger on the living flesh of life" and that "the food of an actor's life is culture." Then, Beligan spoke about his other mentors, such as Aura Buzescu, Alex Giugariu, Ion Iancovescu, Sică Alexandrescu and George Vraca. Among Radu Beligan's professors was Eugen Ionesco. The actor recalled both the difficult moments of the Romanian theatre, during the war, and the happy ones, such as the year he was on tour in Moscow with the show "The Government Inspector" by Gogol. About the show, Beligan said God put "a finger on his forehead." "We learn, we always learn from anything," the actor added. He also mentioned the period when he was the director of the Comedy Theatre, which he founded, featuring shows "played to the joy of the audience and the astonishment of the censors". His last "professor", said Radu Beligan, is the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. "The secret of longevity is love. As long as you are on earth, love what you want, but love! I love you too, the spectators who have made me what I am and who are my true teachers", concluded Radu Beligan. In the second part of the evening, he was joined on stage by the actor Ion Lucian, who described himself as, in turn, a proof of longevity, after 68 years of theatre with a man he loved and envied all his life. The two actors watched together with the audience the recording of the play "The Supper", by Jean Claude Brisville, in which Beligan and Lucian played in 1997. At the National Theatre, the literary critic Eugen Simion, Mădălin Voicu , actors Gheorghe Dinică, Marin Moraru, Victor Rebengiuc and many other theatre colleagues came to see Radu Beligan. Actor Radu Beligan ceased his activity in November, last year, after suffering a minor craniocerebral trauma and a cervical spine fracture. Among the roles performed by Radu Beligan on the NTB stage, we mention: Leon Saint Pe - "The Navel" by Jean Anouilh, Ianke - "Take, Ianke and Cadar" by Victor Ion Popa, Guglielmo - "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco, The Actor - "The Night Asylum" by Maxim Gorky, Old Man - "The Chops" by Bertrand Blier, Kondilas - "The Legacy" by Titus Popovici, "The Double Bass" (one man show) by Patrick Suskind, Herb Tucker - "I Ought to Be in Pictures" by Neil Simon, Spirache - "Titanic Waltz" by Teodor Muşatescu, Domenico - "Filumena Marturano" by Eduardo De Fillippo, Chereea - "Caligula" by Albert Camus, Romulus - "Romulus the Great" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Richard III - "Richard III" by William Shakespeare, drama author - "The Life of a Woman" author and director Aurel Baranga, Robespierre - "Danton" by Camil Petrescu, Ştefan Valeriu - "Holiday Games" by Mihail Sebastian, George - "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee, Iacob Bardin - "Enemies" by Maxim Gorky, Horace, Frederic - "Invitation to the Castle" by Jean Anouilh, Trinculo - "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare, Filipetto - "The Boors" by Carlo Goldoni etc. Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Video-streaming On Sunday, November 26th, 2006, at the NTB Black Box Hall, Adrian Vasilescu held the conference entitled Religion and the Star. About the conference Will we join or not the European Union on January 1st, 2007? An obsessive question that concerns the population, businesses, politicians, and government. We are so concerned that we have almost forgotten about the recent incident in the relations with the International Monetary Fund. Of course, the European Union has also faced us with some performance criteria to which the Romanian economy must comply. But first and foremost, it expects Romania to learn even better how to use its monetary resources efficiently, as many as they are, in order to reduce inflation and stimulate development. A cardinal problem, in this sense, is the distribution of money resulting from internal savings. Because the state budget has drastically limited their access to this money, so that it becomes more available to the private sector. Since then, the pressure on interest rates has begun to fall and economic development has been better stimulated. One of the reasons why the European Union - doubling the International Monetary Fund - is asking us for a low budget deficit is precisely to increase the chance of supplying money to the private sector. Without having taken this decisive step in the 2000s, we would not have been able to cope in any way with the wave of globalization that is sweeping the world in which we live. Our European integration is closely linked to the ability to find optimal answers to the challenges of globalization. For us Romanians, this planetary problem is accompanied by many local details, summarized in an essential question: A "How do we want to live and what do we do to get out of the red light of living standards? A question we can not separate, no matter how "sectoral" it is, from nowadays globalism, which has as its religion the GDP growth and as an indisputable star the economic efficiency. So here are the landmarks: how much GDP we make and what kind of rhythm we set for economic efficiency. Looking into the mirror of a world obsessed with growth and trying to find our answer to the question of how we manage (or fail) to meet the challenges of globalization, we can not omit an essential question: what kind of horse we ride. We are very aware that we do not feel underneath us a sorrel, to run like lightning, but a modest horse, too little accustomed to the market economy and without speed of reaction. Our race is slowly evolving, and the fear of reform has become a chronic disease. Restructuring production in state companies and large state-owned enterprises is progressing slowly. Monopolistic positions continue to be sacredly guarded. The population is scared of commodity prices and service tariffs, which are rising slowly, but steadily. Consumer price indices have continued this year as well, especially towards the end of it, to give unprofitable businesses the illusion of survival through inflation. State manufacturers are still trying to make their game as usual: to live on high prices, which cover exaggerated costs, reject production, waste and theft, while their supply of goods has remained limited. Paradoxically, the solvent demand has picked up. The main drivers that could set the economy in motion are competition and free markets. However, as these engines were only partially put into operation, the Romanian society continued to consume more than it produced, resulting in serious deficits. They were reflected and are reflected in the budget, but also in the external imbalance. So if we want to ride the wave of globalization well - to stay in the spirit of this exciting parable - we will need to turn our horse, if not into a thoroughbred, at least into a competitor of average value. How? We have no reason to hope that it could happen as the story goes: to feed him a tray of embers, which would turn him into a proud long-distance runner. Because one tray won't be enough. It takes a lot of embers. In this sense, it would be good if at least now, at the nick of time, when we are only a year, a month and a week away from January 1st, 2007, we would understand that economic efficiency becomes a cardinal need. And that we have to learn to do a lot with little money, not like before when we did a little with a lot of money. The fact that, since 2000, we have already begun to conquer some of these strongholds, seems unusual to us. And maybe even incredible. We, who have learned to stagnate, find it harder to notice that something is really moving. But that's because the imbalances in the economy still give us headaches. There are enough: extrapolation of waste, mismanagement, fraud and corruption; work motivation continues to fade away; delays in multiplying the incentives that determine the extension of free initiative in production. But one of the most sore points is the average monthly salary in Romania. A salary below the level of prices, well below this level, but also above the level of productivity and efficiency. Here is the key to the problem. About Adrian Vasilescu Advisor to the NBR Governor. Born on March 23rd, 1936. Professional certificates in economics, law and journalism. Debut in journalism in 1962, at Scânteia tineretului. Over four decades of journalistic career; commitments to newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations. Until 1996: associate professor at the Academy of Economic Studies and at the Higher School of Journalism. Since 1996: coordinator of the communication strategy at the National Bank of Romania. In 2000, at the Government, a member in the team of advisors to Prime Minister Mugur Isărescu. Since 2001: return to the National Bank, to the advisory team of the NBR governor. Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Video-streaming  On Sunday, 8 May 2016, as of 11.00 a.m., at the NTB Black Box Hall, Mrs. Georgeta Filitti shall hold the conference on the topic Royal Romania during La Belle Epoque. About the conference The interval between the last decades of the 19th century and the First World War meant a period of effervescence, of creativity and innovation, positively perceived in the Romanian space. The war from 1877-78, which resulted in the achievement of state independence, a monarchy increasingly anchored in the Romanian realities and a flourishing economy turn Romania into the arbitrator of the Balkans. Institutional creation (banks, libraries, institutes, hospitals, schools of higher education, charity establishments), public and private architecture (nowadays almost the only pride of our cities), the educational system with proven efficiency – they have all emphasized the national potentialities. Culture meant a profitable exchange of values with the West. The training of some Romanians in the great Western cities, the arrival and stay in Romania of countless physicians, architects, journalists, professors have left a cosmopolitan imprint on the spiritual manifestations of that epoch. At the same time, the national fund was cleverly valorised, and the main vector in the field remains the royal family. The cultivation of the folk costume, the encouragement of the peasant household industry, the popularisation of traditional architecture, the support for the village education system, the collection of folklore are harmoniously blended with modernity, promoted by the numerous cultural personalities of the time. M. Eminescu, G. Coşbuc, N. Grigorescu, G. Enescu, I. Ghica, M. Kogălniceanu, C. A. Rosetti, G. Gr. Cantacuzino, P.P. Carp, Iancu Bălăceanu, Take Ionescu, the Brătianu family, Ion Cantacuzino, Victor Babeş, Carol Davilla, N. Iorga, the Storck family, Spiru Haret and many more are boosting the society. A highly expressive media – in Romanian, Greek or French – performs a work of informing and educating the public opinion. Foreign competent observers were considering Bucharest one of the most musical cities in the world. Romanian and foreign artists were performing on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, many concerts unfolding under a high royal patronage. The passion for theatre finds a matchless confirmation in the productions of the National Theatre and of private theatres. The inland repertoire, competing with the foreign one, keeps the audience from the urban areas alert. The horse races, animated by the Jockey Club, the car rallies, the air shows attract a tremendous audience. There, the latest fashion creations, brought from abroad or manufactured in Romania are flaunted. This societal pulsation at European pace is also reflected in social life. Animating it are women, first of all. Cultivated, intelligent, many of them remarkably beautiful, they have succeeded in imposing themselves both inland and for instance in Paris, where intellectual salons par excellence are held. La belle époque has regarded, beyond any doubt, predominantly the social elite. At the same time, the constitution of the middle class, the ambition to move up the social ladder, as well as the authorities’ concern for various social programmes have meant a permanent effort to use energies, to solidarise communities, to perfect the individual. A faded era, part of our European tradition, towards which it is worthwhile returning often as an example of triumph of a world arbitrated by the monarchic institution. Georgeta Filitti About Georgeta Filitti Expert in modern and contemporary Romanian history. Editor of documents. Studies: Faculty of History of the Bucharest University (1961); PhD in History from the Cluj University (1971). Professional background: -      Scientific researcher at the „Nicolae Iorga” Institute of History of the Romanian Academy, up to the degree of principal researcher I (1961-1998); advisor at the „Ion Ghica” foundation (1997-2004); librarian, head of department at the Bucharest Metropolitan Library (2003-2007); principal researcher I at the National Institute for the Memory of the Romanian Exile (din 2007). Publishing (selection):       1975-2004 – she edits the Works of M. Kogălniceanu (Oratory, 9 vol., 1864-1891), for which she receives the “Nicolae Bălcescu” award of the Academy (1983); 1978 – Encyclopaedia of Romanian Historiography (co-author); Since 1982 – she has been editing the works of Nicolae Iorga: Economic Works, History of the Romanian People, History of Romanians from Transylvania and Hungary, History of Romanians, vol. VIII, History of Romanians for the Romanian People, 2 vol., History of Romanians, vol X, Parliament Speeches (1907-1917); 1985-2008 – edits the works of I.C. Filitti (Selected Works, Journal, 1913-1919; The Diplomatic Role of Phanariots, Man through his Work); 1996 – George Ciorănescu. Romanians and the Federalist Idea; 1997 – The Memoirs of Prince Nicolae Sutu, 1798-1871, translation from French, introduction, notes and annotations; 1998 – Voices of Exile. Anthology; 2002 – Ion Bălăceanu. Political and Diplomatic Memories, 1848-1903, translation from French, introduction, notes and annotations; 2003-2006 – Foreign Travellers about Romanian Countries in the 19th Century. New Series, 1800-1840, 3 vol. (co-author and preface author); 2004 – Romanian Travellers to Greece. Anthology; 2006 – Time Travel with…; The Romanian Millennium (co-author, with an English version as well); 2007 – Testaments. Anthology; Time Travel through Bucharest; 2008 – From the Life of Romanian Exile (1954-1968), vol. I: 1954 – 1957; 2010 – Always Together. Romania-Greece. 130 Years of Diplomatic Relations. Translations: – Matilla Ghyka: Escales de ma jeunesse; The World Mine Oyster; Again One Day. Permanent columns: – From the History of Notaryship, in the Magazine of Notaries Public from Romania (since 2000); – People Used to Send Letters; Romania 100 Years Ago, in Historical Magazine (since 2002); Bucharest Archives, in the magazine The Bucharest Library of the Bucharest Metropolitan Library.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

  Video-streaming On Sunday, April 13th, 2008, the Black Box Hall of the National Theatre will host the conference held by Herta Müller, "Always the Same Snow and Always the Same Uncle", starting at 11.00 a.m. About the ConferenceThe metaphorical title of the conference stems from the German phrase "yesterday's snow", which refers to things that have become obsolete, which should no longer be taken into account. However, according to the author, the experience of deportation to the Soviet Union, which her mother suffered in 1945, is similar to the experience of the writer's emigration to Germany in the 1980s - in both cases, snow plays a dramatic role; just as in both cases, Soviet investigators and examiners at the German Federal Immigration Office behave in the same brutal and abusive manner. Hence, the idea that yesterday's snow had an overwhelming significance, because otherwise why would you need to remember and get rid of it today? About Herta MüllerShe was born in 1953 in Nitzkydorf, Banat. She worked, after graduating from Romanian and German philology, first as a translator in an industrial equipment factory. But she was soon fired, because she refused to cooperate with the Romanian Intelligence Service. Her first book, Niederungen ("Plains"), completed in 1978, was not accepted for publication, and it was not until 1982 that it saw the light of print in a censored form. The original version would appear in Germany in 1984. The threat from the Romanian Intelligence Service continues, forcing Herta Müller to emigrate to Germany in 1987. Several invitations to teach at various universities take her to England, the United States, and Switzerland, and recurring themes in the author's poetry and prose are: separation, emigration, leaving a place without reaching a destination. Her oeuvre has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Franz Kafka Prize, the Aristeion European Literary Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation Prize for Literature, or "Berliner Literaturpreis". Herta Müller currently lives and creates in Berlin. Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

Video-streaming  On Sunday, 8th March 2015, at 11.00h, at the Atelier Hall of the National Theatre, Dr. Vasile Ciubotaru will hold the conference entitled The Hippocratic Oath and the Current Age. Ticket price: 16 lei. About the conference: Ever since the old times, people have entrusted other peers with the ailments of their bodies and souls: healers, curers. The relationship between the patient and his healer was regulated by some laws included in the Hippocratic Oath, laws which were kept and carefully observed throughout the time. These resisted in their initial form for milleniums, but in the present-day society they tend to change their meaning through the influencing of the therapeutic directions, under technological, social and economic pressure. Must the patients’ preferences be taken into consideration, as well as the administrative factors, which, in turn, are influenced by the mass-media, by the companies and by the public opinion? Is the contemporary doctor obliged to take into consideration the Hippocratic ideals and adapt them to modern medicine? Does the oath remain only a festive moment at the parting with Alma Mater? Is medicine a professional vocation or does the doctor remain a public clerk? About Doctor Vasile Ciubotaru Born on 19.09.1953, in the Timiș county. Education: 1973-1979 – Faculty of General Medicine and Pediatrics - IMF Iași. Neurosurgical Consultant, first place in the National competition exam in 1993. The Neurosurgery III Section Chief, „Prof. Dr. Bagdasar Arseni” Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest. PhD in Medical Sciences, with the doctoral dissertation paper „Indications and Methods in the Neurosurgical Treatment of Pitulary Gland Tumours”, 1998. Professional training: neurosurgery courses in Romania, Germany, Morocco, France, Turkey. Remarkable professional achievements (in collaboration): - The first endoscopic ventriculocisternostomy in Romania -The first intraoperative detection of evoked potentials in Romania - The introduction of the operating microscope and the endoscopic assistance in the transsphenoidal resection of the pitulary tumours. - The first endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery of a pitulary tumour in Romania. Professional activity (surgeries since 2000): - over 2200 pituraly tumours and skull base tumours - over 5000 cerebral tumours - over 5000 interventions in the vertebro-medullary pathology Publications: Communicated papers – 160 in Romania and abroad Published works – 50 in Romania and abroad 11 books published Member of scientific societies: The International Society of Pitulary Gland Surgery (since 1994) Corresponding member of the French Neurosurgical Society (since 19998) The Romanian Neurosurgical Society (since 1984) Founder member of the Clinical Endocrinology Association in Romania (2005) Individual member of the European Neurosurgical Society (2010) Vicepresident of the Society of Neuro Oncology in Romania Member of the National Geographic Society (since 1995) Community recognition awards: Citizen of honour of theUdești parish, Suceava county, 2004 Citizen of honour of the Suceava Municipality, 2010.   Translated by Chira Manuela Cristina MTTLC, University of Bucharest