Famous people from Romania
Here is a list of famous people from Romania. Curious if anybody from Romania made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Politician
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's last Communist leader. He was also the country's head of state from 1967 to 1989. A member of the Romanian Communist youth movement, Ceaușescu rose up through the ranks of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's Socialist government and, upon the death of Gheorghiu-Dej in March 1965, he succeeded to the leadership of Romania’s Communist Party as General Secretary. However, Ceaușescu's regime became increasingly brutal and repressive. By some accounts, his rule was the most rigidly Stalinist in the Soviet bloc. His secret police, the Securitate, maintained strict controls over free speech and the media, and internal dissent was not tolerated. In 1982, with the goal of paying off Romania's large foreign debt, Ceaușescu ordered the export of much of the country’s agricultural and industrial production. The resulting extreme shortages of food, fuel, energy, medicines, and other basic necessities drastically lowered living standards and intensified unrest. Ceaușescu's regime was also marked by an extensive and ubiquitous personality cult, nationalism, a continuing deterioration in foreign relations with the Soviet Union, and nepotism.
Vlad the Impaler
Monarch
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was a member of the House of Drăculești, a branch of the House of Basarab, also known by his patronymic name: Dracula. He was posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler, and was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. His father, Vlad II Dracul, was a member of the Order of the Dragon, which was founded to protect Christianity in Eastern Europe. Vlad III is revered as a folk hero in Romania as well as other parts of Europe for his protection of the Romanian population both south and north of the Danube. A significant number of Romanian and Bulgarian common folk and remaining boyars moved north of the Danube to Wallachia, recognized his leadership and settled there following his raids on the Ottomans. As the cognomen 'The Impaler' suggests, his practice of impaling his enemies is central to his historical reputation. During his lifetime, his reputation for excessive cruelty spread abroad, to Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The total number of his victims is estimated in the tens of thousands. The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's patronymic.
Simona Halep
Tennis Player
Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player and the current Romanian number 1, out of four Romanian players in the top 60. She is currently ranked a career high number 11 in the world. She is coached by Adrian Marcu, and managed by Virginia Ruzici, after having worked with Andrei Mlendea, and her current fitness coach is Teo Cercel. Halep first broke into the world's top 50 at the end of 2012, and won her first 6 WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013, a feat that was last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1984 when she won 8.
Sorana Cîrstea
Tennis Player
Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea is a Romanian professional tennis player. Trained by Victor Ioniță and Darren Cahill, she is ranked world no. 22 as of 4 November 2013, and is the second highest ranked Romanian player after Simona Halep. She achieved her career-high ranking of world no. 21 on 12 August 2013 and has appeared in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the final of the Rogers Cup.
Ilie Năstase
Tennis Tournament Champion
Ilie "Nasty" Năstase is a Romanian former World No. 1 professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was ranked World No. 1 between 1973 and 1974. He is one of the five players in history to win more than 100 ATP professional titles. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. Năstase won seven Grand Slam titles: two in singles, three in men's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. He also won four Masters Grand Prix year-end championship titles and seven Championship Series titles, the precursors to the current Masters 1000. In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked him as the 28th-best player of the preceding 40 years. He is the second male player to win a Grand Slam event without dropping a set and the first one to achieve this feat at the French Open.
Elie Wiesel
Novelist
Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE is a Romanian-born Jewish-American professor and political activist. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald concentration camps. Wiesel is also the Advisory Board chairman of the newspaper Algemeiner Journal. When Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, the Norwegian Nobel Committee called him a "messenger to mankind," stating that through his struggle to come to terms with "his own personal experience of total humiliation and of the utter contempt for humanity shown in Hitler's death camps", as well as his "practical work in the cause of peace", Wiesel had delivered a powerful message "of peace, atonement and human dignity" to humanity.
Mircea Eliade
Philosopher
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential. One of his most influential contributions to religious studies was his theory of Eternal Return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but, at least to the minds of the religious, actually participate in them. His literary works belong to the fantastic and autobiographical genres. The best known are the novels Maitreyi, Noaptea de Sânziene, Isabel și apele diavolului and Romanul Adolescentului Miop, the novellas Domnișoara Christina and Tinerețe fără tinerețe, and the short stories Secretul doctorului Honigberger and La Țigănci.
Bela Lugosi
Actor
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, better known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor, famous for portraying Count Dracula in the original 1931 film and for his roles in various other horror films. He had been playing small parts on the stage in his native Hungary before making his first film in 1917, but had to leave the country after the failed Hungarian Revolution. He had roles in several films in Weimar Germany before crossing the Atlantic and arriving in America as a seaman on a merchant ship. In 1927, he appeared as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, where he was talent-spotted as a character actor for the new Hollywood talkies. He would appear in the classic 1931 Dracula talkie by Universal Pictures. Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in popular horror films, with their East European setting, but his Hungarian accent limited his repertoire, and he tried unsuccessfully to avoid typecasting. Meanwhile, he was often paired with Boris Karloff, who was able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi was increasingly restricted to minor parts, kept employed by the studio principally for the sake of his name on the posters. Among his pairings with Karloff, only in The Black Cat, The Raven, and Son of Frankenstein did he perform major roles again, although even in The Raven Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role.
Alexandra Stan
Pop Artist
Alexandra Ioana Stan, better known as Alexandra Stan is a Romanian singer and model. She released her debut single, "Lollipop" in late 2009, peaking at number-eighteen in her native country. Her second release dance hit, "Mr. Saxobeat", became her worldwide breakthrough hit, selling almost 1,000,000 copies in less than a year and reaching the top five in over twenty countries, such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the top 10 in Australia, plus top 30 in Canada and United States. She released her debut album in August 2011, titled Saxobeats. The album spawned two more singles: "Get Back" and "1,000,000", the latter featuring rapper Carlprit. On 4 June 2012, she released a new single, "Lemonade". In June 2013 she was hospitalized and concerts were canceled. While her staff initially claimed she was involved in an accident, she later accused her manager, Marcel Prodan, of beating her. On 18 June, Alexandra Stan filed a criminal complaint against Prodan for blackmail. She plans to add "bodily injury" and "burglary" to the complaint. Her new album was supposed to be released in September 2013, but due to the incident with her manager, the release has been postponed.
Vladimir Cosma
Film score Artist
Vladimir Cosma is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians. His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferrucio Busoni.
Nadia Comăneci
Olympic athlete
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She also won two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world. In 2000 Comăneci was named as one of the athletes of the century by the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Gheorghe Hagi
Soccer
Gheorghe Hagi is a Romanian former footballer. He was one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time. Galatasaray fans called him 'Commandante' and the Romanians called him 'Regele'. Nicknamed "The Maradona of the Carpathians", he is considered a hero in his homeland. He has won his country's "Player of the Year" award seven times, and is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation. He was renowned for his excellent technique and vision, brilliant passing ability and fantastic finishing ability. He played for the Romanian national team in three World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as in three European Football Championships in 1984, 1996 and 2000. He won a total of 124 caps for Romania, being ranked second after Dorinel Munteanu, and scored 35 goals, being ranked first. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Romania by the Romanian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Hagi is one of the few footballers to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Eugène Ionesco
Playwright
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian playwright who wrote mostly in French, and one of the foremost figures of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence.
Ion Antonescu
Politician
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician, and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships. A Romanian Army career officer who made his name during the 1907 peasants' revolt and the World War I Romanian Campaign, the antisemitic Antonescu sympathized with the far right and fascist National Christian and Iron Guard groups for much of the interwar period. He was a military attaché to France and later Chief of the General Staff, briefly serving as Defense Minister in the National Christian cabinet of Octavian Goga. During the late 1930s, his political stance brought him into conflict with King Carol II and led to his detainment. Antonescu nevertheless rose to political prominence during the political crisis of 1940, and established the National Legionary State, an uneasy partnership with the Iron Guard's leader Horia Sima. After entering Romania into an alliance with Nazi Germany and the Axis and ensuring Adolf Hitler's confidence, he eliminated the Guard during the Legionary Rebellion of 1941. In addition to leadership of the executive, he assumed the offices of Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister. Soon after Romania joined the Axis in Operation Barbarossa, recovering Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, Antonescu also became Marshal of Romania.
Tristan Tzara
Poet
Tristan Tzara was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer and film director, he was known best for being one of the founders and central figures of the anti-establishment Dada movement. Under the influence of Adrian Maniu, the adolescent Tzara became interested in Symbolism and co-founded the magazine Simbolul with Ion Vinea and painter Marcel Janco. During World War I, after briefly collaborating on Vinea's Chemarea, he joined Janco in Switzerland. There, Tzara's shows at the Cabaret Voltaire and Zunfthaus zur Waag, as well as his poetry and art manifestos, became a main feature of early Dadaism. His work represented Dada's nihilistic side, in contrast with the more moderate approach favored by Hugo Ball. After moving to Paris in 1919, Tzara, by then one of the "presidents of Dada", joined the staff of Littérature magazine, which marked the first step in the movement's evolution toward Surrealism. He was involved in the major polemics which led to Dada's split, defending his principles against André Breton and Francis Picabia, and, in Romania, against the eclectic modernism of Vinea and Janco. This personal vision on art defined his Dadaist plays The Gas Heart and Handkerchief of Clouds. A forerunner of automatist techniques, Tzara eventually aligned himself with Breton's Surrealism, and under its influence wrote his celebrated utopian poem The Approximate Man.
Johnny Weissmuller
Swimmer
Johnny Weissmuller was a German-American competition swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. Weissmuller was one of the world's fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He won fifty-two US National Championships, set sixty-seven world records and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man, Tarzan, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.
Edward G. Robinson
Actor
Edward Goldenberg Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo. Other memorable roles include insurance investigator Barton Keyes in the film noir Double Indemnity, Dathan in The Ten Commandments, and his final performance as Sol Roth in the science-fiction story Soylent Green. Robinson was selected for an Honorary Academy Award for his work in the film industry, which was posthumously awarded two months after the actor's death in 1973. He was included in the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest male stars in American cinema.
Mihai Eminescu
Poet
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul, the official newspaper of the Conservative Party. His poetry was first published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna to study when he was 19. The poet's Manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on 25 January 1902. Notable works include Luceafărul, Odă în metru antic, and the five Letters. In his poems he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects. In general his work was influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
Victor Hănescu
Tennis Player
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 26.
Ion Luca Caragiale
Playwright
Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist. He is considered one of the greatest Romanian playwrights and writers, a leading representative of local humor, and a main representative of Junimea, an influential literary society with which he parted during the second half of his life. Caragiale's work, spanning four decades, covers the ground between Neoclassicism, Realism, and Naturalism, building on an original synthesis of foreign and local influences. His plays constituted an important venue for criticism of late 19th-century Romanian society, while in later works of fiction Caragiale adopted the fantasy genre or turned to historical fiction. Caragiale oscillated between the liberal current and conservatism. Most of his satirical works target the liberal republicans and the National Liberals. He clashed with National Liberal leaders such as Dimitrie Sturdza and Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, and was a lifelong adversary of the Symbolist poet Alexandru Macedonski. As a result of these conflicts his access to the cultural establishment was barred for several decades. During the 1890s, Caragiale rallied with the radical movement of George Panu, before associating with the Conservative Party. After having decided to settle in Berlin, he came to voice strong criticism for Romanian politicians of all colors in the wake of the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt, and ultimately joined the Conservative-Democratic Party.
Constantin Brâncuși
Sculpture Artist
Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His abstract style emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Famous Brâncuși works include the Sleeping Muse, The Kiss, Prometheus, Mademoiselle Pogany, The Newborn, Bird in Space and The Column of the Infinite, popularly known as The Endless Column. Considered the pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture.
Emil Cioran
Philosopher
Emil M. Cioran was a Romanian philosopher and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French.
Michael of Romania
Monarch
Michael I is the former King of Romania. He reigned from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930, and again from 6 September 1940 until 30 December 1947 when he was forced to abdicate by the government controlled by the Communist Party of Romania. In addition to being the current claimant to the disestablished throne of Romania, he was also a Prince of Hohenzollern until 10 May 2011, when he renounced this title. A great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria through both of his parents, and a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, he is the last surviving monarch from the Interbellum and one of only two surviving heads of state from World War II, the other being the former King Simeon II of Bulgaria.
Nicolae Iorga
Politician
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party, he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister. A child prodigy, polymath and polyglot, Iorga produced an unusually large body of scholarly works, consecrating his international reputation as a medievalist, Byzantinist, Latinist, Slavist, art historian and philosopher of history. Holding teaching positions at the University of Bucharest, the University of Paris and several other academic institutions, Iorga was founder of the International Congress of Byzantine Studies and the Institute of South-East European Studies. His activity also included the transformation of Vălenii de Munte town into a cultural and academic center. In parallel with his scientific contributions, Nicolae Iorga was a prominent right-of-center activist, whose political theory bridged conservatism, nationalism and agrarianism. From Marxist beginnings, he switched sides and became a maverick disciple of the Junimea movement. Iorga later became a leadership figure at Sămănătorul, the influential literary magazine with populist leanings, and militated within the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, founding vocally conservative publications such as Neamul Românesc, Drum Drept, Cuget Clar and Floarea Darurilor. His support for the cause of ethnic Romanians in Austria-Hungary made him a prominent figure in the pro-Entente camp by the time of World War I, and ensured him a special political role during the interwar existence of Greater Romania. Initiator of large-scale campaigns to defend Romanian culture in front of perceived threats, Iorga sparked most controversy with his antisemitic rhetoric, and was for long an associate of the far right ideologue A. C. Cuza. He was an adversary of the dominant National Liberals, later involved with the opposition Romanian National Party.
Mihail Sadoveanu
Novelist
Mihail Sadoveanu was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communist republic. One of the most prolific Romanian-language writers, he is remembered mostly for his historical and adventure novels, as well as for his nature writing. An author whose career spanned five decades, Sadoveanu was an early associate of the traditionalist magazine Sămănătorul, before becoming known as a Realist writer and an adherent to the Poporanist current represented by Viaţa Românească journal. His books, critically acclaimed for their vision of age-old solitude and natural abundance, are generally set in the historical region of Moldavia, building on themes from Romania's medieval and early modern history. Among them are Neamul Şoimăreştilor, Fraţii Jderi and Zodia Cancerului. With Venea o moară pe Siret..., Baltagul and some other works of fiction, Sadoveanu extends his fresco to contemporary history and adapts his style to the psychological novel, Naturalism and Social realism.
Ion Creangă
Poet
Ion Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, and his many anecdotes. Creangă's main contribution to fantasy and children's literature includes narratives structured around eponymous protagonists, as well as fairy tales indebted to conventional forms. Widely seen as masterpieces of the Romanian language and local humor, his writings occupy the middle ground between a collection of folkloric sources and an original contribution to a literary realism of rural inspiration. They are accompanied by a set of contributions to erotic literature, collectively known as his "corrosives". A defrocked Romanian Orthodox priest with an unconventional lifestyle, Creangă made an early impact as an innovative educator and textbook author, while pursuing a short career in nationalist politics with the Fracțiunea liberă și independentă group. His literary debut came late in life, closely following the start of his close friendship with Romania's national poet Mihai Eminescu and their common affiliation with the influential conservative literary society Junimea. Although viewed with reserve by many of his colleagues there, and primarily appreciated for his records of oral tradition, Creangă helped propagate the group's cultural guidelines in an accessible form. Later criticism has often described him, alongside Eminescu, Ion Luca Caragiale and Ioan Slavici, as one of the most accomplished representatives of Junimist literature.
Traian Băsescu
Politician
Traian Băsescu is the 4th and current President of Romania, serving since December 2004. Having formerly served as Mayor of Bucharest from 2000 to 2004, he was elected president in 2004, suspended from office in 2007 but reconfirmed a month later in a referendum. He was narrowly re-elected president for a second 5-year term in 2009, amidst allegations of electoral fraud that were ultimately dismissed by the Constitutional Court of Romania. On 6 July 2012 he was again suspended from office. In the subsequent referendum, held on 29 July, a large majority voted for his dismissal, but the plebiscite was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court due to insufficient turnout. He re-assumed office on 27 August 2012.
Matthias Corvinus
Monarch
Matthias Corvinus, also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death. After conducting several military campaigns he became also King of Bohemia, and Duke of Austria. With his patronage Hungary became the first European country which adopted the Renaissance from Italy. As a Renaissance ruler, he established education institutions, patronized art and science, and introduced a new legal system in the Kingdom of Hungary. In the era of his kingship, Matthias strongly endeavored to follow the model and ideas of the philosopher-king as described in Plato’s Republic.
Angela Gheorghiu
Singer
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has performed in the leading roles of several operas at New York's Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca.
Stephen III of Moldavia
Monarch
Stephen III of Moldavia was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat. During his reign, he strengthened Moldavia and maintained its independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, which all sought to subdue the land. Stephen achieved fame in Europe for his long resistance against the Ottomans. He was victorious in 46 of his 48 battles, and was one of the first to gain a decisive victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui, after which Pope Sixtus IV deemed him verus christianae fidei athleta. He was a man of religion and displayed his piety when he paid the debt of Mount Athos to the Porte, ensuring the continuity of Athos as an autonomous monastical community.
Cristian Chivu
Soccer
Cristian Eugen Chivu is a Romanian footballer. He plays for F.C. Internazionale Milano in the Italian Serie A. He usually plays left back, but prefers playing center back, he can play as defensive midfielder when needed. Chivu is described as a "cultured defender who excels at dribbling, passing and anticipation."
Ciprian Marica
Soccer Midfielder
Ciprian Andrei Marica is a Romanian footballer who currently plays for Spanish side Getafe. He mostly plays as second striker or a winger, but he is also able to play as a centre forward.
Iannis Xenakis
Composer
Iannis Xenakis was a Greek composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalized citizen of France. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers. Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of set theory, stochastic processes and game theory and was also an important influence on the development of electronic and computer music. He integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances. Among his most important works are Metastaseis for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as Psappha and Pléïades; compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as Terretektorh; electronic works created using Xenakis's UPIC system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called polytopes. Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition is regarded as one of his most important. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the Sainte Marie de La Tourette, on which the two architects collaborated, and the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed by himself.
Otto Preminger
Film Director
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-American theatre and film director. After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He first gained attention for film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel while in the 1950s and '60s, he directed a number of high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these later films pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with topics which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drug addiction, rape and homosexuality. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He also had a few acting roles.
Sandra Romain
Pornographic actor
Sandra Romain is a Romanian pornographic actress. Sandra Romain is married. On January 13, 2007 she won four awards at the 24th AVN Awards in Las Vegas.
Ion Țiriac
Tennis Player
Ion Țiriac is a Romanian businessman and former professional tennis and ice hockey player. He is also the current owner of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. In 2013 Tiriac was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Sebastian Stan
Actor
Sebastian Stan is a Romanian-born American actor. He was raised in America since the age of 12. He played The Mad Hatter/Jefferson on the ABC's fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, Prince Jack Benjamin on Kings and Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl. He appeared in the films Captain America: The First Avenger and Black Swan. In 2012, he appeared in the USA Network miniseries Political Animals starring alongside Sigourney Weaver. His role in Political Animals earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries.
George Enescu
Opera Artist
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.
Stephen Báthory
Noble person
Stephen Báthory was Voivode of Transylvania, Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The son of Stephen VIII Báthory and a member of the Hungarian Báthory noble family, Báthory was a ruler of Transylvania in the 1570s, defeating another challenger for that title, Gáspár Bekes. In 1576 Báthory became the second elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He worked closely with chancellor Jan Zamoyski. The first years of his reign were focused on establishing power, defeating a fellow claimant to the throne, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and quelling rebellions, most notably, the Danzig rebellion. He reigned only a decade, but is considered one of the most successful kings in Polish history, particularly in the realm of military history. His signal achievement was his victorious campaign in Livonia against Russia in the mid part of his reign, when he repulsed a Russian invasion of Commonwealth borderlands and secured a highly favorable treaty of peace.
Mircea Lucescu
Soccer
Mircea Lucescu is a Romanian former footballer and current manager of Romani descent, and one of the most successful Romanian football managers. He is also the father of Qatari El Jaish coach, Răzvan Lucescu. He is currently managing Ukrainian Premier League side Shakhtar Donetsk with whom he won the UEFA Cup 2008–09.
John Hunyadi
Military Commander
John Hunyadi, was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in the 15th-century history of Central and Southeastern Europe. According to most contemporary sources, he was son of a noble family of Walachian ancestry. He mastered his military skills on the southern borderlands exposed to Ottoman attacks of the Kingdom of Hungary. Appointed voivode of Transylvania and head of a number of southern counties, he assumed responsibility for the defense of the frontiers in 1441. Hunyadi adopted the Hussite method of using wagons for military purposes. He employed professional soldiers, but neither did he refrain from mobilizing local peasantry against invaders. These innovations contributed to his earliest successes against Ottoman troops plundering the southern marches in the early 1440s. Although defeated in the battle of Varna in 1444 and in the second battle of Kosovo in 1448, his successful "Long Campaign" across the Balkan Mountains of 1443-44 and the defence of Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár in 1456, against troops led personally by the Sultan established his reputation as a great general. The bells of Catholic and older Protestant churches are daily rung at noon to commemorate the Belgrade victory, although the pope had ordered this in advance, a week before the siege, in order to encourage the soldiers fighting for Christendom.
Răzvan Raț
Soccer
Răzvan Dincă Raţ is a Romanian footballer who plays as a defender for West Ham United in the Premier League. Raţ is also a Romania international and is currently the first-choice left-back for his country. He also serves as the first-choice captain of the national team. He made his international debut in 2002 and has represented Romania at the Euro 2008. Raţ first captained his country in 2005, in the friendly match against Nigeria in the absence of regular captain Cristian Chivu and on 2 September 2011, he was appointed captain. He is seventh most capped Romanian player. His honours include eight league titles, one Romanian Cup, four Ukrainian Cups, one UEFA Cup, one Romanian Super Cup and three Ukrainian Super Cups. In 2009, Raţ came second in voting for the Romanian Footballer of the Year.
Horia Tecău
Tennis Player
Horia Tecău is a Romanian tennis player who turned pro in 2003, and is a doubles specialist. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 5, achieved in August 2012. Tecău reached the men's doubles finals of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Wimbledon Championships with Robert Lindstedt and won the 2012 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Arnold Rosé
Musical Artist
Arnold Josef Rosé was a Romanian-born Austrian Jewish violinist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for over half a century. He worked closely with Brahms. Gustav Mahler was his brother-in-law. Although not known internationally as a soloist he was a great orchestral leader and player of chamber music, leading the famous Rosé Quartet for several decades.
Mirela Paşca
Olympic athlete
Mirela Ana Paşca is a Romanian artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1990 and 1992. She is an Olympic silver medalist and a world bronze medalist with the team. Individually, she is a world bronze medalist and a European champion on uneven bars. She was also an uneven bars finalist at the 1992 Olympic Games.
Raluca Ioniță
Olympic athlete
Raluca Ioniţǎ is a Romanian sprint canoer who competed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the K-4 500 m event at Sydney in 2000.
Nick Stuart
Actor
Nick Stuart was an actor, a bandleader and a secretary.
Ionela Loaieș
Olympic athlete
Ionela Loaieș is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is an Olympic bronze medalist and a world gold medalist with the team.
Victor Ponta
Politician
Victor-Viorel Ponta is a Romanian jurist and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Romania since being appointed by President Traian Băsescu in May 2012. A member of the Social Democratic Party and its leader since 2010, as well as joint leader of the governing Social Liberal Union, he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Gorj County since 2004. In the Emil Boc cabinet, he was Minister-Delegate for Relations with Parliament from 2008 to 2009. Ponta began his time as head of government with a victory for his alliance in local elections, as well as criticism from civil society after several prominent Băsescu-associated figures in government-funded culture and history institutes were removed or resigned from their posts. Eventually, a political crisis broke out with the replacement of the heads of each legislative chamber and an attempt to dismiss Băsescu—an effort that ultimately failed when the subsequent impeachment referendum was invalidated by the Constitutional Court due to low turnout. Meanwhile, Ponta was the subject of controversy due to allegations of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis. Seven months after gaining office, Ponta helped lead the USL to a decisive victory in parliamentary elections, prompting his appointment to a full four-year term as premier.
Tudor Arghezi
Novelist
Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer, best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to Argesis, the Latin name for the Argeş River.
Raul Rusescu
Soccer
Raul Andrei Rusescu is a Romanian footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Sevilla FC and the Romania national team.
Alexandru Macedonski
Novelist
Alexandru Macedonski was a Wallachian-born 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. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed "social poetry", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized "instrumentalism", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.
Vlad Chiricheș
Soccer
Vlad Iulian Chiricheș is a Romanian footballer who plays as a centre back for Tottenham Hotspur and the Romania national team.
Maria Tănase
Singer
Maria Tănase was a singer of Romanian traditional music, folklore.
Mihail Kogălniceanu
Politician
Mihail Kogălniceanu was a Moldavian-born Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on October 11, 1863, after the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities under Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and later served as Foreign Minister under Carol I. He was several times Interior Minister under Cuza and Carol. A polymath, Kogălniceanu was one of the most influential Romanian intellectuals of his generation. Siding with the moderate liberal current for most of his lifetime, he began his political career as a collaborator of Prince Mihail Sturdza, while serving as head of the Iaşi Theater and issuing several publications together with the poet Vasile Alecsandri and the activist Ion Ghica. After editing the highly influential magazine Dacia Literară and serving as a professor at Academia Mihăileană, Kogălniceanu came into conflict with the authorities over his Romantic nationalist inaugural speech of 1843. He was the ideologue of the abortive 1848 Moldavian revolution, authoring its main document, Dorințele partidei naționale din Moldova. Following the Crimean War, with Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, Kogălniceanu was responsible for drafting legislation to abolish Roma slavery. Together with Alecsandri, he edited the unionist magazine Steaua Dunării, played a prominent part during the elections for the ad hoc Divan, and successfully promoted Cuza, his lifelong friend, to the throne. Kogălniceanu advanced legislation to revoke traditional ranks and titles, and to secularize the property of monasteries. His efforts at land reform resulted in a censure vote, leading Cuza to enforce them through a coup d'état in May 1864. However, Kogălniceanu resigned in 1865, following his own conflicts with the monarch. A decade after, he helped create the National Liberal Party, before playing an important part in Romania's decision to enter the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878—a choice which consecrated her independence. He was also instrumental in the acquisition, and later colonization, of Northern Dobruja region. During his final years, he was a prominent member and one-time President of the Romanian Academy, and briefly served as Romanian representative to France.
Joseph M. Juran
Statistician
Joseph Moses Juran was a Romanian-born American management consultant and engineer. He is principally remembered as an evangelist for quality and quality management, having written several influential books on those subjects. He was the brother of Academy Award winner Nathan H. Juran.
Cosmin Contra
Soccer Midfielder
Cosmin Marius Contra is a Romanian retired footballer who played mainly as a right defender. Offensive-minded, he could also appear as a midfielder, and played professionally in four countries, mainly in Spain, where he appeared for three clubs, mainly Getafe, which he helped consolidate in La Liga. A Romanian international for nearly 15 years, Contra represented the nation in two European Championships.
Black Angelika
Pornographic actor
Black Angelika is a Romanian pornographic actress. She won the 2009 Hot d'Or for Best European Starlet. She has a pierced navel and has had several tattoos including a black scorpion on her right ankle and three on top of her mons pubis: two Chinese character tattoos 命 and 愛 on either side of a filigree covering a previous tattoo spelling "Ruka".
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Politician
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the communist leader of Romania from 1947 until his death in 1965.
Titu Maiorescu
Politician
Titu Liviu Maiorescu was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of the 19th century. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Foreign Minister between 1910 and 1914 and Prime Minister of Romania from 1913 to 1914. He represented Romania at the Peace Conference in Bucharest that ended the Second Balkan War. In politics as in culture he favoured Germany over France. He opposed Romania's entry in World War I against Germany, but he nevertheless refused to collaborate with the German army after it had occupied Bucharest.
Sergiu Nicolaescu
Actor
Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu was a Romanian film director, actor and politician. He was best known for his historical films, such as Mihai Viteazul, Dacii, Razboiul Independenţei, as well as for his series of thrillers that take place in the interwar Kingdom of Romania, such as Un comisar acuză. Beautiful and talented Joanna Pacuła, starred in his film Ultima noapte de dragoste in 1979 before eventually emigrating to the U.S. where she went on to very successful career. He died following surgical complications of peritonitis which led to cardiac arrest.
John Houseman
Actor
John Houseman was a Romanian-born British–American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane. He is perhaps best known for his role as Professor Charles Kingsfield in the film The Paper Chase, for which he won a best supporting actor Oscar. He reprised his role as Kingsfield in the subsequent television series adaptation of The Paper Chase. Houseman was also known for his commercials for the brokerage firm Smith Barney. He had a distinctive Mid-Atlantic English accent, in common with many actors of his generation.
Carol II of Romania
Monarch
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria. He was the first of the Romanian royal family who was baptized in the Orthodox rite.
Andrei Pavel
Tennis Player
Andrei Pavel is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Romania. He is currently coaching the world top-250 tennis player, Tamira Paszek.
Ion Iliescu
Politician
Ion Iliescu is a Romanian politician and statesman, who served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party, whose honorary president he remains. He joined the Communist Party in 1953 and became a member of its Central Committee in 1965, however beginning with 1971 he was gradually marginalized by Nicolae Ceaușescu. He had a leading role in the Romanian Revolution, being elected as Romania's first post-communist president in 1990. After a new Constitution was approved by popular referendum, he served a further two terms as president, from 1992 to 1996, and from 2000 to 2004, separated by the presidency of Emil Constantinescu. Iliescu is widely recognized as a predominant figure in the first fifteen years of post-revolution politics. During his terms Romanian politics stabilized, and Romania joined NATO.
Virginia Ruzici
Tennis Tournament Champion
Virginia Ruzici is a former professional tennis player from Romania. She is perhaps most notable for winning the 1978 French Open singles championship.
Elena Gheorghe
Pop Artist
Elena Gheorghe is a Romanian singer of Aromanian descent. She was born to a Priest and his wife in the village of Clinceni next to Bucharest. She started her musical career as part of a duo along with Adela Popescu. In the first half of the 2000s, she joined Latin group Mandinga with whom she released a couple of albums and a few hit singles. In 2006 she separated from the group and pursued her solo career. She released two albums and scored a top ten in the Romanian Top 100 with the debut single "Vocea ta". After an internal selection, Gheorghe was elected to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "The Balkan Girls" written by Laurentiu Duta. She came second in the voting result, but as the jury voted for her, she won the National Final. At Eurovision, in Moscow she qualified for the Grand Final where she came the nineteenth after accumulating a total of 40 points. After Eurovision she became more famous Europe-wide and released her signature song "Disco Romancing" which was a smash hit in Romania as well as a top-ten in Hungary and a mild success in Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. The following single "Midnight Sun" was a top-ten success in the Dutch Top 40 and in the Romanian Top 100. In 2011 she collaborated with Dony and released the single "Hot Girls" which once again charted throughout Europe. The same year she had her first European tour, getting to Germany, Spain and Greece. In the summer she got engaged to her producer and before Christmas she gave birth to a boy named Nicolas. Her latest single is called "Hypnotic".
Florin Cezar Ouatu
Opera Artist
Florin Cezar Ouatu, also known as Cezar The Voice or simply Cezar, is a Romanian opera singer and pianist. According to the opera magazine Das Opernglas, he is one of the foremost exponents of the countertenor voice of his generation. He was chosen to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song It's My Life. He finished in 13th place with 65 points at the end of the contest when Denmark was declared as the winner.
Marcel Janco
Painting Artist
Marcel Janco was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading exponent of Constructivism in Eastern Europe. In the 1910s, he co-edited, with Ion Vinea and Tristan Tzara, the Romanian art magazine Simbolul. Janco was a practitioner of Art Nouveau, Futurism and Expressionism before contributing his painting and stage design to Tzara's literary Dadaism. He parted with Dada in 1919, when he and painter Hans Arp founded a Constructivist circle, Das Neue Leben. Reunited with Vinea, he founded Contimporanul, the influential tribune of the Romanian avant-garde, advocating a mix of Constructivism, Futurism and Cubism. At Contimporanul, Janco expounded a "revolutionary" vision of urban planning. He designed some of the most innovative landmarks of downtown Bucharest. He worked in many art forms, including illustration, sculpture and oil painting. Janco was one of the leading Romanian Jewish intellectuals of his generation. Targeted by antisemitic persecution before and during World War II, he emigrated to British Palestine in 1941. He won the Dizengoff Prize and Israel Prize, and was a founder of Ein Hod, a utopian art colony, controversially built over a deserted Palestinian Arab settlement.
Alexandra Cadanțu
Tennis Player
Alexandra Cadanțu is a professional Romanian tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On 30 July 2012, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 65. Her highest doubles ranking was No. 101 on 11 June 2012. She started tennis at the age of 3 and she is coached by Bogdan Popovici. At the 2012 French Open, Cadanțu suffered a 6–0, 6–0 first round defeat at the hands of Maria Sharapova, the eventual tournament champion.
Dinu Lipatti
Classical Artist
Dinu Lipatti was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy.
Adrian Năstase
Politician
Adrian Năstase is a Romanian politician who was the Prime Minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004. He competed in the 2004 presidential election as the Social Democratic Party candidate, but was defeated by centre-right Justice and Truth Alliance candidate Traian Băsescu. He was the President of the Chamber of Deputies from 21 December 2004 until 15 March 2006, when he resigned due to corruption charges. On 30 January 2012, the courts gave Năstase a two-year prison sentence for misuse of a publicly funded conference to raise cash for his unsuccessful campaign in 2004. Năstase claimed the sentence was influenced by rival politician Traian Băsescu, at the time President of Romania, and indicated that if necessary, he will raise his case to the European Courts of Human Rights.
Dorinel Munteanu
Soccer
Dorinel Ionel Munteanu is a Romanian former football midfielder, and current manager. Recently he has been the head coach of the Russian team Kuban Krasnodar. Normally a technically skilled central midfielder, Munteanu was known for his all-round ability, powerful shot and tenacity.
Loredana Groza
Pop Artist
Loredana Groza is a Romanian pop singer-songwriter, model, actress, dancer, TV personality, media proprietor, and coach in the international music show Vocea României known for alternating music styles. She began her career in Oneşti, Romania. She is married to Andrei Boncea and they have one daughter. Her debut album Bună seara, iubito, which was released in 1988, and the title song remains her biggest hit to this day. In 2002, inspired by the huge success of her album Agurida, Loredana decided to go further in rediscovering and reinterpriting some old Romanian songs after meticulous research on the period between the two world wars. The result was the live performance Zaraza–vânzătoarea de plăceri on Pro TV which was released in December 2002 on MC, CD and VHS support. Her song, Vreau toată noaptea, was falsely rumoured to be taking part in the Romanian National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. This contradicted Loredana's comments that she would never take part in the national selection following her defeat in 2005 with the song Lele, Lele. The rumour was, however, quashed following the publication of the participants in the 2006 National Final.
Nicolae Guţă
Singer
Nicolae Guţă is a Romani manele singer. He is the father of manele and ethno-pop singer Nicoleta Guţa
Adrian Ungur
Tennis Player
Adrian Ungur is a Romanian tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. He is a member of the Romania Davis Cup Team and is coached by Fabrizio Fanucci. In June 2012, Ungur reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 79. His most notable result was a four set victory over David Nalbandian in the first round of the 2012 French Open.
Béla Kun
Politician
Béla Kun, born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian revolutionary who led the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. Following the fall of the Hungarian revolution, Kun emigrated to the Soviet Union, where he worked as a functionary in the Communist International bureaucracy. During the Great Terror of the late 1930s, Kun was arrested, interrogated, tried, and executed in quick succession. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956, following the death of Joseph Stalin and the critical reassessment of Stalinism.
Gheorghe Popescu
Soccer
Gheorghe Gică Popescu is a retired Romanian football defender, former captain of FC Barcelona and key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in that period, including a four-year stint at PSV Eindhoven. His tactical knowledge as a defender made him a valuable team member in top European competitions until he reached his late-thirties. Beside from his defending skills, he was also capable starting attacks. He is the brother-in-law of fellow Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi.
Gabriel Torje
Soccer Midfielder
Andrei Gabriel Torje is a Romanian footballer who currently plays for La Liga side RCD Espanyol, on loan from Udinese. He is a versatile right winger with the ability to swap onto the left side of the field during games. Torje was named Romanian Footballer of the Year in 2011.
Cristian Săpunaru
Soccer
Ionuţ Cristian Săpunaru is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Elche CF in La Liga. Mainly a right defender, he can also play as centre back.
Gheorghe Mureșan
Basketball Center
Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan, also known as Ghiţă or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in, he is one of the tallest players in NBA history, along with Sudanese player Manute Bol, who was also 7 ft 7 in.
Endre Ady
Poet
Endre Ady was a Hungarian poet.
Daniel Ghiță
Man
Daniel Ghiţă is a Romanian super heavyweight kickboxer signed to the GLORY promotion where he has been the runner-up of the 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam. He is also a former K-1 fighter and the last It's Showtime World Heavyweight champion. Known for his devastating leg kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Savage Samurai" in Japan, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers in activity. As of April 2013, Ghiţă is ranked the #3 heavyweight in the world after Semmy Schilt and Gökhan Saki by LiverKick.com.
Brassaï
Photographer
Brassaï was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars. In the early 21st century, the discovery of more than 200 letters and hundreds of drawings and other items from the period 1940–1984 has provided scholars with material for understanding his later life and career.
Mihaela Peneş
Olympic athlete
Mihaela Peneş, is a former track and field athlete from Romania, who competed mainly in the javelin throw. She competed for Romania at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan in the javelin, where she won the gold medal ahead of Hungary's Márta Rudas. Four years later in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Angéla Németh won the gold medal ahead of Peneş' silver.
Elena Ceaușescu
Politician
Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of Romania's Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.
Cătălina Ponor
Olympic athlete
Cătălina Ponor is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, on balance beam, floor, and as part of the Romanian team. She also obtained a silver medal on floor and a bronze medal as part of the Romanian team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as multiple World Championship and European Championship medals.
Henri Coandă
Inventor
Henri Marie Coandă was a Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer and builder of an experimental aircraft, the Coandă-1910 described by Coandă in the mid-1950s as the world's first jet, a controversial claim disputed by some and supported by others. He invented a great number of devices, designed a "flying saucer" and discovered the Coandă effect of fluid dynamics.
Vladimir Tismăneanu
Historian
Vladimir Tismăneanu is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is director of the University of Maryland's Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies, having served as chairman of the editorial committee and editor of the East European Politics and Societies academic review. Over the years, Tismăneanu was a contributor to several periodicals, including Studia Politica, Journal of Democracy, Sfera Politicii, Revista 22, Evenimentul Zilei, Idei în Dialog and Cotidianul. He has also worked with the international radio stations Radio Free Europe and Deutsche Welle, and authored programs for the Romanian Television Company. As of 2009, he is Academic Council Chairman of the Institute for People's Studies, a think tank of the Romanian Democratic Liberal Party. Between February 2010 and May 2012, he was also President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania. Acclaimed for his scholarly works on Stalinism in general and the Romanian communist regime in particular, as well as for exploring the impact of nationalism, national communism and neo-Stalinism in the Soviet Union and countries of the Eastern Bloc, Tismăneanu writes from the critical perspective of a civil society supporter. His other influential texts deal with diverse topics such as Cold War history, Kremlinology and the Holocaust. Having moved from a loose Marxist vision, shaped under the influence of neo-Marxist and Western Marxist scholarship, he became a noted proponent of classical liberalism and liberal democracy. This perspective is outlined in both his scientific contributions and volumes dealing with Romania's post-1989 history, the latter of which include collections of essays and several published interviews with literary critic Mircea Mihăieș. Vladimir Tismăneanu completed his award-winning synthesis on Romanian communism, titled Stalinism for All Seasons, in 2003.