Mircea Dinescu (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈmirtʃe̯adiˈnesku]; born November 11, 1950) is a Romanian poet, journalist, and editor.
Biography
Early life and poetry
He was born in Slobozia, the son of Ștefan Dinescu, a metalworker, and Aurelia (born Badea). Dinescu studied at the Faculty of Journalism of the Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy, and was considered a gifted young poet during his youth, with several poetry volumes published.
Dissidency
In August 1988, Dinescu was invited by the Union of Soviet Writers in the Soviet Union and on August 25, he gave an interview to the Romanian section of the Voice of Russia.[1] During the interview, he expressed his support for the Glasnost and Perestroika policies of the Soviet Union.[1]
After returning to Bucharest, he invited some friends (including Gabriel Liiceanu, Alexandru Paleologu, and Andrei Pleșu) to write a protest against Ceaușescu's policies that were destroying Romanian culture and villages, but they failed to reach a consensus on the text and Dinescu decided to write his own protest.[2] The members of the group were then visited by the Securitate, which argued that their actions were done under KGB orders as an attack against Romania, not against Ceaușescu.[2]
His book, Moartea citește ziarul ("Death is reading the newspaper") was turned down in 1988 by the Communist regime's censorship apparatus,[2] and was then published in Amsterdam.
On March 17, 1989, he was fired from România Literară literary magazine,[1] as a result of an anti-totalitarian interview against President Nicolae Ceaușescu, which Dinescu had granted to the French newspaper Libération in December 1988.[3] According to him, the reason for dismissal was "receiving visits from diplomats and journalists from Socialist and capitalist countries without permission".[4] He was expelled from the Romanian Communist Party (PCR),[5] held under house arrest, with his house guarded around the clock, all visits banned; he was allowed to go outside just for shopping, but always flanked by two Securitate officers.[4]
Despite being isolated, Dinescu noticed that with a handful of exceptions, the writers did not protest against the oppression of the regime. On November 11, he wrote a statement in which he attacked the Romanian intelligentsia for their sycophancy for Ceaușescu, the Romanian Orthodox Church for being "trade unionists in religious vestments", journalists for being 'apostles of the personality cult", and writers for being "trusted handmaidens of the party".[8]
Revolution
In December 1989 he had a preeminent role in the Romanian Revolution, taking part in the occupation of the National Television building by the people of Bucharest. According to popular rumors, his fellow revolutionary Ion Caramitru, unaware that he was being filmed, said to Dinescu something that was taken to be "Mircea, fă-te că lucrezi!" ("Mircea, pretend you are working!"); this was to be proof that the Revolution was a carefully staged front for a coup d'état. According to the investigation of Alex Mihai Stoenescu, Caramitru actually said "Mircea, arată că lucrezi" ("Mircea, show that you're working [on something]" – while holding Dinescu's booklet in front of camera), to which Dinescu replied "La un apel" ("[I'm working] on an appeal [to the people]") – which was indicative of their ill-preparedness and preoccupation in quickly drafting a single revolutionary proclamation on the spot.[9]
Journalist after 1989
After the fall of Communism, he co-founded Academia Cațavencu, the most famous Romanian satirical magazine. He quit the publication in 1998 and went on founding his own publications, Plai cu Boi (loosely translated as "Land of the Dumb") – a satirical Playboy-style magazine and Aspirina Săracului (The Poor Man's Aspirin – a humorous reference to sexual intercourse) – a weekly satirical magazine.
He invested a part of the money he earned from the books published into agriculture. His estate makes a wine sold under the name Vinul Moșierului ("Landlord's wine") – the name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to an ironic comment President Ion Iliescu had made about Dinescu's social status.
Dinescu remains a strong and charismatic voice of the civil society. As member of Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității [ro] (National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives), he is particularly concerned with exposing the former officers and collaborators of the Securitate. He is also a strong critic of Communism and of Romanian leaders that had connections with the Communist regime.
In May 2005, in collaboration with the journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu, he started a new newspaper called Gândul, with an initial circulation of 100,000 copies, but he sold his shares in July 2006. He and Stelian Tănase host a talk show on Realitatea TV, Tănase și Dinescu.
Testament - Anthology of Romanian Verse - American Edition - monolingual English language edition - Daniel Ioniță (editor and principal translator) with Eva Foster, Daniel Reynaud and Rochelle Bews - Australian-Romanian Academy for Culture - 2017 - ISBN978-0-9953502-0-5
Born in Utopia - An anthology of Modern and Contemporary Romanian Poetry - Carmen Firan and Paul Doru Mugur (editors) with Edward Foster - Talisman House Publishers - 2006 - ISBN1-58498-050-8
From the Republic of Conscience - An International Anthology of Poetry - Kerry Flattley and Chris Wallace-Crabbe (editors) with Edward Foster - White Pine Press - 1993 - ISBN1-877727-26-1
2019 -Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry/400 de ani de poezie românească - Minerva Publishing 2019 - Daniel Ioniță (editor and principal translator) assisted by Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul and Eva Foster. ISBN978-973-21-1070-6
2020 - Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present - bilingual edition - Daniel Ioniță (editor and principal translator) with Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul and Eva Foster - Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing - 2020 - ISBN978-0-9953502-8-1 ; OCLC1288167046
Mircea Mircea the Elder Mircea Romașcanu Mircea Ștefănescu Mircea Coșea Mircea Crișan Mircea Pârligras Mircea Frățică Mircea (ship) Mircea Mustață Mircea Cantor Mircea the Shepherd Mircea Drăgan Mircea Popa Mircea Geoană Mircea Mureșan Mircea Vodă, Constanța Mircea Monroe Mircea (disambiguation) Mircea Cărtărescu Mircea Șimon Mircea Ionuț Axente Mircea Pavlov Mircea Rădulescu Mircea Vodă Mircea III Dracul Mircea Tutovan-Codoi Mircea (film) Mircea Brînzea Mircea Neșu Mircea Chivu Stadium Mircea Sfetescu Mircea Gheorghe Drăghici Mircea II of Wallachia Ioan Mircea Pașcu …
Mircea Anastasescu Mircea Tomuș Mircea Eliade Mircea Vulcănescu Mircea Snegur Mircea Răceanu Mircea Oaidă Mircea Ionescu-Quintus Alexander II Mircea Mircea Demetriade Mircea Vodă, Brăila Mircea Eliade bibliography Mircea cel Bătrân National College (Constanța) Mircea Stănescu Mircea cel Bătrân Naval Academy Mircea Sântimbreanu Mircea Păcurariu Mircea Dumitrescu Mircea Georgescu Mircea Badea Mircea Stoenescu Mircea Petescu Mircea Sandu Mircea Leasă Mircea Rednic Mircea Eliade National College (Sighișoara) Mircea Oprea Mircea Sasu Mircea Baniciu Mircea Bornescu Mircea Voicu Mircea Fulger Mircea Anca Mircea Irimescu Mircea Minescu Mircea Buga Mircea Lucescu Mircea Stan Mircea Tuli Mircea Carp Mircea Bolba Mircea Grosaru Mircea Oltean Mircea Constantinescu Mircea Dridea Mircea Roman Mircea Dușa Mircea Puta Mircea Diaconescu Mircea Zamfir Mircea Dincă Mircea Luca Mircea Ilie Mircea Ionnițiu Mircea Dobrescu Mircea Opriță Mircea Gogoncea Mircea Streinul Mircea Ilca Mircea Albulescu Mircea Costache II Mircea David Mircea Chelaru Mircea Paraschiv Mircea Bedivan Mircea Ivănescu Mircea Stanciu Prince Mircea of Romania Claudiu Mircea Ionescu Mircea Rus Mircea Diaconu Mirc