orn on Feb. 21, 1876 in Hobita, Romania, he was a world famous artist, who pioneered modern abstract sculpture. His story is worth telling. As a kid, Constantin did not go to school. Instead, he looked after his family's flock of sheep and learned to carve wood, which was a craft quite widespread in the countryside. Romanians loved to decorate their wooden household items, like the spoons, bedposts, chairs, and even the flutes. Later, all of Brâncusi's work was strongly influenced by these traditional patterns and his way of life would always proudly show his origins: simplicity, good sense, and love of nature. He had to learn how to read and write on his own and in 1894 he entered the School of Arts and Crafts, with the help of a local industrialist. In 1898 he was admitted to the Bucharest School of Fine Arts. Soon, Brâncusi became curious about the artistic movements abroad. In 1904, he decided to go to Paris, quite a costly trip for one his modest means. He made most of the trip on foot, with his pack on his back, and had to sell his watch to pay for a boat crossing on Lake Constance. Brâncusi entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later the workshop of the great french sculptor Auguste Rodin. He will leave the master quite soon, conceitedly saying that "Only grass can grow in the shadow of the great trees". In Paris he made friends with the painters Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Rousseau and started developing a taste for archaic art and symbols, especially African and Oceanic.

His first original work was "The Kiss" in which the vertical figures of two entwined adolescents form a closed volume with symmetrical lines. The symbol will follow Brâncusi through the rest of his career. Other significant works are "The Beginning of the World", a perfectly polished marble egg, which the artist called "sculpture for a blind man", "Bird in Space", a polished bronze, the elliptical, slender lines of which put into concrete form the very essence of flight, "The Fish", which pictures the swiftness of the fish swimming in a mountain stream, and the many versions on "Mademoiselle Pogany". In all these works, one can find the artists fascination with symbols (e.g. the egg for creation, the flight for liberty and aspiration). He creates the forms with austerity and the thorough polishing seems to dematerialize them. Later, his geometrization, that is like a fingerprint of the artist, would influence the work of numerous sculptors.

In 1937 and 1938 Brâncusi created a sculptural ensemble in the Romanian town of Targu Jiu. These three important pieces - "The silent Table", "The Gate of the Kiss", and "The Endless Column" - are based on the idea of a "Temple of Meditation" and are a tribute to the Romanian soldiers who died in World War 1. They show the artist's love of Romanian traditional art. The Endless Column, made through the repetition of superimposed symmetrical elements, is inspired by the pillars of Romanian peasant houses, and invites the viewer to extend it into the sky to infinity.

Brâncusi's works attracted many great art collectors and presently, most of them can be seen in museums across the United States.

mil Cioran was one of the most celebrated Romanian writers and philosophers of this century. Born in 1911, he graduated from the University of Bucharest in 1932 and became part of a group of enthusiastic and bright people that profoundly influenced the Romanian culture between the two world wars. In 1937 he earned a grant from the french government and left for Paris. Since 1947 he has only written in french. Among his best known works, "Pe culmile disperarii"("In Dire Despair"1934), "Lacrimi si Sfinti"("Tears and Saints"1937), "Precis de decomposition" ("A Manual on Decomposition"1949), "Exercices d'admiration" ("Exercises of Admiration"1985)

Born in Sibiu, he left Romania in the '60s for the freedom of America. Now a professor of English at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, he is a restless commentator of the paradoxes of the American society and culture. For over 10 years he has been on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered", offering both an insider's and an immigrant's view of current American issues. Andrei Codrescu's prodigious juggling of words is impressive both on the air and on paper. He is the author of many titles in poetry, essay and memoirs.

orn on February 28,1907 in Bucharest, Mircea Eliade was a philosopher a writer and one of the most interesting personalities of the century. A truly encyclopedic spirit and a restless soul, always in search of the true nature of the human being, he was fascinated by the ancient religions and philosophies of people around the world. He took an MA in philosophy from the University of Bucharest. At 21 years of age, he left for India, where he studied Sanskrit, the Yoga and the Indian philosophy at the University of Calcutta. Believing that the deep aspects can only be understood through personal experience, Eliade lived for six months in a hermitage in the Himalayas. Later he will take his Ph.D. in philosophy with the paper "Yoga: Essay on the Origins of Indian Mysticism"(1933). This remained as the first ever exhaustive study of the Yoga by a westerner. Upon his return to Romania, Eliade had an intense activity as a writer and professor of the history of religions at the University of Bucharest.

Following the second world war, he had to leave the country, to avoid prosecution by the communists because of his political beliefs. He lived in Paris until 1956 when he became Professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago in the USA and won worldwide fame. Mircea Eliade died on April 22, 1986. Since 1985, the title of professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago bears his name.

Here's an excerpt on Eliade from the Brittanica: "[...]historian of religions and man of letters, distinguished for his researches in the symbolic language used by various religious traditions and for his attempt to reduce their meaning to underlying primordial myths that provide the basis for mystical phenomena[...]Fundamentally, Eliade considered religious experience in traditional and contemporary societies as credible phenomena that he termed hierophanies (i.e., manifestations of the sacred in the world). His researches traced the forms that these hierophanies have taken throughout the world and through time. Eliade's essential interpretation of traditional religious cultures and his analysis of the forms of mystical experience characterize his major works: "Traité d'histoire des religions"(1949; Patterns of Comparative Religion), "Le Mythe de l'éternel retour"(1949; The Myth of the Eternal Return), and "Le Chamanisme et les techniques archaïques de l'extase"(1951;Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy). He also expressed his views in works of fiction, notably the novels "Forêt interdite "(1955;The Forbidden Forest) and "The Old Man and the Bureaucrats" (1979). Among his later works are two collections of essays, "The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion" (1969) and "Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashion: Essays in Comparative Religion" (1976). He also wrote a three-volume work entitled "A History of Religious Ideas"(1978-85) and was editor-in-chief of the 16-volume "Encyclopedia of Religion" (1987)".

nescu was born in 1881, in a small village named Liveni, Romania. He was an excellent violinist and a remarkable composer, bringing the sounds of the Romanian traditional songs into classical music. Since his early childhood, Enescu showed interest in music and a huge talent for playing the violin. He was considered a wonder child, somewhat like Mozart. At age seven Enescu went to the Vienna Conservatory, and later to Paris, to study the violin and composition. In 1899 he won the first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatory, thus beginning his career as a virtuoso violinist, and became widely known for his interpretations of Bach. He died in 1955.

Enescu's compositions show his admiration for Johannes Brahms and a profound love for the Romanian traditional themes. He wrote chamber music: three violin sonatas, three piano sonatas, and two string quartets, but also orchestral works: three symphonies, two "Romanian rhapsodies", and an overture on Romanian folk themes. He is the author of a sophisticated opera (Oedipe,1936) which features an exquisite mingling of the choir with the soloists. The artist was also greatly respected as a teacher, being the idol of a generation of violinists. Notably, Sir Yehudi Menuhin has some wonderful memories about Enescu.

onesco is one of the most prominent dramatic authors of the century, known as an innovator of dramatic techniques and one of the founders of the "Absurd" Theatre. Born in Slatina, Romania, in 1909, Eugène Ionesco spent all his career in France. After he took a degree at the University of Bucharest, he moved to Paris. Here he wrote his well-known play "La Cantatrice Chauve" (The Bald soprano). Here is a quote from the Brittanica: " In its most famous scene, two strangers who are exchanging banalities about how the weather is faring, where they live, and how many children they have stumble upon the astonishing discovery that they are indeed man and wife; it is a brilliant example of Ionesco's recurrent themes of self-estrangement and the difficulty of communication."

Ionescu continued with "La Leçon" (1951; The Lesson), "Les Chaises" (1952; The Chairs), and "Le Nouveau Locataire" (1955; The New Tenant ) "Le Roi se meurt" (1962; Exit the King). "La Soif et la Faim" (1966; Thirst and Hunger). Probably the most popular play,"Rhinoceros", shows a character who tries to preserve his humanity in a world where humans are mutating into beasts.

Here's Brittanica again: " Ionesco's achievement lies in having popularized a wide variety of nonrepresentational and surrealistic techniques and in having made them acceptable to audiences conditioned to a naturalistic convention in the theatre. His tragicomic farces dramatize the absurdity of bourgeois life, the meaninglessness of social conventions, and the futile and mechanical nature of modern civilization. His plays build on bizarrely illogical or fantastic situations using such devices as the humorous multiplication of objects on stage until they overwhelm the actors. The clichés and tedious maxims of polite conversation surface in improbable or inappropriate contexts to expose the deadening futility of most human communication.

orn on June 25, 1894 in Sibiu, Romania, he spent most of his life in Germany. Oberth is considered to be one of the founders of modern astronautics for being one of the pioneers in rocket design. His ideas, like those of his peers Robert Goddard in the US and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Russia, were way ahead of their time and when Oberth tried to get a Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg with a paper on his rocket design, he failed. Later Oberths book "The Rocket into Interplanetary Space"(1923), which explained how rockets could escape Earth's gravitational pull, finally gained him widespread recognition. In 1931 Oberth received a patent for a liquid-propellant rocket from the Romanian Patent Office. His first rocket was launched on May 7, 1931, near Berlin.

Birthdate: November 12, 1961
Leaving a unique record, in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games she was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 and win three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze, and all this when she was only 14 years of age. Nadia continued her dominance through the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, winning two more gold and two silver medals. Later she left Romania and is now living in the USA.

Gheorghe Hagi is one of the greatest Romanian soccer stars of all the times. Offensive midfielder, he was the Captain of the Romanian National Team for years. Showing a brilliant technique, he always enchants his fans with his great shots. In Romania, he played mainly at Sportul Studentesc and Steaua Bucharest,with

he first Romanian tennis player to make a name outside Romania. At his best, Nastase was a fast player and exhibited intricate footwork and brilliant ball handling in lobbing past opponents. His career peaked in 1973, when he ranked #1 Player on the ATP list. He won 57 Single Titles and two two Grand-Slam Finals (1972 and 1973). In Romania, he is most popular because of his playing with Ion Tiriac. Together, they had 51 victories and represented our country succesfully in the Davis Cup in the Seventies. Due to their success, tennis became very popular in Romania, mainly among the youth.
Recently, Ilie Nastase announced his candidacy for Mayor of Bucharest. "I am not saying I'll find a miracle, but I think I can help," Nastase said. He did not win.

iriac became famous as a tennis player who won many titles for his country together with his partner and life long friend Ilie Nastase. Later he turned out to be an excellent businessman, managing many of today's top tennis stars, such as Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic. Recently, Steffi Graf announced that she also wants Tiriac as her manager.
After the democratic changes of 1989, Tiriac, currently living in Germany, promoted foreign investment in Romania, especially helping his home town, Brasov. Presently, he owns a bank (The Commercial Bank Ion Tiriac) and holds shares in one of the largest private media trusts in Romania (Mediapro). He also helped start a Mercedes parts factory.

Dracula is a fictional character often associated with the historical figure of Vlad Tepes (The Impaler). Vlad was king of Wallachia between 1456 and 1462. Son of Vlad Dracul (The Devil), he proved to be an iron hand ruler, bringing to an end the internal political turmoil and ensuring the prosperity of the country.

President of Romania between 1965 and 1989, Ceausescu is famous internationally as one of the worst communists dictators of this century. He climbed to the political top even though he never received any serious education and could barely write his name. His first several years of authority were good for the country and people started believing that he was a bright ruler.