Latest news with #NicolaeCeausescu
The Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Teacher fights discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis song at a time
Tudor Lakatos is fighting discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis Presley song at a time. Decked out in a rhinestone shirt and oversized sunglasses, with his black hair slicked back into a 1950s-style quiff, Lakatos swivels his hips and belts out his own idiosyncratic versions of hits like 'Blue Suede Shoes' at venues throughout Romania. But don't call him an Elvis impersonator. Lakatos prefers to say that he 'channels' the King of rock 'n' roll's global appeal to break down stereotypes about the Roma and provide a positive role model for Roma children. 'I never wanted to get on stage, I didn't think about it,' Lakatos, 58, said after a recent gig at a restaurant in the capital, Bucharest. 'I only wanted one thing — to make friends with Romanians, to stop being called a Gypsy,″ he added, using an often derided term for people belonging to the Roma ethnic group. The Roma, an ethnic group that traces its roots to South Asia, have been persecuted across eastern Europe for centuries and are still associated with high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime. They account for about 7% of the population of Romania, where a fifth say they have faced discrimination in the past year, according to a recent survey by the European Union. Lakatos' quest to change that began in the early 1980s when he was an art student and Romania was ruled by the hard-line communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. At a time when anti-Roma discrimination was mainstream, Lakatos found that singing Elvis songs was a way to connect with ethnic Romanian students while rock music was a symbol of rebellion against the oppressive government. Four decades later, he's added a new audience. A school teacher for the past 25 years, Lakatos uses his music to show his students that they can aspire to something more than the dirt roads and horse driven carts of their village in northwestern Romania. 'The adjective Gypsy is used everywhere as a substitute for insult,' Lakatos said. 'We older people have gotten used to it, we can swallow it, we grew up with it. I have said many times, 'Call us what you want, dinosaur and brontosaurus, but at least join hands with us to educate the next generation.'' But Lakatos still crisscrosses the country to perform at venues large and small. On a hot summer evening, that journey took Lakatos to Terasa Florilor in Bucharest, a neighborhood joint whose owner takes pride in offering live music by local artists who perform on a stage made of wooden beams painted in vivid colors. The audience included those who came for the show and others attracted by the sausages, pork roast and Moldavian meatballs on the menu. A few danced and others took selfies as they enjoyed Lakatos' trademark 'Rock 'n' Rom' show, a mix of Elvis songs delivered in the Romani language, Romanian and English. The eclectic mix of languages can sometimes lead to surprises because there isn't always a literal translation for Elvis' 1950s American English. For example, 'Don't step on my blue suede shoes' doesn't make sense to many of the children he teaches because they are so poor, Lakatos said. In his version, the lyric Elvis made famous becomes simply 'don't step on my bare feet.' It's a message that Elvis — born in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Great Depression — probably would have understood.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Teacher fights discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis song at a time
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Tudor Lakatos is fighting discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis Presley song at a time. Decked out in a rhinestone shirt and oversized sunglasses, with his black hair slicked back into a 1950s-style quiff, Lakatos swivels his hips and belts out his own idiosyncratic versions of hits like 'Blue Suede Shoes' at venues throughout Romania. But don't call him an Elvis impersonator. Lakatos prefers to say that he 'channels' the King of rock 'n' roll's global appeal to break down stereotypes about the Roma and provide a positive role model for Roma children. 'I never wanted to get on stage, I didn't think about it,' Lakatos, 58, said after a recent gig at a restaurant in the capital, Bucharest. 'I only wanted one thing — to make friends with Romanians, to stop being called a Gypsy,″ he added, using an often derided term for people belonging to the Roma ethnic group. The Roma, an ethnic group that traces its roots to South Asia, have been persecuted across eastern Europe for centuries and are still associated with high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime. They account for about 7% of the population of Romania, where a fifth say they have faced discrimination in the past year, according to a recent survey by the European Union. Lakatos' quest to change that began in the early 1980s when he was an art student and Romania was ruled by the hard-line communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. At a time when anti-Roma discrimination was mainstream, Lakatos found that singing Elvis songs was a way to connect with ethnic Romanian students while rock music was a symbol of rebellion against the oppressive government. Four decades later, he's added a new audience. A school teacher for the past 25 years, Lakatos uses his music to show his students that they can aspire to something more than the dirt roads and horse driven carts of their village in northwestern Romania. 'The adjective Gypsy is used everywhere as a substitute for insult,' Lakatos said. 'We older people have gotten used to it, we can swallow it, we grew up with it. I have said many times, 'Call us what you want, dinosaur and brontosaurus, but at least join hands with us to educate the next generation.'' But Lakatos still crisscrosses the country to perform at venues large and small. On a hot summer evening, that journey took Lakatos to Terasa Florilor in Bucharest, a neighborhood joint whose owner takes pride in offering live music by local artists who perform on a stage made of wooden beams painted in vivid colors. The audience included those who came for the show and others attracted by the sausages, pork roast and Moldavian meatballs on the menu. A few danced and others took selfies as they enjoyed Lakatos' trademark 'Rock 'n' Rom' show, a mix of Elvis songs delivered in the Romani language, Romanian and English. The eclectic mix of languages can sometimes lead to surprises because there isn't always a literal translation for Elvis' 1950s American English. For example, 'Don't step on my blue suede shoes' doesn't make sense to many of the children he teaches because they are so poor, Lakatos said. In his version, the lyric Elvis made famous becomes simply 'don't step on my bare feet.' It's a message that Elvis — born in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Great Depression — probably would have understood.
The Australian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Australian
Ion Iliescu: democratic Romania's first president
Romania's former president Ion Iliescu, who died aged 95 on Tuesday, was long hailed as Romania's "little father" but faced charges over his role in the eastern European nation's chaotic transition from communism to democracy. The influential politician was last seen in public in 2017 when he was questioned by prosecutors. That probe related to his role in the violence during the fall of communism which led to more than 850 deaths and saw him face charges of crimes against humanity. - Fallout with Ceausescu regime - A communist party apparatchik born on March 3, 1930, Iliescu served as former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's minister for youth. But in the 1970s he fell into disgrace and was marginalised. He rose to power during the December 1989 anti-communist uprising that toppled Ceausescu, under circumstances that remain unclear, becoming the self-appointed leader of the National Salvation Front, an interim governing body. Iliescu then won a landslide victory in the country's first democratic elections in May 1990. He was reelected for a four-year term in 1992, but was defeated at the polls in 1996, only to return to power in 2000 for a third term -- the most allowed by the Constitution. During this last term Romania joined NATO in 2004 and signed the European Union accession treaty, with membership becoming effective in 2007. The former Moscow University graduate was elected to Romania's Senate in 2004 but did not run in subsequent elections, arguing that a secondary role in politics was more appropriate for a man his age. He nonetheless continued to be revered by many Romanians, especially in impoverished rural regions. His advice still counted when his Social Democratic Party -- -- a successor to the National Salvation Front -- was faced with major decisions. "Iliescu was a man of dialogue and not a bit confrontational. He would rather try to convince people than give orders," sociologist Vasile Dancu, a fellow Social Democrat who knew Iliescu well, told AFP. He said "consensus" was one of the former president's favourite words. - 'Canny politician' - "He was an affable, well-read man, who knew how to flatter people but who could also be manipulative," a former French ambassador to Romania, Henri Paul, told AFP. "A canny politician through and through." Iliescu never disavowed his hardline leftist views and blasted the "bloodsucking" western countries and international financial institutions. Over the past two decades, Iliescu had faced charges of crimes against humanity over the violence during the fall of communism. In a separate case, he was also indicted over the decision to call in miners to crush student protests after his election in 1990. The crackdown brought widespread international condemnation. But due to legal wranglings, Iliescu has not stood trial in either case. Iliescu has denied any wrongdoing, at one point describing it as "a disgrace for Romania to indict the head of state who played a major part in its democratisation". Though he was one of the few top-ranking Romanian politicians not to be suspected of illicit enrichment, high-level corruption flourished during his terms in office and analysts said the independence of the judiciary was often trampled on. "I'd rather be poor but honest than rich and a thief," he used to say. Iliescu, who spoke fluent English, French and Russian, was married with no children. His wife Nina was only seen in public when the couple went to the polls, once every four years. The government announced his death in a statement on Tuesday, after he was hospitalised with lung cancer in early June. It declared August 7 a day of national mourning in his memory. mr-ani-jza-kym/rlp
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Ion Iliescu: Romania's first democratic leader with a divisive legacy
Ion Iliescu, a figure whose name is intertwined with the tumultuous birth of modern Romania, has died at the age of 95. A career politician who shaped the country's transition from communism to democracy, he was both a beacon of hope and a deeply divisive presence in Romanian death on 5 August marks the end of a life spent at the heart of some of Romania's most dramatic and contentious moments."To understand Iliescu, you must grasp the complexity of Romania's 1990s," says political analyst Teodor Tita. "He was neither a simple hero, nor a straightforward villain. He embodied the contradictions of a country struggling to reinvent itself while haunted by its past."Iliescu rose to prominence amid the chaos of the December 1989 revolution, when decades of Nicolae Ceausescu's oppressive rule came to an abrupt and violent end. Initially hailed as the man who would lead Romania into a new democratic era, Iliescu's legacy soon became more complicated. Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu dies aged 95 His leadership steered the nation through its fragile early years of democracy and towards eventual integration with Nato and the European Union, achievements that many credit to his steady as Teodor Tita explains: "His presidency was also marked by moments that still scar Romania's collective memory - the suppression of protests in 1990, the violent Mineriads, and his apparent reluctance to fully break with the old communist structures. These events have left a shadow that lingers." Born on 3 March 1930 in the Danube town of Oltenita, Iliescu studied engineering in Moscow, Russia, during the Stalin era, where he became active in Romanian student political circles. His time in the Soviet Union would later fuel speculation – never proven – that he had ties with high-ranking communist figures, including Mikhail returning to Romania, Iliescu rose rapidly within the Communist Party, holding positions in propaganda and youth policy. But his reformist leanings eventually made him a target for Ceausescu, who marginalised him from the party's upper ranks. By the 1980s, Iliescu was out of politics and working as a director at a government-affiliated academic publishing re-emergence during the 1989 revolution, which lasted from 16-25 December, was seen by some as opportunistic, but to others, it was a stabilising presence amid chaos. As leader of the National Salvation Front (FSN), a political organisation that formed during the revolution, Iliescu became Romania's interim president and oversaw the rapid dismantling of Ceausescu's regime. On Christmas Day, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad after a trial at a military base that lasted two hours. In 1990, he won Romania's first democratic election in more than 50 years with a staggering 85% of the vote. But the campaign was marred by disinformation and state-aligned propaganda against liberal rivals. Later that year, Iliescu faced growing protests from students and opposition supporters. His now-infamous call for miners to descend on the capital to "restore order" led to days of brutal street violence known as the Mineriads, during which dozens were injured and several served another full term after winning the 1992 elections, then returned for a final presidency between 2000 and years followed the revolution. Deep-rooted and insidious influential figures, dating back to the communist era persisted, and Iliescu's presidency was marked by widespread argue that his reluctance to fully reform the justice system or confront the legacy of the Securitate – the feared secret police – allowed a culture of impunity to take root. More than three decades on from the revolution, Romania still struggles with political corruption and remains one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union – a reality that some trace back to Iliescu's later years in office saw progress on Romania's Western integration – including Nato membership and the closing of EU accession talks. There were also market reforms, allowing small businesses to open, and Romania adopted its first democratic constitution in 1991, which still shapes the country Iliescu remained dogged by questions over his role in the bloodshed of the early 1990s. In 2017, he was formally indicted for crimes against humanity in connection with both the 1989 revolution and the 1990 Mineriads. The legal proceedings dragged on for years without stepping down, Iliescu remained a respected figure within the Social Democratic Party (PSD), eventually being named honorary president. He largely withdrew from public life in his later years but occasionally posted political commentary on his personal blog. His final entry, in May 2025, congratulated President Nicusor Dan on his electoral Iliescu built Romania's democracy, Teodor Tita says, but he was "also a ruthless politician who wasn't afraid to incite violent conflicts between competing parts of the society"."As a politician, Iliescu was ruthless, skilful and always with an eye to history."
Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Former Romanian President Iliescu, who led free market transition, dies at 95
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Romania's former President Ion Iliescu, who led its transition from communism and set it on the path to European Union and NATO membership, but faced charges of crimes against humanity for violently suppressing protests in the 1990s, died on Tuesday aged 95. Iliescu had been admitted to hospital with lung cancer roughly two months ago. The government said he would receive a state funeral. "History will judge Ion Iliescu, the main figure of the 1990s transition," said current President Nicusor Dan. Iliescu went from a rising member of Romania's Communist Party to a leader of the bloody December 1989 revolution - which toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and led to his summary execution on Christmas Day - to become the first freely elected president. At the height of his popularity, Romanians were known to chant "The sun shines, Iliescu appears". But when student protests against him broke out in the capital Bucharest in June 1990, he called on coal miners, then politically influential, to put them down by force. After repeated failed attempts to investigate him, he was sent for trial at the start of this year on charges of crimes against humanity for his part in violence in which 20,000 miners entered the capital to crush peaceful anti-government protests. Four people were killed and hundreds injured. He always denied wrongdoing and was never convicted. Miners' riots throughout the 1990s hampered Romania's transition to a market economy and deterred badly needed foreign investment for years. Iliescu's critics have accused him of delaying the transitions, trying to block reform and protect the political heritage and ruling elite of the Communist system. But Iliescu was also the one who got all political parties to agree to support Romania's path to EU and NATO membership. It joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the EU in 2007. The founder of the leftist Social Democrat Party (PSD), to this day the country's largest, Iliescu is its only leader to have won three presidential elections. No other PSD leader has managed to win since his last term ended in 2004. "Ion Iliescu must be understood in the context of his time," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University. "He stirred anti-totalitarian sentiments in the 1990s, rightly so, but he was also the object of adulation by a large part of the population. "While he called miners to Bucharest and sealed the slow and uncertain transition, he also ... pushed Romania on a Euroatlantic path, such as it was understood at the time." He is survived by his wife Nina. The government has declared August 7 a day of national mourning.
