Anneli Ute Gabanyi (born 18 October 1942) is a German political scientist, literary critic, journalist, and philologist of Romanian background, especially known for her research on the society and culture of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

period in Romania and the Romanian Revolution of 1989. A former main analyst for Südost-Institut in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, she is an associate researcher for the German Institute for International and Security Issues (''Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik'') in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

.Profile at Polirom.ro

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

to a Transylvanian Saxon family of partly Hungarian heritage, she completed secondary studies in her parents' native town of

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

."Falimentul Cortinei de Fier" (interview with Anneli Ute Gabanyi)
, in '' 22'', 18 August 2006. As a former trader, her father was subjected to restrictions by Communist authorities, and the Gabanyi family residence in the Sub Arini area was confiscated by the state. Gabanyi studied Philology and Political Science at the University of Cluj, and later at the Université d'Auvergne and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She received a PhD in Philology from the Helmut Schmidt University in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. In 1963, Gabanyi and her family were allowed, as ethnic Germans, to reunite with their relatives living in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

(all of whom had retreated with the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

from

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). According to Anneli Ute Gabanyi, this was made possible by the efforts of her father, who had profited from '' détente'' in German-Romanian relations. They settled in

, where she became an analyst for

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

(1969); she was head of the station's Romanian Research Section until 1987. She has frequently visited her native country after the Revolution, and is a regular contributor to '' Sfera Politicii''.

Works

*''Partei und Literatur in Rumänien seit 1945'', München: R. Oldenbourg, 1975. *''Die unvollendete Revolution: Rumänien zwischen Diktatur und Demokratie'', München: Piper, 1990. *''Systemwechsel in Rumänien: von der Revolution zur Transformation'', München: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1998. * ''The Ceaușescu cult: propaganda and power policy in communist Romania'', Bucharest: Editura Fundației Culturale Române, 2000. *''Vom Baltikum bis zum Schwarzen Meer. Transformationsstaaten im östlichen Europa'', with Klaus Schroeder, München: Bayerische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildungsarbeit, 2002

Honours

* Romanian Royal Family: 56th Knight of the Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House

References

External links

Profile and essays at ''Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabanyi, Anneli Ute 1942 births Living people Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Cold War historians 21st-century German essayists 20th-century German historians 21st-century German historians German journalists German literary critics German women literary critics German philologists German political scientists Romanian people of Hungarian descent Romanian women journalists German women journalists Writers from Bucharest Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people German people of German-Romanian descent Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian historians 21st-century Romanian historians Romanian journalists Romanian literary critics Romanian literary historians Romanian philologists Romanian political scientists Romanian women writers Romanian women literary critics Transylvanian Saxon people Romanian women essayists Women military writers German women historians 21st-century German women writers 20th-century German women writers Women literary historians Helmut Schmidt University alumni Women political scientists