Ion Dumitrache (16 December 1950 – 2 April 2021), artistically and commonly known as Nelu Ploieșteanu, was a Romanian lăutar, singer and

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r of

lăutărească music Lăutărească music (, ) is a musical tradition widespread in the historical regions of Romania (Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania. Its performers, known as lăutari, are professional musicians, typically of Romani origin, who play at wedding ...

. He was born on 16 December 1950 in Ciorani, in the (now in the

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

), in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Already at age 6, he played the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, and at age 17, he played music for money for the first time on a piano at a wedding. He moved to

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 ...

in 1970 and worked for 6 months at the Ion Vasilescu Magazine Theater. His artistic career expanded in 1979 when Dumitrache went on a tour to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. After this, more tours to countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain followed. He went on a final international tour in Germany in 1996 and, after that, he stayed in

. Dumitrache released a total of 30 albums during his lifetime. He also collaborated with famous actors such as

Gheorghe Dinică Gheorghe Dinică (; 1 January 1934 – 10 November 2009) was a Romanian actor. Career Dinică showed an early interest in acting, being part of different amateur theater troupes since he was 17. In 1957, he entered The National Institute of Thea ...

or Ștefan Iordache and sang for the Ceaușescu family and for the former

Presidents of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...

and

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

. Ion Dumitrache was married to Elena Dumitrache, with whom he had four daughters and one son. The latter was Mihăiță Dumitrache, who suffered from spastic quadriplegia and died on 21 April 2018 at the age of 32. Dumitrache sang publicly for the last time on 8 March 2021, in Slănic-Moldova. After this, he was hospitalized at the Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest after being diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and died there on 2 April. His family claimed that the hospital had mistreated Dumitrache and left him "like a dog", saying they intended to sue the hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploiesteanu, Nelu 1950 births 2021 deaths People from Prahova County 20th-century Romanian male singers 21st-century Romanian male singers Romanian fiddlers Lăutari and lăutărească music Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania