Octavian Paler ( or ; July 2, 1926 – May 7, 2007) was a

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 ...

n writer, journalist, politician in

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

, and

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.post-1989 Romania.

Education

Paler was born in

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Transylvania, Romania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian language, Hungari ...

. He was educated at Spiru Haret High School 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 ...

. In the summer of 1944, one week before graduating the 7th grade, he was forced to leave the school because of an argument with his uncle and Spiru Haret's school headmaster George Șerban. Octavian Paler moved on to Radu Negru High School in

Făgăraș Făgăraș (; , ) is a municipiu, city in central Romania, located in Brașov County. It lies on the Olt (river), Olt River and has a population of 26,284 as of 2021. It is situated in the historical region of Transylvania, and is the main city of ...

, where he studied literature for his final examination. He graduated in 1945 with

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and outstanding results in philosophy,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. He sat the

final examination An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

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 ...

in the same year. Paler went on to study Philosophy and Law at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

between 1945 and 1949.

Political activity

Paler was a substitute member in the Central Committee of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

from 1974 to 1979, and a member of the Great National Assembly for the Vaslui constituency from 1980 to 1985. However, he was persecuted by the Romanian secret service agency, the

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

, because of his pro-western views and criticism of Romanian Communist Party, including

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

. He was not allowed to leave his home and suffered restrictions in his artistic work. After the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

and the fall of Ceaușescu in 1989, Paler continued his anti-communist activity as a founding member of the Group for Social Dialogue ('' Grupul de Dialog Social''), together with

Ana Blandiana Ana Blandiana (; pen name of Otilia Valeria Coman; born 25 March 1942) is a Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure. She took her name after Blandiana, near Vințu de Jos, Alba County, her mother's home village. In October 2017, she was ...

and

Gabriel Liiceanu Gabriel Liiceanu (; b. May 23, 1942, Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian philosopher. He graduated from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosoph ...

amongst others. During his last years he was an intense critic of Romanian politicians and politics.

Journalism

The bulk of his career occurred during the Communist regime, as journalist at the Romanian Radio from 1949 to 1961, vice-president of the Romanian Radio and TV Broadcasting committee from 1965 to 1970, and president of the Romanian Journalists Council in 1976. He worked as a Senior Editor at the influential newspaper ''

România Liberă Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, 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 the east, and the Black Sea t ...

'' from 1970 to 1983. After 1989, Paler received public appreciation for his journalistic work and political activism and was appointed as the chief editor of ''România Liberă''. He also published with ''

Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian-language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern E ...

'' and ''

Ziua ''Ziua'' ('', The Day'') was a major Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. It was published in Romanian, with a fairly sizeable and often informative English section. ''Ziua'' was founded in 1994 by , eventually becoming foreign-owned ...

'', and made appearances on public TV discussing politics and morality.

Death

Paler died of a heart attack on May 7, 2007 at the age of 80, and was buried with military honours in the Sfânta Vineri Cemetery in Bucharest. '' Conversations with Octavian Paler'' was published by Daniel Cristea-Enache days after his death. In his memory, a street in

, the school in his native village,

, and the municipal library in Făgăraș bear his name.

Bibliography

* ''Umbra cuvintelor'' (Shadow Of Words) – 1970 * ''Drumuri prin memorie I (Egipt, Grecia)'' (Roads Through Memory I – Egypt, Greece) – 1972 * ''Drumuri prin memorie II (Italia)'' (Roads Through Memory II – Italy) – 1974 * ''Mitologii subiective'' (Subjective Mythologies) – 1975 * ''Apărarea lui Galilei'' (Galileo's Defense) – 1978 * ''Scrisori imaginare'' (Imaginary Letters) – 1979 * ''Caminante'' – 1980 * ''Viața pe un peron'' (Life On A Station Platform) – 1981 * ''Polemici cordiale'' (Cordial Polemics) - 1983 * ''Un om norocos'' (A Lucky Man) - 1984 * ''Un muzeu in labirint'' (A Museum in the labyrinth) - 1986 - (renamed by the author as "Eul detestabil"-"The detestable I" after 1995) * ''Viața ca o coridă'' (Life As A Bullfight) - 1987 * ''Don Quijote în est'' (Don Quixote In The East) - 1993 * ''Vremea întrebărilor'' (Time Of Questions) - 1995 * ''Aventuri solitare'' (Solitary Adventures) - 1996 * ''Deșertul pentru totdeauna'' (Desert Forever) - 2001 * ''Autoportret într-o oglindă spartă'' (Self-Portrait In A Broken Mirror) – 2004 * ''Calomnii mitologice'' (Mythological Slander) – 2007 * ''Caminante. '' (Caminante. A Mexican Diary And Counter-Diary) – 2010 (second edition) * ''Eul detestabil'' (The Repugnant Self) - 2010 * ''Rugați-vă să nu vă crească aripi'' (Pray That You Don't Grow Wings) - 2010 * ''Definitions'' (poetry) 2011 also published into English by

Istros Books Istros books is a London-based independent publisher of writers from South-East Europe and the Balkans, in English translation. It was set up in 2011 by Susan Curtis. Publications Notable publications include: *''Doppelgänger'' by Daša Drndić ...

London.

Trivia

Octavian Paler came in 93rd in a

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Forms of voting and counting * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling pla ...

conducted by

Romanian Television Televiziunea Română (), more commonly referred to as TVR , is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune ("Romanian Television Society"; SRTV), the Romanian public television. It operates nine channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TV ...

to find the "greatest Romanians of all time" in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paler, Octavian 1926 births 2007 deaths People from Brașov County Radu Negru National College alumni University of Bucharest alumni Romanian writers Romanian newspaper editors Members of the Great National Assembly Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian anti-communists Romanian dissidents Romanian activists Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania Burials at Sfânta Vineri Cemetery