Sorin Lavric (born 27 November 1967) is 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, philosopher and politician. Having started studying medicine in 1987, Lavric later began studying philosophy as well. Subsequently, as he did not want to be a physician, he focused entirely on philosophy. Lavric finished his university studies in 1996 and obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 2005. Lavric has written several books. He has made in the past numerous comments that have been deemed as

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...

that have provoked his expulsion from the

Writers' Union of Romania The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by takin ...

. Despite this, he has affirmed that he is not a misogynist. Lavric eventually became a politician "to confront the

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and political class of Romania". He joined the

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

(AUR), of which he is the President of the Senate. Lavric was also the proposed

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of the AUR for the

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

Biography

Sorin Lavric was born in 1967 in

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...

Socialist Republic of 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 ...

. He studied medicine at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy between 1987 and 1993. Afterwards, he did an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

at the Brăila County Hospital, which included 3 months of

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

. In 1990, he enrolled at the Faculty of Philosophy of 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 ...

, having had to repeat one year because of his internship and graduating in 1996. According to him, he only studied medicine because at that time (1987), during the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

period of Romania, it was not worth studying philosophy. After his internship, Lavric realized he disliked medicine and had to choose between becoming a physician and not being able to aspire to be a philosopher or giving up medicine. Lavric chose the latter option and had to be supported by his wife for 2 years. After completing his studies in 1996, he was offered in 1997 a job as an editor at the publishing house

Humanitas (from the Latin , "human") is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word corresponded to the Greek concepts of (loving ...

by the Romanian philosopher

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 ...

. In 2005, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Bucharest. Liiceanu, who was coordinator in Lavric's thesis for the doctorate, has expressed surprise at his posterior controversial comments, saying that it is as if Lavric had undergone "a personality substitution operation", "as in science fiction movies". Lavric has written several books, such as ''Cartea de Crăciun'' ("Christmas Book", 1997), ''Ontologia lui Noica. O exegeză'' (" Noica's ontology. An exegesis", 2005) and ''Noica și Mișcarea Legionară'' ("Noica and the Legionary Movement", 2007). He has also done several translations.

Ideology and political career

Lavric has made several comments characterized as racist,

and

; these have given him a certain notoriety in the past. In his book ''Decoct de femeie'' ("Decoction of women"), he wrote that "no man seeks in women cleverness, depth, or lucidity". He has also described the

Roma people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

(Gypsies) as a "social plague". In an interview, Lavric denied being a misogynist and explained his thoughts and declarations, stating that "I cannot say that a woman excels in logical thinking, especially in philosophical skills". Furthermore, Lavric has admitted being a

misanthrope Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the Human, human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitu ...

. Because of his comments, the

expelled him from the association and from the position of editor in the magazine ''

România literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...

''. In the same interview, which was posterior to this event, Lavric said he was surprised when he heard about this as it was not directly communicated to him and that he felt "hit" by his own teammates. He added that he did not feel resentful for this. Lavric joined the

(AUR) because, according to him, he was against the

corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

attitudes of the political class and because he coincided with the thoughts of

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (; born 21 September 1986) is a Romanian politician and civic activist. He is the founder and chairman of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in both houses of parliament since 2024 Rom ...

and

Claudiu Târziu Claudiu Richard Târziu (born 20 February 1973) is a Romanian right-wing politician and journalist. Together with George Simion, he was the co-president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), a political party in Romania that gained ...

, then the co-presidents of the AUR. He also stated that he was

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

and supported

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, but opposed a European "federal superstate run ..from

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

". In an interview with Simion and Târziu, they said that Lavric (and the AUR) did not hate women or support misogynistic ideas. Lavric was the proposed

of the AUR for the

in 2020. Currently, he is the President of the Senate of the AUR.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavric, Sorin 1967 births Living people People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin 20th-century Romanian male writers 21st-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian philosophers 21st-century Romanian philosophers Romanian translators Alliance for the Union of Romanians politicians Members of the Senate of Romania Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy alumni University of Bucharest alumni