Șerban Rădulescu-Zoner (May 29, 1929 – March 14, 2012) was a Romanian historian and politician. Born in Bucharest, Rădulescu-Zoner was active in the National Liberal Youth from 1945 to 1947. While a student at Cantemir Vodă High School,“8 noiembrie 1945 - ultima mare demonstraţie pro regalistă şi anticomunistă din Bucureşti”
Rador, October 25, 2011 he participated in the pro-monarchist demonstrations of February 11 and November 8, 1945. During the 1946 election campaign, he put up posters and distributed flyers.“A murit Şerban Rădulescu-Zoner”
''Observator Cultural'', March 15, 2012 In 1948, after the onset of the communist regime, he became a fugitive, hiding for eleven years. Sabina Fati
“In memoriam: Şerban Rădulescu Zoner (1929-2012)”
Radio Europa Liberă Moldova, March 14, 2012 Arrested in 1959, he was sentenced to ten years at hard labor for the political offense of “conspiracy against the social order”. He passed through the prisons at Ploiești,

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

and Jilava, as well as the forced labor camps at Salcia, Stoienești and Strâmba around the Brăila Pond. He was released by decree in 1962, after which he refused any collaboration with the Securitate secret police. He even declined to sign the customary release paper by which former prisoners promised to work with the authorities, instead throwing it into the official's face and asking to be sent back to prison. Rădulescu-Zoner held a doctorate from the University of Bucharest. Joining the Nicolae Iorga Historical Institute, he was fired in 1975, during the cultural revolution of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime, and sent to the

National Museum of Romanian History The National History Museum of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times. The mus ...

. Rodica Palade
“In memoriam Șerban Rădulescu-Zoner (1929-2012)”
''Revista 22'', March 20, 2012 He was restored to the institute in 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, remaining until 1996. Meanwhile, he re-entered politics, serving two terms in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

from 1992 to 2000. He first represented the Romanian Democratic Convention and then the National Liberal Party, which he quit near the end of his time in office, refusing to work with “opportunistic” colleagues such as

Valeriu Stoica Valeriu Stoica (; born 1 October 1953, Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romanian politician and academic. A professor of civil law at the University of Bucharest, he became a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 1990, and ...

. From 2001 to 2007, he headed the Civic Alliance Foundation. Politically,

lustration Lustration is the purge of government officials in Central and Eastern Europe. Various forms of lustration were employed in post-communist Europe. Etymology Lustration in general is the process of making something clear or pure, usually by m ...

of former communist officials was a priority for Rădulescu-Zoner. As a historian, he attempted to understand what happened to Romania and its people after falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. His late work, ''A fost un destin. Amintiri, marturii, dezvaluiri'' (2003), a memoir spanning over 500 pages, chronicled his life story. It included fragments of his Securitate file, and lists of those who had denounced, beaten, harassed as well as helped and sheltered him. Other books include: ''România și Tripla Alianță. 1878-1914'' (co-author, 1979); ''Dunărea, Marea Neagră și Puterile Centrale: 1878-1898'' (1982); ''Bucureștii în anii primului război mondial'' (co-authored, 1993); ''Instaurarea totalitarismului comunist în România'' (co-authored, 1995); and ''Scrieri politice. 1990-2006'' (2007). Ovidiu Pecican
“O profesie pentru conştiinţe”
''Observator Cultural'', April 27, 2012

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radulescu-Zoner, Serban 1929 births 2012 deaths Politicians from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni 20th-century Romanian historians Romanian memoirists Romanian activists Romanian anti-communists National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Fugitives wanted by Romania Romanian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Romania 21st-century Romanian historians