Dorin Tudoran (born June 30, 1945) is a
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n poet,
essayist
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, and
dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...
. A resident of the United States since 1985, he has authored more than fifteen books of poetry, essays, and interviews.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
, he attended the
Mihai Viteazul High School in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, graduating in 1963. He pursued his studies at the Faculty of Languages and Literature of the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
, obtaining a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree in 1968. Tudoran made his debut in 1973 with a volume of poetry, ''Mic tratat de glorie''. He was an editor at ''
Flacăra
''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania.
History and profile
''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and ...
'' (1973–1974) and ''
Luceafărul'' (1974–1980). From 1977 to 1981, he belonged to the ruling council of 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 taking ...
. In March 1982, he resigned from the
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...
(an extremely rare act at the time).
[ András Bozóki, ''Intellectuals and Politics in Central Europe'', New York: ]Central European University Press
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...
, 1999.
On April 7, 1984, Tudoran asked to emigrate from
Communist Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...
, together with his family. Denied a response, he wrote a letter on August 1, 1984 to
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...
. After being threatened with legal proceedings, he started a
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
on April 25, 1985, asking for an audience at the
U.S. Embassy in Bucharest. The hunger strike lasted for 42 days. In response to pleas from
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
groups, he was allowed to leave Romania for the United States, on July 24, 1985, the same day as dissident priest
Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa
Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa (November 23, 1925 – November 21, 2006) was a Romanian priest and dissident.
Beginning with his teens, Calciu-Dumitreasa was involved in the activity of the fascist Iron Guard (also known as the "Legionary Movement ...
.
In the United States
In the United States, Tudoran founded and ran two magazines, ''Agora'' (funded by the
Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world as well a ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, 1987–1992) and ''Meridian'' (
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, 1990–1991), and worked as an international broadcaster at the
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
. He was also a guest lecturer at the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
(1986), and a research fellow at
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...
(1987).
[Biography](_blank)
at IFES He then started working for the
International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), a Washington, D.C.-based organization. From 2004 to January 2007, Tudoran was editor in chief of ''Democracy at Large'', a publication of that organization; currently, he is Senior Director for Communications and Research at IFES.
He is a frequent editorialist, commentator and analyst in a wide variety of international media outlets, including ''
The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour
''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events.
Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the prog ...
'', ''20 Minutes'',
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, ''
International Herald Tribune
The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
'', ''
Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...
'', ''
Journal of Democracy
The ''Journal of Democracy'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1990 and an official publication of the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies. It covers the study of democracy, democratic regimes ...
'', ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'', ''
Orbis'', ''
The Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'', ''
El País
''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
'',
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...
, ''
Kontinent
''Kontinent'' was an émigré dissident journal which focused on the politics of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Founded in 1974 by writer Vladimir Maximov,Tatyana ShvetsovaAfter word to the epoch of Nikita Khrushchev
PAUL GRAY. THE SEVEN D ...
'',
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
. He helped launch two
Moldova)—and serves on their boards of directors.
''. In July 2006, Camelia Voiculescu, the owner of the newspaper, asked for his resignation, following an editorial in which Tudoran criticized her father,
. Since August, 2006, Tudoran is an editorialist for ''
''.
A part of Tudoran's Securitate file was published in Romania in 2010 under the title ''Eu, fiul lor'' (English: ''I, Their Son''), just around 500 pages among the nearly 10,000 pages in his file found in the
archives.
Tudoran won the Writers' Union of Romania prize in 1973, 1977, and 1998; the grand prize of the Professional Writers' Association – ASPRO in 1998; the Writers' Union of the Republic of Moldova prize in 1998; the prize "Superlativele anului" from ''Cuvîntul'' in 1998; and the ALA prize in 2001.
In 2020, in honor of his 75 birthday,
, Knight rank.
, the Romanian-American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Writers' Union of Romania; he is also an Associate Scholar with the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
On March 25, 2005, he was conferred the title of "Citizen of Honor" by the Municipal Council of Timișoara.