Sorin Lavric (born 27 November 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. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romanian writer, philosopher and politician. Having started studying medicine in 1987, Lavric later began studying philosophy as well. Posteriorly, 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 over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, homophobic and misogynistic 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 taking ...

. 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 which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and political class of Romania". He joined the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (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 chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the AUR for the Neamț County.

Biography

Sorin Lavric was born in 1967 in

, Romania. He studied medicine at the

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy ( ro, Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Carol Davila”) or University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, commonly known by the abbreviation UMFCD, is a public health sciences university i ...

between 1987 and 1993. The following year, he did an internship at the Brăila County Hospital, which included 3 months of

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

. However, in 1990, he also started studying philosophy and joined in 1991 at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. According to him, he only studied medicine because at that time (1987), during the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

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. He completed his studies on 1996 and was offered in 1997 a job as an editor at the publishing house

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' 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 ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

by the Romanian philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu. In 2005, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy. 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 movie Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

s". Lavric has written several books, such as ''Cartea de Craciun'' ("Christmas Book", 1997), ''Ontologia lui Noica. O exegeza'' ("

Noica Constantin Noica (; – 4 December 1987) was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and lo ...

'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, homophobic and misogynistic; 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 (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. Because of his comments, the

expelled him from the association and from the position of editor in the magazine '' România literară''. 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 Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) because, according to him, he was against the corrupt attitudes of the political class and because he coincided with the thoughts of

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (born 21 September 1986 in Focșani, Romania) is a Romanian right-wing to far-right politician and civic activist. He is the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), a political party in Romania that ...

and

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

, then the co-presidents of the AUR. He also stated that he was pro-European and supported NATO, but opposed a European "federal superstate run ..from Brussels". 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 Neamț County 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 Controversies in Romania