Stelian Tănase (born February 17, 1952) is a Romanian writer, journalist, political analyst, and

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

host. Tănase was from November 2013 to October 2015 the president of TVR. Having briefly engaged in politics during the early 1990s, after the fall of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, he has remained a leading figure of the Romanian

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.22'' magazine in January 1990 and was its first editor-in-chief. A founding member of both the

Group for Social Dialogue The ''Group for Social Dialogue'' ( ro, Grupul pentru Dialog Social, GDS) is a Romanian non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to protect and promote democracy, human rights and civil liberties. It was founded in January 1990 and is ...

and the Civic Alliance, Stelian Tănase was the latter's vice-president between 1991 and 1993. In 1992, he founded ''

Sfera Politicii ''Sfera Politicii'' ( for "The Political Sphere") is a monthly political science magazine, published in Romania since 1991. History and profile ''Sfera Politicii'' was first published in December 1991. The magazine is based in Bucharest. Its artic ...

''; he is a managing editor of both, as well as a regular contributor to various Romanian newspapers. Over the years, he was the host of several talk shows (''2 plus 1'' and ''Orient express'' for

Antena 1 Antena 1 may refer to: * Antena 1 (Portugal), a Portuguese radio station *Antena 1 (Romania) Antena 1 () is a Romanian free-to-air television network owned by the Antena TV Group, part of the Intact Media Group. Its programming consists of tel ...

; ''Maşina de tocat'' for

TVR 1 TVR 1 (; spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 1'', "Romanian Television 1") is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR. The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is ("The news journal as it should ...

; ''Zece şi un sfert'', ''Zece fix'', ''Tănase şi Dinescu'', and ''3 X 3'' for

Realitatea TV Realitatea TV (, meaning "The Reality TV") is the former name of the Romanian news television channel Realitatea Plus. The channel began broadcasting in 2001 as a general-profile television and became the first Romanian news television in 2002. I ...

). Tănase is also vocal in the campaign to declassify all files kept in

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

archives; in March 2002, he invited on his talk show a discussion his best friend, after it was revealed that the latter had been a Securitate

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

who regularly furnished information on Tănase himself.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, he graduated from the

local university Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by local government units in the Philippines. A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipality, city, or a province that puts up a post-sec ...

's Faculty of Philosophy in 1977. Before 1989, two out of his first three books were banned by the Communist regime

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

apparatus. Tănase became a public figure soon after the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

: in 1990, he was one of the main organizers of Piata Universitatii marathon protest, '' Golaniada'', the protest movement against former members of 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 ...

who had gained power during the Revolution. After July 1991, Tănase sided with the group inside the Civic Alliance that called for the organization's transformation into a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. As a member of the newly created Civic Alliance Party inside the opposition alliance (the

Romanian Democratic Convention The Romanian Democratic Convention ( ro, Convenţia Democrată Română or Convenția Democratică Română; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-Communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties ...

), he was elected to 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 ...

for the 1992–1996 legislature, representing the city of Bucharest. He was vice-president of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs (until April 1995) and member of the Special Committee for the Advancing a Legislative Proposal Regarding the Functioning of Political Parties. In 2006, he was chosen member of the

Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania The Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania ( ro, Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România), also known as the Tismăneanu Commission (''Comisia Tismăneanu''), was a commissio ...

by its president,

Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...

. The Commission was founded by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

in order to provide for an official and academic basis for condemning the Romanian communist regime. This took place on December 18, 2006, when the President presented the Commission's 660 pages report to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, making Romania the first

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

country to officially condemn its communist regime.

Academia

In 1996, he was granted a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in political sociology by the University of Bucharest. A

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Sociology Department in 1997, he currently teaches at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Political Sciences. Tănase was the recipient of several fellowships: he was Visiting Short-Term Fellow (1993) and Visiting Scholar (1994) at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...

, granted a Visiting Short Term Collaborative research project at the

(with

Gail Kligman Gail may refer to: People *Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name Surname * Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar * Max Gail (born 1943), American actor * Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...

in 1996); a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, post-Ph.D. grant,

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

(1997); Visiting Short Term Scholar at the

Holocaust Memorial Museum A number of organizations, museums and monuments are intended to serve as memorials to the Holocaust, the Nazi Final Solution, and its millions of victims. Memorials and museums listed by country: __NOTOC__ A - D: AlbaniaArgentina AustraliaAus ...

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, ...

(1998). He has held conferences in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, and also at prestigious American universities: the University of California, Los Angeles, the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, and

Works

Novels

* 1982 - ''Luxul melancoliei'' ("The Luxury of Melancholy"); 2 nd ed. 1993 * 1990 - ''Corpuri de iluminat'' ("Lighting Bodies"), written 1985-1987; 2 nd ed. 1998, 3 rd ed. 2004 * 1995 - ''Playback''; 2 nd ed. 2004 * 2008 - ''Maestro'' * 2010 - "Dracul şi Mumia" ("The Old Nick and the Mummy) * 2011 - "Moartea unui dansator de tango" ("The death of the tango dancer"), translated into Italian and Spanish * 2012 - "Skepsis. Cartea cu Poveşti". * 2017 - "Nocturna cu vampir Opus 1". ("Nocturne with a Vampire opus no. 1") * 2018 - "Partida de vânătoare" ("The Hunting")

Studies and essays

* 1993 - ''Şocuri şi crize'' ("Shocks and Crises"), collected political articles * 1995 - ''Ora oficială de iarnă'' ("Official Winter Time"), diary 1986–1990 * 1996 - ''Sfidarea memoriei. Convorbiri cu Alexandru Paleologu'' ("Defying Memory. Conversations with

Alexandru Paleologu Alexandru Paleologu (; March 14, 1919 – September 2, 2005) was a Romanian essayist, literary critic, diplomat, and politician. He is the father of historian Theodor Paleologu. Biography Paleologu was born in Bucharest, into an ancient Romanian ...

") * 1996 - ''Revoluţia ca eşec. Elite şi societate'' ("Revolution as Failure. Elites and Society"), political studies * 1997 - ''Anatomia mistificării. Procesul Noica-Pillat'' ("Anatomy of Mystification. The Noica- Pillat Trial") * 1998 - ''LA vs NY. Jurnal american'' ("LA vs NY. American Diary") * 1998 - ''Elite şi societate. Guvernarea Gheorghiu-Dej (1948–1965)'' ("Elites and Society. The Gheorghiu-Dej Government") * 1999 - ''Miracolul revoluţiei. O istorie politică a căderii regimurilor comuniste'' ("The Miracle of Revolution. A Political History of the Fall of Communist Regimes") * 2002 - ''Acasă se vorbeşte în şoaptă, Dosar & jurnal din anii târzii ai dictaturii'' ("At Home There is Only Speaking in a Whisper: File and Diary Recording in the Late Years of the Romanian Dictatorship"); contains excerpts from his file at the political police

* 2004 - ''Zei şi semizei la început de secol'' ("Gods and Demigods at the Dawn of the Century") * 2005 - ''Clienţii lu' tanti Varvara. Poveşti clandestine'' ( "Aunt Varvara's Clients. Clandestine Stories"), translated into English and Spanish * 2017 - "Dinastia" ( "The Dynasty") * 2018 - "Conversaţii cu Regele Mihai" ("Talking with King Michael")

Filmography

Directed

* 1991 - ''Piaţa Univesităţii - România'' (" University Square - Romania"), documentary

Screenplays

* 1999 - ''Asaltul cerului'' ("The Siege of the Sky"), documentary for

; 6 episodes * 2000 - '' Struma'', documentary for Antena 1 * 2004 - ''Vizionarii'' ("The Foreseers"), portraits of 19th and 20th century Romanian politicians (

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on October 11, 1863, ...

Ion Brătianu An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

Nicolae Titulescu Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms president of the General Assembly of the League of Nations (1930–32). Early ye ...

Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the Un ...

), documentary for

; 5 episodes * 2004 - ''Istoria alegerilor în România secolului XX'' ("The History of Elections in 20th century Romania"), documentary for Realitatea TV; 6 episodes * 2006 - ''Dinastia'' ("The Dynasty"), portraits of the four kings of the Romanians, documentary for the Romanian Television Company; 21 episodes

Honours

Romanian Royal Family The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...

: Knight of the Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House

References

External links

''The Renegade Istrati'', excerpt from ''Aunt Varvara's Clients'', translated by Alistair Ian Blyth

Biography
at the

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and a ...

site
''Sfera politicii''

Interview in ''Cariere'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanase, Stelian 1952 births Living people Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Television people from Bucharest Romanian political journalists Romanian film directors Romanian magazine editors Romanian memoirists Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian political scientists Romanian screenwriters Romanian television personalities University of Bucharest alumni University of Bucharest faculty Male screenwriters Male essayists