Nicolae Carandino (19 July 1905 – 16 February 1996) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n journalist, pamphleteer, translator, dramatist, and politician. He was born in Brăila into a family of intellectuals, the son of a Romanian mother and Greek father. After completing

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Brăila in 1923, he went to study at 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 ...

, graduating in 1926. He then pursued his graduate studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

for three years, during which time he married Lilly Carandino. Upon his return to Romania, he was editor in chief of '' Facla'' (a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

publication run by N. D. Cocea), and a collaborator or editor at various other publications, including ''Credința'', ''Reporter'', ''

Azi ''Azi'' (''Today'' in Romanian) is a Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. The paper was started in 1990. Today was also the name of a literary magazine published monthly in Romania, from March 1932 to August 1938, under the directio ...

'', and ''Floarea de Foc''. Between 1938 and 1944, he served as Vice-President of the Journalists' Union. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, soon after the Legionnaires' Rebellion, Carandino became director of the

National Theatre Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gra ...

, replacing Haig Acterian (who had been arrested for his Iron Guard membership). Because of his opposition to the authoritarian regime of Ion Antonescu, he was imprisoned in 1942 in a penitentiary camp near

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...

. A member of the

National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...

, he was, from 1944 to 1947, the editor of its newspaper, ''

Dreptatea ''Dreptatea'' was a Romanian newspaper that appeared between 17 October 1927 and 17 July 1947, as a newspaper of the National Peasants' Party. It was re-founded on February 5, 1990 as a publication of the Christian-Democratic National Peasants' P ...

''. During the period, he was also appointed by his political grouping to the board of the new Journalists' Union, and became a member of a committee charged with purging supporters of former far right regimes from the press (the committee was dominated by Romanian Communist Party members, and presided over by Emil Socor). Carandino was one of the four politicians who were part of the National Peasants' Party leadership designated by party leader

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 U ...

to leave the country and create a credible and competent nucleus of Romanian anti-Communist resistance in

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

, a move which resulted in the

Tămădău Affair The Tămădău affair ( ro, Afacerea Tămădău, ''Înscenarea de la Tămădău'' – "the Tămădău frameup" – or ''Fuga de la Tămădău'' – "the Tămădău flight") was an incident that took place in Romania in the summer of 1947. It was t ...

and their arrest on the morning of July 14, 1947. Of the defendants tried alongside Maniu, he was the last survivor. After this trial, he was sentenced to six years' hard labour and two years' loss of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, his property was confiscated and he had to pay 1,000 lei in court fees. He was incarcerated at Galați and at the notorious

Sighet Prison The Sighet prison, located in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Maramureș County, Romania, was used by Romania to hold criminals, prisoners of war, and political prisoners. It is now the site of the Sighet Memorial Museum, part of the Memorial ...

, and then sent under forced domicile in the Bărăgan Plain, in the villages Bumbăcari and Rubla, being freed only in 1964. After the

Romanian Revolution 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 ...

against 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 ...

, when ''Dreptatea'' resumed publication in 1990, he became its honorary director. That year, he was also made honorary member of the revived National Peasants' Party. Carandino, who was a gifted columnist, relates an interesting anecdote in his memoirs: a young man reproached Carandino for not helping him; he replied: "I can help someone, but I can't replace him." He added, "I'm an old man now; going down the road of life I can see the end. When I turn back and look, I wonder why, if my own future is brief, others aren't coming up the road? Where are those who ought to be coming?" He died at Hospital nr. 10 "Sf. Sava" in Bucharest. After a service at , he was buried in Străulești Cemetery on February 21, 1996.

Writings

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References

External links

* Gabriel Țepelea
"Evocarea personalității lui Nicolae Carandino" ("Evoking the Personality of Nicolae Carandino")
address at the Assembly of Deputies of Romania, February 20, 1996 * Ioana Diaconescu, , in ''

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 o ...

'', nr. 4, February 1–7, 2006, available from ''România Culturală'' * Silviu Brucan
"Pedeapsa trebue să fie maximă!" ("The Penalty Must be the Maximum One!")
article of November 10, 1947, republished by '' Adevărul'' * Mihai Petrovici
"Centenar Nicolae Carandino" ("The Nicolae Carandino Centennial")
in '' Cronica Română'', July 26, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Carandino, Nicolae 1905 births 1996 deaths People from Brăila Chairpersons of the National Theatre Bucharest Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp National Peasants' Party politicians 20th-century Romanian politicians Romanian columnists Romanian dramatists and playwrights Romanian essayists Romanian memoirists Romanian newspaper editors Romanian trade unionists Romanian translators 20th-century translators 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists 20th-century memoirists University of Bucharest alumni Inmates of Sighet prison People detained by the Securitate