Andrei Gabriel Pleșu (; born 23 August 1948) is a

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

n philosopher, essayist, journalist, literary and art critic. He has been intermittently involved in politics, having been appointed

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

(1989–1991), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999) and presidential counsellor for external affairs (2004–2005).

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, the son of Radu Pleșu, a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and Zoe Pleșu (born Rădulescu), he spent much of his early youth in the countryside. He started school in

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...

, but attended the village school in Pârscov, in the Nehoiu Valley from 1955 to 1957, and often returned to the mountains during school holidays. Pleșu attended the Spiru Haret Lyceum in Bucharest majoring in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, where he graduated at the top of his class. Pleșu studied art history at the

Bucharest National University of Arts The National University of Arts in Bucharest () is a university in Bucharest preparing students in fine arts. The National University of Arts is a higher education institution in Bucharest. History The National School of Fine Arts was founded ...

and graduated with his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1971. That year he accepted a position as a researcher at the Institute of Art History of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. In 1972 he married Catrinel Maria Petrulian. Whilst a student he had become a member of the Communist Party, from which he was expelled in May 1982 due to his involvement in the so-called "Transcendental Meditation Affair". For 1975–1977 he received the first of his Alexander von Humboldt Foundation graduate scholarships, to study in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. From 1978 through 1982, along with

Gabriel Liiceanu Gabriel Liiceanu (; b. May 23, 1942, Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian philosopher. He graduated from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosoph ...

, he attended Constantin Noica's informal and semi-clandestine lectures in Păltiniș. In 1980 he became a faculty lecturer in the Art department at the University of Bucharest. However, in 1982 he was barred from further university teaching for "political reasons", and took a job as a consultant for the Artists Union. He received his second Alexander von Humboldt Foundation scholarship for 1983–1984, and upon his return again worked at the Institute of Art History. In April 1989, Pleșu lost his job at the Institute of Art History due to his open support of Mircea Dinescu, objected to by the communist regime. This resulted in his "exile" to Tescani, a village in Berești-Tazlău commune,

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county there a ...

, and he was forbidden from publishing. After the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of 1989, he was one of the founders of the " New Europe College", an institute of advanced studies, and of the cultural magazine '' Dilema'' (now '' Dilema Veche''). He worked as a professor at the

and is now a professor at the University of Bucharest, where he teaches art history and philosophy of religion. He continues to be successful as a writer, and his books have all been well received by critics and readers. He also became involved in politics, serving as Romania's

from 1989 to 1991, and

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

from 1997 to 1999. Between 2000 and 2004, Pleșu was a member of the National College for the Study of the Securitate Archives; he resigned the latter office in protest against political pressures on the committee. After the 2004 elections brought Traian Băsescu to the office of President of Romania, he became presidential counsellor for external affairs, a position he held until June 2005, when he resigned invoking health issues. Two volumes were published in 2009, honoring Pleșu, both edited by Mihail Neamțu and Bogdan Tătaru-Cazaban. The first was ''O filozofie a intervalului: In Honorem Andrei Pleșu'' (''A Philosophy of the Interval: In Honor of Andrei Pleșu'') entirely in Romanian, and the second was an international

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in honor of Pleșu's sixtieth birthday, with essays exploring the themes of his life in the current context.

Philosophy

Pleșu's early works revolved around art history and theory, but, in time, his essays, published in cultural magazines and elsewhere, became oriented towards

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term ...

and philosophy.

Works

Printed volumes

* ''Călătorie în lumea formelor'' ("Journey to the world of forms"), Meridiane, 1974 * ''Pitoresc și melancolie'' ("The Picturesque and melancholy"), Univers, 1980 * '' Francesco Guardi'', Meridiane, 1981 * ''Ochiul și lucrurile'' ("The eye and things"), Meridiane, 1986 * ''Minima moralia'' ("The moral minimum"), Cartea Românească, 1988 * ''Dialoguri de seară'' ("Evening dialogues"), Harisma, 1991 * ''Jurnalul de la Tescani'' ("The Tescani journal"), Humanitas, 1993 * ''Limba păsărilor'' ("The language of birds"), Humanitas, 1994 * ''Chipuri și măști ale tranziției'' ("Faces and masks of the transition"), Humanitas, 1996 * ''Transformări, inerții, dezordini. 22 de luni după 22 decembrie 1989'' ("Transformations, inertias, disorders". 22 months after December 22, 1989"), co-authors Petre Roman and Elena Ștefoi), Polirom, 2002 * ''Despre îngeri'' ("On angels"), Humanitas, 2003 * ''Obscenitatea publică'' ("Public obscenity"), Humanitas, 2004 * ''Comedii la porțile Orientului'' ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005 * ''Despre bucurie în Est și în Vest și alte eseuri'' ("About Joy in East and West and other essays"), Humanitas, 2006 * ''Despre frumusețea uitată a vieții'' ("About the Forgotten Beauty of Life"), Humanitas, 2011 * ''Parabolele lui Iisus. Adevărul ca poveste'' ("Jesus' parables. The truth as story"), Humanitas, 2012

Audio books

* ''Despre îngeri'' ("On angels") Humanitas, 2003, 2005 * ''Comédii la porțile Orientului'' ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005 * ''Un alt fel de Caragiale'' ("A different Caragiale"), Humanitas, 2006 * ''Despre bucurie în Est și în Vest și alte eseuri'' ("About Joy in East and West and Other Essays"), Humanitas, 2006

Awards

* Grand Officer of the Order of the Diplomatic Merit * Grand Cross of the National Order of Faithful Service

References

External links

Andrei Pleșu at ''Humanitas'' publishing house

"On Angels - Exposition for a Post Modern World" (in English)

Andrei Pleșu on European identity (interview with Alexandre Mirlesse)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plesu, Andrei 1948 births Living people Writers from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni Bucharest National University of Arts alumni Romanian art critics Romanian biographers Romanian male writers Romanian essayists Romanian literary critics Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian art historians Ministers of culture of Romania Ministers of foreign affairs of Romania Romanian philosophers Romanian presidential advisors Romanian male biographers Romanian male essayists Censorship in Romania Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Recipients of the European Citizen's Prize Recipients of the National Order of Faithful Service Academic staff of the Bucharest National University of Arts