Nicole Valéry Grossu (born Nicoleta Valeria Bruteanu, 4 July 1919 – 14 December 1996) was 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 ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

writer, journalist, and anti-communist activist.

Biography

Early years

Nicoleta Valeria Bruteanu was born on 4 July 1919 in

Turnu Măgurele Turnu Măgurele () is a municipiu, city in Teleorman County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. Developed nearby the site once occupied by the medieval port of Turnu fortress, Turnu, it is situated north-east of the confluence between ...

. She was a niece of

Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was a Romanian lawyer and 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 Union of Transylvania wi ...

. A graduate of the

Bucharest Conservatory The National University of Music Bucharest (, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since ...

, she joined the

National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; , or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an Agrarianism, agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It was formed in 1926 throu ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Between 1945 and 1947, she served as editor of ''

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' ...

'', the official newspaper of the National Peasants' Party.

Detention years

Following the installation of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

in Romania, the National Peasants' Party, along with most of the other political parties, was outlawed. On 24 August 1949 she was arrested by the

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

. Although she was never formally charged with or sentenced for any crime, she spent four years in prison as a political detainee. She recounted her ordeal in an autobiographical novel, titled ''Prisoner arise'', that was originally published in French. The book was eventually translated into several languages. The Romanian movie ''Bless you, prison'', based on this novel and directed by

Nicolae Mărgineanu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), an Aromanian and Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Ni ...

, was released in 2002.

Marriage

In April 1957, she married the writer and Christian activist Sergiu Grossu. In 1959, her husband was arrested by the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

authorities for his activity in Oastea Domnului (English: ''The Army of the Lord''), a spiritual renewal movement associated with the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but he was released after serving only three years, in 1962.

Exile

In 1969, Nicole and Sergiu Grossu were permitted to leave Romania. They eventually settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, after having been granted

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

by the French Government. There, they founded the publishing house ''Catacombes'' and served as editors of a magazine with the same name; they also founded the association ''La Chaine'', and hosted the show "Duh și Adevăr" (''Spirit and Truth'') on Radio Trans-Europa, dedicated to defending

religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

in the countries behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

Final years

At the end of 1995, Nicole Valéry Grossu was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

, a type of blood cell cancer primarily affecting

lymph node A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that includ ...

s. She underwent aggressive

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatment at the ''

Foch Hospital Foch Hospital ( French: ''Hôpital Foch'') is a teaching hospital in the Suresnes, France. It is part of the ''Établissement de santé privé d'intérêt collectif''. It was established in 1929 with the help of Consuelo Vanderbilt and Winnare ...

'' in Paris. Despite all efforts to save her life, she died on 14 December 1996 in Paris. Granting her deathbed wish, her husband had her mortal remains returned to

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 ...

. She was laid to rest alongside her parents in the Sfânta Vineri Cemetery.

Literary works

*''Bénie sois-tu, prison'' lessed be you, prison Plon, Paris. This is the most popular of her works; it was initially published in French by the Plon Publishing House, and was later translated into several languages. *''Hegemonia violenței'' (Communism, totalitarism, atheism) he Hegemony of Violence (Communism, Totalitarianism, Atheism translated from French by Ileana Cantuniari, Editura "Duh și Adevăr", București, 2000, 275 pages, *''Din toată inima'' ith all my heart Editura "Duh și Adevăr", București, 2003, 140 pages

References

* Sergiu Grossu, ''Calvarul României creștine'',

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' () is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by Titu Maiorescu in 1867. The ma ...

, ABC DAVA, 1992. * Sergiu Grossu, "Soția mea, Coleta"

Notes

External links

Mărturii: Procesul comunismului

Procesul comunismului, mărturii, ''Colecția Sergiu Grossu și Nicole Valéry Grossu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossu, Nicole Valery 1919 births 1996 deaths Eastern Orthodox Christians from Romania Romanian writers Romanian dissidents Romanian emigrants to France 20th-century Romanian journalists Burials at Sfânta Vineri Cemetery People from Turnu Măgurele