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

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

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 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 ...

, 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 and the Civic Alliance, Stelian Tănase was the latter's vice-president between 1991 and 1993. In 1992, he founded '' Sfera Politicii''; 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; ''Maşina de tocat'' for TVR 1; ''Zece și un sfert'', ''Zece fix'', ''Tănase și 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. ...

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

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 ...

archives; in March 2002, he invited on his talk show a discussion with 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", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

who regularly furnished information on Tănase himself.

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 ...

, he graduated from the

local university Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by Administrative divisions of the Philippines, local government units in the Philippines. A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipalit ...

's Faculty of Philosophy in 1977. Before 1989, two out of his first three books were banned by the Communist regime's censorship apparatus. Tănase became a public figure soon 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 December 1989: in 1990, he was one of the main organizers of

Piața Universității University Square () is located in Bucharest city centre, near the University of Bucharest. It is served by Universitate metro station. Four statues can be found in the University Square, in front of the university; they depict Ion Heliade Răd ...

marathon protest, '' Golaniada'', the protest movement against former members of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

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 area'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), 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 Bourb ...

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 as a 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 (), also known as the Tismăneanu Commission (''Comisia Tismăneanu''), was a commission started in Romania by Romanian President Traian Băsescu to investigate th ...

by its president, Vladimir Tismăneanu. 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

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 (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

country to officially condemn its communist regime.

Academia

In 1996, he was granted a Ph.D. in political sociology by the University of Bucharest. A visiting professor at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

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

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topi ...

, granted a Visiting Short Term Collaborative research project at the

(with Gail Kligman 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 peopl ...

, post-Ph.D. grant,

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

(1997); Visiting Short Term Scholar at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(1998). He has held conferences in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

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 ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, 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, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, 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") * 1996 - ''Revoluţia ca eșec. 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 și 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 șoaptă, 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 și semizei la început de secol'' ("Gods and Demigods at the Dawn of the Century") * 2005 - ''Clienții lu' tanti Varvara. Povești clandestine'' ( "Aunt Varvara's Clients. Clandestine Stories"), translated into English and Spanish * 2017 - "Dinastia" ( "The Dynasty") * 2018 - "Conversații cu Regele Mihai" ("Talking with King Michael")

Filmography

Directed

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

Screenplays

* 1999 - ''Asaltul cerului'' ("The Siege of the Sky"), documentary for Antena 1; 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 Liberalism, liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on Octo ...

, Ion Brătianu, Nicolae Iorga, Nicolae Titulescu, Iuliu Maniu), 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

Awards

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

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

, Officer rank (2000)

References

External links

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

Biography
at the Polirom 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 Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Romanian male screenwriters Romanian male essayists Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania