Nicolae Titulescu: the Diplomat Who Fought War
Born in 1882 in the capital city of Oltenia, Nicolae Titulescu is undoubtedly that region’s most internationally influential native. The...
top of page
Blog
Search
Ilinca Stroe
- Mar 13, 2019
- 4 min
One word at a time: “Ochi”
When it comes to phrases and idioms based on body parts, one such body part is especially prolific, the key word in many expressions: the...
99 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Feb 27, 2019
- 3 min
A Star-Bound House: The Astronomical Observatory Admiral “Vasile Urseanu”
Out of a love of sea a star-bound house was born: the Astronomical Observatory in Bucharest. It was 1908 when Admiral Vasile Urseanu was...
49 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Feb 13, 2019
- 5 min
Ana Pauker, the Iron Lady of Romanian Communism
“Stout, with unruly short greying hair, sharp blue eyes beneath the low eyebrows and a fascinating smile . . ., she made everyone feel...
677 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Jan 23, 2019
- 4 min
A People’s Masterpiece: Atheneul Român (the Romanian Athenaeum)
As you walk past the elegant statue of national poet Mihai Eminescu, located in the little park in front of it, as you climb up the...
202 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Jan 16, 2019
- 3 min
Barbu Ştirbey, the Perfect Grey Eminence
They say he was the mastermind behind Romania’s Crown during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, the great unifiers of the...
1,066 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Dec 19, 2018
- 3 min
Christmas Wishes, Romanian Style
To a nation where people wish each other things on a wildly wide range of occasions, from having a haircut to getting down to work or...
2,594 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Dec 12, 2018
- 3 min
One word at a time: „Sine”
If grammatical items could make a career just like humans do, this little word would become a superexecutive: sine. Based on the Latin...
72 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Dec 5, 2018
- 2 min
Moş Nicolae, the saintly “culprit” for surprises in your boots
It’s winter. Unless you are the victim of Ionel, a spoilt brat who poured jam into his mother’s guest’s boots (in satirist Ion Luca...
2,384 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Nov 28, 2018
- 13 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Jewish Romanians
Romania’s Jewish community has dwindled dramatically over the past decades: while in 1930 more than 4% of the country’s population was...
221 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Nov 21, 2018
- 11 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Hungarian Romanians
When talking about Hungarian ethnics in Romania, one encounters a problem of scope and of historical positioning. Most of Romania’s...
70 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Nov 14, 2018
- 11 min
Romania’s Treasures: the German Romanians
“When the Germans came to the country . . . they built a city for the Romanians, they taught them professions, they gave them land when...
154 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Nov 7, 2018
- 12 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Roma Romanians
In her Memoirs, Zoe Cămărăşescu, a Romanian aristocrat whose mother had been a lady-in-waiting at the belle époque Court of King Carol I...
253 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Oct 31, 2018
- 12 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Romanianists
100 years of Romania. What Romanians have done for their country this past century in areas ranging from the humanities to science and...
62 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Oct 25, 2018
- 23 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Artists
There is little doubt that modern Romanian cultivated painting stemmed from religious painting done around and for monasteries by artists...
1,083 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Oct 17, 2018
- 5 min
Romania’s Second Unifier: Alexandru Ioan Cuza
There’s a Romanian saying, “Tot ce-i trei e bun” (“Good things go in threes”). It means that you have to try something twice and then...
266 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Oct 10, 2018
- 4 min
Romania’s First Unifier: Michael the Brave
This year Romanians are celebrating 100 years since the Great Union. Back in 1918, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania saw their...
776 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Sep 26, 2018
- 9 min
Romania’s Treasures: the Entrepreneurs
Looking into entrepreneurship in contemporary Romania can be a bit like entering perilous territory. As a recent documentary shows...
127 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Sep 12, 2018
- 3 min
One word at a time: „Simţ”
How many senses are there? Realists would say that five, of course: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Believers in the paranormal...
49 views0 comments
Ilinca Stroe
- Sep 5, 2018
- 3 min
Showing Active Listening: One-Word Responses in Conversation
Recent language textbooks go beyond grammar and vocabulary, the regulars of standardised language learning, to encompass areas of...
751 views0 comments
bottom of page