Adrian Cioroianu

Adrian Mihai Cioroianu (born January 5, 1967, in

A member of the

In 1993 he married Luminiţa, a university classmate who became an English-language translator.[1] They had a son, Mihai, in 1999 before divorcing in November 2003. His wife cited an extramarital affair and a disinterest in family obligations as motives for the divorce.^[2]

Textbook controversy

One of his first noted public appearances took place in 1999, when several textbooks received endorsement from the

Cioroianu was also highly critical of the methods used by adversaries of the textbooks during the overall debate, and publicly sided with the authors of arguably the most innovative manual, the one published by Editura Sigma.^[4][5] He repeatedly argued in favor of the authors (Sorin Mitu, Ovidiu Pecican, Lucia Copoeru, Virgiliu Ţârău, and Liviu Ţîrău), debating the issue with Marius Tucă and Octavian Paler during television appearances of that year.^[4]

Throughout the Adrian Năstase premiership (2000–2004), Cioroianu remained critical of the Social Democratic Party's policies on education, and questioned the decision taken by the Minister of Education, Ecaterina Andronescu, regarding restrictions on the number of textbooks receiving official approval.^[6]

Political career

Cioroianu entered politics as a PNL member in 2002, when he became an adviser on Theodor Stolojan's staff.

In 2004, he was elected to the Senate for

With fellow National Liberal parliamentarians Mona Muscă, Viorel Oancea, and Mihăiţă Calimente, Cioroianu initiated the legislative project on lustration (aimed at preventing former Romanian Communist Party and Union of Communist Youth active cadres from holding public office over a period of ten years).^[7][8] Proposed at the same time as a more radical one drafted by National Initiative Party politicians,^[7] it reflected the legacy of the Timișoara Proclamation^[7] and was passed by the Senate in April 2006.^[8]

He became an observer to the

Following the creation of the second Popescu Tăriceanu cabinet, Cioroianu was confirmed as foreign minister by President Băsescu and sworn in on April 5, 2007. He resigned on April 11, 2008, following a scandal involving an alleged Romanian thief who died following a hunger strike in Kraków, Poland, where he had been arrested. Romania's consular services were faulted for not intervening in his defense.^[11]

"Greatest Romanians" controversy

In autumn 2006, he was selected by

The Romanian Academy's National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism reacted to the program, accusing TVR 1 of mounting an overt campaign to denigrate Antonescu.^[13] It also questioned the fact that Cioroianu, a member of the Senate Committee on Culture, had accepted payment with public funds for his presence on the show.^[13] Criticism was also voiced by Ziua newspaper, which asked why the Television had not handed the office to a public person with more positive views of the former Romanian leader, and argued that Cioroianu had used his position to shame those who had voted for Antonescu.^[14]

In response, Cioroianu indicated that he had been invited on set as a history professor, not as an Antonescu defender or a senator,^[12] and argued that his was a version determined by research (arguing that the latter is "the best cure against all sorts of mythologies and clichés").^[12]

Works

Authored

• Scrum de secol. O sută una poveşti suprapuse ("The Ashes of a Century. A Hundred and One Superimposed Stories"), Editura Curtea Veche, Bucharest, 2001
• Focul ascuns în piatră. Despre istorie, memorie şi alte vanităţi contemporane ("The Fire Hidden in Stone. On History, Memory and Other Contemporary Vanities"),
  Iaşi
  , 2002
• Ce Ceausescu qui hante les Roumains: le mythe, les représentations et le culte du Dirigeant dans la Roumanie communiste ("This
  Ceauşescu Who Is Haunting the Romanians: the Myth, the Images and the Cult of the Leader in Communist Romania"; originally published in French), Editura Curtea Veche
  , L'agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, Bucharest 2005
• Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc ("On the Shoulders of
  ISBN 973-669-175-6
• Sic transit gloria. Cronica subiectivă a unui cincinal în trei ani şi jumătate ("Sic Transit Gloria. The Subjective Chronicle of a Five-Year Plan Completed over Three and a Half Years"), Polirom, Iaşi, 2006

Co-authored

• With Lucian Boia and Tom Sandqvist: Arhiva Durerii ("The Archive of Pain"), Editura Fundaţia Academia Civică, Pionier Press 2000

References