Radu Florescu

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Radu Florescu
Florescu at Clemson University in 1977
Born(1925-10-23)23 October 1925
Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Died18 May 2014(2014-05-18) (aged 88)
Mougins, France
EducationChrist Church (BA & MA)
Indiana University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Historian, Professor
SpouseNicole Michel
Children4
Parent(s)Radu Florescu, Vera Soepkez

Radu Florescu (23 October 1925 – 18 May 2014) was a

Eastern European affairs. At the time of his death, Radu Florescu was considered the patriarch of the Florescu family [ro].[2]

Life

Escape from Romania

Florescu was born in

St. Edward's School, Oxford, Florescu received a scholarship to study history (BA, MA) at Christ Church, Oxford. He moved to Indiana University Bloomington
in the United States for his doctorate.

Boston during the Cold War

With one child, Nicholas, born in

Paris Institut des Hautes Etudes, Florescu will go on to write six books on Vlad the Impaler's life. Alongside his work on Vlad the Impaler, Florescu would write seven more books on East European History and on the history of Romania
such as The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian principalities, 1821-1854.

Radu Florescu created a diplomatic bridge between the

Edward Kennedy on matters of the Balkans, and also served as the press liaison for the White House during the state visit of President Richard Nixon
in 1969 in Romania.

In 1986, Florescu became the Director of the East European Research Center at Boston College and remained in that position until his retirement in 2008. In that function, he organized symposiums on themes varying from the diffusion of

Thracian culture in antiquity to the rise of antisemitism
in interwar Romania.

Post-revolution Romania

From 1996 to 2004, Florescu served as Honorary Consul for

Revolution of 1989. After the Revolution of 1989, he also organized visits of Romanian presidents, and members of the Romanian Royal House to Harvard University, The John F. Kennedy library and Boston City Hall. He was Emeritus Honorary Consul. In his retirement from France and Poiana Brașov, Florescu repurposed the East European Research Centre to create an annual scholarship for several gifted Romanian teenagers to study in the Boston area during summer months. These scholarships still continue to this day. His son, John M. Florescu, serves on the board of Educational Enrichment for Romanian Children.[6][7]

Florescu died on May 18, 2014, in Mougins, France from complications of pneumonia. [8] Upon his death, the Romanian royal family released a statement of condolences and recognition for Florescu's work.[2]

Dracula research

In his bestseller In Search of Dracula (1972), co-authored with Raymond T. McNally,

impaling his enemies on stakes, was the logical choice as the model for Dracula. The book was translated into 15 languages and boosted the Romanian tourism industry as young Westerners flocked to Romania to trace the footsteps of the historical Dracula.[need quotation to verify
]

Other research

Florescu also wrote about literary creations like Frankenstein with In Search of Frankenstein (1975)[10] and the Pied Piper of Hamelin with In Search of the Pied Piper (2005). In the former, Florescu advocated the theory that the German theologian, alchemist, anatomist, and physician Johann Konrad Dippel was the inspiration for Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. Florescu's last book, also written with McNally, investigated the possible true identity of the person on whom Robert Louis Stevenson may have based Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Books

  • Florescu, Radu (2005). In Search of the Pied Piper. Athena Press.
    ISBN 1-84401-339-1
    .
  • Florescu, Radu; McNally, Raymond T. (1994). In search of Dracula: the history of Dracula and vampires.
    ISBN 0-395-65783-0
    .
  • McNally, Raymond T.; Florescu, Radu (1992). The complete Dracula. Acton, Mass: Copley Pub. Group.
    ISBN 0-87411-595-7
    .
  • ISBN 0-316-28656-7. 2009 eBook edition
  • In Search of Frankenstein: Exploring the Myths Behind Mary Shelley's Monster. Boston, MA:
    ISBN 978-1-861-05033-5
    .
  • McNally, Raymond T.; Florescu, Radu (2000). In Search of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. St. Martin's Press.
    ISBN 9781580631570
    .

References

  1. The Telegraph
    , 20 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c " A murit Radu Florescu. Celebrul istoric, care a făcut din Dracula un brand în SUA, s-a stins la 89 de ani". Adevărul, 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Radu Florescu, Scholar Who Linked Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, Dies at 88". The New York Times, 27 May 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Radu Florescu dead: Legacy of the Romanian 'Dracula professor' remembered". The Independent, 20 May 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  5. Science & Society Picture Library
    , 15 February 1941.
  6. ^ "On August 3rd the 2009 EERC students returned to their families in Romania". Educational Enrichment for Romanian Children (EERCboston.org). Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  7. ^ ""MIRCIŞTII" BURSIERI LA BOSTON - AU PARTICIPAT LA SIMPOZIONUL ORGANIZAT DE EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT FOR ROMANIAN CHILDREN". viatavalcii.ro. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  8. ^ Radu Florescu, Scholar Who Linked Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, Dies at 88 by Margalit Fox May 27, 2014. The New York Times. Accessed online June 20, 2022
  9. ^ Bullard, Thomas E. (1973). "Review of In Search of Dracula". Folklore Forum. 6 (4). Indiana University, IUScholarWorks: 251–252.
  10. ^ "Review of In Search of Frankenstein by Radu Florescu". Kirkus Reviews. July 1975.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radu_Florescu&oldid=1191132444"