Alexandru Mironov
Encyclopedia
Alexandru Mironov is a Romania
n science-fiction writer, journalist, and left-wing politician. A former member of the Social Democratic Party
(PSD) and Counsel for President
Ion Iliescu
, Mironov was Minister for Youth and Sport in 1993-1996. Since 2008, he is a member of the minor Romanian Socialist Party (PSR). He is also known as a radio and television presenter and a documentary film
maker.
n locality of Vertujeni, now part of Moldova
, Mironov was from a family which took refuge in southern Romania following the region's second occupation by the Soviet Union
before the end of World War II
. He attended the Nicolae Bălcescu High School in Craiova
(known before and after as the Carol I High School) and then he studied Mathematics at the University of Bucharest
.
His debut was in 1971 in the number 387 of the Colecţia de Povestiri Ştiinţifico-Fantastice
magazine, having published two sci-fi stories Performanţă ciudată and Prea târziu. For the following decades, he published several dozens of stories, most of them featured in the Întâmplări din Veacul XXI (1974) and Alte întâmplări din Veacul XXI (1977) anthologies. Between 1969 and 1976, he traveled to various "paleoastronautics" sites studying the hypothesis that intelligent extraterrestrials have visited Earth in the past, this resulting in the book Enigmatic, pămîntul, published in 1977.
In 1979, Mironov joined the state-owned Romanian Television
and Romanian Radio
, which were then under a single administration. He was employed there until 1991, and again between 1996 and 2001 (when he worked for the main television station, TVR 1
). According to Mironov's own statement, the communist regime
sidelined him and sent him to work for the Radio company after his explicit refusal to broadcast praises of President Nicolae Ceauşescu
.
He directed and produced several documentary films, including the 1984 Din soare, gheaţă şi căldură (for which he received a prize granted by the Italian
magazine Italia sul Mare), and the 1992 Universul cunoaşterii (awarded the Annual Prize of the Association of Romanian Television Professionals). In all, Mironov produced around 2,000 broadcasts for the national television and radio stations. His successive shows were also granted prizes from various cultural institutions.
Alexandru Mironov played an active part in the anti-communist Romanian Revolution of 1989
, when opened the first free Romanian Radio broadcast (December 22, 1989). According to his own statements, he persuaded the Romanian Army soldiers not to storm into the main Radio building in Bucharest
.
Following the fall of communism and until his resignation in 2005, he was a member of the National Salvation Front and of its successor party, the PSD (which went through various names). He also worked as a Counsel for Romanian President Ion Iliescu
, and claims to have played a part in ensuring his election victory during the 1992 suffrage
. Between August 28, 1993 and December 11, 1996, he was the Minister for Youth and Sport in the Nicolae Văcăroiu
cabinet. While in office, Mironov inaugurated a state program which allowed some 13,000 honored students to visit foreign countries. Starting December 2004, he was named the head of the Institute of the Romanian Revolution.
Mironov left the PSD at the same time as his colleague Petre Lificiu, and motivated it by saying that Romania needed a real left-wing party. Alleging that the "almost all [PSD] leaders are millionaires in dollars
", Mironov stated that he still supported former PSD leader Iliescu, showing himself ready to join a potential new left-wing party founded by the latter.
Mironov joined the relatively new PSR, created and led by Valentin Adem. In February 2008, Adem declared to the press that Mironov had been proposed as the PSR's new president, its main candidate in the scheduled legislative election
, as well as contender for the office of Mayor of Bucharest
.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n science-fiction writer, journalist, and left-wing politician. A former member of the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (Romania)
The Social Democratic Party is the major social-democratic political party in Romania. It was formed in 1992, after the post-communist National Salvation Front broke apart. It adopted its present name after a merger with a minor social-democratic party in 2001. Since its formation, it has always...
(PSD) and Counsel for President
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....
, Mironov was Minister for Youth and Sport in 1993-1996. Since 2008, he is a member of the minor Romanian Socialist Party (PSR). He is also known as a radio and television presenter and a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker.
Biography
Born in the BessarabiaBessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n locality of Vertujeni, now part of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, Mironov was from a family which took refuge in southern Romania following the region's second occupation by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
before the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He attended the Nicolae Bălcescu High School in Craiova
Craiova
Craiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
(known before and after as the Carol I High School) and then he studied Mathematics at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
.
His debut was in 1971 in the number 387 of the Colecţia de Povestiri Ştiinţifico-Fantastice
Colecţia de Povestiri Ştiinţifico-Fantastice
Colecția de Povestiri Ştiinţifico-Fantastice is a Romanian science fiction supplement, founded by writer Adrian Rogoz and published by the popular science weekly Ştiinţă şi Tehnică. It was one of the leading venues for the Romanian science fiction genre under the communist regime...
magazine, having published two sci-fi stories Performanţă ciudată and Prea târziu. For the following decades, he published several dozens of stories, most of them featured in the Întâmplări din Veacul XXI (1974) and Alte întâmplări din Veacul XXI (1977) anthologies. Between 1969 and 1976, he traveled to various "paleoastronautics" sites studying the hypothesis that intelligent extraterrestrials have visited Earth in the past, this resulting in the book Enigmatic, pămîntul, published in 1977.
In 1979, Mironov joined the state-owned Romanian Television
Romanian television
Romanian television may refer to:* Communications media in Romania* Televiziunea Română, TVR, the national television network* List of Romanian language television channels...
and Romanian Radio
Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company
The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company , informally referred to as Radio Romania , is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates four national radio channels, and, under the Radio România Regional umbrella, eleven regional radio stations. The four national radio channels are: Radio...
, which were then under a single administration. He was employed there until 1991, and again between 1996 and 2001 (when he worked for the main television station, TVR 1
TVR 1
TVR1 is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR.The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is Jurnalul aşa cum ar trebui sǎ fie! , but on 28 March 2009 was replaced by Telejurnal...
). According to Mironov's own statement, the communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
sidelined him and sent him to work for the Radio company after his explicit refusal to broadcast praises of President Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
.
He directed and produced several documentary films, including the 1984 Din soare, gheaţă şi căldură (for which he received a prize granted by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
magazine Italia sul Mare), and the 1992 Universul cunoaşterii (awarded the Annual Prize of the Association of Romanian Television Professionals). In all, Mironov produced around 2,000 broadcasts for the national television and radio stations. His successive shows were also granted prizes from various cultural institutions.
Alexandru Mironov played an active part in the anti-communist Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, when opened the first free Romanian Radio broadcast (December 22, 1989). According to his own statements, he persuaded the Romanian Army soldiers not to storm into the main Radio building in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
Following the fall of communism and until his resignation in 2005, he was a member of the National Salvation Front and of its successor party, the PSD (which went through various names). He also worked as a Counsel for Romanian President Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....
, and claims to have played a part in ensuring his election victory during the 1992 suffrage
Romanian presidential election, 1992
These are the results of the Romanian presidential election of September 27, run-off held on October 11, 1992:-First round:-Run-off:...
. Between August 28, 1993 and December 11, 1996, he was the Minister for Youth and Sport in the Nicolae Văcăroiu
Nicolae Vacaroiu
Nicolae Văcăroiu is a Romanian politician, member of the Social Democratic Party, who served as Prime Minister between 1992 and 1996. Before the 1989 Revolution he worked at the Committee for State Planning, together with Theodor Stolojan....
cabinet. While in office, Mironov inaugurated a state program which allowed some 13,000 honored students to visit foreign countries. Starting December 2004, he was named the head of the Institute of the Romanian Revolution.
Mironov left the PSD at the same time as his colleague Petre Lificiu, and motivated it by saying that Romania needed a real left-wing party. Alleging that the "almost all [PSD] leaders are millionaires in dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
", Mironov stated that he still supported former PSD leader Iliescu, showing himself ready to join a potential new left-wing party founded by the latter.
Mironov joined the relatively new PSR, created and led by Valentin Adem. In February 2008, Adem declared to the press that Mironov had been proposed as the PSR's new president, its main candidate in the scheduled legislative election
Romanian legislative election, 2008
Legislative elections were held in Romania on November 30, 2008. The Democratic Liberal Party won most seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, although the alliance headed by the Social Democratic Party won a fractionally higher vote share.-Electoral System:President Traian Băsescu...
, as well as contender for the office of Mayor of Bucharest
Mayor of Bucharest
The Mayor of Bucharest , sometimes known as the General Mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for city-wide affairs, such as the water system, the transport system and the main boulevards...
.
Published books
- Enigmatic, pămîntul (Scrisul Românesc, Bucharest, 1977; second edition, Editura InterContempPress, Bucharest, 1997)
- Proiecte planetare (Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1988; ed. a II-a, Editura pentru Ştiinţă SIT, Bucharest, 2006) - with Alexandru A. Boiu
- Întîmplări din mileniul III (Editura Ion CreangăEditura Ion CreangăEditura Ion Creangă was a publishing house based in Bucharest, Romania. Founded as a state-run company under communist rule and named after the 19th century writer Ion Creangă, it ranked high among Romanian publishers of children's literature, fantasy literature and science fiction...
, Bucharest, 1989) - Cronici metagalactice (Editura Tehnică, Bucharest, 1990) - with Ştefan Ghidoveanu
- Cronici microelectronice (Editura Tehnică, Bucharest, 1990) - with Ştefan Ghidoveanu and Mihai Bădescu
- Laboratoarele lumii de mîine (Editis, Bucharest, 1992)
- În direct cu NASA (Editura pentru Ştiinţă SIT, Bucharest, 2006)