Bujor Nedelcovici
Encyclopedia
Bujor Nedelcovici is a novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and photographer who lives in Paris, France.
Bujor Nedelcovici finished High School at "I. L. Caragiale" in Ploiești
, Romania. He graduated from the Bucharest
Law Faculty in 1959. For a short period he worked as a lawyer at the Ploiești Lawyer's Bar Association. He was fired on political reasons and forbidden to practice law (His father was arrested by the Communist regime and imprisoned). For the next 12 years he had to earn his living by taking jobs inappropriate to his background, moving from one construction site or factory to another, all across Romania, from Bicaz
to Braşov
and Bucharest.
Bujor Nedelcovici started his literary career with the novel The Last Ones / Ultimii (Ro) – published in 1970 in Bucharest. An abundant writing activity followed. Nedelcovici published in various Romanian magazines, newspapers, and continued to write novels: Without Oars / Fara Vâsle (Ro) – 1972, The Night / Noaptea (Ro) – 1974, Icoanei Garden / Gradina Icoanei (Ro) – 1977, Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro) – 1979, The Sleep of the Customs Officer / Somnul Vamesului (Ro) – 1981. The above novels were awarded several prizes by the Writers’ Union and the Writers’ Association of Romania. In 1981 the novel Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro) was made into a movie under the title Sand Cliffs / Faleze de Nisip (Ro). The novel only seems to be a simple story. A doctor from Bucharest is spending the summer holiday at a remote village near the Black Sea, and one day has his personal belongings stolen from the beach. He gets involved into the inquiry and runs the interrogation of an apparently innocent man. Nedelcovici, a master of the plot, makes us notice the relation between the crashing power of the authority and the common citizen who finally becomes its victim. The young man, a carpenter, tries by all means to prove his innocence and rebel against the unjust accusation that is laid against him, but is defeated by the system. In the end he murders the doctor who symbolically turns to represent the authority. The subtle criticism of the authorities became a matter of scandal: four days after Sand Clifs / Faleze de Nisip (Ro) was screened, in 1981, it was banned from the market. But this was apparently not enough. In 1983 Nicolae Ceauşescu
, President of Romania at that time, gave a speech for Romanian Communist Party
officials in Mangalia
, harshly criticizing the movie and singling it out that Sand Cliffs was breaking with the ideological requirements.
In 1982 Bujor Nedelcovici becomes the Editor-in-Chief of the Romanian literary magazine "Almanahul Literar", and leads the Fiction Section of the Bucharest Writers’ Association.
In 1983 Nedelcovici writes a novel entitled The Second Messenger / Al Doilea Mesager (Ro) – about a totalitarian fictional world – "Beautiful Island" / "Belle-Isle (Fr)" – which is to become "The Island of Victory" after the invasion of its capital city. Despite the fact that the author does not directly describe the communist regime in his country, he refers to a country in successive transformation, which evolves into a totalitarian world. In Romania, the Communist Censorship Office forbade the publishing of the novel. While still in Romania, Bujor Nedelcovici succeeded to get the manuscript out of the country, and fortunately The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr) was published in 1985 in France by the well known editor Albin Michel. This led to quite a shock in Romania, and Bujor Nedelcovici was forced to ultimately choose the road of exile. In 1987 Nedelcovici leaves Romania and asks for political exile in France.
, where he constantly publishes articles and essays.
In 1992 Bujor Nedelcovici was awarded the Prize of the American Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences for his novel The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr). In 1990 he was honored by being made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) and was accepted as a member of SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (Fr) / Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers), as well as a member of SGDLF (Société des Gens de Lettres de France (Fr) / Society of Men of Letters of France).
Recently the complete works of Bujor Nedelcovici have been published in seven volumes in Romania by Allfa All Publishing House. In November 2008 Nedelcovici organized and chaired the Symposium The Writer, Censorship, and the State Security: Securitatea / Scrritorul, Cenzura si Securitatea (Ro), at Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, Bucharest, Romania. Nedelcovici invited to this Panel Discussion several well known Romanian writers as well as the French scholar and historian Stéphane Courtois
, author of The Black Book of Communism
: Crimes, Terror, Repression. The panel discussions of this seminar will soon come into a book in Romania.
Bujor Nedelcovici finished High School at "I. L. Caragiale" in Ploiești
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
, Romania. He graduated from the 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....
Law Faculty in 1959. For a short period he worked as a lawyer at the Ploiești Lawyer's Bar Association. He was fired on political reasons and forbidden to practice law (His father was arrested by the Communist regime and imprisoned). For the next 12 years he had to earn his living by taking jobs inappropriate to his background, moving from one construction site or factory to another, all across Romania, from Bicaz
Bicaz
Bicaz is a town in Neamţ County, Romania situated in the eastern Carpathian Mountains near the confluence of the Bicaz and Bistriţa Rivers and near Lake Bicaz, an artificial lake formed by the Bicaz Dam on the Bistriţa. Bicaz used to be a border town until 1918...
to Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
and Bucharest.
Literary career
((Ro) – Romanian citation, (Fr) – French citation)Bujor Nedelcovici started his literary career with the novel The Last Ones / Ultimii (Ro) – published in 1970 in Bucharest. An abundant writing activity followed. Nedelcovici published in various Romanian magazines, newspapers, and continued to write novels: Without Oars / Fara Vâsle (Ro) – 1972, The Night / Noaptea (Ro) – 1974, Icoanei Garden / Gradina Icoanei (Ro) – 1977, Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro) – 1979, The Sleep of the Customs Officer / Somnul Vamesului (Ro) – 1981. The above novels were awarded several prizes by the Writers’ Union and the Writers’ Association of Romania. In 1981 the novel Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro) was made into a movie under the title Sand Cliffs / Faleze de Nisip (Ro). The novel only seems to be a simple story. A doctor from Bucharest is spending the summer holiday at a remote village near the Black Sea, and one day has his personal belongings stolen from the beach. He gets involved into the inquiry and runs the interrogation of an apparently innocent man. Nedelcovici, a master of the plot, makes us notice the relation between the crashing power of the authority and the common citizen who finally becomes its victim. The young man, a carpenter, tries by all means to prove his innocence and rebel against the unjust accusation that is laid against him, but is defeated by the system. In the end he murders the doctor who symbolically turns to represent the authority. The subtle criticism of the authorities became a matter of scandal: four days after Sand Clifs / Faleze de Nisip (Ro) was screened, in 1981, it was banned from the market. But this was apparently not enough. In 1983 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...
, President of Romania at that time, gave a speech for Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
officials in Mangalia
Mangalia
Mangalia , is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanţa County, Romania.The municipality of Mangalia also administers several summer time seaside resorts: Cap Aurora, Jupiter, Neptun, Olimp, Saturn, Venus.-History:...
, harshly criticizing the movie and singling it out that Sand Cliffs was breaking with the ideological requirements.
In 1982 Bujor Nedelcovici becomes the Editor-in-Chief of the Romanian literary magazine "Almanahul Literar", and leads the Fiction Section of the Bucharest Writers’ Association.
In 1983 Nedelcovici writes a novel entitled The Second Messenger / Al Doilea Mesager (Ro) – about a totalitarian fictional world – "Beautiful Island" / "Belle-Isle (Fr)" – which is to become "The Island of Victory" after the invasion of its capital city. Despite the fact that the author does not directly describe the communist regime in his country, he refers to a country in successive transformation, which evolves into a totalitarian world. In Romania, the Communist Censorship Office forbade the publishing of the novel. While still in Romania, Bujor Nedelcovici succeeded to get the manuscript out of the country, and fortunately The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr) was published in 1985 in France by the well known editor Albin Michel. This led to quite a shock in Romania, and Bujor Nedelcovici was forced to ultimately choose the road of exile. In 1987 Nedelcovici leaves Romania and asks for political exile in France.
Life in Exile: Paris, France
Since 1987 Bujor Nedelcovici has been living in Paris, France, where he continued a productive literary career. Well established French publishers printed his novels: The Morning of a Miracle / Le Matin d'un Miracle (Fr) – Actes Sud, 1993, and The Provoker / Le Provocateur (Fr) – Euro-Culture, 2000. He was invited to give a series of lectures in the USA and Canada. He published various essays among which The Encounter with the 21st century in the French Canadian magazine La Revue Cite Libre. He is on the Board of Editors for the French literary magazine EspritEsprit (magazine)
Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
, where he constantly publishes articles and essays.
Activities after 1989
Following the fall of Romania's President Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, Bujor Nedelcovici visited Romania numerous times, being invited to publish and lecture. He gave interviews for the Romanian National Radio and is a familiar figure on the Romanian TV channels. He publishes articles in various Romanian magazines and newspapers as well as novels at the Romanian publishing houses.In 1992 Bujor Nedelcovici was awarded the Prize of the American Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences for his novel The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr). In 1990 he was honored by being made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) and was accepted as a member of SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (Fr) / Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers), as well as a member of SGDLF (Société des Gens de Lettres de France (Fr) / Society of Men of Letters of France).
Recently the complete works of Bujor Nedelcovici have been published in seven volumes in Romania by Allfa All Publishing House. In November 2008 Nedelcovici organized and chaired the Symposium The Writer, Censorship, and the State Security: Securitatea / Scrritorul, Cenzura si Securitatea (Ro), at Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, Bucharest, Romania. Nedelcovici invited to this Panel Discussion several well known Romanian writers as well as the French scholar and historian Stéphane Courtois
Stéphane Courtois
Stéphane Courtois is a French historian, an internationally known expert on communist studies, particularly the history of communism and communist genocides, and author of several books...
, author of The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a book authored by several European academics and edited by Stéphane Courtois, which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by Communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and...
: Crimes, Terror, Repression. The panel discussions of this seminar will soon come into a book in Romania.
Works published in France
- The Provoker, novel /Le Provocateur (Fr), roman / Provocatorul (Ro), roman, Euro Culture Publisher, Paris, France 2000.
- The Tamer of Wolves, novel / Le Dompteur de Loups (Fr), roman / Îmblânzitorul de Lupi (Ro), roman, Actes Sud Publisher, Paris, France, 1999
- The Morning of a Miracle, novel / Le Matin d'un Miracle (Fr), roman / Dimineaţa unui miracol (Ro), roman, Actes Sud Publisher, Paris, France, 1993.
- Days of Sand, novel / Crime de Sable (Fr), roman / Zile de Nisip (Ro), roman, Albin Michel Publisher, Paris, France, 1989.
- The Second Messenger, novel / Le Second Messager (Fr), roman / Al Doilea Mesager (Ro), roman, Albin Michel Publisher, 1985.
Works published in Romania
- Complete Literary Works, 7 volumes / Opere Complete (Ro) in 7 volume, Allfa All, 2005–2008
- Architecture Vandalism in Bucharest, 1984–1989, photo album / Vandalism Arhitectonic in Bucuresti, 1984–1989 (Ro), album foto, Editura pentru Exilul Romanesc, 2007
- A Paper Tiger: I, Nica and the State Security – Securitate, essay / Un Tigru de Hartie: Eu, Nica si Securitatea (Ro), eseu, Editura Allfa All, 2005.
- 2 + 1, plays / 2 + 1, teatru, 1999
- The Grass of the Gods, short-stories / Iarba zeilor (Ro), povestiri, 1998
- Unfaithful Diary. Exist from Exile: 1992–1997, exile diary / Jurnal infidel. Ieşirea din exil 1992–1997 (Ro), jurnal de exil, Editura Paralela 45, 1998
- The Provoker, novel / Provocatorul (Ro), roman, 1997
- Here and Now, journalism / Aici şi acum (Ro), articole, 1996
- The Night of the Solstice, play / Noaptea de solstiţiu (Ro), piesă de teatru, 1992
- Oratorio for Imprudence, short stories / Oratoriu pentru imprudenţă (Ro), povestiri, 1992
- The Tamer of Wolves, novel / Îmblânzitorul de lupi (Ro), roman, 1991
- The Sleep of the Customs Officer, novel /Somnul Vameşului (Ro), roman, 1981
- Days of Sand, novel / Zile de nisip (Ro), roman, 1979
- Icoanei Garden, novel / Grădina Icoanei (Ro), roman, 1977
- The Night, novel, / Noaptea (Ro), roman, 1974
- Without Oars, novel / Fără vâsle (Ro), roman, 1972
- The Last Ones, novel, the first edition published in 1970, and a second edition in 2000 / Ultimii (Ro), roman, 1970
Movies adapted from novels by Bujor Nedelcovici
- Faleze de nisipFaleze de nisipSand Cliffs is a Romanian motion picture drama released in 1983 and banned four days after its première by the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu. The film, adapted from the novel Zile de Nisip by Bujor Nedelcovici, was directed by Dan Piţa, with dialogue and script by Bujor Nedelcovici and Dan Piţa,...
(Ro) / Sand Cliffs after the novel Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro), directed by Dan PitaDan Pita-Career:Piţa has directed several award-winning films since 1970, including the 1985 hit Pas în doi, which won an Honourable Mention at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival...
, co-screen writers: Bujor Nedelcovici and Dan Pita, main character starring the Romanian well-known Romanian actor Victor RebengiucVictor RebengiucVictor Rebengiuc is an award-winning Romanian film and stage actor, also known as a civil society activist. Since 1957, he has been a member of the Bulandra Theater company, acting in more than 200 roles on that stage alone...
, released in Bucharest, Romania, 1983. - Somnul Insulei (Ro) / The Sleep of the Island, after the novel The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr) / Al Doilea Mesager (Ro) – a well-known cast, starring Ovidiu Iuliu MoldovanOvidiu Iuliu MoldovanOvidiu Iuliu Moldovan was a Romanian actor known for his work in Romanian film and television roles. However, Moldovan focused almost exclusively on theater and stage roles during the later years of his career....
, directed by Mircea Veroiu, Bucharest, Romania,1994.
Awards
- The Prize of the Romanian Writers' Union for the novel The Morning of a Miracle / Dimineaţa unui miracol (Ro), Bucharest, Romania, 1993
- The Prize of the American Romanian Academy (ARA) of Arts and Sciences for the novel The Second Messenger / Le Second Messager (Fr), Los Angeles, California, 1992.
- Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), Paris, France, 1990.
- Prix de la Liberte / Freedom Prize of the French PEN-Club, for the novel The Second Messenger, Paris, France, 1986.
- The Prize of the Romanian Writers' Union for the novel Days of Sand / Zile de Nisip (Ro), Bucharest, Romania, 1979.
- The Prize of the Bucharest Writers’ Association for the novel The Night / Noaptea (Ro), Bucharest, Romania, 1974.