Alexandru Paleologu was a Romania

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 essayist, literary critic, diplomat and politician. He is the father of historian Theodor Paleologu.

Biography

Paleologu was born 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....

, into an ancient Romanian boyar

Boyar

A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

 family that claimed its origins in the last dynasty (Palaiologos

Palaiologos

Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...

) that ruled the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. They had moved from Lesbos Island

Lesbos Island

Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island. It is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait....

 to the Danubian Principalities

Danubian Principalities

Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...

 at the beginning of the 18th century. Paleologu was also, through various marriages, a descendant of the Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

n Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu

Constantin Brâncoveanu

Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714.-Ascension:A descendant of the Craioveşti boyar family and related to Matei Basarab, Brâncoveanu was born at the estate of Brâncoveni and raised in the house of his uncle, stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino...

. Alexandru Paleologu's father, Mihail Paleologu was a lawyer and National Liberal

National Liberal Party

National Liberal Party may mean:Active parties:*National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party **National Liberal Youth...

 Member of Parliament

Parliament of Romania

The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...

, later general secretary in the Ministries of Justice and of Finance, who was known for his association with Grigore Iunian

Grigore Iunian

Grigore Iunian was a Romanian left-wing politician and lawyer. A member of the National Liberal Party during the 1910s, he rallied with the Peasants' Party after World War I, and followed it into the National Peasants' Party , before leaving in 1933 to create the Radical Peasants' Party-Grigore...

.

He graduated from the Spiru Haret High School in Bucharest and then he studied Law 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:...

. In 1944, after the Royal Coup

Romania during World War II

Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...

 that overthrew Ion Antonescu

Ion Antonescu

Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...

's dictatorship and took Romania out of the Axis

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

, Paleologu took part in the Romanian committee of the armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

 with the Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 and, between 1946 and 1948, worked for the Romanian Royal Ministry of External Affairs. After the Communists 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...

 was established, he was under surveillance by the Securitate

Securitate

The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...

, and he lived hidden and under a false name in Câmpulung

Câmpulung

Câmpulung , or Câmpulung Muscel, is a city in the Argeş County, Wallachia, Romania. It is situated among the outlying hills of the Transylvanian Alps, at the head of a long well-wooded glen traversed by the Râul Târgului, a tributary of the Argeş.Its pure air and fine scenery render Câmpulung a...

 until 1956, when he began working as a researcher at the Romanian Academy

Romanian Academy

The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....

 in the Institute of Ancient Art History.

In 1959, Paleologu was arrested and sentenced to 14 years of forced labour. In prison, he met many other important people in Romanian culture such as Constantin Noica

Constantin Noica

Constantin Noica was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to...

 and Alexandru Ivasiuc

Alexandru Ivasiuc

Alexandru Ivasiuc was a Romanian novelist. He died in the 1977 Vrancea earthquake.-Life:He was born in Sighet, the son of a science professor. After the Second Vienna Award of 30 August 1940, the family was forced to flee to Bucharest, only returning to Sighet in 1951...

. He was freed in 1964, and he worked at the same Institute in the Theatre section. He was the literary secretary of the Constantin Nottara Theatre of Bucharest and, in 1967, he became member of the Romanian Writers' Union. Between 1970 and 1976 he was a writer for the Cartea Românească publishing house.

After the 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...

, he was named ambassador of Romania to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 (starting February 1, 1990), but he was replaced in June 1990 because he was a sympathiser of the Golaniad

Golaniad

The Golaniad was a protest in Romania in the University Square, Bucharest. It was initiated by students and professors at the University of Bucharest....

 movement of University Square

University Square, Bucharest

University Square is located in downtown Bucharest, near the University of Bucharest.Four statues are located in the University Square, in front of the University; they depict Ion Heliade Rădulescu , Michael the Brave , Gheorghe Lazăr and Spiru Haret .The square was the site of the 1990 Golaniad,...

 (he was the self-styled "ambassador of the hooligans" - ambasadorul golanilor), as well due to his pro-monarchist

King of Romania

King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....

 views.

He later became a member of the Civic Alliance Party, founded by Nicolae Manolescu

Nicolae Manolescu

Nicolae Manolescu is a Romanian literary critic. As an editor of România Literară literary magazine, he has reached a record in reviewing books for almost 30 years...

 and he was elected a senator

Senate of Romania

The Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian...

 for Argeş

Arges County

Argeș is a county of Romania, in Wallachia, with the capital city at Pitești.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 652,625 and the population density was 95/km².*Romanians – 96%*Roma , and other.-Geography:...

 during the 1992 election. He was a National Liberal

National Liberal Party (Romania)

The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...

 senator for Vrancea

Vrancea County

Vrancea is a county in Romania, with its seat at Focşani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov River, is in Muntenia.-Demographics:...

 (on Romanian Democratic Convention

Romanian Democratic Convention

The Romanian Democratic Convention was an electoral alliance of several political parties of Romania, active from early 1992 until 2000....

 lists) following the 1996 election

Romanian legislative election, 1996

Legislative elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, together with the Presidential election. The elections were won by the Romanian Democratic Convention, an alliance of liberal, Christian Democratic and green parties. This marked the first time that the Party of Social Democracy was out...

, and reelected for 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....

 during the 2000 suffrage

Romanian legislative election, 2000

Legislative elections where be held in Romania on November 26, 2000, together with the Presidential election. The Greater Romania Party made big gains, as did the PDSR, which became the ruling party. The formerly governing Romanian Democratic Convention lost all its seats and was shortly...

 (serving until 2004).

In the years after 1989 he admitted in a book of interviews with historian and novelist Stelian Tănase

Stelian Tanase

Stelian Tănase is a Romanian writer, historian, journalist, political analyst, and talk show host. Having briefly engaged in politics during the early 1990s, after the fall of the Communist regime, he has remained a leading figure of the Romanian civil society.A founding member of both the Group...

that during the communist period he eventually ended up collaborating with the Securitate and asked Romanians to forgive him.

Works

• Spiritul şi litera. Eseuri critice, 1970
• Bunul-simţ ca paradox. Eseuri, 1972
• Simţul practic. Eseuri şi polemici, 1974
• Treptele lumii sau calea către sine a lui Mihail Sadoveanu, 1978
• Ipoteze de lucru. Studii şi eseuri literare, 1980
• Alchimia existenţei. Eseuri şi portrete, 1983. Second edition revised, 1997
• Souvenirs merveilleux d'un ambassadeur des golans (Minunatele amintiri ale unui ambasador al golanilor), Editura Ballard, 1992; Editura Humanitas, 1993
• Sfidarea memoriei, 1995 (a dialogue with Stelian Tănase)
• Despre lucruri cu adevărat importante, 1997. Second edition 1998
• Interlocuţiuni, 1997
• Politeţea ca armă. Convorbiri şi articole mai mult sau mai puţin politice, 2000
• L'Occident est à l'Est, 2001
• Breviar pentru pastrarea clipelor. Convorbiri cu Filip-Lucian Iorga, 2005