Mădălin Ştefan Voicu is 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 musician and politician of Romani ethnicity. Voicu is a 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 has been a parliamentarian in the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Romania

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...

 since 1996. He is one of only two ethnic Romani politicians in the current parliament; the other is Nicolae Păun

Nicolae Paun

Nicolae Păun is a Romani-Romanian politician. He is the president of the Party of the Roma, and has held the one reserved seat for Romani people in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies since 2000...

, who holds the seat specifically reserved

Romanian ethnic minorities parties

The Romanian Constitution , under the contitions imposed by the Electoral Law, reserves a seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the party and cultural association of each ethnic minority in Romania...

 for a member of the Romani minority.

Mădălin is the son of Ion Voicu

Ion Voicu

Ion Voicu was a Romanian violinist and orchestral conductor of Romani ethnicity. In 1969 he founded the award-winning Bucharest Chamber Orchestra, which is now conducted by his son Mădălin Voicu....

, a well-known Romani-Romanian musician. In his youth, he was close friends with Nicu Ceauşescu

Nicu Ceausescu

Nicu Ceaușescu was the youngest child of Romanian leader Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was a close associate of his father's political regime and considered the President's heir apparent.-Life during Communism:...

, the son of Communist Romania

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...

's leader 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...

, as well as with other young members of the nomenklatura

Nomenklatura

The nomenklatura were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the...

.

Voicu graduated from the National University of Music

National University of Music Bucharest

The National University of Music Bucharest is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since 2001...

, completed training as a conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 at various schools abroad, and was employed by orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

s 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...

 and Ploieşti

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....

.

He began his political activity as a member of the defunct Party of Liberty and Social Unity (PLUS), then became active in the Social Democratic Roma Party of Romania

Party of the Roma

The Party of the Roma , formerly known as Social Democratic Party of the Roma , is a political party in Romania representing the Romani minority...

, was elected to the seat reserved for minorities in the 1996-2000 legislature, before running on the PSD list in 2000.

External links

Mădălin Voicu at the Chamber of Deputies site Cristina Vohn, "Gaşca lui Nicu Ceauşescu" ("Nicu Ceauşescu's Pack") - includes Voicu's own recollections, in Jurnalul Naţional

Jurnalul National

Jurnalul Naţional is a Romanian newspaper, part of the Intact media group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular TV station Antena 1....

, February 20, 2006