Rațiu Friends and Family Weekend 2018

As a historian and political scientist he has brought to light the pettiness of a regime which – through the Securitate- tried to destroy a Romanian for the sole blame of loving his country and never ceasing, despite in exile, to fight from its freedom from the Soviet- communist occupation” Marius Oprea

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Silviu Crăciunaş, aka Agent Victor, considered a legend of the anti-communist resistance, was one of the most versatile external collaborators of the Romanian Securitate. However, despite his talent and willingness to collaborate, the officers in Bucharest missed the opportunity to turn him into a truly valuable double agent. Stejărel Olaru retraces the biography of this important, aspiring spy, and with it a significant period in the history of the Romanian secret service, as well as a part of the Romanian exile in western Europe.  The book follows the manner in which Agent Victor plays with versions of reality, as they appear in his biography, in the files of the Securitate and in his relationship to others – especially Ion Rațiu, his protector – outlining the weaknesses and, even, incompetence of the Securitate. (Editura Polirom)

Paul Radu is the director and co-founder of RISE Project, a platform for investigative reporters and hackers in Romania. He is a co-founder and the executive director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and a co-creator of the Investigative Dashboard concept, of Visual investigative Scenarios visualization software.

Paul’s recent work includes the Panama and the Paradise Papers, the Russian and the Azerbaijani Laundromat as well as a number of exposés focused on powerful Romanian politicians and oligarchs.

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Silviu Crăciunaş, aka Agent Victor, considered a legend of the anti-communist resistance, was one of the most versatile external collaborators of the Romanian Securitate. However, despite his talent and willingness to collaborate, the officers in Bucharest missed the opportunity to turn him into a truly valuable double agent. Stejărel Olaru retraces the biography of this important, aspiring spy, and with it a significant period in the history of the Romanian secret service, as well as a part of the Romanian exile in western Europe.  The book follows the manner in which Agent Victor plays with versions of reality, as they appear in his biography, in the files of the Securitate and in his relationship to others – especially Ion Rațiu, his protector – outlining the weaknesses and, even, incompetence of the Securitate. (Editura Polirom)

• Born from the vision of an architect, Razvan Chelu, and the artistry of his father, a wood craftsman, Lemnia‘s unique statement-bags tell the story of avant-garde design carved into supple wood and fine leather. The brand’s playful pairing of natural textures, bold contours and architectural structures breaks with the fashion codes and builds a language of its own. Lemnia layers together urban appeal and sculptural edge to make conceptual design totally wearable. Each bag is a street style gem that can infuse any outfit with a crisp, contemporary sophistication.
• NOAH is the sole manufacturer of wooden watches in Romania. A brand of premium watches, made of an unconvetional material – wood.  Using hard wood together with an innovative technique, NOAH creates original, timeless watches, with a unique design.
• Prototip Studio is a Cluj based design & architecture studio. Its main focus is to develop concepts and  to produce honest and quality design at different scales: from objects to spaces. With every project Prototip Studio finds a challenge in getting contemporary answers and playing in between the analog-traditional path and the new digital-experimental one. Some of the most representative projects are: OO Eyewear brand, Base Headphones, Hopa Bridge @ Someș Delivery 2017, modular furniture and design for Street Food Festival, Interior design for smart apartments, Interactive design installation for „Amintiri din Copilarie” Festival.

Cătălina Tudose is psychiatrist, university professor and chair of Psychiatry, within the Clinical Neuroscience Department of  Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie ”Carol Davila”,  București.

With a prodigious scientific, professional and academic career, Cătălina Tudose is overspecialized in geriatric psychiatry, neurocognitive disorders, neuroscience and neuropsychology, sanitary and organisational management and ethics. She placed a special focus on the recognition and prioritization of Alzheimer disease as a public health issue, in her capacity of president of the Romanian Alzheimer Society.

Bogdana Tudorache is psychiatrist, primary scientific researcher within the Bucharest Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry, holding a double academic competence in neurology and psychiatry.

In 1990 she was the first specialist in Romanian psychiatry to introduce the topic of mental health, founding the Romanian League for Mental Health which advocates for the protection and rights of mental health patients, supports international good practice policies and the diversification of mental health services.

Vlad Maistorovici was born in Ploiești (1985) into a musical family and became a pupil of the local Carmen Sylva Art School. At age 16, with the support of Lory Wallfisch, he was offered a full scholarship at The Yehudi Menuhin School, where he studied violin with Natalia Boyarskaya. As a Rațiu Family Charitable Foundation scholar in London, he continued his violin studies with Felix Andrievsky and composition with Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Cole at the Royal College of Music in London, and later violin with Pierre Amoyal on a Soloist Master degree at the Conservatoire de Lausanne. He complemented his studies with Bruno Canino and Giaccomo Manzoni in Florence, Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews and Magnus Lindberg in Aldeburgh, Boris Kushnier and Anna Chumachenko in Verbier, and Dan Dediu in Bucharest.

A winner of the George Enescu Composition Prize, The Tillett Trust Young Artist Platform, Young Concert Artist Trust and Remember Enescu International Competition, he performs internationally as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in repertoire ranging from ancient music to contemporary, and his compositions are championed by world-class ensembles and artists. He has recorded as performer or composer for LSO Live, Nonclassical, NMC, BBC, Radio France, Radio Suisse Romande, Romanian Radio and TV. He has given violin and composition masterclasses at the Lilla Akademien Stockholm, Dartington International Summer School, Geneva Conservatoire and Bucharest National University of Music. In 2015 he has founded vibrate!festival in Brașov, a chamber music festival that reaches out to a wide audiences through eclectic repertoire and cross-discipline projects in alternative venues.

flashes of Argerich-type bravura and temperament back-to-back with those blissful moments of reserve we recall from Pires at her most focussed. (…) there was a chamber-music rapport with the orchestra reminiscent of Nigel Kennedy at his considerable best.” (Classical Source)

Born in Câmpina, pianist Diana Ionescu is a First Prize winner of the prestigious George Enescu International Piano Competition, the Alexis Weissenberg Prize and EWLE Award Switzerland, Lory Wallfisch Competition,  Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, Glass Seller’s Trophy and Romantic Piano Competition London. She began studying the piano with Sanda Bobescu and she became a pupil of Olga Szell at the George Enescu Highschool in Bucharest. She studied with Dan Grigore’s at Bucharest’s National Music University, where she also took lessons from Dinu Ciocan and Steluța Radu. She was an exchange student of Mark Racz at the Birmingham Conservatoire and later trained under the guidance of Joan Havill and Ronan O’Hora at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, as a Rațiu Family Charitable Foundation grant recipient. She perfected her art with Alexis Weisenberg in Engelberg, Viktor Merzhanov in Moscow, Dmitry Bashkirov in …Madrid, Richard Goode in New York.

She has performed as soloist or chamber musician in Romania and other European countries (UK, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland), Russia, Japan and the United States. She has appeared at prestigious festivals such as Progetto Martha Argerich Lugano, Verbier Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Shakespeare Festival, Beethoven Festival London, Kyoto Young Musicians, George Enescu Festival. She has recorded for Radio Bucharest, Radio France, Radio de la Suisse Romande, Russian National Radio and Romanian Television. In 2015 she has founded vibrate!festival in Brașov, a chamber music festival that reaches out to a wide audiences through eclectic repertoire and cross-discipline projects in alternative venues.“

Ana Alvarez  is migrant Entrepreneur in Germany from Costa Rica, with a background in communication & journalism, specialized in Human Rights and Peace Education. Ana founded the social organization Migration Hub Network gGmbH where she is currently the CEO. She is coach and university lecturer in social innovation and social entrepreneurship, consultant in topics around migration and mentor of migrant entrepreneurs. Member of the Steering Committee of the European Community of Women Business Angels.

In the past year and a half, she has shaped and turned the initial project Migration Hub into a collaborative platform for other social entrepreneurs and is currently developing a platform to support and inspire more migrants to become entrepreneurs. Under her leadership, Migration Hub Network has been recognized as one of the 100 Landmarks of Germany and was recently recognized with the first Shimon-Peres Prize 2017 by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German-Israeli Future Forum for promoting the exchange of social entrepreneurs fostering migrant integration.

Has been invited to speak and lecture, among others, at Oxford University, National Taipei University, G20 Girls 2017 Global Summit, Global Conference on Children on the Move 2017, Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Cristina Ciobanu is graduate of the Faculty of International Relations of Al.I. Cuza University, Iași, SNSPA București and Universita di Trieste, Italy. During her studies she worked in various non-profit organisations, with cultural and humanitarian focus, gaining a vast experience in non-formal learning. She attended numerous international youth programs, youth exchanges, conferences and simulations in international relations which have contributed to her becoming an experienced facilitator.

Together with friends, in 2016 she founded ActivRandom, a non-profit organisation focused on education for migrants and refugees in view of their integration in Romania. She presently works for the Embassy of Pakistan in Bucharest and actively supports ActivRandom educational programs.

Graduate of the Faculties of Social Assistance and Journalism and a PhD candidate in Sociology of Universitatea de Vest, Timișoara, Flavius Ilioni has been working with asylum seekers, refugees and third country nationals since 2012. He exercised his expertise through direct assistance, coordinating a multidisciplinary team aimed at social inclusion, project writing and implementing, awareness campaigns and media relations.

In 2017 he organised the first edition of Timișoara Refugee Art Festival, in partnership with UNHCR Romania, the first Romanian art festival with and about refugees. The second edition of the festival took place between May 10yh-13th 2018 in Timișoara.

Flavius is a firm believer in empowering people in risk of social vulnerability and supports them in the process of overcoming such difficulties.

As Public Information and Communications Associate for the UN Refugee Agency Representation in Romania, Gabriela Leu works to give refugees a voice through media and public work. She is responsible for the strategic communication of the Office, designed to increase impact on various audiences including media, government | non-governmental partners and refugees themselves.  She is also working to expand and consolidate a network of allies that would help UNHCR advocate for refugees.

She joined UNHCR over ten years ago from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – Presence in Albania where she served for four years as Head of Field Station.

Prior to OSCE, she has worked for refugees as social counsellor and then Executive Director of a non-governmental organisation– ARCA-Romanian Forum for Migrants and Refugees. In 1999, she managed the UNHCR-ARCA project helping Kosovar refugees temporarily accommodated at the refugee camp in Sărata Monteoru (Eastern Romania).

She graduated the Faculty of Psychology, Sociology, and Pedagogy and holds a Master of Psychotherapy at Bucharest University.

Mircea Mocanu is currently heading the IOM office in Romania. He is actively involved in the implementation of practical solutions to assisting migrants, victims of trafficking and stranded people seeking emergency consular assistance.

Before IOM, Mircea’s professional experience included assignments with UNDP, EC and the FCO in SE Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe, where he successfully carried out socio-economic programmes in line with the MDGs.

Mircea is a strong advocate for inter-institutional cooperation and communication amongst governmental, non-governmental and private-sector stakeholders. As coordinator of all activities of IOM in Romania he has often used the convening power of IOM to mobilize relevant resources to help out those most in need of support and assistance either directly or through sustainable policy recommendations.

Irina Drexler is a Babes-Bolyai University graduate, holding a BA in English and Japanese Language and Literature, an MA in British Cultural Studies and a PhD in linguistics, with a focus on pragmatics, rhetoric and (critical) discourse analysis. During her studies she was actively involved in educational projects, quality assurance and policy writing activities at local and national level in the academic and NGO environment.

Currently she is the national coordinator of the No Hate Speech Movement initiative of the Council of Europe in Romania, being also a member of the Pool of European Youth Researchers of the Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth.

Professor Adrian Nechita Oros is  Deputy on behalf of  Partidului Național Liberal since 2012.

Born in Gherla, Cluj county he holds a PhD in Medical Sciences, in the field of Veterinary Medicine. He has a vast academic career, is member in the Department of Toxicology of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Vice -Chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca. Adrian Oros is president of the  Cluj Napoca Association of Veterinary Practitioners.

Dragoş-Nicolae Pîslaru is economist, holding an MA in International Relations at London School of Economics and a PhD in economy at the National Institute of Economic Research of the Romanian Academy.

In December 2015 he joined the Technocrat Government led by Dacian Cioloș as State Councillor in the field of Economy, to be appointed as minister in the Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Protection and Elderly  in April 2016. Early 2017 he joins  the“Platforma România 100” Association, and in 2018 he become founding member of  the political party “Mișcarea România Împreună” (RO+).

Following 20 years in the anglo-saxon business environment, Roxana Wring has returned home. Since 2008 she advocates for the protection of the Bucharest architectural heritage, of the historic monuments and of all the details that give the capital city its identity and charm.

As president of the ProDoMo Association she has implemented several projects in the field of heritage protection; one of her accomplishments was to persuade ICOMOS to ask Romanian authorities to stop the destruction of buildings with architectural value in Bucharest. Following seven years of non-profit activity, Roxana Wring joined the political life. Since 2016 she is the USR local councillors leader and one of the most active opposition voices in Bucharest.

Professor Michael Clarke is currently specialist adviser to the Joint National Committee on Security Strategy for Her Majesty’s Government and formerly Director General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) from 2007 to 2015 when he retired from that role. Until 2001 he was Deputy Vice-Principal and Director for Research Development at King’s College London, where he remains a Visiting Professor of Defence Studies. From 1990 to 2001 he was the founding Director of the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s. He was appointed Professor in 1995. He is now a Fellow of King’s College London and of the Universities of Aberystwyth and of Exeter, where he is also Associate Director of the Strategic Studies Institute. He has previously taught at the Universities of Aberystwyth, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and also at the University of New Brunswick and the Open University. He has been a Guest Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC, and a Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London.

He has been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee since 1997, having served previously with the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee 1995-6, and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Bribery in 2009. In 2004 he was appointed as the UK’s member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. In 2009 he was appointed to the Prime Minister’s National Security Forum and in 2010 to the Chief of Defence Staff’s Strategic Advisory Group. He also served on the Strategic Advisory Panel on Defence for UK Trade and Industry and in 2014 was Chairman of the Defence Communications Advisory panel for the Ministry of Defence.

In March 2014 he was appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister to chair an Independent Surveillance Review at RUSI which reported in 2015. That report; A Democratic Licence to Operate: The Report of the Independent Surveillance Review, was published as part of the public discussion around the Interception of Communications Bill, enacted into law at the end of 2016.