Romania

Famous Romanian People: Romanian Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

Daring dreamers are great achievers! This category of Romanian daring dreamers changed the past, shaped the modern world and build the future!

:: List of Famous People from Romania ::

Henri Coanda
Henri Coanda was a prominent Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, parent of the modern jet aircraft. He was the builder of the world’s first jet powered aircraft, the Coanda-1910. Another most known, studied, and applied discovery of Henri Coanda is the ‘Coanda Effect’. This effect has been utilized in many aeronautical inventions and is crucial to successful supersonic flight.
H. Coanda was honored in New York, 1958 as the inventor of the first jet aeroplane: one speaker lauded him as “the past, present and the future of aviation.” He received in 1965 at the International Automation Symposium the Harry Diamond Laboratories Award. Furthermore, Coanda was awarded also by UNESCO for his scientific research.

Maia Morgenstern
Is a a symbol of Romanian theater and film. She reached international stardom with the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. She has been nationally known since her 1992 role as Nela in Balanta, a film known in the United States as The Oak, set during the waning days of Communist Romania.
Maia Morgenstern was honored in 2004 with the Best Film Actress Award for The Passion of the Christ at the Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards, UK and with the European Film Award in 1993 for the performance as Best Actress for Balanta (1992).

Constantin Brancusi
Constantin Brancusi was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor, a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction. His sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication, are noted for its visual elegance and sensitive use of materials. Brancusi worked on several ambitious public sculpture projects, an unrealized temple in India for the Maharajah of Indore and the installation at Tirgu Jiu, Romania, of his Gate of the Kiss, Table of Silence and a 100-foot tall cast iron version of Endless Column. His works can be seen also at Guggenheim Museum. On his death Brancusi left the contents of his studio to the Museum of Art of the City of Paris. Some of his works worth more than 20 million Euros/work.

Nadia Comaneci
Nadia embodies the determination and fight-to-the-end spirit! She is a Romanian gymnast, the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. By the time the 1976 Olympics ended, Nadia had earned seven perfect tens, three gold medals, one bronze and one silver. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1996. Moreover, Nadia Comaneci was honored by ABC News and Ladies Home Journal as one of the 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century.

Anca Parghel
One of Romania’s greatest voices, Anca Parghel Anca is a musical powerhouse who released so far 17 albums. She is a not only a stunning jazz vocalist but also a pianist, composer, arranger, band leader and a bel canto & vocal jazz professor. Anca Parghel taught at the Royal Conservatory in Bruxelles and participated in numerous international jazz festivals, sharing the stage with top musicians such as Jon Hendricks Band, Johnny Raducanu, Mircea Tiberian, Garbis Dedeian, Billy Hart, Archie Shepp, Larry Coryell, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Phillipp Catherine, Marc Levine, Claudio Roditi, Thomas Stanko, Ricardo Del Fra, Stephane Galland, or Klaus Ignatzek.

Gheorghe Zamfir
Gheorghe Zamfir is one of the famous artists throughout the world. He is an outstanding Romanian pan flute musician who has received throughout his 50-year-long career 120 golden and platinum disc awards and sold over 60 million albums . He is widely known as “Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute”.

His music has also been heard on the soundtracks of many Hollywood movies. He was asked by Ennio Morricone to perform the pieces “Childhood Memories” and “Cockeye’s Song” for the soundtrack of Sergio Leone’s classic 1984 gangster film Once Upon A Time In America, his music is heard throughout the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and his song “The Lonely Shepherd”, penned by James Last and recorded with the James Last Orchestra, is featured in Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill Vol. 1.

George Enescu
“… I used my skills to love music and try to create it. If the number of my works is relatively small, this is because I wanted to give, I say it without pride, the best of myself. I have published only what I thought that was almost finished.”

Enescu was a prominent Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, and one of the best performers of his time. He became best known in America as a conductor. He was considered as a successor to Toscanini in New York. Enescu reached fame in Europe as one of the greatest violinists of the century.

George Emil Palade
Palade was a highly regarded Romanian cell biologist. In 1974 George Palade received the Nobel Price for his magnificent work in medicine. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve, for discovering the vacuole.
Dr. Palade also received the U.S. National Medal of Science in Biological Sciences for “pioneering discoveries of a host of fundamental, highly organized structures in living cells…”

Michael Cretu
Michael Cretu (known also Curly M.C.) is the man behind the world famous Enigma project, project which is widely regarded as one of the most interesting music projects. His genius created a phenomenon that has sold millions of records worldwide. Cretu created a music which is famous for it’s unique, mysterious style and sound. Enigma is a gorgeous, almost hallucinatory, or better, the ultimate music experience!

Aurel Vlaicu
Was a Romanian aviation pioneer, engineer, inventor, airplane constructor and early pilot. He built his first airplane Vlaicu I., an airplane which was extremely well build, stabile and very maneuverable. He won several prizes in international contest abroad from that time like Rolland Garos. In 1911 Aurel Vlaicu built his second plane “Vlaicu II” and wins 2 memorable prizes at Aspern, Austria.

Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula
Vlad III, was a Wallachian voivode, born in today’s Transylvania. Vlad the Impaler is known for the exceedingly cruel punishments he imposed during his reign. Vlad Dracula ruled with a cruel hand. Just about every crime was punishable by death. Furthermore, author Bram Stoker (1847-1912) based the title character of his 1897 novel Dracula on Vlad the Impaler and Vlad III influenced like this the vampire myth. Vlad the Impaler was not a “real” vampire, but he probably caused more rivers of blood than any other tyrant in the worldwide history. We must not forget, that Vlad III is also a symbol of fight for independence against ottomans. He tried also to reduce the economic role of the nobility and increase the rights of peasantry.

Mircea Eliade
The Romanian Mircea Eliade was a personality of international renown. He was a historian of religions, phenomenologist of religion, author of novels, novellas, short stories, noted journalist and essayist. Eliade was one of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and one of the world’s foremost interpreters of religious symbolism and myth. He was for 30 years the director of the History of Religions department at the University of Chicago. His considerable influence is truly hard to quantify.

Among his works are: major scholarly works: Traité d’histoire des religions (1949; Patterns in Comparative Religion), which signalled his arrival as a major scholar of religion; Le Mythe de l’éternel retour (1949; The Myth of the Eternal Return, also translated as Cosmos and History), popular books, such as The Sacred and the Profane (1959) and many others. His most ambitious and challenging novel is Forêt interdite (1955; The Forbidden Forest), which he considered a literary masterpiece.