Tismaneanu Who?

Referring to Tismăneanu’s books, Tom Gallagher also wrote: “But what about the role of the Securitate? In his books, [Tismăneanu] has never been especially interested in their role. Much of the time, he has seemed far more concerned with creating a psycho-biography of the life and times of his illegalist family in order to overcome the long lasting shock of having been cast into the wilderness for over twenty years when his family fell from grace under Gheorghiu-Dej.”

As leaders of anti-communist opinion inside the former Eastern Bloc, Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa and Vladimir Bukovsky had been requested to comment on the Commission’s activities. When asked if he knows Tismăneanu, WaÅ‚Ä™sa replied “No, I don’t know, I don’t have such a good memory”,[23] while Bukovsky stated “I don’t know Tismăneanu, I know nothing about him. I would like people to understand what they did in the past. He too should understand the part he played”.


Vladimir Tismăneanu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vladimir Tismăneanu (b. July 4, 1951) is a Romanian and American political scientist, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and compared politics, he is editor of the East European Politics and Societies academic review and director of the University of Maryland’s Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies. Tismăneanu is a contributor to several periodicals, including Journal of Democracy, Studia Politica, Sfera Politicii, 22, and Evenimentul Zilei

Tismăneanu’s background and work came under intense scrutiny after his 2006 appointment by Romanian President Traian Băsescu as head of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, which presented its report to the Romanian Parliament on December 18, 2006. Much controversy covers the choice of Tismăneanu as commission president, Tismăneanu’s choices for commission members, and the conclusions of the report.

Biography

Born in Braşov and a resident of Bucharest during his youth, Vladimir Tismăneanu is the son of Leonte Tismăneanu, an activist of the Romanian Communist Party since the early 1930s, and Hermina Marcusohn, a physician and one-time Communist Party activist, both of whom were Jewish and Spanish Civil War bolshevic terrorists. His father, born in Bessarabia and settled in the Soviet Union at the end of the 1930s, worked in agitprop structures, returning to Romania at the end of World War II, and becoming, under the Communist regime, chair of the Marxism-Leninism department of the University of Bucharest. Progressively after Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej acted against Ana Pauker, the Tismăneanus were sidelined inside the Romanian nomenklatura; in 1960, Leonte Tismăneanu was stripped of his position as deputy head of Editura Politică.[1]

During his years of study at the Lyceum No. 24, which was then largely attended by students belonging to the nomenklatura, Vladimir Tismăneanu was in the same class as Nicu Ceauşescu, son of communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, as well as the children of Leonte Răutu, Nicolae Doicaru and Silviu Brucan.[2]

In his preface to the Romanian-language edition of his 2003 book Stalinism for All Seasons, Tismăneanu indicated that, starting in 1970, he became interested in critiques of Marxism-Leninism and the Romanian communist regime in particular, after reading banned works made available to him by various of his acquaintances (among others, writer Dumitru Å¢epeneag and his wife, translator Mona Å¢epeneag, as well as Ileana, the daughter of Communist Party dignitary Gheorghe Gaston Marin).[3] He stated that, at the time, he was influenced by Ghiţă Ionescu’s Communism in Romania, as well as by Marxist, Western Marxist, Democratic and Libertarian Socialist scholarship (among others, the ideas of Georg Lukács, Leszek KoÅ‚akowski, Leon Trotsky, Antonio Gramsci, and the Frankfurt School).[3] According to Tismăneanu, his family background allowed him insight into the hidden aspects of Communist Party history, which was comparing with the ideological demands of the CeauÅŸescu regime, and especially with the latter’s emphasis on nationalism.[3]

He graduated as a valedictorian[4] from the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Sociology in 1974, and received his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1980, presenting the thesis “The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School and Contemporary Left-Wing Radicalism” (Teoria Critică a Åžcolii de la Frankfurt ÅŸi radicalismul de stînga contemporan).[4] During the period, he was received into the ranks of the Union of Communist Youth (UTC), authored several articles which displayed support for the regime, and, as vice-president of the UTC’s Communist Student Association, took part in authoring and compiling propaganda aimed at students.[5][6]

Between 1974 and 1981, Tismăneanu worked as a sociologist, employed by the Urban Sociology Department of the Institute for Designing Typified Buildings in Bucharest.[4] He was not given approval to hold an academic position.[4][7]

In September 1981, a short while after the death of his father, he accompanied his mother on a voyage to Spain, after she had been granted a request to visit the sites where she and her husband had fought as young people.[7][8] Unlike Hermina Tismăneanu, he opted not to return, and soon after left for Venezuela, before ultimately settling in the United States in 1982.[4][7][8]

He lived first in Philadelphia, where he was employed by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (1983-1990), while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania (1985-1990).[4] At the time, he began contributing comments on local politics to Radio Free Europe and Voice of America,[4][7][8] beginning with an analysis of the “dynastic socialism” in Romania, centered on the political career of Nicu CeauÅŸescu.[7][8] In 1990, Tismăneanu received a professorship at the University of Maryland, College Park and moved to Washington, D.C.[4] Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he has been visiting his native country on a regular basis.

He is married to Mary Frances Sladek, and has fathered a son, Adam.[4]

Controversy

Various Marxist-Leninist texts authored by Tismăneanu in Romania and his activities inside the Union of Communist Youth are the topic of a major controversy, and are frequently contrasted with his Presidential Commission appointment.

According to an article by Victor Gaetan, a Romanian-American businessman, published in The Washington Post as a reply to the paper’s earlier comments (which had been sympathetic towards the Commission’s investigation),[9][10] Tismăneanu’s doctoral thesis is “a vitriolic sermon against Western values”.[9] The same work was nonetheless cited as evidence that Tismăneanu was “a liberal student of Euro-Marxism” by University of Bucharest professor Daniel Barbu (who contrasted Tismăneanu with the official ideological background, as one in a group of “outstanding authors”, alongside Pavel Câmpeanu, Henri H. Stahl, Zigu Ornea, and Vlad Georgescu).[11]

Among the critics of Tismăneanu’s early activities stands the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, who stated that they were incompatible with the moral status required from a leader of the Commission.[6] However, Liiceanu endorsed the incrimination of Communist regime and eventually the report itself,[12][13][14] engaging in a public debate with Cristian Tudor Popescu and Octavian Paler over its implications.[14]

Tom Gallagher, a Professor of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at the University of Bradford and author of influential works on Romanian politics authored a series of articles critical of Tismăneanu’s involvement in local Romanian issues in the post-1989 era, and especially of his relations with former President Ion Iliescu (one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party, PSD).[15][16][17] According to Gallagher, Tismăneanu “was useful to Iliescu in 2004 because the then President recognised the type of figure he was beneath the western reformist image he has cultivated”.[18] Gallagher writes that Tismăneanu’s book of interviews with Iliescu, Marele Åžoc, “was ready to depict Ion Iliescu as an enlightened leader who, despite some flaws, had been instrumental in consolidating Romanian democracy”, and that the volume, which he called “one of the strangest books to emerge from the Romanian transition”, did not include, to Iliescu’s advantage, any mentions of the controversial aspects of his presidency (“any serious enquiries about the mineriade, the manipulation of nationalism, the denigration of the historic parties [the National Peasants’ Party and the National Liberal Party], civic movements and the monarchy, the explosion of corruption, or indeed the continuing political influence and fabulous wealth of the heirs of the pre-1989 intelligence service”).[19] Gallagher expressed further criticism on Tismăneanu, writing that “he wishes to build up a vast patron-client network in contemporary history and political science not dissimilar to what the PSD did in those areas where it desired control”.[18]

Tismăneanu replied to Gallagher’s accusations in an interview with Jurnalul NaÅ£ional, arguing that Marele Åžoc largely reflected Iliescu’s own beliefs, which he had wanted to render accurately, and stating that “all I could do was to obtain the maximum of what can be obtained through dialog with [Iliescu]”.[20] He depicted Gallagher’s attitude as “an outbreak of resentments”,[20] and indicated that “the only praise I could offer [Iliescu]” was in regard to the latter’s respect for pluralism in front of authoritarianism.[20] In later statements on the issue, he argued that Gallagher concerns about a supposed change in political views had been unfounded, while expressing regret over the fact that “I had not highlighted […] in those sections I authored, certain elements that would have made it clear for the reader where I stand”.[21]

Referring to Tismăneanu’s books, Tom Gallagher also wrote: “But what about the role of the Securitate? In his books, [Tismăneanu] has never been especially interested in their role. Much of the time, he has seemed far more concerned with creating a psycho-biography of the life and times of his illegalist[22] family in order to overcome the long lasting shock of having been cast into the wilderness for over twenty years when his family fell from grace under Gheorghiu-Dej.”[19]

As leaders of anti-communist opinion inside the former Eastern Bloc, Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa and Vladimir Bukovsky had been requested to comment on the Commission’s activities. When asked if he knows Tismăneanu, WaÅ‚Ä™sa replied “No, I don’t know, I don’t have such a good memory”,[23] while Bukovsky stated “I don’t know Tismăneanu, I know nothing about him. I would like people to understand what they did in the past. He too should understand the part he played”.[24]

In 2006 and early 2007, Ziua newspaper repeatedly published accusatory claims that Tismăneanu had left with support from the the Securitate, that he had settled abroad with assistance from the Communist Party of Venezuela, and that, after escaping communist censorship, he continued to publish materials supporting official communist tenets.[25][8] Tismăneanu has rejected all allegations, indicating that they contradicted data present in, among others, files kept on him by the Securitate and the official conclusion reached by the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS).[7][8] Soon afterwards, Ziua’s editor in chief, Sorin RoÅŸca-Stănescu, issued a formal apology for those particular claims (while expressing further criticism of various aspects of Tismăneanu’s biography).[26]

Based on data which he indicated formed part of his CNSAS file, Tismăneanu also specified that he was the object of constant Securitate surveillance after his departure, that his mother was subject to pressures,[7][8] and that derogatory comments on him, including a coded reference to his Jewish background (tunărean),[7] were gathered from various informants and agents.[7][8] He made mention of the fact that, according to the documents (the last of which were allegedly compiled in April 1990), the post-Revolution Foreign Intelligence Directorate had continued to monitor him.[8] Tismăneanu also indicated his belief that the author of a denunciation note, who used the name “Costin” and recommended himself as a Faculty of Sociology professor, was the same person who, after 1989, had sent a letter to his University of Maryland employer, in which he had called attention to the communist activities of Leonte Tismăneanu (according to Vladimir Tismăneanu, the letter was dismissed as “abject” and irrelevant by its recipient).[7]

In January 2007, Ziua published in facsimile a document presented as part of a separate file kept on Tismăneanu by the Counter-Espionage unit of the Securitate, dated 1987.[27] According to this document, Tismăneanu was well appreciated for his professional and Romanian Communist Party work prior to 1981, and had held the position of lecturer on the Propaganda Commission of the Communist Party Municipal Committee for Bucharest.[27] The same document also contradicts Tismăneanu’s indication that he had not been allowed to travel to the West prior to 1981, by stating that he had been approved tourist visas for both the Eastern Bloc and “capitalist states”.[27] The facsimile was accompanied by an open letter containing similar accusatory claims made by Dan MureÅŸan, a political consultant for the United States Republican Party,[this source’s reliability may need verification] and relying on the assertion that Tismăneanu had settled in the United States only after 1985.[27]

An extended polemic was sparked between the Tismăneanu Commission and the dissident writer Paul Goma. Goma, who initially accepted an invitation to become a Commission member, as issued by Tismăneanu himself,[28] claims to have been excluded after a short while by “the self-styled ’eminent members of civil society'”.[29] According to Tismăneanu, this happened only after Goma engaged in and publicized personal attacks aimed at other Commission members, allegedly calling Tismăneanu “a Bolshevik offspring”,[8] based on his family history; Goma denied having said these exact words, but later confirmed that he supported such views.[30] He also indicated that attacks on Tismăneanu had been prompted by rumors that the latter had sided with other intellectuals in condemning as “antisemitic” the views he had expressed on issues pertaining to the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia;[30][8] Tismăneanu denied ever having made public his attitudes on this particular matter, and Goma consequently apologized for not having sufficiently verified the information.[30][8] The Commission justified the exclusion based on Goma’s implicit and later explicit refusal to recognize the board as a valid instrument;[8] Goma maintains his view that personal issues played the bigger part in the final decision.[30]

The fact that Sorin Antohi, who was a confirmed former collaborator of the Communist regime’s Securitate, and known to have falsified his academic credentials, was selected for the Commission’s panel, has prompted further criticism. Antohi resigned in September 2006.[31]

Several commentators have argued that the negative reception was partly due to the investigation’s implications, as the latter’s overall condemnation of the Communist regime has opened the road for further debates regarding the links between various contemporary politicians and the former Communist structures[32][10][13][33] (examples cited include the Social Democratic Party’s Ion Iliescu,[32][33] former President of Romania, and Adrian Păunescu,[33] as well as Greater Romania Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor[32] and Conservative Party leader Dan Voiculescu, owner of both Jurnalul NaÅ£ional and Antena 1).[10]

Works

Originally published in Romanian

Noua Stîngă şi şcoala de la Frankfurt (Editura Politică, 1976)

Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan (Ph.D. thesis, 1980)

Mic dicţionar social-politic pentru tineret (co-author, under the direction of Virgil Măgureanu – future head of the Romanian secret service under Ion Iliescu’s regime) Editura Politică, 1981

Condamnaţi la fericire. Experimentul comunist în România (Grup de edituri ale Fundaţiei EXO, 1991)

Fantoma lui Gheorghiu-Dej (Editura Univers, 1995)

Balul mascat. Un dialog cu Mircea Mihăieş (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 1996)

Spectrele Europei Centrale (Polirom, 2001)

Ghilotina de scrum (Polirom, 2002)

Scrisori din Washington (Polirom, 2002)

Marele şoc din finalul unui secol scurt. Ion Iliescu în dialog cu Vladimir Tismăneanu (dialogue with Ion Iliescu; Editura Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 2004)

Schelete in dulap (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 2004)

Scopul ÅŸi mijloacele: Eseuri despre ideologie, tiranie ÅŸi mit (Editura Curtea Veche, 2004)

Anul revoluţionar 1956: revolta minţilor şi sfîrşitulul mitului comunist (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)

Democraţie şi memorie (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)

Originally published in English

The Crisis of Marxist Ideology in Eastern Europe: The Poverty of Utopia (Routledge, 1988)

Latin American Revolutionaries: Groups, Goals, Methods (with Michael Radu; Potomac Books, 1990)

In Search of Civil Society (Routledge, 1990)

Debates on the Future of Communism (with Judith Shapiro; Palgrave Macmillan, 1991)

Uprooting Leninism, Cultivating Liberty (with Patrick Clawson; University Press of America, 1992)

Reinventing Politics: Eastern Europe from Stalin to Havel (Free Press, 1994)

Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (M. E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY, 1995). ISBN 1563243644

Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1998). ISBN 0691048266

The Revolutions of 1989 (Re-Writing Histories) (Routledge, London, New York, 1999). ISBN 0203977416

Between Past and Future: The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath (with Sorin Antohi; Central European University Press, New York, 2000). ISBN 9639116718

Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003). ISBN 0520237471

Bilingual

Vecinii lui Franz Kafka. Romanul unei nevroze/The Neighbors of Franz Kafka. The Novel of a Neurosis (with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 1998)

Other

Vladimir Tismăneanu has authored the screenplay for Dinu Tănase’s documentary film CondamnaÅ£i la fericire (“Condemned to Happiness”), released in 1992. With Octavian Åžerban, he has also authored a series about Communist Romania, which was showcased by the Romanian Television Company.[4]

References

^ (Romanian) Tismăneanu interviewed by Emilia Chiscop, 2005

^ (Romanian) Tismăneanu, “Amintiri din copilărie: Liceul 24 ÅŸi destinul nomenclaturii”, in Almanahul CaÅ£avencu 2002

^ a b c Tismăneanu, “Bizantinism ÅŸi revoluÅ£ie. Istoria politică a comunismului românesc”, preface to Stalinism pentru eternitate. O istorie politică a comunismului românesc, Polirom, IaÅŸi, 2005, p.14-16

(Romanian) Profile at the Romanian Presidency site

^ (Romanian) Gabriela Antoniu, “TinereÅ£e revoluÅ£ionară – Tismăneanu, întâiul comunist al ţării”, in Jurnalul NaÅ£ional, December 20, 2006

^ a b (Romanian) Sorin Lavric, “Cum se investighează crimele comunismului la români”, in Adevărul Literar ÅŸi Artistic, October 4, 2006

^ a b c d e f g h i j (Romanian) Dan Tapalagă, “Turnat de prieteni, demonizat de Securitate: Vladimir Tismăneanu”, in Cotidianul, July 24, 2006

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Tismăneanu, in (Romanian) Armand Gosu, “N-am avut de-a face cu Securitatea”, in 22, nr.849, June 2006

^ a b Victor Gaetan, “Vinegar on Old, Open Wounds”, in The Washington Post, August 26, 2006

^ a b c (Romanian) Teodora Georgescu, “Felix, prezentat Americii”, in Curentul, July 31, 2006

^ Daniel Barbu, Political Science in Romania, Country Report 1, at the Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe

^ (Romanian) Åžerban Orescu, “De ce este nevoie de un apel la memorie?”, in Ziua, March 11, 2006

^ a b (Romanian) Sabina Fati, “Politicienii, intelectualii ÅŸi condamnarea comunismului”, in Observator Cultural

^ a b (Romanian) Cristian Tudor Popescu, Cuvântul care naşte gândul, hosted by ProTV

^ (Romanian) Tom Gallagher, “Standardele judecăţii – altele pentru intelectuali?”, in România Liberă, September 15, 2006

^ (Romanian) Tom Gallagher, “Politolog fără bisericuÅ£e”, in România Liberă, October 13, 2006

^ (Romanian) Tom Gallagher, “Netulburat de propria-i mistificare”, in România Liberă, November 01, 2006

^ a b Tom Gallagher, “A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (II)”, in Ziua, April 15, 2006

^ a b Tom Gallagher, “A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (I)”, in Ziua, April 14, 2006

^ a b c (Romanian) Monica Iordache, “Nu cred că găsim în această carte adevărul”, in Jurnalul NaÅ£ional

^ (Romanian) Ovidiu Åžimonca, “«Există un mare interes să înÅ£elegem din ce lume venim». Interviu cu Vladimir Tismăneanu”, in Observatorul Cultural

^ In this context, the term refers to committed Communist Party members of the interwar period, when the group had been outlawed.

^ (Romanian) “Interview with Lech Walesa”, in Ziua, December 20, 2006

^ “Interview with Vladimir Bukovski”, in Ziua, May 15, 2006

^ (Romanian) Vladimir Alexe, “Agentul Volodea”, in Ziua, May 13, 2006

^ (Romanian) Sorin RoÅŸca-Stănescu, “Vladimir Tismăneanu, punct ÅŸi de la capat”, in Ziua, June 22, 2006 (English-language version: “Vladimir Tismaneanu: end and back to the beginning”

^ a b c d (Romanian) Vladimir Alexe, “Documentul «fugii» lui Tismăneanu”; Dan MureÅŸan, “Unde a fost Tismăneanu patru ani, până a ajuns în SUA?”, in Ziua, January 23, 2003. The facsimile and Dan MureÅŸan’s letter are available as links on the article page

^ (Romanian) Silviu Mihai, “Goma: ‘Eu nu am amănunte de studiat'”, in Cotidianul, April 11, 2006

^ Goma, in (Romanian) Adrian Popescu, “Paul Goma îi desfiinÅ£ează pe membrii “Comisiei Tismăneanu” de cercetare a ororilor comunismului din România”, in Gândul, May 9, 2006

^ a b c d (Romanian) Paul Goma, Despre Vladimir Tismăneanu – ÅŸi nu numai – în 11 puncte

^ (Romanian) Dana Carbelea, “Antohi nu mai e în Comisia Tismăneanu”, in Curentul, September 13, 2006

^ a b c (Romanian) Dana Betlevy, “România condamnă în mod oficial comunismul”, in The Epoch Times – Romanian edition, December 18, 2006

^ a b c (Romanian) Lica Manolache, “Efectul Comisiei Tismăneanu”, in Evenimentul Zilei, December 17, 2006

(Romanian) Biography at Polirom.ro

[edit] External links

Vladimir Tismaneanu, home page at the University of Maryland

Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies

Condamnaţi la fericire at the British Film Institute site

(Romanian) The final report of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Tismaneanu”

Vladimir Tismăneanu

Vladimir Tismăneanu (n. 4 iulie 1951, BraÅŸov), este un politolog american născut în România. Specialist în teoria sistemelor politice ÅŸi politici comparate. Până în 1981, propagandist al Comitetului Central al UTC, colaborator la “Amfiteatru”, “ViaÅ£a StudenÅ£ească”, “Convingeri comuniste”. ÃŽn prezent, profesor de ÅŸtiinÅ£e politice ÅŸi director al “Centrului de Studii ale Societăţilor post-comuniste” la University of Maryland, Statele Unite. Editor al revistei “East European Politics and Societies” ÅŸi al “Revistei 22”. Colaborator la Journal of Democracy, Studia Politica, Sfera Politicii, Cotidianul ÅŸi Evenimentul Zilei.

Tismăneanu este obiectul unei intense controverse în urma numirii sale în aprilie 2006 ca preşedinte al Comisiei Prezidenţiale pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România, comisie care a redactat raportul prezentat de Traian Băsescu în plenul Parlamentului României în data de 18 decembrie 2006.

Viaţa
Vladimir Tismăneanu este fiul activiştilor comunişti Leonte Tismăneanu şi Hermina Marcusohn; tatāl originar din Basarabia, iar mama din Botoşani. Tatal sau este arestat la Bucureşti în 1935 pentru activitate subversivă. Ambii părinţi au participat în războiul civil din Spania, tatăl ca voluntar în Brigazile Internaţionale (unde îşi pierde un braţ) iar mama sa ca soră medicală. În 1939 se refugiază în URSS unde produc emisiunea in limba româna a Radio Moscova, Leonte redactor iar Hermina crainică. Cei doi se stabilesc în România în martie 1948 şi sunt naturalizaţi Tismăneanu [1] Leonte devine profesor universitar, şeful catedrei de marxism-leninism al Universităţii din Bucureşti şi director adjunct al Editurii PMR (Editura Politică). Hermina devine conferenţiar universitar la Facultatea de Medicină Bucureşti şi şef de cadre în Ministerul Sănătăţii. [1],[2].

Vladimir Tismăneanu a urmat cursurile Liceului 24 (actualul Jean Monnet) din cartierul Primăverii, unde a fost coleg de clasa cu NicuÅŸor CeauÅŸescu.[3]. A absolvit Facultatea de Filosofie a Universităţii din BucureÅŸti, specializarea Sociologie în anul 1974 ca ÅŸef de promoÅ£ie. Lucrarea sa de licenţă, “Noua Stângă ÅŸi Åžcoala de la Frankfurt” (Editura Politică, 1976), de orientare neo-marxistă, este considerată într-un articol din ziarul Washington Post drept un “rechizitoriu vitriolic la adresa valorilor occidentale”. [4]. In aceasta lucrare, Tismăneanu ajunge la urmatoarea concluzie: “Capitalismul nu poate fi nimicit prin vagi reverii, prin revolte dogmatice, prin tranziÅ£ii bruÅŸte ÅŸi prin studii metafizice. Singura modalitate de a depăşi acest statu-quo este revoluÅ£ia socialistă, în care clasa muncitoare, condusă de partidul politic revoluÅ£ionar, va avea rolul principal.” Teza de doctorat (Universitatea BucureÅŸti, 1980) are titlul “Revolutie ÅŸi RaÅ£iune Critică. Teoria politică a Åžcolii de la Frankfurt ÅŸi radicalismul de stânga contemporan”.

ÃŽntre 1974 ÅŸi 1981, a lucrat ca sociolog în cadrul Laboratorului de sociologie urbană al Institutului de Proiectări pentru ConstrucÅ£ii Tipizate. ÃŽn acea perioadă a fost lector cu propaganda la Comitetul central al UTC si a publicat, de pe pozitii marxist-leniniste, diverse materiale in sprijinul regimului comunist în reviste precum “Amfiteatru”, “Convingeri comuniste”[5], “ViaÅ£a StudenÅ£ească”[6] “Revista de Filosofie”, “Contemporanul”, “Viitorul Social”[7], “Tînărul leninist” [8].

ÃŽn 1981 a participăt la redactarea “Micului dicÅ£ionar social-politic pentru tineret”, unde contribuie cu o serie de articole. Volumul a fost coordonat de Virgil Măgureanu, pe atunci lector de ÅŸtiinÅ£e politice la Academia Åžtefan Gheorghiu . Datorită însă plecării lui Vladimir Tismăneanu din Å£ară, acest volum a fost retras din circulaÅ£ie chiar în anul apariÅ£iei sale.

ÃŽn 1981, Vladimir Tismăneanu rămâne în Spania în timpul unei călătorii turistice. Tismăneanu a avut o scurtă ÅŸedere în Venezuela, unde a lucrat la Muzeul de Artă Contemporană din Caracas (condus de vara primară a tatălui său, Sofia Imber) ÅŸi unde a colaborat cu Carlos Rangel (soÅ£ul Sofiei) – gânditor politic anti-comunist.[1]. ÃŽn 1982 se va stabili în SUA, mai întîi la Philadelphia, apoi la Washington D.C. ÃŽntre 1983 ÅŸi 1990 a fost cercetător la Foreign Policy Research Institute din Philadelphia, iar între 1985 ÅŸi 1990 a predat la University of Pennsylvania. 1983 aduce ÅŸi prima sa contribuÅ£ie academică în Occident, în “Praxis International” (octombrie).[9]. ÃŽn februarie începe si lunga sa colaborare cu postul de radio Europa Libera.

Predă din 1990 la University of Maryland, unde este profesor şi director al Centrului de Cercetare a Societăţilor Postcomuniste. In 2003 a primit din partea Univesităţii premiul Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. Certificatul Asociaţiei Americane de Ştiinte Politice pentru merite excepţionale în predarea acestei discipline. A fost redactor şef (Editor) între 1998-2004 şi în prezent este preşedintele Comitetului Editorial al trimestrialului East European Politics and Societies şi membru a numeroase consilii editoriale, inclusiv Studia Politica, Human Rights Review, Sfera Politicii, Democracy at Large şi Journal of Democracy. Colaborator permanent al posturilor de radio Europa Liberă, Vocea Americii, Deutsche Welle şi BBC. Cercetator în ştiinţe politice la Woodrow Wilson Center (Washington, DC), Remarque Institute (New York University), National Endowment for Democracy, Institutul pentru Stiintele Omului (IWM-Viena). Redactor al revistei alternative de cultura AGORA, (1986-1990), al revistei Meridian (1991-1992), conduse de Dorin Tudoran, şi editor-colaborator al Orbis, revista Foreign Research Institute (Philadelphia). Burse: National Endowment for the Humanities, US INstitute of Peace. Membru al Consiliului Stiintific, International Forum for Democratic Studies. Doctor Honoris Causa al Universitatii de Vest din Timisoara (2002) şi al Scolii Nationale de Studii Politice si Admnistrative (SNSPA, 2003); membru al Societăţii Academice din România, condusă de Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.

Înainte şi după prezentarea raportului de către Traian Băsescu, numirea lui Tismăneanu în fruntea Comisiei pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste a fost intens contestată.[11], [12], [13]. Lui Tismăneanu i se reproşează activitatea de propagandist al CC al UTC, teoria marxist-leninistă dezvoltată în teza de licenţă şi articolele dinainte de 1981 în sprijinul regimului comunist din România [8], [5].

Tismăneanu i-a propus iniţial sa faca parte din Comisie scriitorului anti-comunist Paul Goma dar l-a îndepartat apoi la scurt timp pe considerente personale.[14]

Tismăneanu l-a cooptat in comisie pe Sorin Antohi, dovedit ulterior colaborator al Securităţii si care a recunoscut ca ar fi minÅ£it in legătură cu deÅ£inerea diplomei de doctorat. Antohi este în continuare editor al jurnalului academic “East European politics and Societies”, unde Tismăneanu este presedintele comitetului editorial.

O poziÅ£ie vehementă împotriva raportului comisiei Tismăneanu a venit din partea opoziÅ£iei politice. Fostul presedinte Ion Iliescu, membru de onoare al PSD, menÅ£ionat în raport printre cei care au susÅ£inut ÅŸi promovat comunismul în România, a declarat că raportul este o „făcătura politica, unilaterală, partizană ÅŸi primitivă”. [15] Partidul Conservator a declarat că raportul este superficial ÅŸi lipsit de profesionalism. [16] Corneliu Vadim Tudor, presedintele Partidului România Mare, de asemenea acuzat în raport, a declarat că membrii partidului vor boicota discursul preÅŸedintelui Băsescu. [17]. Raportul a fost si este insa contestat atat de Bisericile Ortodoxa Romana si Catolica cat si de lumea academica – istorici, sociologi, teologi -, ca si de numerosi militanti anticomunisti. AsociaÅ£ia Civic Media a colectat majoritatea acestor opinii într-un dosar special prezentat pe site-ul asociaÅ£iei. [1]

În cartea-interviu cu Ion Iliescu [18] Marele şoc din finalul unui secol scurt, Vladimir Tismăneanu justifică regimul Iliescu şi subliniază faptul că Ion Iliescu are merite în consolidarea democraţiei post-decembriste. [19]

Conform informaÅ£iilor apărute în presă există un dosar întocmit de Serviciile Secrete ale regimului comunist, care prezintă o parte din viaÅ£a lui Vladimir Tismăneanu nedezvăluită de acesta în CV-ul său. Acest dosar se găseÅŸte în Arhiva SRI, Fond “D”, Dosar nr. 10.947, vol. 9, la pag. 369-370.[20] Conform acestui dosar, Vladimir Tismăneanu a beneficiat de “mai multe călătorii peste graniţă, ca turist, în ţări socialiste ÅŸi capitaliste”, înainte de a fugi în Statele Unite. Conform FiÅŸei din 13 august 1987 din dosarul său aflat în arhivele securităţii, în noiembrie 1981 Vladimir Tismăneanu a fugit din România, sprijinit de o unitate a securităţii U.M. 0617. AceeaÅŸi informaÅ£ie este susÅ£inută ÅŸi de Mihai Pelin.[21]

Fapt divers

Vladimir Tismăneanu a apreciat în primăvara anului 1997, in revista „22” că în România este clar că cine nu are dosar şantajabil la SRI nu va putea juca nici un rol pe scena politică. [necesită citare]

Vladimir Tismăneanu scria în 1973: “Pregătindu-mi licenÅ£a pe o temă a marxismului contemporan, sînt nevoit să remarc, de asemenea, absenÅ£a unor opere sistematice, care să pună în discuÅ£ie multe din teoriile sociologice contemporane. Se preferă, de ce să nu spunem, amănuntele în locul unor analize complexe, consecvent ÅŸtiinÅ£ifice, în spiritul metodei marxiste a ceea ce constituie, în fapt, obiectul central al acestor doctrine contemporane”. [8]

În teza sa de licenţă “Noua Stînga şi şcoala de la Frankfurt”, Vladimir Tismăneanu ajunge la următoarea concluzie: “Capitalismul nu poate fi nimicit prin vagi reverii, prin revolte dogmatice, prin tranziţii bruşte şi prin studii metafizice. Singura modalitate de a depăşi acest Statu-quo este revoluţia socialistă, în care clasa muncitoare, condusă de partidul politic revoluţionar va avea rolul principal.”

Tatal, Leonte Tismăneanu

De la Wikipedia, enciclopedia liberă

Leonte Tismăneanu (1913-1981), născut Leonid TismineÅ£ki, supranumit “Ciungul”, a fost un comisar comunist evreu ÅŸi sovietic. Născut la Soroca, Basarabia într-o familie de evrei, a aderat la Partidul Comunist Român în anii 1930. ÃŽntre 1937-1939 luptă în Brigăzile InternaÅ£ionale (comuniste) în Spania, unde îşi pierde braÅ£ul drept. După 1939, crainic, apoi redactor, la radio Moscova, secÅ£ia română. Trimis de către NKVD în România în 1948, naturalizat Tismăneanu (1949), nomenclaturist: director adjunct al Editurii PMR, ulterior Editura Politică; ÅŸef al catedrei de marxism-leninism la Universitatea din BucureÅŸti. ÃŽntre 1958-1960, anchetat pentru “fracÅ£ionism” ÅŸi “discuÅ£ii antipartinice”; exclus din PMR (1960); ulterior reprimit în partid (1964); redactor la Editura Meridiane.

Leonte Tismăneanu a fost descris de fiul său ca fiind „un leninist fanatic şi dur”, „unul dintre tartorii ideologici” ai perioadei staliniste[1].

Fapt divers

Fiul lui Leonte Tismăneanu, Vladimir Tismăneanu, a fost numit pe 5 aprilie 2006 în fruntea comisiei prezidenţiale de condamnare a crimelor comunismului în România.

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Acest articol biografic despre un român este deocamdată un ciot. Puteţi ajuta Wikipedia prin completarea lui.

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