Native name	România
Conventional long name	Romania
Common name	Romania
Image coat	Coat of arms of Romania.svg
Map caption
National anthem	Deşteaptă-te, române!Awaken, Romanian!
Official languages	Romanian1
Ethnic groups	89.5% Romanians, 6.6% Hungarians, 2.5% Roma, 1.4% other minority groups
Demonym	Romanian
Government type	Semi-presidential republic
Capital	Bucharest (Bucureşti)
Latns	N
Longew	E
Largest city	capital
Leader title1	President
Leader name1	Traian Băsescu (PD-L)
Leader title2	Prime Minister
Leader name2	Emil Boc (PD-L)
Leader title3	Pres of Senate
Leader name3	Mircea Geoană (PSD)
Leader title4	Chamber Pres
Leader name4	Roberta Anastase (PD-L)
Legislature	Parlamentul României
Upper house	Senate
Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Area rank	82nd
Area magnitude	1_E+11
Area km2	238,391
Area sq mi	92,043
Percent water	3
Population estimate year	July 2010
Population estimate
Population estimate rank	51st
Population census year	2002
Population census	21,680,974
Population density km2	90
Population density sq mi	233
Population density rank	104th
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp	$258.892 billion
Gdp ppp per capita	$12,131
Hdi rank	50th
Hdi category	high
Gini	31
Gini year	2005
Gini rank	21st
Gini category	low
Sovereignty type	Formation
Established event1	Transylvania
Established date1	1003
Established event2	Wallachia
Established date2	1290
Established event3	Moldavia
Established date3	1346
Established event4	First Unification
Established date4	1599
Established event5	Reunification of Wallachia and Moldavia
Established date5	January 24, 1859
Established event6	Officially recognised independence from the Ottoman Empire
Established date6	July 13, 1878
Established event7	Unification with Transylvania
Established date7	December 1, 1918
Accessioneudate	January 1, 2007
Currency	Romanian leu
Currency code	RON
Time zone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Time zone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Drives on	right
Cctld	.ro4
Calling code	40
Footnotes	1 Other languages, such as Hungarian, German, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Greek, Romani, Croatian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Serbian, are official at various local levels.2 Romanian War of Independence.3 Treaty of Berlin.4 The .eu domain is also used, as in other European Union member states.

Romania ( ; dated: Rumania; ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.

At 238,391 square kilometers (92,043 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with 21.5 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest ( ), the sixth largest city in the EU with about two million people.

The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1859 under the Hohenzollern monarchy. The independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on May 9, 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the 1989 Revolution, Romania started a series of political and economic reforms. After a decade of post-revolution economic problems, Romania made economic reforms and joined the European Union on January 1, 2007. Romania is now an upper-middle income country with high human development, although within the European Union, Romania's income level remains one of the lowest.

Romania also joined NATO on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, of the OSCE and of the United Nations, as well as an associate member of the CPLP. Today, Romania is a unitary parliamentary republic.

History

Etymology

The name of Romania () comes from which is a derivative of the (Roman). The fact that Romanians call themselves a derivative of Romanus () is first mentioned in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia. The oldest surviving document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter known as "Neacşu's Letter from Câmpulung". This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian" in a Romanian written text, Wallachia being here named The Rumanian Land – Ţeara Rumânească (Ţeara from the land).

In the following centuries, Romanian documents use interchangeably two spelling forms: român and rumân. Socio-linguistic evolutions in the late 17th century led to a process of semantic differentiation: the form "rumân", presumably usual among lower classes, got the meaning of "bondsman", while the form român kept an ethno-linguistic meaning. After the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the form "rumân" gradually disappears and the spelling definitively stabilises to the form "român", "românesc". Tudor Vladimirescu, a revolutionary leader of the early 19th century, used "Rumânia" to refer exclusively to the principality of Wallachia, the southern part of modern Romania.

The name "România" as common homeland of all Romanians is documented in the early 19th century. This name has been officially in use since December 11, 1861. English-language sources still used the terms "Rumania" or "Roumania", borrowed from the French spelling "Roumanie", as recently as World War II, but since then those terms have largely been replaced with the official spelling "Romania".

Prehistory and antiquity

Although some 42,000 years old human remains were discovered in the "Cave With Bones", and being Europe’s oldest remains of Homo sapiens they may represent the first modern humans to have entered the continent, the earliest written evidence of people living in the territory of the present-day Romania comes from Herodotus, in his 440 BCE book IV of his Histories (Herodotus). Dacians, considered a part of the Getae tribes mentioned by Herodotus, were a branch of Thracians that inhabited Dacia (corresponding mostly to present-day Romania). The Dacian kingdom reached its peak between 82–44 BC during the reign of Burebista, but was eventually conquered by the Roman Empire in the aftermath of Dacian Wars (87–106 AD), and transformed into the province of Roman Dacia.

Due to Dacia's rich ore deposits (especially gold and silver), Rome brought colonists from all over the empire. This brought Vulgar Latin and started a period of intense romanization, that would give birth to the Proto-Romanian language. During the 3rd century AD, with the invasions of migratory populations, the Roman Empire was forced to pull out of Dacia around 271 AD, making it the first province to be abandoned.

After the Roman army and administration left Dacia, the territory was invaded by various migratory populations including Goths, Huns, Gepids, Bulgars, Pechenegs, and Cumans. Several competing theories have been generated to explain the origin of modern Romanians. Linguistic and geo-historical analysis tend to indicate that Romanians have coalesced as a major ethnic group both South and North of the Danube in the regions previously colonized by Romans.

Middle Ages

was built in 1212, and became commonly known as Dracula's Castle after the myths of being home of Vlad III the Impaler.]] In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia (—"Romanian Land"), Moldavia () and Transylvania. By the 11th century, Transylvania became a largely autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and became independent as the Principality of Transylvania from the 16th century, until 1711. In Wallachia and Moldavia many small local states with varying degrees of independence developed, but only in the 14th century did the larger principalities of Wallachia (1310) and Moldavia (around 1352) emerge to fight the threat of the Ottoman Empire.

By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary became Ottoman provinces. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania were under Ottoman suzerainty, preserving partial-full internal autonomy until middle of the 19th century (Transylvania to 1699). During this period the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow disappearance of the feudal system. A few rulers of present-day Romanian territories distinguished themselves: these rulers include Stephen the Great, Vasile Lupu, and Dimitrie Cantemir in Moldavia; Matei Basarab, Vlad III the Impaler, and Constantin Brâncoveanu in Wallachia; and John Hunyadi (Ioannes Corvinus) and Gabriel Bethlen in Transylvania.

.]] In 1600, the principalities of Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania were simultaneously headed by the Wallachian prince Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul), Ban of Oltenia, but the chance for a unity dissolved after Mihai was killed, only one year later, by the soldiers of Austrian army general Giorgio Basta. Mihai Viteazul, who was prince of Transylvania for less than one year, intended for the first time to unite the three principalities and to lay down foundations of a single state in a territory comparable to today's Romania. After his death, as vassal tributary states, Moldova and Wallachia had complete internal autonomy and external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century. In 1699, Transylvania became a territory of the Habsburgs' Austrian empire following the Austrian victory over the Turks in the Great Turkish War. The Habsburgs in turn expanded their empire in 1718 to include an important part of Wallachia, called Oltenia (which was only returned in 1739) and in 1775 over the north-western part of Moldavia, later called Bukovina. The eastern half of the Moldavian principality (called Bessarabia) was occupied in 1812 by Russia. in a territory where they formed the majority of the population. In some Transylvanian cities, such as Braşov (at that time a Saxon citadel), Romanians were not even allowed to reside within the city walls.

Following the Wallachian uprising of 1821, more uprisings followed in 1848 in Wallachia as well as Moldavia. The flag adopted for Wallachia by the revolutionaries was a blue-yellow-red tricolour (with blue above, in line with the meaning “Liberty, Justice, Fraternity”), while Romanian students in Paris hailed the new government with same flag, “as a symbol of union between Moldavians and Muntenians”. This flag would later become the adopted as of the flag of Romania. But after the failed 1848 Revolution, the Great Powers did not support the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state, which forced Romania to proceed alone against the Ottomans. The electors in both Moldavia and Wallachia chose in 1859 the same person –Alexandru Ioan Cuza– as prince (Domnitor in Romanian). Thus, Romania was created as a personal union, albeit without including Transylvania. There, the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian and enjoyed a strong support from Austria, and the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy in 1867 kept the Hungarians firmly in control even in the parts of Transylvania where Romanians constituted a local majority.

In a 1866 coup d'état, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania. During the Russo-Turkish War Romania fought on the Russian side, and in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania was recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers. In return, Romania ceded three southern districts of Bessarabia to Russia and acquired Dobruja. In 1881, the principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became King Carol I.

The 1878–1914 period was one of stability and progress for Romania. During the Second Balkan War, Romania joined Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey against Bulgaria, and in the peace Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Romania gained Southern Dobrudja.

World Wars and Greater Romania

In August 1914, when World War I broke out, Romania declared neutrality. Two years later, under pressure from the Allies (especially France, desperate to open a new front), on August 14/27 1916, Romania joined the Allies, declaring war on Austria-Hungary. For this action, under the terms of the secret military convention, Romania was promised support for its goal of national unity for all Romanian people.

The Romanian military campaign ended in disaster for Romania as the Central Powers conquered two-thirds of the country and captured or killed the majority of its army within four months. Nevertheless, Moldavia remained in Romanian hands after the invading forces were stopped in 1917. Total deaths from 1914 to 1918, military and civilian, within contemporary borders, were estimated at 748,000. By the war's end, Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had collapsed and disintegrated; Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania proclaimed unions with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918. By the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, Hungary renounced in favour of Romania all the claims of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy over Transylvania. The union of Romania with Bukovina was ratified in 1919 in the Treaty of Saint Germain, and with Bessarabia in 1920 by the Treaty of Paris.

The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania", but more commonly rendered "Greater Romania") generally refers to the Romanian state in the interwar period, and by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time. Romania achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent (almost ), managing to unite essentially all of the territories inhabited by Romanians. Under Nazi and Soviet pressure, the Romanian administration and the army were forced to retreat from Bessarabia as well from Northern Bukovina to avoid war. This, in combination with other factors, prompted the government to join the Axis. Thereafter, southern Dobruja was awarded to Bulgaria, while Hungary received Northern Transylvania as result of an Axis arbitration. The authoritarian King Carol II abdicated in 1940, and succeeded by the National Legionary State, in which power was shared by Ion Antonescu and the Iron Guard. Within months, Antonescu had crushed the Iron Guard, and the subsequent year Romania entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. During the war, Romania was the most important source of oil for Nazi Germany, which attracted multiple bombing raids by the Allies. By means of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania recovered Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Russia, under the leadership of general Ion Antonescu. The Antonescu regime played a major role in the Holocaust, following to a lesser extent the Nazi policy of oppression and massacre of the Jews, and Romma, primarily in the Eastern territories Romania recovered or occupied from the Soviet Union (Transnistria) and in Moldavia. Jewish Holocaust victims totaled 469,000, including 325,000 in Bessarabia and Bukovina.

In August 1944, Antonescu was toppled and arrested by King Michael I of Romania and Romania changed sides and joined the Allies. But its role in the defeat of Nazi Germany was not recognized by the Paris Peace Conference of 1947, even though by the end of the war, the Romanian army had suffered about 300,000 casualties.

Communism

During the Soviet occupation of Romania, the Communist-dominated government called new elections, which were won with 80% of the vote through intimidation and electoral fraud. They thus rapidly established themselves as the dominant political force. In 1947, the Communists forced King Michael I to abdicate and leave the country, and proclaimed Romania a people's republic. Romania remained under the direct military occupation and economic control of the USSR until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's vast natural resources were continuously drained by mixed Soviet-Romanian companies (SovRoms) set up for exploitative purposes.

In 1948, the state began to nationalize private firms, and to collectivize agriculture the following year. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, the Communist government established a reign of terror, carried out mainly through the Securitate (the new secret police). During this time they launched several campaigns to eliminate "enemies of the state", in which numerous individuals were killed or imprisoned for arbitrary political or economic reasons. Punishment included deportation, internal exile, and internment in forced labour camps and prisons; dissent was vigorously suppressed. A notorious experiment in this period took place in the Piteşti prison, where a group of political opponents were put into a program of reeducation through torture. Historical records show hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a wide range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens.

In 1965, Nicolae Ceauşescu came to power and started to pursue independent policies such as being the only Warsaw Pact country to condemn the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and to continue diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967; establishing economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. Also, close ties with the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel–Egypt and Israel–PLO peace processes. But as Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US dollars), the influence of international financial organisations such as the IMF or the World Bank grew, conflicting with Nicolae Ceauşescu's autarchic policies. He eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt by imposing policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy, while also greatly extending the authority of the police state, and imposing a cult of personality. These led to a dramatic decrease in Ceauşescu's popularity and culminated in his overthrow and execution in the bloody Romanian Revolution of 1989.

A 2006 Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania estimated that the number of direct victims of communist repression at two million people. This number does not include people who died in liberty as a result of their treatment in communist prisons, nor does it include people who died because of the dire economic circumstances in which the country found itself.

Present-day democracy

meeting with the US president, George W. Bush, in 2005]]

After the revolution, the National Salvation Front, led by Ion Iliescu, took partial multi-party democratic and free market measures. Several major political parties of the pre-war era were resurrected. After major political rallies, in April 1990, a sit-in protest contesting the results of the recently held parliamentary elections began in University Square, Bucharest, accusing the Front of being made up of former Communists and members of the Securitate. The protesters called the election undemocratic and asked for the exclusion from the political life of the former high-ranking Communist Party members, like Iliescu and the National Salvation Front. The protest rapidly grew to become, what president Iliescu called the Golaniad. These peaceful demonstrations were brought to a halt by the violent intervention of coal miners, summoned by Iliescu in June 1990, from the Jiu Valley. This episode has been documented widely by both local and foreign media , and is remembered as the June 1990 Mineriad.

The subsequent disintegration of the Front produced several political parties including the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Party and the Alliance for Romania. The former governed Romania from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments with Ion Iliescu as head of state. Since then there have been a few democratic changes of government: in 1996 the democratic-liberal opposition and its leader Emil Constantinescu acceded to power; in 2000 the Social Democrats returned to power, with Iliescu once again president; and in 2004 Traian Băsescu was elected president, with an electoral coalition called Justice and Truth Alliance. Băsescu was narrowly re-elected in 2009.

.]]

Post-Cold War Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, eventually joining NATO in 2004, and hosting the 2008 summit in Bucharest. The country applied in June 1993 for membership in the European Union and became an Associated State of the EU in 1995, an Acceding Country in 2004, and a member on January 1, 2007. Following the free travel agreement and politics of the post-Cold War period, as well as hardship of the life in the 1990s economic depression, Romania has an increasingly large diaspora, estimated at over 2 million people. The main emigration targets are Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, UK, Canada and the USA.

During the 2000s, Romania enjoyed one of the highest economic growth rates in Europe and has been referred to as "the Tiger of Eastern Europe." This has been accompanied by a significant improvement in human development. The country has been successful in reducing internal poverty and establishing a functional democracy. However, Romania's development suffered a major setback during the late-2000s recession as a large gross domestic product contraction and a large budget deficit in 2009 led to Romania borrowing heavily, eventually becoming the largest debitor to the International Monetary Fund in 2010. Romania still faces issues related to infrastructure, medical services, education, and corruption.

Geography

With a surface area of , Romania is the largest country in southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest in Europe. Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania, with 14 mountain ranges reaching above , and the highest point at Moldoveanu Peak (). Other major rivers are Siret, Olt, and Mureş. Since almost half of all forests in Romania (13% of the country) have been managed for watershed conservation rather than production, Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe. There are also almost 400 unique species of mammals (of which Carpathian chamois are best known), birds, reptiles and amphibians in Romania. The fauna consists of 33,792 species of animals, 33,085 invertebrate and 707 vertebrate. The three major vegetation areas in Romania are the alpine zone, the forest zone and the steppe zone. The vegetation is distributed in an storied manner in accordance with the characteristics of soil and climate and includes various species of oaks, sycamores, beechs, spruces, firs, willows, poplars, meadows, and pines.

There are almost (almost 5% of the total area) of protected areas in Romania covering 13 national parks and three biosphere reserves: the Danube Delta, Retezat National Park, and Rodna National Park. The Danube Delta Reserve Biosphere is the largest and least damaged wetland complex in Europe, covering a total area of . The significance of the biodiversity of the Danube Delta has been internationally recognised. It was declared a Biosphere Reserve in September 1990, a Ramsar site in May 1991, and over 50% of its area was placed on the World Heritage List in December 1991. Within its boundaries lies one of the most extensive reed bed systems in the world.

Climate

Owing to its distance from the open sea and position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between temperate and continental, with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is in the south and in the north. The extreme recorded temperatures were at Ion Sion 1951 and at Bod 1942.

Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights and warm days. Summers are generally very warm to hot, with summer (June to August) average maximum temperatures in Bucharest being around , with temperatures over fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country. Minima in Bucharest and other lower-lying areas are around . Autumn is dry and cool, with fields and trees producing colorful foliage. Winters can be cold, with average maxima even in lower-lying areas being no more than and below in the highest mountains. Precipitation is average with over per year only on the highest western mountains—much of it falling as snow, which allows for an extensive skiing industry. In the south-central parts of the country (around Bucharest) the level of precipitation drops to around , while in the Danube Delta, rainfall levels are very low, and average only around 370 mm.

Politics

The Constitution of Romania is based on the Constitution of France's Fifth Republic There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French model, considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature. The Constitutional Court (Curtea Constituţională) is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum, the last one being in 2003. Since this amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including judicial reform, increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption. Nevertheless, in 2006 Brussels report, Romania and Bulgaria were described as the two most corrupt countries in the EU, and it was ranked as the most corrupt EU country by Transparency International in 2009, alongside Bulgaria and Greece.

Each county is further subdivided into cities and communes, which have own mayor and local council. There are a total of 319 cities and 2686 communes in Romania. A total of 103 of the larger cities have municipality statuses, which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs. The municipality of Bucharest is a special case as it enjoys a status on par to that of a county. It is further divided into six sectors and has a prefect, a general mayor, and a general city council.

Foreign relations

was hosted by Bucharest.]] Since December 1989, Romania has pursued a policy of strengthening relations with the West in general, more specifically with the United States and the European Union. It joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on March 29, 2004, the European Union (EU) on January 1, 2007, while it had joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1972, and is a founder member of the World Trade Organization.

The current government has stated its goal of strengthening ties with and helping other Eastern European countries (in particular Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia) with the process of integration with the West. Romania has also made clear since the late 1990s that it supports NATO and EU membership for the democratic former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Because it has a large Hungarian minority, Romania has also developed strong relations with Hungary.

In December 2005, President Traian Băsescu and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement that would allow a U.S. military presence at several Romanian facilities primarily in the eastern part of the country. In May 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that "Romania is one of the most trustworthy and respectable partners of the USA" during a visit of the Romanian foreign minister.

Relations with The Republic of Moldova are a special case considering that the two countries practically share the same language, and a fairly common historical background. but faded away in the mid-1990s when a new Moldovan government pursued an agenda towards preserving a Moldovan republic independent of Romania. Romania remains interested in Moldovan affairs and has officially rejected the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact,

Military

soldiers in Afghanistan]] The Romanian Armed Forces consist of Land, Air, and Naval Forces, and are led by a Commander-in-chief who is managed by the Ministry of Defense. The president is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces during wartime. Of the 90,000 men and women which the Armed Forces comprise, 15,000 are civilians and 75,000 are military personnel—45,800 for land, 13,250 for air, 6,800 for naval forces, and 8,800 in other fields. The total defence spending in 2007 accounted for 2.05% of total national GDP, or approximately US$2.9 billion (39th in the world), and a total of about 11 billion will be spent between 2006 and 2011 for modernization and acquisition of new equipment.

The Land Forces have overhauled their equipment in the past few years, and today are an army with multiple NATO capabilities, participating in a NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. The Air Force currently operates modernized Soviet MiG-21 LanceR fighters which may be replaced by refurbished F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters in the near future. The Air Force purchased seven new C-27J Spartan tactical airlift to replace the bulk of the old transport force. Two modernized Type 22 frigates were acquired by the Naval Forces in 2004 from the Royal Navy, and a further four modern missile corvettes will be commissioned until 2010.

Economy

, manufactured near Pitesti, is one of the top-selling cars in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Russia.]] With a GDP of around $271 billion and a GDP per capita (PPP) of $12,600 for the year 2008, Romania is an upper-middle income country economy and has been part of the European Union since January 1, 2007. After the Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was transformed into one of relative macroeconomic stability, characterised by high growth, low unemployment and declining inflation. In 2006, according to the Romanian Statistics Office, GDP growth in real terms was recorded at 7.7%, one of the highest rates in Europe. Growth dampened to 6.1% in 2007, but was expected to exceed 8% in 2008 because of a high production forecast in agriculture (30–50% higher than in 2007). The GDP grew by 8.9% in the first nine months of 2008, but growth fell to 2.9% in the fourth quarter and stood at 7.1% for the whole 2008 because of the financial crisis.

According to Eurostat data, the Romanian PPS GDP per capita stood at 46% of the EU average in 2008. Unemployment in Romania was at 3.9% in September 2007, which is very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as Poland, France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is also comparatively low, at 20.3% of GDP. Exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 25% year-on-year rise in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Romania's main exports are clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centred on the member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country's single largest trading partners. The country, however, maintains a large trade deficit, which increased sharply during 2007 by 50%, to €15 billion.

After a series of privatisations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European economies. In 2005, the government replaced Romania's progressive tax system with a flat tax of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country having the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union, a factor which has contributed to the growth of the private sector. The economy is predominantly based on services, which account for 55% of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant contributions, making up 35% and 10% of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 32% of the Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the highest rates in Europe. According to a 2006 World Bank report, Romania currently ranks 55th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business, scoring higher than other countries in the region such as the Czech Republic. Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest economic reformer (after Georgia) in 2006.

The average gross wage per month in Romania was 1855 lei in May 2009, equating to €442.48 (US$627.70) based on international exchange rates, and $1110.31 based on purchasing power parity. In 2009 the Romanian economy contracted as a result of the global economic downturn. Gross domestic product contracted 7.2% in the fourth quarter of 2009 from the same period a year earlier, and the budget deficit for 2009 reached 7.2% of GDP. Industrial output growth however reached 6.9% year-on-year in December 2009, the highest in the EU-27.

Transport

of Romania]] Due to its location, Romania is a major crossroad for International economic exchange in Europe. However, because of insufficient investment, maintenance and repair, the transport infrastructure does not meet the current needs of a market economy and lags behind Western Europe. Nevertheless, these conditions are rapidly improving and catching up with the standards of Trans-European transport networks. Several projects have been started with funding from grants from ISPA and several loans from International Financial Institutions (World Bank, IMF, etc.) guaranteed by the state, to upgrade the main road corridors. Also, the Government is actively pursuing new external financing or public-private partnerships to further upgrade the main roads, and especially the country's motorway network. The railway transport experienced a dramatic fall in freight and passenger volumes from the peak volumes recorded in 1989 mainly due to the decline in GDP and competition from road transport. In 2004, the railways carried 8.64 billion passenger-km in 99 million passenger journeys, and 73 million metric tonnes, or 17 billion ton-km of freight. The combined total transportation by rail constituted around 45% of all passenger and freight movement in the country.

Tourism

at the Black Sea shore]]

Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its rich history and is a significant contributor to the Romania's economy. In 2006, the domestic and international tourism generated about 4.8% of gross domestic product and 5.8% of the total jobs (about half a million jobs). Following commerce, tourism is the second largest component of the services sector. Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sectors of the economy of Romania and characterized by a huge potential for development.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Romania is the fourth fastest growing country in the world in terms of travel and tourism total demand with a yearly potential growth of 8% from 2007 to 2016. The number of tourists grew from 4.8 million in 2002 to 6.6 million in 2004. but the number for 2007 is expected to increase even more. Tourism in Romania attracted €400 million in investments in 2005.

, an important tourist attraction in Romania]]

Over the last years, Romania has emerged as a popular tourist destination for many Europeans (more than 60% of the foreign visitors were from EU countries), During winter, the skiing resorts along the Valea Prahovei and Poiana Braşov are popular with foreign visitors.

For their medieval atmosphere and castles, Transylvanian cities such as Sibiu, Braşov, Sighişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş have become important touristic attractions for foreigners. Rural tourism focused on folklore and traditions, has become an important alternative recently, and is targeted to promote such sites as Bran and its Dracula's Castle, the Painted churches of Northern Moldavia, the Wooden churches of Maramureş, or the Merry Cemetery in Maramureş County. Other major natural attractions in Romania such as Danube Delta,

Hungarians constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. Ukrainians, Germans, Lipovans, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Russians, Jews, Czechs, Poles, Italians, Armenians, as well as other ethnic groups, account for the remaining 1.4% of the population.

In 1930, there were 745,421 Germans in Romania, but only about 60,000 remain today. In 1924, there were 796,056 Jews in the Kingdom of Romania. The number of Romanians and individuals with ancestors born in Romania living abroad is estimated at around 12 million.

Historically, French was the predominant foreign language spoken in Romania, but English has since superseded it. Consequently, Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers. Romania is, however, a full member of La Francophonie, and hosted the Francophonie Summit in 2006. German has been taught predominantly in Transylvania, due to traditions tracing back to the Austro-Hungarian rule in this province.

Religion

Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. The dominant religious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox communion; its members make up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important Christian denominations include Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostalism (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (0.9%). According to the results of the 2002 census, there are 66,846 Romanian citizens of the Unitarian faith (0.3% of the total population). Church officials place the number of believers at 80,000-100,000.[2] Of the total Hungarian-speaking minority in Romania, Unitarians represent 4.55%, being the third denominational group after members of the Reformed Church in Romania (47.10%) and Roman Catholics (41.20%). Since 1700, the Unitarian Church has had 125 parishes—in 2006, there were 110 Unitarian ministers and 141 places of worship in Romania. According to the 2002 census, there were 6,179 Jews, 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or atheist, and 11,734 who refused to answer. On December 27, 2006, a new Law on Religion was approved under which religious denominations can only receive official registration if they have at least 20,000 members, or about 0.1% of Romania's total population.

Urbanization

, one of the largest cities in Romania]] Bucharest is the capital and the largest city in Romania. At the census in 2002, its population was over 1.9 million. The metropolitan area of Bucharest has a population of about 2.2 million. There are several plans to increase further its metropolitan area to about 20 times the area of the city proper.

Romania has five other cities that are among the European Union's 100 most populous. These are Iaşi, Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, and Craiova. The other cities with populations over 200,000 are Galaţi, Braşov, Ploieşti, Brăila and Oradea. Another 13 cities have a population of over 100,000.

Education

is the largest academic center in Transylvania and the second largest in Romania.]]

Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Romanian educational system has been in a continuous process of reform that has been both praised and criticized. According to the Law on Education adopted in 1995, the educational system is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research. Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to different legislation. Kindergarten is optional for children between 3 and 6 years old. Schooling starts at age 7 (sometimes 6), and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which usually corresponds to the age of 17 or 16). Primary and secondary education are divided into 12 grades. Higher education is aligned with the European higher education area.

Aside from the official schooling system, and the recently added private equivalents, there exists a semi-legal, informal, fully private tutoring system. Tutoring is mostly used during secondary as a preparation for the various examinations, which are notoriously difficult. Tutoring is widespread, and it can be considered a part of the Education System. It has subsisted and even prospered during the Communist regime.

In 2004, some 4.4 million of the population were enrolled in school. Out of these, 650,000 in kindergarten, 3.11 million (14% of population) in primary and secondary level, and 650,000 (3% of population) in tertiary level (universities). In the same year, the adult literacy rate was 97.3% (45th worldwide), while the combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75% (52nd worldwide).

The results of the PISA assessment study in schools for the year 2000 placed Romania on the 34th rank out of 42 participant countries with a general weighted score of 432 representing 85% of the mean OECD score. According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, in 2006 no Romanian university was included in the first 500 top universities world wide. Using similar methodology to these rankings, it was reported that the best placed Romanian university, Bucharest University, attained the half score of the last university in the world top 500. Notably, Bucharest boasts the largest university in Europe by number of students, Spiru Haret University.

Culture

in Iaşi was built between 1906 and 1925 and hosts several museums.]]

Romania has a unique culture, which is the product of its geography and of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them.

Arts

The Romanian literature began to truly evolve with the revolutions of 1848 and the union of the two Danubian Principalities in 1859. The origin of the Romanians began to be discussed and Transylvanian and Romanian scholars began studying in France, Italy and Germany. The German philosophy and French culture were integrated into modern Romanian literature, and a new elite of artists led to the appearance of some of the classics of Romanian literature such as Mihai Eminescu, George Coşbuc, Ioan Slavici.

Although they remain little known outside Romania, they are very appreciated within Romania for giving birth to a true Romanian literature by creating modern lyrics with inspiration from the old folklore tales. Of them, Eminescu is considered the most important and influential Romanian poet, and is still very much loved for his creations, and especially the poem Luceafărul. Among other writers that made large contributions around the second half of 19th century are Mihail Kogălniceanu (also the first prime minister of Romania), Vasile Alecsandri, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, and Ion Creangă.

in Bucharest was opened in 1888.]]

The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many Romanian scholars as the Golden Age of Romanian culture and it is the period when it reached its main level of international affirmation and a strong connection to the European cultural trends. The most important artist who had a great influence on the world culture was the sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction, the innovator of world sculpture by immersion in the primordial sources of folk creation. His sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication that led the way for modernist sculptors. As a testimony to his skill, one of his pieces, "Bird in Space" , was sold in an auction for $27.5 million in 2005, a record for any sculpture.

In the period between the two world wars, authors like Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Eugen Lovinescu, Ion Barbu, Liviu Rebreanu made efforts to synchronize Romanian literature with the European literature of the time. George Enescu, probably the best known Romanian musician, also came from this period; a composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, the annual George Enescu Festival is held in Bucharest in his honor.

After the World Wars, Communism brought heavy censorship and used the cultural world as a means to better control the population. Freedom of expression was constantly restricted in various ways, but the likes of Gellu Naum, Nichita Stănescu, Marin Sorescu or Marin Preda managed to escape censorship, broke with "socialist realism" and were the leaders of a small "Renaissance" in Romanian literature. While not many of them managed to obtain international acclaim due to censorship, some, like Constantin Noica, Paul Goma and Mircea Cărtărescu, had their works published abroad even though they were jailed for various political reasons.

Some artists chose to leave the country for good and continued to make contributions in exile. Among them Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran became renowned internationally for their works. Other literary figures who enjoy acclaim outside of the country include the poet Paul Celan and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, both survivors of the Holocaust. Some famous Romanian musicians are the folk artists Maria Tanase, Tudor Gheorghe, and the virtuoso of the pan flute Gheorghe Zamfir – who is reported to have sold over 120 million albums worldwide.

Romanian cinema has recently achieved worldwide acclaim with the appearance of such films as The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, directed by Cristi Puiu, (Cannes 2005 Prix un certain regard winner), and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, directed by Cristian Mungiu (Cannes 2007 Palme d'Or winner). The latter, according to Variety, is "further proof of Romania's new prominence in the film world."

Monuments

The UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites includes Romanian sites such as the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Painted churches of northern Moldavia with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, the Wooden Churches of Maramures unique examples that combine Gothic style with traditional timber construction, the Monastery of Horezu, the citadel of Sighişoara, and the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains.

Romania's contribution to the World Heritage List stands out because it consists of some groups of monuments scattered around the country, rather than one or two special landmarks. Also, in 2007, the city of Sibiu, famous for its Brukenthal National Museum, is the European Capital of Culture alongside the city of Luxembourg.

Sports

Association football is the most popular sport in Romania. The governing body is the Romanian Football Federation, which belongs to UEFA. The top division of the Romanian Professional Football League attracted an average of 5,417 spectators per game in the 2006–07 season. At the international level, the Romanian National Football Team has taken part seven times in the Football World Cup. It had its most successful period in the 1990s, when during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Romania reached the quarter-finals and was ranked sixth by FIFA.

The core player of this "Golden Generation" and perhaps the best known Romanian player internationally is Gheorghe Hagi (nicknamed the Maradona of the Carpathians). Famous currently active players are Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu. The most famous football club is Steaua Bucureşti, who in 1986 became the first Eastern European club ever to win the prestigious European Champions Cup title, and who played the final again in 1989. Another successful Romanian team Dinamo Bucureşti played a semifinal in the European Champions Cup in 1984 and a Cup Winners Cup semifinal in the 1990. Other important Romanian football clubs are Rapid Bucureşti, CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca and FC Universitatea Craiova.

Tennis is the second most popular sport in terms of registered sportsmen. In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect ten. She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals. In her career she won 30 medals, of which 21 were gold.

Romania participated for the first time in the Olympic Games in 1900 and has taken part in 18 of the 24 summer games. Romania has been one of the more successful countries at the Summer Olympic Games (15th overall) with a total of 283 medals won throughout the years, 82 of which are gold medals. Winter sports have received little investments and thus only a single bronze medal was won by Romanian sportsmen in the Winter Olympic Games.

See also

Index of Romania-related articles

List of Romania-related topics

}}

References

;Notes

;References

External links

; Government

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

Romanian Government

Romanian Presidency

Romanian Parliament

The Constitutional Court Of Romania

; General information

Country Profile from BBC News

Romania information from the United States Department of State

Portals to the World from the United States Library of Congress

Romania at UCB Libraries GovPubs

; Economy and law links Exchange Rates – from the National Bank of Romania

Romanian Law and Miscellaneous - English

; Culture and history links Chronology of Romania from the World History Database ICI.ro - A comprehensive site about Romania

Treasures of the national library of Romania

Historic Houses of Romania

; Travel

Romanian Tourism Website - Attractions and Travel Info

Official Romanian Tourism Website

The Romanian Beauty

Category:European countries Category:Member states of the European Union Category:Black Sea countries Category:Former monarchies of Europe Category:Liberal democracies Category:Republics Category:Romanian-speaking countries and territories Category:States and territories established in 1878 Category:Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Category:Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Rizwan "Riz" Khan (born April 1962) is a Yemeni-born British Asian television news reporter and interviewer, who first rose to prominence while working for the BBC and CNN. He currently hosts his own television show on Al Jazeera English.

Life and career

Khan was born in Aden to a Punjabi father and Gujarati mother. His father's roots hail from Pakistan administered Kashmir while his mother's roots go back to Kutch, which is in Gujarat. Khan moved with his family to London, England at the age of four. He attended both Springwell Junior and Hounslow Manor Comprehensive Schools and joined the Air Training Corps, graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Medical Physiology from the University of Wales, and then completed a postgraduate course in Radio Journalism at the University of Portsmouth.

In 1987 he was selected for the BBC News Trainee scheme - a two year BBC training system, usually taking only 6 people per course. Khan progressed to jobs as a BBC Reporter, Producer, and Writer, working in both television and radio, and would later become one of the founding News Presenters on BBC World Service Television News. He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991. In 1993, he moved to CNN International, where he became a senior anchor for the network's global news shows. Events he covered included the 1996 and 1999 coverage of elections in India; the 1997 historic election in Britain; and in April 1998 the unprecedented live coverage from the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj.

In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show CNN: Q&A; with Riz Khan, and he has conducted interviews with guests including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, and genomic scientist J. Craig Venter. Khan also secured the world exclusive with Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf following his coup in October 1999. Khan also hosted Q&A-Asia; with Riz Khan. These interactive shows put world newsmakers and celebrities up for viewer questions live by phone, e-mail, video-mail and fax, along with questions and comments taken from the real-time chatroom that opens half-an-hour before each show.

Khan currently hosts the Riz Khan Show on Al Jazeera English. On his show, Khan interviews analysts and policy makers and allows viewers to interact with them via phone, email, SMS messages or fax.

Khan speaks Urdu and Hindi, and also understands other South Asian languages such as Punjabi and Kutchi. He has studied French, and can understand some other European languages, including Swedish.

In 2005 he authored his first book, Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince, published by Harper Collins.

References

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB111862259989457599-Ihjg4Nllad4n5yqZ4KHcKiJm5.html "Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera," op-ed by Riz Khan, Wall Street Journal 13 June 2005, p. A1

http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20010219/mscape2.shtml

External links

Riz Khan's official website

Profile at Al Jazeera English

MySpace Profile

Interview with Baron Dave Romm of KFAI-FM at the Republican National Convention Sept. 2, 2008 and picture

Category:1962 births Category:Al Jazeera people Category:Alumni of Cardiff University Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth Category:British Muslims Category:British people of Indian descent Category:English people of Pakistani descent Category:British journalists Category:British television presenters Category:Living people Category:Punjabi people Category:Gujarati people Category:People from Aden

Name	Lou Bega
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	David Lubega
Alias	Lou Bega
Born	April 13, 1975Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Origin	Germany
Instrument	Singing, rapping
Genre	Latin popMamboCha-cha-chaJazzHip hop
Occupation	Singer, rapper, songwriter
Years active	1988–present
Label	Lautstark, BMG, RCA Records, Condon Musical Enterprise, Unicade Music, DA Music, Big Records
Url	http://www.lou-bega.com

David Lubega (born April 13, 1975), also known as Lou Bega, is a German musician of Italian and Ugandan descent, and is famous for his song "Mambo No. 5". This song is a remake of the Perez Prado instrumental from 1949. Bega added his own words to the song and sampled the original version extensively.

Biography

Bega's mother is from Calabria (Southern Italy) and his father is Ugandan. His father went to Germany in 1972 to study biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Until age six, Bega spent the most time with his mother in Italy. Then they lived permanently in Munich, where Bega attended German primary school. At age 15 he lived in Miami for one-and-a-half years. Bega also lived in Uganda for half a year. Currently he lives in Berlin.

Bega started his musical career as a rapper. At age of 13 he founded a Hip hop group with two other boys. It would be two years before Bega and his friends' first CD would be released in 1990. Lou Bega’s musical signature consists of combining musical elements of the 40’s and 50’s with modern beats and grooves.

His first single "Mambo No. 5" became an instant worldwide hit charting at #1 in most European countries including Germany, UK and France and at #3 in the United States. In France "Mambo No. 5" spent twenty weeks at #1, which is an unbroken record to date. It was also used by the British television broadcaster, Channel 4 for their coverage of Test Match cricket between 1999 and 2005.

On July 19, 1999 he released the album A Little Bit of Mambo. It peaked at #3 in the USA. In Germany, Bega's native country, it also peaked at #3. In the UK the album peaked only at #50. A Little Bit of Mambo peaked at #1 in the album charts of Austria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, the Middle East, Portugal, and Switzerland. The second single, "I Got a Girl", charted well entering the Top 10 in some European countries including France, Finland and Belgium. The third single „Tricky, Tricky“ achieved place 18 on the Canadian charts and place 74 on the American Billboard Charts. „Mambo Mambo“ reached place 11 on the French charts.

Bega's second studio album Ladies and Gentlemen was released on May 28, 2001. "Baby Keep Smiling" is on this album, a duet with Compay Segundo from Buena Vista Social Club A Little Bit of Mambo includes a version without him. Bega covered also the famous song "Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" on Ladies and Gentlemen.

He sang the theme song for the Disney Channel animated series, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers.

In the computer game Tropico, Lou Bega is one of the characters someone can choose as their dictatorial persona. He was included as part of a licensing deal that also saw Bega's song "Club Elitaire" integrated into the German release of Tropico. Also, in the Ubi Soft/Disney Interactive video game Walt Disney's The Jungle Book Rhythm n' Groove, Lou Bega participates in a challenge with his namesake. The player dances as King Louie, attempting to dance to Lou Bega's rendition of "I Wanna Be Like You". Doing so will unlock a video of him with children dancing to the aforementioned song. Bega also wrote the theme song for the French cartoon series Marsupilami. This summer, Bega is scheduled to perform his first concert from the album at one of the Tampa Bay Rays Summer Concert Series.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Compilations

2002: King of Mambo

2004: Mambo Mambo - The Best of Lou Bega

Download Releases

Music videos

Music video appearances

Collaborations

"C'est la Vie" - In 2006 Lou Bega recorded a song with Edvin Marton, and a music video was also filmed. The song has only appeared on Marton's album Stradivarius as a bonus track and was never featured on any of Bega's albums. A slightly different version of this song was available on Bega's MySpace page at one time.

Awards

1999: "Best International Song", Festivalbar (for "Mambo No. 5")

2000: "International Song of the Year", NRJ Music Awards (for "Mambo No. 5")

2000: "Single of the Year (National)", ECHO (for "Mambo No. 5")

2000: "Best National Artist in Foreign Countries", ECHO

In 1999 Lou Bega was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" (for "Mambo No. 5").

References

External links

Official website of Lou Bega

Lou Bega at the Internet Movie Database

Lou Bega's Official Facebook Page

Lou Bega's Official YouTube Channel

Lou Bega's Official Twitter Page

Lou Bega's Management

Previous official website of Lou Bega The site is no longer regarded as official Bega's site

Category:German musicians Category:Living people Category:1975 births Category:German people of Italian descent Category:German people of Ugandan descent

Playername	Francesco Totti
Fullname	Francesco Totti
Dateofbirth	September 27, 1976
Cityofbirth	Rome
Countryofbirth	Italy
Height
Currentclub	Roma
Clubnumber	10
Position	Second StrikerAttacking midfielder
Youthyears1	1984
Youthyears2	1984–1986
Youthyears3	1986–1989
Youthyears4	1989–1992
Youthclubs1	Fortitudo
Youthclubs2	Smit Trastevere
Youthclubs3	Lodigiani
Youthclubs4	Roma
Years1	1992–
Clubs1	Roma
Caps1	457
Goals1	194
Medaltemplates	}}

| nationalyears1 = 1991–1992 | nationalyears2 = 1993–1995 | nationalyears3 = 1995–1997 | nationalyears4 = 1997 | nationalyears5 = 1998–2006 | nationalteam1 = Italy U-16-15 | nationalteam2 = Italy U-18 | nationalteam3 = Italy U-19 | nationalteam4 = Italy U-21 | nationalteam5 = Italy | nationalcaps1 = 19 | nationalcaps2 = 14 | nationalcaps3 = 8 | nationalcaps4 = 4 | nationalcaps5 = 58 | nationalgoals1 = 5 | nationalgoals2 = 7 | nationalgoals3 = 4 | nationalgoals4 = 2 | nationalgoals5 = 9 | ntupdate = 9 July 2006 | pcupdate = 9 January 2011 }} Francesco Totti, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who is the current captain of Serie A club Roma. His position is that of a second striker or an attacking midfielder, though he is best known for playing as a second striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history. He is widely regarded as one of the finest players in his generation and also Roma's greatest player ever.

Often referred to as Il Bimbo d'Oro (The Golden Boy) and Er Pupone (The Baby) by the Italian sports media, Totti has won many individual awards, including a record five Italian Footballer of the Year awards and two Serie A Footballer of the Year awards. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer and sixth all-time in league history with 194 goals.

Early career

Totti was born and raised in Rome's Porta Metronia neighborhood. He idolized ex-Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini and regularly played football with older boys. His mother refused a lucrative offer from AC Milan to remain in his hometown, and he joined the Roma youth squad in 1989.

Club career

Early seasons

After three years on the youth team, Totti made his first appearance for Roma's senior side at the age of sixteen, when coach Vujadin Boškov let him play in the 2–0 away victory against Brescia on 28 March 1993. In the following seasons, he began to play more games and scored his first goal on 24 September 1994 in a 1–1 draw against Foggia. By 1995, Totti had become a regular in the starting eleven and scored 16 goals in the next three seasons. When he assumed the team captaincy in 1997, he began to gain recognition as a club symbol. Manager Zdeněk Zeman played with an offensive 4–3–3 formation, in which Totti was the left winger. Totti scored 30 goals during Zeman's two-year managerial stint.

Though Totti was not called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he was named the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in the 1998–99 season.

Scudetto 2001

By the 2000–01 campaign, Roma, then helmed by Fabio Capello, was building a competitive team around Totti, who had started to play as trequartista to take advantage of his passing skills. He scored thirteen goals in the campaign. On 17 June 2001, he won Scudetto, and scored one goal in a 3–0 Supercoppa Italiana victory against Fiorentina.

Totti was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for 2000 and 2001. He received his first Ballon d'Or nomination in 2000, finishing fourteenth in the voting and fifth the following year. He had also become a widely recognized idol of the supporters, who were able to identify with Totti's background as a lifelong Roma supporter and Rome native and also his prowess on the pitch.

In the following seasons, Totti played as second striker as part of a 3–5–2 formation and scored a career-high twenty goals in the 2003–04 season as Roma finished runners-up to Milan in the Scudetto race. He also won his second consecutive Italian Footballer of the Year award. Despite a disappointing 2004–05 season that saw Capello leave for Juventus and Roma slip to eighth place while making four coaching changes during the course of the season, Totti maintained his consistent offensive output by scoring fifteen goals, among them his 100th Serie A goal against Internazionale on October 3, 2004. Two months later, on December 19, he became Roma's all-time leading scorer after netting his 107th career goal against Parma, breaking the record previously held by Roberto Pruzzo.

As a striker with Spalletti

Roma's new coach for the 2005–06 season, Luciano Spalletti, went with a 4–2–3–1 formation. In this formation, Totti would not remain forward waiting for crosses or passes but instead go back to take the ball, thus creating space for the attacking midfielders. In this new position, Totti began to score more frequently than the past and scored 15 goals in 24 matches. At one point during this streak, the team won 11 consecutive games.

On 19 February 2006, Totti suffered a fracture of his left fibula and ligament damage during a match against Empoli after being fouled by Richard Vanigli. Totti risked missing the 2006 World Cup, but returned to the side on 11 May as a substitute in Roma's 3–1 Coppa Italia Final defeat to Internazionale. A metal plate had been attached to his ankle during surgery, but doctors decided not to operate again and remove it following Totti's return, after concurring that it would not affect his gameplay.

(right) awards Totti with the 2007–08 Coppa Italia.]] The 2006–07 season was a personal high for Totti, as he finished as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals as Roma finished runners-up to Inter but exacted revenge on the Nerazzurri as they took home the 2007 Coppa Italia. Totti also was the recipient of the ESM European Golden Shoe award as the top European goalscorer. Despite being the highest active goalscorer in Serie A, he was not among the finalists for the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year due to his national team absence, though he was nominated for the 2007 Ballon d'Or, finishing tenth in the voting.

Totti scored his 200th goal with Roma in a 4–0 Coppa Italia win over Torino on 16 January 2008. He was named the Italian Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in his career on January 28. He suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee during a 1–1 draw with Livorno on 19 April. Tests revealed a tear of his ACL that required surgery, making him miss four months. Roma won their ninth Coppa Italia with a 2–1 victory over Internazionale on May 24. Though Totti did not play, he was still allowed to lift the cup as the team's captain. With this win, Totti became the most successful captain in team history. Overall, Totti has won five titles and ten runners-up medals.

Ranieri era

Roma's difficult start to the 2008–09 season and continued struggles at the start of the 2009–10 season saw Spalletti resign after his four year reign and be replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Totti performed well in the inaugural UEFA Europa League. He has since scored three hat-tricks, first in a 7–1 away win against Gent in the third qualifying round and then another with the same score against Košice at the Olimpico in the play-off round. He also scored 3 goals against Bari in Serie A upon his return from a month-long injury.

On 30 November 2009, Totti confirmed he had signed a new five-year playing contract which will see him with the club until 2014, after which he will become a club director for a further five years. The deal was made official by the Board of Directors on 16 December 2009. Roma offered a gross annual salary of €8.9M for 2009–10 and €8.6M in the next 4 seasons.

With a 24-match unbeaten run in Serie A, Roma became the only challengers to Inter in the last three rounds for the league title, ultimately finishing runners-up after the final fixture. Despite Totti's several injury problems, he surpassed legends such as Gabriel Batistuta, Giuseppe Signori, and Kurt Hamrin in the all-time league scoring records. Totti also played in the Coppa Italia Final against Inter on 5 May 2010 but received a red card in the closing minutes of the second half for kicking Mario Balotelli. Roma lost 0–1, failing to bring home their 10th Coppa Italia.

International career

Totti first came into international prominence while playing in UEFA youth tournaments and won the UEFA under-21 championships in 1996. After starring with the Azzurrini in Italy's Under-19 and Under-21 sides, he earned his first cap for Italy during a Euro 2000 qualifying victory against Switzerland on 10 October 1998.

Euro 2000

Italy went to Euro 2000 with Totti in excellent form. He scored 2 goals during the tournament. The first goal came against co-host nation Belgium in the first round, the second against Romania in the quarter-finals. Though Italy lost to France in the final, Totti was named the man of the match and was selected for the 22-man Team of the Tournament.

2002 World Cup

Disappointment followed at the 2002 World Cup, with Totti failing to make a significant impact and then being sent off during Italy's second-round loss to South Korea after being handed a controversial second yellow card by Byron Moreno for an alleged dive in the penalty area.

Euro 2004

Totti acquired a measure of infamy at Euro 2004 after he spat at Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen in a goalless draw on 14 June 2004. He was subsequently banned until the semifinals, but never made it back to action and finished the competition scoreless due to Italy's elimination in the first round.

2006 World Cup

Totti recovered in time to join the national team for their victorious 2006 World Cup campaign despite not having had much match practice during his three months on the sidelines recovering from injury. Totti had, in fact, played with metal plates in his ankle that had yet to be removed following surgery. He nonetheless was a fixture in Marcello Lippi's side, starting in all of Italy's seven games. During the tournament he played along with Andrea Pirlo behind lone striker Luca Toni, forming a dangerous attacking-midfield pairing. Totti finished the tournament with the most goal and assists of any player, as well as scoring a single goal via a penalty in Italy's 1-0 round-of-16 win over Australia on 26 June. In recognition of a successful tournament, Totti was selected for the 23-man All-Star Team.

Retirement

Totti intended to retire from the Azzurri after the end of the World Cup, but reneged on his decision and remained undecided on his future for over a year, not being called up in the meantime. He made his retirement official on 20 July 2007, at the beginning of the 2007–08 Serie A season, in order to focus solely on club play with Roma. Then-Italy coach, Roberto Donadoni attempted to get Totti to change his mind for the remaining Euro 2008 qualifiers but was not successful.

After the national team reunited with Marcello Lippi, Totti announced that he would play in the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa if he got called up. However, there was no official statement release from Totti or Lippi about a possible comeback. In the event, Totti was not named in the final squad, and Italy was subsequently eliminated, finishing last in their group, their worst ever group stage result in World Cup history. Diego Maradona and former national teammates Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon said one of the reasons for Italy's early exit is that the Azzurri lack creative players like Totti.

Goal celebrations

Totti is known for celebrating his goals in exuberant manner. His most famous celebration took place on 11 April 1999 in the second Derby della Capitale of the 1998–99 season, in which he scored during the final minutes of the game and celebrated by flashing a T-shirt under his jersey, which read "Vi ho purgato ancora" ("I've purged you guys again"), in reference to events at the previous derby against Lazio on 29 November 1998 when Totti helped Roma come back from 3-1 down with an assist to Marco Delvecchio for 3-2 and finally a goal of his own for 3-3. Another derby goal against Lazio saw him take over a sideline camera and aim it at the Roma fans.

As a tribute to his then-pregnant wife, Ilary Blasi, Totti imitated a childbirth scene by stuffing the ball under his shirt and laying on his back while his teammates extracted the ball. His current ritual of sucking his thumb after a goal began after his son was born and subsequently after the birth of his daughter. Blasi has revealed that Totti actually sucks his thumb solely dedicating his celebration to her.

Personal life

Totti's wife Ilary Blasi is a former showgirl who currently works as commentator and host on several Mediaset TV programs. The couple had their first baby, named Cristian, on 6 November 2005. Their second child, a daughter named Chanel, was born on 13 May 2007.

Totti's brother Riccardo serves as his agent. Totti also runs a football school called "Number Ten" and owns a motorcycle racing team called "Totti Top Sport."

Totti became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in 2003, and the FIFA/SOS Children's Villages in January 2006. As a fundraiser for a children's charity, he published two bestselling, self-effacing joke books containing jokes the locals often told about him and his teammates. Some of the jokes were filmed in short sketches featuring himself with good friends and national teammates Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Vieri, Antonio Cassano, Marco Delvecchio and Alessandro Nesta and former national team coach Giovanni Trapattoni in a short show called La sai l'ultima di Totti.

Totti is famous for his cucchiaio goalscoring technique, which inspired the title of his 2006 autobiography, Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio (Romanesco for "I'm going to Chip Him").

Totti also collects jerseys from teams around the world. In 2003, after a Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, Irish players Brian O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie each received a Totti jersey in exchange for their own shirts.

Totti is featured on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 along with Thierry Henry and Italian referee Pierluigi Collina.

On February 2010, Totti signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with online gambling company Party Poker. Totti admitted that he is truly passionate about poker, playing online and with his teammates.

Honours

Club

;Winners

Serie A (1): 2001

Supercoppa Italiana (2): 2001, 2007

Coppa Italia (2): 2007, 2008

;Runner-up

Serie A (6): 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010

Coppa Italia (4): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010

Supercoppa Italiana (3): 2006, 2008, 2010

International

;Winners

UEFA European Under-21 Championship (1): 1996

Mediterranean Games (Under-23) (1): 1997

FIFA World Cup (1): 2006

;Runner-up

UEFA European Under-18 Championship (1): 1995

UEFA European Championship (1): 2000

Individual

Guerin d'Oro (2): 1998, 2004

Serie A Young Footballer of the Year (1): 1999

Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament'''

Serie A Footballer of the Year (2): 2000, 2003

Italian Footballer of the Year (5): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007

ESM Team of the Year (3): 2000–01, 2003–04, 2006–07

FIFA 100

Serie A Goal of the Year (2): 2005, 2006

2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team'''

Serie A Top Scorer (1): 2006–07

European Golden Shoe (1): 2006–07

USSI Silver Ball (1): 2007–08

Golden Foot (1): 2010

Roma all-time leading scorer

Roma all-time highest number of appearances

Orders

5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2000

4th Class / Official: Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2006

Career statistics

:Correct as of 9 January 2011.

Club career

¹European competitions include the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League ²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana

Competition statistics

Serie A : 457 appearances 194 goals

Coppa Italia : 45 appearances 17 goals

Supercoppa Italiana : 5 appearances 1 goal

UEFA Champions League : 49 appearances 16 goals

UEFA Europa League : 36 appearances 21 goals

FIFA World Cup : 11 appearances 1 goal

UEFA European Championship : 6 appearances 2 goals

International career

International goals

See also

List of one-club men

Football records in Italy

References

External links

A.S. Roma profile

Lega Serie A profile

FootballDatabase provides Francesco Totti's profile and stats

Francesco Totti profile, statistics, bio, awards on EspaceFoot

ESPN Profile

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:People from Rome (city) Category:Italian footballers Category:Italy international footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:A.S. Roma players Category:Serie A footballers Category:Serie A topscorers Category:FIFA 100 Category:UEFA Euro 2000 players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players Category:UNICEF people

Name	Federico Fellini
Birth date	January 20, 1920
Birth place	Rimini, Italy
Death date	October 31, 1993
Death place	Rome, Italy
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1945–1992
Spouse	Giulietta Masina (1943–1993) (his death)

Federico Fellini, Knight Grand Cross (; January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was an Italian film director. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Rimini (1920–1938)

Fellini was born on January 20, 1920 to middle-class parents in Rimini, then a small town on the Adriatic Sea. His father, Urbano Fellini (1894–1956), born to a family of Romagnol peasants and small landholders from Gambettola, moved to Rome in 1915 as a baker apprenticed to the Pantanella pasta factory. His mother, Ida Barbiani (1896–1984), came from a bourgeois Catholic family of Roman merchants. Despite her family’s vehement disapproval, she eloped with Urbano in 1917 to live at his parents' home in Gambettola. A civil marriage followed in 1918 with the religious ceremony held at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome a year later. The couple settled in Rimini where Urbano became a traveling salesman and wholesale vendor. Fellini had two siblings: Riccardo (1921–1991), a documentary director for RAI Television, and Maria Maddalena (m. Fabbri; 1929–2002).

In 1924, Fellini started primary school with the Sisters of Vincenzo in Rimini, attending the Carlo Tonni public school two years later. An attentive student, he spent his leisure time drawing, staging puppet shows, and reading Il corriere dei piccoli, the popular children’s magazine that reproduced traditional American cartoons by Winsor McCay, George McManus and Frederick Burr Opper. McCay’s Little Nemo had a direct influence on City of Women while Opper’s Happy Hooligan was the visual inspiration for Gelsomina in La strada. In 1926, he discovered the world of Grand Guignol, the circus with Pierino the Clown, and the movies. Guido Brignone’s Maciste all’Inferno (1926), the first film he saw, would mark him in ways linked to Dante and the cinema throughout his entire career.

Enrolled at the Ginnasio Giulio Cesare in 1929, he made friends with Luigi ‘Titta’ Benzi, later a prominent Rimini lawyer and the model for young Titta in Amarcord (1973). In Mussolini’s Italy, Fellini and Riccardo became members of the Avanguardista, the compulsory Fascist youth group for males. He visited Rome with his parents for the first time in 1933, the year of the maiden voyage of the SS Rex, the transatlantic ocean liner referenced in Amarcord. The sea creature found on the beach at the end of La Dolce Vita (1960) has its basis in a giant fish marooned on a Rimini beach during a storm in 1934. Although Fellini adapted key events from his childhood and adolescence in films such as I Vitelloni (1953), 8½ (1963), and Amarcord (1973), he insisted that such autobiographical memories were inventions: "It is not memory that dominates my films. To say that my films are autobiographical is an overly facile liquidation, a hasty classification. It seems to me that I have invented almost everything: childhood, character, nostalgias, dreams, memories, for the pleasure of being able to recount them."

In 1937, Fellini opened Febo, a portrait shop in Rimini with the painter Demos Bonini. His first humorous article appeared in the "Postcards to Our Readers" section of Rimini’s Domenica del Corriere. Deciding on a career as a caricaturist and gag writer, Fellini travelled to Florence in 1938 where he published his first cartoon in the weekly 420. Failing his military culture exam, he graduated from high school in July 1938 after doubling the exam.

Rome (1939)

In September 1939, he enrolled in law school at the University of Rome to please his parents although biographer Hollis Alpert reports that "there is no record of his ever having attended a class". Installed in a family pensione, he met another lifelong friend, the painter Rinaldo Geleng. Desperately poor, they unsuccessfully joined forces to draw sketches of restaurant and café patrons. Fellini eventually found work as a cub reporter on the dailies Il Piccolo and Il Popolo di Roma but quit after a short stint, bored by the local court news assignments.

Four months after publishing his first article in Marc’Aurelio, the highly influential biweekly humour magazine, he joined the editorial board, achieving success with a regular column titled Will You Listen to What I Have to Say? Described as “the determining moment in Fellini’s life”, he enjoyed steady employment between 1939 and 1942, interacting with writers, gagmen, and scriptwriters that eventually led to opportunities in show business and cinema. Among his collaborators on the magazine’s editorial board were the future director Ettore Scola, Marxist theorist and scriptwriter Cesare Zavattini, and Bernardino Zapponi, a future Fellini screenwriter. Conducting interviews for CineMagazzino also proved congenial: when asked to interview Aldo Fabrizi, Italy’s most popular variety performer, their immediate personal rapport led to professional collaboration. Specializing in humorous monologues, Fabrizi commissioned material from his young protégé.

Career and later life

Early screenplays (1940-43)

Retained on business in Rimini, Urbano sent wife and family to Rome in 1940 to share an apartment with his son. Fellini and Ruggero Maccari, also on the staff of Marc’Aurelio, began writing radio sketches and gags for films. Not yet twenty and with Fabrizi’s help, Fellini obtained his first screen credit as a comedy writer on Mario Mattoli’s Il pirata sono io (The Pirate's Dream). Progressing rapidly to numerous collaborations on films at Cinecittà, his circle of professional acquaintances widened to include novelist Vitaliano Brancati and scriptwriter Piero Tellini. In the wake of Mussolini’s declaration of war against France and England on June 10, 1940, he discovered Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Gogol, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner along with French films by Marcel Carné, René Clair, and Julien Duvivier. In 1941 he published Il mio amico Pasqualino, a 74-page booklet in ten chapters describing the absurd adventures of Pasqualino, an alter ego.

Writing for radio while attempting to avoid the draft, Fellini met his future wife Giulietta Masina in a studio office at EIAR (Italian Radio Broadcast Corporation) in autumn 1942. Well-paid as the voice of Pallina in Fellini's radio serial, Cico and Pallina, Masina was also known for her musical-comedy broadcasts which cheered an audience depressed by the war. In November 1942, Fellini was sent to Libya, occupied by Fascist Italy, to work on the screenplay of I cavalieri del deserto (Knights of the Desert, 1942), directed by Osvaldo Valenti and Gino Talamo. Fellini welcomed the assignment as it allowed him "to secure another extension on his draft order". Responsible for emergency re-writing, he also directed the film's first scenes. When Tripoli fell under siege by British forces, he and his colleagues made a narrow escape by boarding a German military plane flying to Sicily. His African adventure, later published in Marc’Aurelio as "The First Flight", marked “the emergence of a new Fellini, no longer just a screenwriter, working and sketching at his desk, but a filmmaker out in the field”.

The apolitical Fellini was finally freed of the draft when an Allied air raid over Bologna destroyed his medical records. Fellini and Giulietta hid in her aunt’s apartment until Mussolini's fall on July 25, 1943. After dating for nine months, the couple were married on October 30, 1943. Several months later, Masina fell down the stairs and suffered a miscarriage. She gave birth to a son, Pierfederico, on March 22, 1944 but the child died of encephalitis three weeks later. The tragedy had enduring emotional and artistic repercussions.

Neorealist apprenticeship (1944–1949)

After the Allied liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944, Fellini and Enrico De Seta opened the Funny Face Shop where they survived the postwar recession drawing caricatures of American soldiers. He became involved with Italian Neorealism when Roberto Rossellini, at work on Stories of Yesteryear (later Rome, Open City), met Fellini in his shop proposing he contribute gags and dialogue for the script . Aware of Fellini’s reputation as Aldo Fabrizi’s “creative muse”, Rossellini also requested he try to convince the actor to play the role of Father Giuseppe Morosini, the parish priest executed by the SS on April 4, 1944.

In 1947, Fellini and Sergio Amidei received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of Rome, Open City.

Working as both screenwriter and assistant director on Rossellini’s Paisà (Paisan) in 1946, Fellini was entrusted to film the Sicilian scenes in Maiori. In February 1948, he was introduced to Marcello Mastroianni, then a young theatre actor appearing in a play with Giulietta Masina. Establishing a close working relationship with Alberto Lattuada, Fellini co-wrote the director’s Senza pietà (Without Pity) and Il mulino del Po (The Mill on the Po). Fellini also worked with Rossellini on the anthology film L'Amore (1948), co-writing the screenplay and in one segment titled, "The Miracle", acting opposite Anna Magnani. To play the role of a vagabond rogue mistaken by Magnani for a saint, Fellini had to bleach his black hair blond.

Early films (1950-53)

In 1950 Fellini co-produced and co-directed with Alberto Lattuada Variety Lights (Luci del varietà), his first feature film. A backstage comedy set among the world of small-time travelling performers, it featured Giulietta Masina and Lattuada’s wife, Carla del Poggio. Its release to poor reviews and limited distribution proved disastrous for all concerned. The production company went bankrupt, leaving both Fellini and Lattuada with debts to pay for over a decade. In February 1950, Paisà received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay by Rossellini, Sergio Amidei, and Fellini.

After travelling to Paris for a script conference with Rossellini on Europa '51, Fellini began production on The White Sheik in September 1951, his first solo-directed feature. Starring Alberto Sordi in the title role, the film is a revised version of a treatment first written by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1949 and based on the fotoromanzi, the photographed cartoon strip romances popular in Italy at the time. Producer Carlo Ponti commissioned Fellini and Tullio Pinelli to write the script but Antonioni rejected the story they developed. With Ennio Flaiano, they re-worked the material into a light-hearted satire about newlywed couple Ivan and Wanda Cavalli (Leopoldo Trieste, Brunello Bovo) in Rome to visit the Pope. Ivan’s prissy mask of respectability is soon demolished by his wife’s obsession with the White Sheik. Highlighting the music of Nino Rota, the film was selected at Cannes (among the films in competition was Orson Welles’s Othello) and then retracted. Screened at the 13th Venice Film Festival, it was razzed by critics in “the atmosphere of a soccer match”. One reviewer declared that Fellini had “not the slightest aptitude for cinema direction”.

In 1953, I Vitelloni found favour with the critics and public. Winning the Silver Lion Award in Venice, it secured Fellini’s first international distributor.

Beyond neorealism (1954-60)

Fellini directed La strada based on a script completed in 1952 with Pinelli and Flaiano. During the last three weeks of shooting, Fellini experienced the first signs of severe clinical depression. Aided by his wife, he undertook a brief period of therapy with Freudian psychoanalyst Emilio Servadio. but after learning of the actor’s lung cancer, chose Crawford after seeing his face on the theatrical poster of All the King’s Men (1949). The film shoot was wrought with difficulties stemming from Crawford’s alcoholism. Savaged by critics at the 16th Venice Film Festival, the film did miserable box office and did not receive international distribution until 1964.

During the autumn, Fellini researched and developed a treatment based on a film adaptation of Mario Tobino’s novel, The Free Women of Magliano. Located in a mental institution for women, financial backers considered the subject had no potential and the project was abandoned.

While preparing Nights of Cabiria in spring 1956, Fellini learned of his father’s death by cardiac arrest at the age of 62. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and starring Giulietta Masina, the film took its inspiration from news reports of a woman’s decapitated head retrieved in a lake and stories by Wanda, a shantytown prostitute Fellini met on the set of Il Bidone. Pier Paolo Pasolini was hired to translate Flaiano and Pinelli’s dialogue into Roman dialect and to supervise researches in the vice-afflicted suburbs of Rome. The movie won an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film and brought Masina the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her performance.

With Pinelli, he developed Journey with Anita for Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck. An “invention born out of intimate truth”, the script was based on Fellini's return to Rimini with a mistress to attend his father's funeral. Due to Loren’s unavailability, the project was shelved and resurrected twenty-five years later as Lovers and Liars (1981), a comedy directed by Mario Monicelli with Goldie Hawn and Giancarlo Giannini. For Eduardo De Filippo, he co-wrote the script of Fortunella, tailoring the lead role to accommodate Masina’s particular sensibility.

The Hollywood on the Tiber phenomenon of 1958 in which American studios profited from the cheap studio labour available in Rome provided the backdrop for photojournalists to steal shots of celebrities on the via Veneto. The scandal provoked by Turkish dancer Haish Nana’s improvised striptease at a nightclub captured Fellini’s imagination: he decided to end his latest script-in-progress, Moraldo in the City, with an all-night “orgy” at a seaside villa. Pierluigi Praturlon’s photos of Anita Ekberg wading fully dressed in the Trevi Fountain provided further inspiration for Fellini and his scriptwriters. Changing the title of the screenplay to La Dolce Vita, Fellini soon clashed with his producer on casting: the director insisted on the relatively unknown Mastroianni while De Laurentiis wanted Paul Newman as a hedge on his investment. Reaching an impasse, De Laurentiis sold the rights to publishing mogul Angelo Rizzoli. Shooting began on March 16, 1959 with Anita Ekberg climbing the stairs to the cupola of Saint Peter’s in a mammoth décor constructed at Cinecittà. The statue of Christ flown by helicopter over Rome to Saint Peter's Square was inspired by an actual media event on May 1, 1956, which Fellini had witnessed. The film wrapped August 15 on a deserted beach at Passo Oscuro with a bloated mutant fish designed by Piero Gherardi.

La Dolce Vita broke all box office records. Despite scalpers selling tickets at 1000 lire, crowds queued in line for hours to see an “immoral movie” before the censors banned it. At an exclusive Milan screening on February 5, 1960, one outraged patron spat on Fellini while others hurled insults. Denounced in parliament by right-wing conservatives, undersecretary Domenico Magrì of the Christian Democrats demanded tolerance for the film’s controversial themes. The Vatican's official press organ, l'Osservatore Romano, lobbied for censorship while the Board of Roman Parish Priests and the Genealogical Board of Italian Nobility attacked the film. In one documented instance involving favourable reviews written by the Jesuits of San Fedele, defending La Dolce Vita had severe consequences. In competition at Cannes alongside Antonioni’s L’Avventura, the film won the Palme d'Or awarded by presiding juror Georges Simenon. The Belgian writer was promptly “hissed at” by the disapproving festival crowd.

Art films and dreams (1961–1969)

A major discovery for Fellini after his Italian neorealism period (1950–1959) was the work of Carl Jung. After meeting Jungian psychoanalyst Dr. Ernst Bernhard in early 1960, he read Jung's autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Bernhard also recommended that Fellini consult the I Ching and keep a record of his dreams. What Fellini formerly accepted as "his extrasensory perceptions" were now interpreted as psychic manifestations of the unconscious. Bernhard’s focus on Jungian depth psychology proved to be the single greatest influence on Fellini’s mature style and marked the turning point in his work from neorealism to filmmaking that was “primarily oneiric”. As a consequence, Jung's seminal ideas on the anima and the animus, the role of archetypes and the collective unconscious directly influenced such films as 8½ (1963), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Satyricon (1969), Casanova (1976), and City of Women (1980).

Exploiting La Dolce Vita’s success, financier Angelo Rizzoli set up Federiz in 1960, an independent film company, for Fellini and production manager Clemente Fracassi to discover and produce new talent. Despite the best intentions, their guarded editorial and business skills forced the company to close down soon after cancelling Pasolini’s project, Accattone (1961).

Condemned as a “public sinner” for La Dolce Vita, Fellini responded with The Temptations of Doctor Antonio, a segment in the omnibus Boccaccio '70. His first colour film, it was the sole project green-lighted at Federiz. Infused with the surrealistic satire that characterized the young Fellini’s work at Marc’Aurelio, the film ridiculed a crusader against vice who goes insane trying to censor a billboard of Anita Ekberg espousing the virtues of milk.

In an October 1960 letter to his colleague Brunello Rondi, Fellini first outlined his film ideas about a man suffering creative block: "Well then - a guy (a writer? any kind of professional man? a theatrical producer?) has to interrupt the usual rhythm of his life for two weeks because of a not-too-serious disease. It’s a warning bell: something is blocking up his system." Unclear about the script, its title, and his protagonist’s profession, he scouted locations throughout Italy “looking for the film” in the hope of resolving his confusion. Flaiano suggested La bella confusione (literally A Fine Confusion) as the movie’s title. Under pressure from his producers, Fellini finally settled on 8½, a self-referential title referring principally (but not exclusively) to the number of films he had directed up to that time.

Giving the order to start production in spring 1962, Fellini signed deals with his producer Rizzoli, fixed dates, had sets constructed, cast Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, and Sandra Milo in lead roles, and did screen tests at the Scalera Studios in Rome. He hired cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo, among key personnel. But apart from naming his hero Guido Anselmi, he still couldn't decide what his character did for a living. The crisis came to a head in April when, sitting in his Cinecittà office, he began a letter to Rizzoli confessing he had "lost his film" and had to abandon the project. Interrupted by the chief machinist requesting he celebrate the launch of 8½, Fellini put aside the letter and went on the set. Raising a toast to the crew, he "felt overwhelmed by shame… I was in a no exit situation. I was a director who wanted to make a film he no longer remembers. And lo and behold, at that very moment everything fell into place. I got straight to the heart of the film. I would narrate everything that had been happening to me. I would make a film telling the story of a director who no longer knows what film he wanted to make".

Shooting began on May 9, 1962. Perplexed by the seemingly chaotic, incessant improvisation on the set, Deena Boyer, the director’s American press officer at the time, asked for a rationale. Fellini told her that he hoped to convey the three levels “on which our minds live: the past, the present, and the conditional - the realm of fantasy”. After shooting wrapped on October 14, Nino Rota composed various circus marches and fanfares that would later become signature tunes of the maestro’s cinema. Nominated for four Oscars, 8½ won awards for best foreign language film and best costume design in black-and-white. In Hollywood for the ceremony, Fellini toured Disneyland with Walt Disney the day after.

Increasingly attracted to parapsychology, Fellini met the Turin magician Gustavo Rol in 1963. Rol, a former banker, introduced him to the world of Spiritism and séances. In 1964, Fellini experimented with LSD 25 under the supervision of Emilio Servadio, his psychoanalyst during production of La strada. For years reserved about what actually occurred that Sunday afternoon, he admitted in 1992 that

"objects and their functions no longer had any significance. All I perceived was perception itself, the hell of forms and figures devoid of human emotion and detached from the reality of my unreal environment. I was an instrument in a virtual world that constantly renewed its own meaningless image in a living world that was itself perceived outside of nature. And since the appearance of things was no longer definitive but limitless, this paradisiacal awareness freed me from the reality external to my self. The fire and the rose, as it were, became one."

Fellini's hallucinatory insights were given full flower in his first colour feature Juliet of the Spirits (1965), depicting Giulietta Masina as a housewife, Juliet, who rightly suspects her husband's infidelity and succumbs to hearing voices of spirits summoned at a séance at her home. Her sexually voracious next door neighbor Suzy (Sandra Milo) introduces Juliet to a world of uninhibited sensuality but Juliet is haunted by childhood memories of her Catholic guilt and a teenaged friend who committed suicide. Complex and filled with psychological symbolism, the film is set to a jaunty score by Nino Rota.

Honours (1970–1980)

Fellini received a lifetime achievement at the 27th Cannes Film Festival in 1974.

Amarcord, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1975.

The following year Fellini's Casanova won the Oscar for Best Costumes (Danilo Donati).

Late films and projects (1981–1990)

Organized by his publisher Diogenes Verlag in 1982, the first major exhibition of 63 drawings by Fellini was held in Paris, Brussels, and the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York. A gifted caricaturist, much of the inspiration for his sketches was derived from his own dreams while the films-in-progress both originated from and stimulated drawings for characters, decor, costumes and set designs. Under the title, I disegni di Fellini (Fellini’s Designs), he published 350 drawings executed in pencil, watercolours, and felt pens.

On September 6, 1985 Fellini was awarded the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 42nd Venice Film Festival. That same year, he became the first non-American to receive the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual award for cinematic achievement.

Long fascinated by Carlos Castaneda’s , Fellini accompanied the Peruvian author on a journey to the Yucatán to assess the feasibility of a film. After first meeting Castaneda in Rome in October 1984, Fellini drafted a treatment with Pinelli titled Viaggio a Tulun. Producer Alberto Grimaldi, prepared to buy film rights to all of Castaneda’s work, then paid for pre-production research taking Fellini and his entourage from Rome to Los Angeles and the jungles of Mexico in October 1985. When Castaneda inexplicably disappeared and the project fell through, Fellini’s mystico-shamanic adventures were scripted with Pinelli and serialized in Corriere della Sera in May 1986. A barely veiled satirical interpretation of Castaneda's work, Viaggio a Tulun was published in 1989 as a graphic novel with artwork by Milo Manara and as Trip to Tulum in America in 1990.

For Intervista, produced by Ibrahim Moussa and RAI Television, Fellini intercut memories of the first time he visited Cinecittà in 1939 with present-day footage of himself at work on a screen adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Amerika. A meditation on the nature of memory and film production, it won the special 40th Anniversary Prize at Cannes and the 15th Moscow Film Festival Grand Prize. In Brussels later that year, a panel of thirty professionals from eighteen European countries named Fellini the world’s best director and 8½ the best European film of all time.

In early 1989 Fellini began production on The Voice of the Moon, based on Ermanno Cavazzoni’s novel, Il poema des lunatici (The Lunatics’ Poem). A small town was built at Empire Studios on the via Pontina outside Rome. Starring Roberto Benigni as Ivo Salvini, a madcap poetic figure newly released from a mental institution, the character is a combination of La strada's Gelsomina, Pinocchio, and Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi. Fellini improvised as he filmed, using as a guide a rough treatment written with Pinelli. Despite its modest critical and commercial success in Italy, and its warm reception by French critics, it failed to interest North American distributors.

Fellini won the Praemium Imperiale, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the visual arts, awarded by the Japan Art Association in 1990. The award covers five disciplines: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film. Other winners include Akira Kurosawa, David Hockney, Balthus, Pina Bausch, and Maurice Béjart.

Final years (1991–1993)

In July 1991 and April 1992, Fellini worked in close collaboration with Canadian filmmaker Damian Pettigrew to establish "the longest and most detailed conversations ever recorded on film". Described as the "Maestro's spiritual testament” by his biographer Tullio Kezich, excerpts culled from the conversations later served as the basis of their feature documentary, (2002) and the book, . Finding it increasingly difficult to secure financing for feature films, he developed a suite of television projects whose titles reflect their subjects: Attore, Napoli, L’Inferno, L’opera lirica, and L’America.

In April 1993, Fellini received his fifth Oscar for lifetime achievement "in recognition of his cinematic accomplishments that have thrilled and entertained audiences worldwide". On June 16, he entered the Cantonal Hospital in Zurich for an "angioplasty on his femoral artery" but suffered a stroke at the Grand Hotel in Rimini two months later. Partially paralyzed, he was first transferred to Ferrara for rehabilitation and then to the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome to be near his wife, also hospitalized. He suffered a second stroke and fell into an irreversible coma. Fellini died in Rome on October 31 at the age of 73, a day after his fiftieth wedding anniversary. The memorial service was held in Studio 5 at Cinecittà attended by an estimated “70,000 people”. At the request of Giulietta Masina, trumpeter Mauro Maur played the "Improvviso dell'Angelo" by Nino Rota during the funeral ceremony. Five months later on March 23, 1994, Giulietta Masina died of lung cancer.

Fellini, Masina and their son Pierfederico are buried in a bronze sepulchre sculpted by Arnaldo Pomodoro. Designed as a ship's prow, the tomb is located at the main entrance to the Cemetery of Rimini. The Federico Fellini Airport in Rimini is named in his honour.

Influence and legacy

, Rome:To Federico Fellini, who made Via Veneto the stage for the "Sweet Life" - SPQR - January 20, 1995]] Personal and highly idiosyncratic visions of society, Fellini's films are a unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy and desire. The adjectives "Fellinian" and "Felliniesque" are "synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque image in the cinema and in art in general".

Contemporary filmmakers such as Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Emir Kusturica, David Lynch, Girish Kasaravalli, David Cronenberg, Martin Scorsese, and Juraj Jakubisko have cited Fellini's influence on their work.

Polish director, Wojciech Has, whose two major films, The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) and The Hour-Glass Sanatorium (1973) are examples of modernist fantasies, has been compared to Fellini for the sheer "luxuriance of his images".

I Vitelloni inspired European directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Marco Ferreri, and Lina Wertmuller and had an influence on Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973), George Lucas's American Graffiti (1974), Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Barry Levinson's Diner (1987), among many others. When the American magazine Cinema asked Stanley Kubrick in 1963 to name his favorite films, the film director listed I Vitelloni as number one in his Top 10 list.

Nights of Cabiria was adapted as the Broadway musical Sweet Charity and the movie Sweet Charity (1969) by Bob Fosse starring Shirley MacLaine.

8½ inspired among others: Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965), Alex in Wonderland (Paul Mazursky, 1970), Beware of a Holy Whore (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971), Day for Night (François Truffaut, 1973), All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979), Stardust Memories (Woody Allen, 1980), Sogni d'oro (Nanni Moretti, 1981), Parad Planet (Vadim Abdrashitov, 1984), La Pelicula del rey (Carlos Sorin, 1986), Living in Oblivion (Tom DiCillo, 1995) , 8½ Women (Peter Greenaway, 1999), Falling Down (Joel Schumacher, 1993), along with the successful Broadway musical, Nine (Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, 1982). Yo-Yo Boing! (1998), a Spanish novel by Puerto Rican writer Giannina Braschi, features a dream sequence with Fellini that was inspired by 8½.

City of Women was adapted for the Berlin stage by Frank Castorf in 1992.

Fellini’s work is referenced on the albums Fellini Days (2001) by Fish and Funplex (2008) by the B-52's with the song Juliet of the Spirits, and in the opening traffic jam of the music video Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. It influenced two American TV shows, Northern Exposure and Third Rock from the Sun.

Certain of his film related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access. In October 2009, the Jeu de Paume in Paris opened an exhibit devoted to Fellini, running through to January 2010. The exhibition included Fellini ephemera, television interviews, behind-the-scenes photographs, and excerpts from La dolce vita and 8½. It also featured the Book of Dreams based on 30 years of illustrations and notes by Fellini.

Awards

Selected awards and nominations

Rome, Open City (Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1945)

* Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay (with Sergio Amidei)

Paisà (Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1946)

* Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay (with Sergio Amidei, Alfred Hayes, Marcello Pagliero, and Rossellini)

I Vitelloni (1953)

* Venice Film Festival Silver Lion

* Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano)

La Strada (1954)

* Venice Film Festival Silver Lion

* Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film

* Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rondi)

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film

* Screen Directors Guild Award for Best Foreign Film

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

* Festival de Cannes Best Actress Award (Giulietta Masina)

* Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film

La Dolce Vita (1960)

* Palme d'Or at Festival de Cannes

* Oscar Best Costumes in B&W; (Piero Gherardi)

* Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rondi), Best Art and Set Direction

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film

* National Board of Review citation for Best Foreign Language Film

8½ (Otto e Mezzo, 1963)

* Moscow International Film Festival Grand Prize

* Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

* Oscar for Best Costumes in B&W; (Piero Gherardi)

* Oscar nomination for Best Director

* Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration in B&W; (Piero Gherardi)

* Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbons for Best Cinematography in B&W; (Gianni Di Venanzo), Best Director (Federico Fellini), Best Original Story (Fellini and Flaiano), Best Producer (Angelo Rizzoli), Best Score (Nino Rota), Best Screenplay (Fellini, Pinelli, Flaiano, Rondi), and Best Supporting Actress (Sandra Milo)

* Berlin Film Festival Special Award

* BAFTA Film Award nomination for Best Film from any Source

* Bodil Award for Best European Film

* Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film

* National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Picture

* Grolla d’Oro at Saint Vincent Film Festival for Best Director

* Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film & Best Foreign Language Film Director

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film

* National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Story

* Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Satyricon (1969)

* Oscar nomination for Best Director

I clowns (1970)

* National Board of Review citation for Best Foreign Language Film

Amarcord (1974)

* Oscar for Best Foreign Film

* Oscar nomination for Best Director

* Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Direction

* New York Film Critics Award for Best Motion Picture

Fellini's Casanova (1976)

* Oscar for Best Costumes (Danilo Donati)

Intervista (1987)

* Moscow International Film Festival Grand Prize

* Festival de Cannes Special 40th Anniversary Prize

The Voice of the Moon (1990)

* David di Donatello Awards for Best Actor, Best Production Design, and Best Editing

Distinctions

1974

* 27th Cannes Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (with French director René Clair)

1985

* 42nd Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

* Film Society of Lincoln Center Award for Cinematic Achievement

1989

* Lifetime Achievement Award - European Film Awards

1990

* Japan Art Association's Praemium Imperiale (equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the visual arts)

1993

* Oscar for Lifetime Achievement

Filmography

Major screenplay contributions

L'ultima carrozzella (1943) (dir. Mario Mattoli) Co-scriptwriter

Roma, città aperta (1945) (dir. Roberto Rossellini) Co-scriptwriter

Paisà (1946) (dir. Roberto Rossellini). Co-scriptwriter

Il delitto di Giovanni Episcopo (1947) (dir. Alberto Lattuada) Co-scriptwriter

Senza pietà (1948) (dir. Alberto Lattuada) Co-scriptwriter

Il miracolo (1948) (dir. Roberto Rossellini) Co-scriptwriter

Il mulino del Po (1949) (dir. Alberto Lattuada) Co-scriptwriter

Francesco, giullare di Dio (1950) (dir. Alberto Lattuada) Co-scriptwriter

Il Cammino della speranza (1950) (dir. Pietro Germi) Co-scriptwriter

La città si defende (1951) (dir. Pietro Germi) Co-scriptwriter

Persiane chiuse (1951) (dir. Luigi Comencini) Co-scriptwriter

Il brigante di Tacca del Lupo (1952) (dir. Pietro Germi) Co-scriptwriter

Fortunella (1979) (dir. Eduardo De Filippo) Co-scriptwriter

Lovers and Liars (1979) (dir. Mario Monicelli) Fellini not credited

Television commercials

TV commercial for Campari Soda (1984)

TV commercial for Barilla pasta (1984)

Three TV commercials for Banca di Roma (1992)

Written and directed

Luci del varietà (1950) (co-credited with Alberto Lattuada)

Lo sceicco bianco (1952)

I vitelloni (1953)

L'amore in città (1953) (segment Un'agenzia matrimoniale)

La strada (1954)

Il bidone (1955)

Le notti di Cabiria (1957)

La dolce vita (1960)

Boccaccio '70 (1962) (segment Le tentazioni del Dottor Antonio)

8½ (1963)

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

Histoires extraordinaires (1968) (segment Toby Dammit, based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Never Bet the Devil Your Head")

(1969)

Satyricon (1969)

I clowns (1970)

Roma (1972)

Amarcord (1973)

Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976)

Prova d'orchestra (1978)

La città delle donne (1980)

E la nave va (1983)

Ginger and Fred (1986)

Intervista (1987)

La voce della luna (1990)

See also

Art film

References

Notes

Bibliography

;Primary sources

Fellini, Federico (1988). Comments on Film. Ed. Giovanni Grazzini. Trans. Joseph Henry. Fresno: The Press of California State University at Fresno.

— (1993). I disegni di Fellini. Ed. Pier Marco De Santi. Roma: Editori Laterza.

— and Damian Pettigrew (2003). . New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0847831353

— and Tullio Pinelli. Trip to Tulum. Trans. Stefano Gaudiano and Elizabeth Bell. New York: Catalan Communications.

;Secondary sources

Alpert, Hollis (1988). Fellini: A Life. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1557780005

Bondanella, Peter (1992). The Cinema of Federico Fellini. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00875-2

— (2002). The Films of Federico Fellini. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burke, Frank, and M. R. Waller (2003). Federico Fellini: Contemporary Perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802076475

Kezich, Tullio (2006). Federico Fellini: His Life and Work. New York: Faber and Faber, 2006. ISBN 9780571211685

Miller, D. A. (2008). 8½. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Further reading

General

Betti, Liliana (1979). Fellini: An Intimate Portrait. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

Bondanella, Peter (ed.)(1978). Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cianfarani, Carmine (ed.) (1985). Federico Fellini: Leone d'Oro, Venezia 1985. Rome: Anica.

Fellini, Federico (2008). The Book of Dreams. New York: Rizzoli.

Panicelli, Ida, and Antonella Soldaini (ed.)(1995). Fellini: Costumes and Fashion. Milan: Edizioni Charta. ISBN 8886158823

Rohdie, Sam (2002). Fellini Lexicon. London: BFI Publishing.

Tornabuoni, Lietta (1995). Federico Fellini. Preface Martin Scorsese. New York: Rizzoli.

Walter, Eugene (2002). Milking the Moon: A Southerner's Story of Life on This Planet. Ed. Katherine Clark. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80965-2

Documentaries on Fellini

Ciao Federico (1969). Dir. Gideon Bachmann. (60')

Federico Fellini - (2000). Dir. Paquito Del Bosco. (RAI TV, 68')

(2002). Dir. Damian Pettigrew. Feature documentary. (ARTE, Eurimages, Scottish Screen, 102')

External links

Fellini Foundation Official Rimini web site (in Italian)

Fondation Fellini pour le cinéma (Switzerland) Official Swiss web site (in French)

Beyond La Dolce Vita Peter Bondanella on Fellini's Films And Technique

Category:1920 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Italian film directors Category:Surrealist filmmakers Category:Italian Roman Catholics Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Rimini Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Italy

Name	Antonello Venditti
Background	solo_singer
Birth date	March 08, 1949
Birth place	Rome, Italy
Genre	Pop, Pop rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1971–present
Label	It, RCA Italiana, Philips, Heinz Music
Url

Antonello Venditti (born 8 March 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter who became famous in the 1970s for the social themes of his songs.

Biography

Antonello Venditti was born in Rome, the son of a police commissioner from Molise, who would later become deputy-chief of police in Rome.

He studied piano in his youth and made his debut in the music world in the early 1970s at the Folkstudio of Rome, together with singers like Francesco De Gregori and Giorgio Lo Cascio. In duo with the former he released in 1972 his first LP, Theorius Campus. The LP scored little success, but Venditti at least made himself noted for the strength of his vocal qualities and for his attention to social issues, evidenced by pieces like Sora Rosa which is sung in Roman dialect. Also in dialect was Roma Capoccia, a declaration of love for his city, which later became one of his most famous songs. Curiously, Venditti refused to sing it for several years, as he considered it not politically or socially "engaged" enough.

Venditti subsequently moved to Milan and released L'orso bruno (1973), made in collaboration with musician Vince Tempera; this album included another song in dialect, E li ponti so' soli, but otherwise was marked by an even stronger attention to social themes. His next work, Le cose della vita ("Things of Our Life"), released the same year for the colossus RCA Music, confirmed this tendency. The following LP Quando verrà Natale ("When Christmas Comes") was similar; its even more naked arrangements emphasize the strength of Venditti's denunciation. After a live performance of the song "A Cristo" ("To Christ"), he was denounced by an Italian police officer for blasphemy. Venditti, however, was later totally acquitted.

Although Venditti's use of religious language was not typical of the culture of the left, his manner of life in the late '60s and the '70s was, as he later told the journalist Giampaolo Mattei, a "secular" one: "They were years in which the influence of the left was really strong and the life of us young people then was somewhat orphaned of God. I think it was the everyday life of the time that led me to participate in and embrace certain things. I emerged from that when I realised it was a dead end because it took away people's happiness. Maybe it did give them social growth, but about happiness it had nothing to say. Too much materialism and too little spirituality. A whole generation grew up with that materialism, with certain slogans."

Venditti's fortunes grew and peaked in 1975, with the LP Lilly. The yearning title-track was another strong accusation, this time against drugs, but it achieved an outstanding success anyway. Other famous pieces in the album were "Compagno di scuola" ("Schoolmate") and the long ballad "Lo stambecco ferito" ("The Wounded Ibex"), the story of a corrupt Northern Italian tycoon. Venditti continued to deal with front-page matters in his next LP, Ullalà (1976), whose "Canzone per Seveso" was about the industrial accident in July that year.

Political involvement, however, had side-effects on Venditti's inspiration in the late 1970s, marked in Italy by the growing menace of terrorism and by the strategia della tensione: some events (like the public booing of his friend De Gregori by politicized fans during a show) forced him to rethink his way of being a public personality. Sotto il segno dei pesci ("(Born) Under Pisces", 1978) contained more personal and intimate themes. The eponymous track scored a great success, but was largely misinterpreted as a song about a woman: it actually referred to Venditti's career, as he was in fact born "under the Pisces sign".

Success was, however, marred by his divorce from his wife Simona Izzo. She won custody of Venditti's son, Francesco Saverio. The following LP, Buona domenica (1979), was strongly marked by this difficult period. It contained, however, several classics, like the title-track and the ballad Modena, which featured Gato Barbieri on saxophone and is considered one of Venditt's finest works.

In 1982 the bitter Sotto la pioggia marked Venditti's passage to his own label, Heinz Music, and the beginning of the long-lasting collaboration with producer Alessandro Colombini. The following year A.S. Roma, his city's football team, won its long-awaited second scudetto: Venditti was therefore called upon to take part in the official celebration show, and the song that he composed for the occasion, "Grazie Roma" ("Thank You Roma"), turned into a great success, surprisingly not just in Rome. Venditti had already composed several songs about his favourite football team; some people criticized them harshly, mostly because of the strong contrast with the political-social themes of his other songs.

In the following years, and notably in the 1990s, Venditti's inspiration seemed to become more mainstream and commercial. His LPs (Cuore, In questo mondo di ladri, Benvenuti in Paradiso, Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro) were very successful, but his former themes were absent, or generally less stressed. Pieces like "Notte prima degli esami" or "Ma che bella giornata di sole" (about the Italian Liberation Day of September 1943) were anyway praised by critics. Among the songs of this period, "Dolce Enrico", from the LP Benvenuti in Paradiso (1991), was dedicated to the former leader of the Partito Comunista Italiano, Enrico Berlinguer, who died in 1984.

Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie ("Antonello in Wonderland") of 1997 featured his greatest hits accompanied by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, directed by Renato Serio. Goodbye Novecento (1999) gave increasing attention to social and historical themes, but had a sub-par success by Venditti's standards. In 2001 A.S. Roma again won a scudetto, and Venditti played again in a free concert in the Circo Massimo for an immense audience of tifosi and lovers of his songs. His latest studio release is Che fantastica storia è la vita ("What a Fantastic Story Life Is", October 2003). Gato Barbieri played with Venditti in this release. After resolving the difficulties in his friendship with Venditti, told in the latter's 1979 song "Scusa Francesco" ("Sorry Francesco"), De Gregori is also present as singer in "Io e mio fratello" ("Me and My Brother"). The album also contains a satire of Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi ("Il Sosia").

In April 2008, in an interview with a Catholic website, Venditti spoke of his faith in Christ, his devotion to Padre Pio and his respect for Pope Benedict XVI, and also mentioned having been assaulted when he was sixteen by a malevolent entity which he identified with Satan. This led the media to class Venditti with other high-profile show-business converts like Claudia Koll (who was also attacked by a malevolent entity) and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, although actually his conversion long predates theirs.

In October 2009 Venditti was criticized for asking, during a concert in Sicily, "Why did God create Calabria?" and declaring that "there is really nothing" in Calabria. Calabria is a region in South Italy. In the past it was colonized by the ancient Greeks and became the cradle of Magna Graecia, but now it is also the base of the modern crime organization 'ndrangheta. Venditti later made peace with Calabria over a cup of good coffee at his house in Rome with the mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Scopelliti.

Soundtracks

Venditti released the soundtrack for the 1985 movie Troppo forte by his friend, the Roman director Carlo Verdone. Verdone also occasionally played drums in Venditti's concerts.

Discography

Theorius Campus (1972) (With Francesco De Gregori under the collective byname of Theorius Campus)

L'orso bruno (1973)

Le cose della vita (1973)

Quando verrà Natale (1974)

Lilly (1975)

Ullalà (1976)

Alta Marea (1977)

Sotto il segno dei pesci (1978)

Buona domenica (1979)

Sotto la pioggia (1982)

Circo Massimo (1983, live)

Cuore (1984)

Centocittà (1985, live)

Venditti e Segreti (1986)

In questo mondo di ladri (1988)

Gli anni ’80 (1990, collection)

Diario (1991)

Benvenuti in Paradiso (1991)

Gli anni '70 (1992)

Da San Siro a Samarcanda – L’amore insegna agli uomini (1992, live)

Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro (1995)

Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie (1997, live)

''Goodbye Novecento (1999)

Se l'amore è amore... (2000, collection)

Circo Massimo 2001 (2001, live)

Il coraggio e l’amore (2002, collection)

Che fantastica storia è la vita (2003)

Campus Live (2005, live)

Diamanti (2006, collection)

Dalla pelle al cuore (2007)

Le donne (2009)

References

External links

Solegemello, Antonello Venditti-Solegemello-web site

Vendittando, Venditti blog

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Italian singer-songwriters Category:Italian-language singers Category:Italian Roman Catholics Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Category:People from Rome (city)