Plutarch Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus Μέστριος Πλούταρχος
Bust of Plutarch located at the Archaeological Museum of Delphi.
Born	Circa 46 CE Chaeronea, Boeotia
Died	Circa 120 CE (aged 74) Delphi, Phocis
Occupation	Biographer, essayist, priest, ambassador, magistrate
Nationality	Roman (Greek ethnicity)
Subjects	Biography, various
Literary movement	Middle Platonism, Hellenistic literature

The Moralia (ancient Greek Ἠθικά — loosely translatable as Matters relating to customs and mores) of the 1st-century Greek scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right. Many generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Montaigne and the Renaissance Humanists and Enlightenment philosophers.

The Moralia include On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great — an important adjunct to his Life of the great general — On the Worship of Isis and Osiris (a crucial source of information on Egyptian religious rites), and On the Malice of Herodotus (which may, like the orations on Alexander's accomplishments, have been a rhetorical exercise), in which Plutarch criticizes what he sees as systematic bias in the Father of History's work; along with more philosophical treatises, such as On the Decline of the Oracles, On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance, On Peace of Mind and lighter fare, such as Odysseus and Gryllus, a humorous dialog between Homer's Odysseus and one of Circe's enchanted pigs. The Moralia were composed first, while writing the Lives occupied much of the last two decades of Plutarch's own life.

Some editions of the Moralia include several works now known to be pseudepigrapha: among these are the Lives of the Ten Orators (biographies of the Ten Orators of ancient Athens, based on Caecilius of Calacte), The Doctrines of the Philosophers, and On Music. One "pseudo-Plutarch" is held responsible for all of these works, though their authorship is of course unknown. Though the thoughts and opinions recorded are not Plutarch's and come from a slightly later era, they are all classical in origin and have value to the historian.

The book is famously the first reference to the problem of the Chicken and the egg.

Reincarnation[link]

Moralia asserts a belief in reincarnation:

"The soul, being eternal, after death is like a caged bird that has been released. If it has been a long time in the body, and has become tame by many affairs and long habit, the soul will immediately take another body and once again become involved in the troubles of the world. The worst thing about old age is that the soul's memory of the other world grows dim, while at the same time its attachment to things of this world becomes so strong that the soul tends to retain the form that it had in the body. But that soul which remains only a short time within a body, until liberated by the higher powers, quickly recovers its fire and goes on to higher things." (From The Consolation.)

Mind[link]

Mind or Nous ( /ˈnuːs/, Greek: νοῦς) is a philosophical term for intellect. In Moralia, Plutarch agrees with Plato that the soul is more divine than the body while nous is more divine than the soul. The mix of soul and body produces pleasure and pain; the conjunction of mind and soul produces reason which is the cause or the source of virtue and vice. (From: “On the Face in the Moon”) ^[1]

Books[link]

Since the Stephanus edition of 1572, the Moralia have traditionally been arranged in 14 books, as in the following list which includes the English, the original Greek and the Latin title:

• I.
  • 1. On the Education of Children (Περὶ παίδων ἀγωγῆς - De liberis educandis)
  • 2. How the Young Man Should Study Poetry (Πῶς δεῖ τὸν νέον ποιημάτων ἀκούειν - Quomodo adolescens poetas audire debeat)
  • 3. On Hearing (Περὶ τοῦ ἀκούειν - De recta ratione audiendi)
  • 4. How to Tell a Flatterer from a Friend (Πῶς ἂν τις διακρίνοιε τὸν κόλακα τοῦ φίλου - Quomodo adulator ab amico internoscatur)
  • 5. How a Man May Become Aware of his Progress in Virtue (Πῶς ἂν τις αἴσθοιτο ἑαυτοῦ προκόπτοντος ἐπ᾿ ἀρετῇ - Quomodo quis suos in virtute sentiat profectus)
• II.
  • 6. How to Profit by One's Enemies (Πῶς ἂν τις ὑπ᾿ ἐχθρῶν ὠφελοῖτο - De capienda ex inimicis utilitate)
  • 7. On Having Many Friends (Περὶ πολυφιλίας - De amicorum multitudine)
  • 8. On Chance (Περὶ τύχης - De fortuna)
  • 9. On Virtue and Vice (Περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας - De virtute et vitio)
  • 10. Letter of Condolence to Apollonius (Παραμυθητικὸς πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον - Consolatio ad Apollonium)
  • 11. Advice about Keeping Well (Ὑγιεινὰ παραγγέλματα - De tuenda sanitate praecepta)
  • 12. Advice to Bride and Groom (Γαμικὰ παραγγέλματα - Coniugalia praecepta)
  • 13. Dinner of the Seven Wise Men (Ἑπτά σοφῶν συμπόσιον - Septem sapientium convivium)
  • 14. On Superstition (Περὶ δεισιδαιμονίας - De superstitione)
• III.
  • 15. Sayings of Kings and Commanders (Βασιλέων ἀποφθέγματα καὶ στρατηγών - regum et imperatorem apophthegmata)
  • 16. Sayings of the Spartans (Ἀποφθέγματα Λακωνικά - apophthegmata Laconica)
  • 17. Institutions of the Spartans (Τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιτηδεύματα - instituta Laconica)
  • 18. Sayings of the Spartan Women (Λακαινῶν αποφθέγματα - Lacaenarum apophthegmata)
  • 19. Virtues of Women (Γυναικῶν ἀρεταί - Mulierum virtutes)
• IV.
  • 20. Roman Questions (Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά - Quaestiones Romanae)
  • 21. Greek Questions (Αἴτια Ἑλληνικά - Quaestiones Graecae)
  • 22. Greek and Roman Parallel Stories (Συναγωγὴ ἱστοριῶν παραλλήλων Ἑλληνικῶν καὶ Ρωμαϊκῶν - Parallela minora) (pseudo-Plutarch)
  • 23. On the Fortune of the Romans (Περὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων τύχης - De fortuna Romanorum)
  • 24. On the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great (Περὶ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου τύχης ἢ ἀρετῆς - De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute)
  • 25. On the Glory of the Athenians (Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι - De gloria Atheniensium)
• V.
  • 26. On Isis and Osiris ^[2] (Περί Ίσιδος και Οσίριδος - De Iside et Osiride)
  • 27. On the EI at Delphi (Περί τού Εί τού έν Δελφοίς - De E apud Delphos)
  • 28. Oracles at Delphi no Longer Given in Verse (Περί του μη χραν έμμετρα νυν την Πυθίαν - De Pythiae oraculis)
  • 29. On the Obsolescence of Oracles (Περί των εκλελοιπότων χρηστηρίων - De defectu oraculorum)
• VI.
  • 30. Can Virtue be Taught? (Εἰ διδακτὸν ἡ ἀρετή - An virtus doceri possit)
  • 31. On Moral Virtue (Περί ηθικής αρετής - De virtute morali)
  • 32. On the Control of Anger (Περί αοργησίας - De cohibenda ira)
  • 33. On Tranquility of Mind (Περί ευθυμίας - De tranquillitate animi)
  • 34. On Brotherly Love (Περί φιλαδελφίας - De fraterno amore)
  • 35. On Affection for Offspring (Περί της εις τα έγγονα φιλοστοργίας - De amore prolis)
  • 36. Whether Vice is Sufficient to Cause Unhappiness (Ει αυτάρκης η κακία προς κακοδαιμονίαν - An vitiositas ad infelicitatem sufficiat)
  • 37. Whether Affections of the Soul are Worse than Those of the Body (Περί του πότερον τα ψυχής ή τα σώματος πάθη χείρονα - Animine an corporis affectiones sint peiores)
  • 38. On Talkativeness (Περί αδολεσχίας - De garrulitate)
  • 39. On Being a Busybody (Περί πολυπραγμοσύνης - De curiositate)
• VII.
  • 40. On Love of Wealth (Περί φιλοπλουτίας - De cupiditate divitiarum)
  • 41. On Compliancy (Περί δυσωπίας - De vitioso pudore)
  • 42. On Envy and Hate (Περί φθόνου και μίσους - De invidia et odio)
  • 43. On Praising Oneself Inoffensively (Περί του εαυτόν επαινείν ανεπιφθόνως - De laude ipsius)
  • 44. On the Delays of Divine Vengeance (Περί των υπό του θείου βραδέως τιμωρουμένων - De sera numinis vindicta)
  • 45. On Fate (Περί ειμαρμένης - De fato) (pseudo-Plutarch)
  • 46. On the Sign of Socrates (Περί του Σωκράτους δαιμονίου - De genio Socratis)
  • 47. On Exile (Περὶ φυγῆς - De exilio)
  • 48. Consolation to his Wife (Παραμυθητικός προς την γυναίκα - Consolatio ad uxorem)
• VIII.
  • 49. Table Talk (Συμποσιακά - Quaestiones convivales)
• IX.
  • 50. Dialogue on Love (Έρωτικός - Amatorius)
• X.
  • 51. Love Stories (Ερωτικαί διηγήσεις - Amatoriae narrationes)
  • 52. A Philosopher Ought to Converse Especially with Men in Power (Περί του ότι μάλιστα τοις ηγεμόσιν δει τον φιλόσοφον διαλέγεσθαι - Maxime cum principibus philosopho esse disserendum)
  • 53. To an Uneducated Ruler (Προς ηγεμόνα απαίδευτον - Ad principem ineruditum)
  • 54. Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs (Ει πρεσβυτέρω πολιτευτέον - An seni respublica gerenda sit)
  • 55. Precepts of Statecraft (Πολιτικά παραγγέλματα - Praecepta gerendae reipublicae)
  • 56. On Monarchy, Democracy and Oligarchy (Περί μοναρχίας και δημοκρατίας και ολιγαρχίας - De unius in republica dominatione, populari statu, et paucorum imperio)
  • 57. That we Ought Not to Borrow (Περί του μη δειν δανείζεσθαι - De vitando aere alieno)
  • 58. Lives of the Ten Orators (Βίοι των δέκα ρητόρων - Vitae decem oratorum) (pseudo-Plutarch)
  • 59. Comparison between Aristophanes and Menander (Συγκρίσεως Αριστοφάνους και Μενάνδρου επιτομή - Comparationis Aristophanis et Menandri compendium)
• XI.
  • 60. On the Malice of Herodotus (Περί της Ήροδότου κακοηθείας - De malignitate Herodoti)
  • 61. On the Opinions of the Philosophers (Περί των αρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις φυσικών δογμάτων - De placitis philosophorum)
  • 62. Causes of Natural Phenomena (Αίτια φυσικά - Quaestiones naturales)
• XII.
  • 63. On the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon ^[3] (Περὶ τοῦ ἐμφαινομένου προσώπου τῷ κύκλῳ τῆς σελήνης - De facie in orbe lunae)
  • 64. On the Principle of Cold (Περί του πρώτως ψυχρού - De primo frigido)
  • 65. Whether Fire or Water is More Useful (Πότερον ύδωρ ή πυρ χρησιμότερον - Aquane an ignis sit utilior)
  • 66. Whether Land or Sea Animals are Cleverer (Πότερα των ζώων φρονιμώτερα, τα χερσαία ή τα ένυδρα - De sollertia animalium)
  • 67. Beasts are Rational (Περί του τα άλογα λόγω χρήσθαι - Bruta animalia ratione uti)
  • 68. On the Eating of Flesh (Περί σαρκοφαγίας - De esu carnium)
• XIII.
  • 69. Platonic Questions (Πλατωνικά ζητήματα - Platonicae quaestiones)
  • 70. On the Birth of the Spirit in Timaeus (Περί της εν Τιμαίω ψυχογονίας - De animae procreatione in Timaeo)
  • 71. Summary of the Birth of the Spirit (Επιτομή του περί της εν τω Τιμαίω ψυχογονίας - Epitome libri de animae procreatione in Timaeo)
  • 72. On Stoic Self-Contradictions (Περί Στωικών εναντιωμάτων - De Stoicorum repugnantiis)
  • 73. The Stoics Speak More Paradoxically than the Poets (Ότι παραδοξότερα οι Στωικοί των ποιητών λέγουσιν - Stoicos absurdiora poetis dicere)
  • 74. On Common Conceptions against the Stoics (Περί των κοινών εννοιών προς τους Στωικούς - De communibus notitiis adversus Stoicos)
• XIV.
  • 75. It is Impossible to Live Pleasantly in the Manner of Epicurus (Ότι ουδέ ηδέως ζην έστιν κατ’ Επίκουρον - Non posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum)
  • 76. Against Colotes (Προς Κωλώτην - Adversus Colotem)
  • 77. Is the Saying "Live in Obscurity" Right? (Ει καλώς είρηται το λάθε βιώσας - An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum)
  • 78. On Music (Περί μουσικής - De musica) (pseudo-Plutarch)

Editions[link]

• 1959, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-99446-9

References[link]

External links[link]

• Plutarch's Moralia from the Online Library of Liberty Complete William W. Goodwin translation 1878 in PDF facsimile, plus selections as PDF ebooks and HTML.
• Plutarch page at LacusCurtius (20th century English translation includes On the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander, On the Fortune of the Romans, Roman Questions, Isis and Osiris, "On Putting One's Enemies to Use", and the so‑called Parallela Minora, which is probably one of those pseudepigrapha.)
• List of translations from Attalus.org Selected translations.
• Sentiments concerning nature from ebooks@adelaide.edu.au
• Plutarch's Essays Volume 3 from Project Gutenberg
• Volume I and Volume II of 1841 Greek/Latin edition of the entire Moralia through Google Books.

Petr Eben
Composer Petr Eben
Background information
Born	(1929-01-22)January 22, 1929 Žamberk, Czechoslovakia
Origin	Czech
Died	October 24, 2007(2007-10-24) (aged 78) Praha, Czech Republic (aged 78)
Genres	classical, modern classical, contemporary classical
Occupations	Composer
Instruments	organist, pianist, cellist, choir master
Years active	1950–2007

Petr Eben (22 January 1929 – 24 October 2007) was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music, organist and choirmaster.

His life[link]

Born in Žamberk in northeastern Bohemia, Eben spent his youth in Český Krumlov in southern Bohemia. There he studied piano, and later cello and organ. The years of German occupation and World War II were especially difficult for him. Although Eben was raised as a Catholic, his father was a Jew and in 1943 Eben was expelled from school and interned by the Nazis in Buchenwald for the duration of the war.

After the war he was admitted to the Prague Academy for Music where he studied piano with František Rauch and composition with Pavel Bořkovec. He graduated in 1954. Beginning in 1955 Eben taught for many years in the music history department at Charles University in Prague. In 1955 he was appointed to the staff of the Music Department of the University of Prague. From 1978 - 1979 he was professor of composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. In 1990 he became professor of composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and President of the Prague Spring Festival.

Throughout his life Eben refused to join the Czech Communist Party and continued openly attending church, thus forfeiting many career advancements. After the Communist government crumbled, however, he was given several important appointments and awards, among them presidency of the Prague Spring Festival (1989) and the Medal of Merit (2002). Among Eben's most important late works is his 1992-1993 oratorio "Posvátná znamení" (Sacred Symbols). Despite declining health from a stroke in his final years, Eben remained busy, composing mostly organ and choral works. He died in Prague on October 25, 2007.

Eben's works are often performed in both Europe and overseas, especially in the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia. In 1991, Petr Eben was awarded the title of Knight of the French Ministry of Culture, Arts and Letters. Since 1989, he was honorary president of the Society for spiritual music. International Petr Eben International Organ Competition has been organized since 2004 in Opava.

His music[link]

Eben was a productive composer of music in several genres. Eben's earliest large works included his 1954 First Organ Concerto (the Second came in 1984) and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1960–1961). Petr Eben produced a substantial output largely of vocal, choral, symphonic, piano, and chamber works, but the majority of his works is represented by organ music. Among his most important commissions were the oratorio Apologia Socratus, the ballet Curse and Benediction (Kletby a dobrořečení), written for the Holland Festival 1983, the orchestral works Hours of the Night (Noční hodiny) and Prague Nocturne (Pražské nokturno), for the Vienna Philharmonic, the Organ Concerto No. 2 for the dedication of the new organ for Radio Vienna, the mass Missa cum populo for the Avignon Festival, the oratorio Holy Symbol (Posvátná znamení) for Salzburg Cathedral, and the Church Opera Jeremiah. He also wrote some enchanting children’s songs such as Sníh, a song about snow which won an award for Best Children's Choir Song in Illinois.

Eben was considered a master at improvisation on the organ and piano, but composition remained his main area of interest. His music has been widely performed and recorded since about 1980, with his popularity still apparently on the rise. Stylistically, his musical language can be considered as "neoexpressionistic" in many ways, however in some works we can hear some kind of new forms of impressionistic tendencies. He is usually compared with Olivier Messiaen (what confirmed relatively frequent combination of those two composers in organists recitals and on discs), but in other than organ works remains less experimental.

Recordings[link]

The majority of Eben's works has been published by Czech label Supraphon. Some recordings of his organ pieces were performed by himself. The Norwegian organist Halgeir Schiager has recorded five CDs of Petr Eben's organ music on Hyperion Records. The German organist Gunther Rost has recorded 6 discs of Petr Eben's organ music on label Motette. The interpretation recorded on this CD-SACD series was largely influenced by the composer's personal suggestions and comments. The series compiles all of Eben's works for solo organ which have been published to this date, played by Gunther Rost on various contemporary instruments. The speaker in both cycles, Job (vol. I) and The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (vol. V, which will be published in 2006)^{[dated info]}, is the late Gert Westphal, one of Germany's most important contemporary reciters. Some of his CDs feature works by Sieglinde Ahrens. Petr Eben's Moto Ostinato from "Sunday Music" is played by English organist Gillian Weir in her "The King of Instruments" series (Priory Records' PRDVD 7001). The Canadian organist Philip Crozier, playing the Fulda Cathedral organ, has also recorded a number of Eben's works on the Azimuth label.

List of selected compositions[link]

• Missa adventus et quadragesimae, 1952
• Organ Concerto No. 1, 1954
• Sunday Music, organ, 1957–59
• Hořká hlína (Bitter Earth), cantata, 1959–60
• Piano Concerto, 1960–61
• "Laudes", organ, 1964
• Ordinarium missae, 1966
• Apologia Socratus, oratorio, 1967
• Truvérská mše (Trouvere Mass), 1968–69
• Vox clamantis, 1969
• "Ten Preludes on Chorales of the Bohemian Brethren", organ, 1971–73
• Pragensia, cantata, 1972
• Noční hodiny (Hours of the Night), sinfonia, 1975
• Faust, incidental music, 1976
• Hamlet, incidental music, 1976–77
• Pocta Karlu IV., cantata, 1978
• "Mutationes", organ, 1980
• Rorate coeli, Fantasy for viola and organ, 1982
• Missa cum populo, 1982
• Kletby a dobrořečení (Curses and Blessings), ballet, 1983
• Hommage à Dietrich Buxtehude, organ, 1987
• Job, organ, 1987
• "A Festive Voluntary: Variations on Good King Wenceslas", organ, 1987
• Organ Concerto No. 2, 1988
• Prague Te Deum, 1989 (for mixed choir, 4 brass instruments, timpani and percussion or organ)
• "Biblical Dances", organ, 1990–91
• Posvátná znamení (Sacred Symbols), oratorio, 1992–93
• Proprium festivum monasteriense, hymn, 1993
• "Amen — es werde wahr: Choralphantasie für Orgel", organ, 1994
• "Momenti d'organo", organ, 1994
• Hommage à Henry Purcell, organ, 1994–95
• Jeremiah, opera, 1996–97
• "Campanae gloriosae", organ, 1999

Bibliography[link]

• K. Vondrovicova, Petr Eben, Prague 1993

External links[link]

• Obituary in The Times, 7 December 2007
• Czech Composer Petr Eben Dies at 78, Associated Press, October 25, 2007
• Petr Eben, notice of his death from the Czech music information centre
• Czech composer Petr Eben has died, news story in Gramophone.
• International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music with Petr Eben's Prize

Fernande Grudet (born 6 July 1923), also known as Madame Claude, is the most famous French procurer. In the 1960s she was the head of a French network of call girls who worked especially for dignitaries and civil servants.

Biography[link]

Born on 6 July 1923 in Angers, France, Fernande Grudet was reared in a convent by nuns. After acting as an agent of the Resistance during the German Occupation of France during World War II and doing several other jobs, she created her exclusive prostitution network in Paris during the 1960s.

Her clientelle included not only political figures, but also members of the Mafia, as well as police administrators who ensured her protection. One of her friends was the gangster, Pierrot le Fou.^{[citation needed]}

In 1976, the judge Jean-Louis Bruguière began dismantling Grudet's organization. She soon exiled herself in the United States to escape the French tax administration.

During the 1980s she returned to France, convinced that she was protected by new tax laws, and set up a new prostitution organization. The French Treasury, however, prosecuted her in 1986. In 1992 she was sentenced to a term in Fleury-Mérogis Prison for procuring.

The history of Madame Claude has inspired many writers. Her life was the basis of the 1977 feature film, "Madame Claude", directed by Just Jaeckin, and starring Françoise Fabian.

Bibliography[link]

• Madam, by Claude Grudet, ed. Michel Lafon (1994): history of Madame Claude by Madame Claude.
• Les filles de Madame Claude, by Elizabeth Antébi and Anne Florentin, Stock-Julliard (1974).

Andrei Gabriel Pleșu
Minister of Culture
In office 26 December 1989 – 16 October 1991
President	Ion Iliescu
Prime Minister	Petre Roman Theodor Stolojanacting
Succeeded by	Ludovic Spiess
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 29 December 1997 – 22 December 1999
President	Emil Constantinescu
Prime Minister	Victor Ciorbea Gavril Dejeu Radu Vasile Alexandru Athanasiu
Preceded by	Adrian Severin
Succeeded by	Petre Roman
Personal details
Born	23 August 1948 Bucharest
Nationality	Romanian
Spouse(s)	Catrinel-Maria Petrulian

Andrei Gabriel Pleşu (Romanian pronunciation: [anˈdrej ˈpleʃu]; born August 23, 1948) is a Romanian philosopher, essayist, journalist, literary and art critic, and politician.

Biography[link]

Born in Bucharest, the son of Radu Pleşu, a surgeon and Zoe Pleşu (born Rădulescu),^[1] he spent much of his early youth in the country side. He started school in Sinaia, but attended the village school in Pârscov, in the Nehoi valley from 1955 to 1957, and often returned to the mountains during school holidays.^[1] Plesu attended the Spiru Haret National College in Bucharest majoring in humanities, where he graduated at the top of his class.^[1]

Pleşu studied art history at the University of Bucharest and graduated with his bachelor's in 1971. That year, he accepted a post as a researcher at the Institute of Art History of the Romanian Academy. In 1972 he married Catrinel Maria Petrulian.^[1] For 1975–1977 he received the first of his Alexander von Humboldt Foundation graduate scholarships to study in Bonn and Heidelberg. From 1978 through 1982, along with Gabriel Liiceanu, he attended Constantin Noica's informal and semi-clandestine lectures in Păltiniş. In 1980 he became a faculty lecturer in the Art department at the University of Bucharest.^[2] However in 1982 he was barred from further university teaching for "political reasons", and took a job as a consultant for the Artists Union.^[2] He received his second Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for 1983–1984, and upon his return again worked at the Institute of Art History.^[2]

In April 1989, Pleşu lost his job at the Institute of Art History due to his open support of Mircea Dinescu, objected to by the communist regime. This resulted in his exile to Tescani, a village in Bereşti-Tazlău commune, Bacău County, and he was forbidden from publishing. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989 he was one of the founders of the "New Europe College" an institute of advanced studies, and of the cultural magazine Dilema (now Dilema Veche). He worked as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest and is now a professor at the University of Bucharest, where he teaches history of arts and philosophy of religion. He continues to be successful as a writer, and his books have all been well received by critics and readers.

He also became involved in politics, serving as Romania's Minister of Culture from 1990 to 1991, and Foreign Minister from 1997 to 1999. Between 2000 and 2004, Pleşu was a member of the National College for the Study of the Securitate Archives; he resigned the latter office in protest against political pressures on the committee. After the 2004 elections brought Traian Băsescu to the office of President of Romania, he became presidential counsellor for external affairs, a position he held until June 2005, when he resigned invoking health issues.

Two volumes were published in 2009, honoring Pleşu, both edited by Mihail Neamtu and Bogdan Tataru-Cazaban.^[3] The first was O Filozofie a Intervalului: In Honorem Andrei Pleşu (A Philosophical Interval: In Honor of Andrei Plesu)^[4] entirely in Romanian, and the second was an international Festschrift in honor of Plesu's sixtieth birthday,^[5] with essays exploring the themes of his life in current context.^[3]

Philosophy[link]

Pleşu's early works revolved around art history and theory, but, in time, his essays, published in cultural magazines and elsewhere, became oriented towards cultural anthropology and philosophy. His exuberant writing style gained him recognition as one of the leading Romanian essayists of his age.

Works[link]

Printed volumes[link]

• Călătorie în lumea formelor ("Journey to the world of forms"), Meridiane, 1974
• Pitoresc şi melancolie ("The Picturesque and melancholy"), Univers, 1980
• Francesco Guardi, Meridiane, 1981
• Ochiul şi lucrurile ("The eye and things"), Meridiane, 1986
• Minima moralia ("The moral minimum"), Cartea românească, 1988
• Dialoguri de seară ("Evening dialogues"), Harisma, 1991
• Jurnalul de la Tescani ("The Tescani journal"), Humanitas, 1993
• Limba păsărilor ("The language of birds"), Humanitas, 1994
• Chipuri şi măşti ale tranziţiei ("Faces and masks of the transition"), Humanitas, 1996
• Transformări, inerţii, dezordini. 22 de luni după 22 decembrie 1989 ("Transformations, inertias, disorders". 22 months after December 22, 1989"), co-authors Petre Roman and Elena Ştefoi), Polirom, 2002
• Despre îngeri ("On angels"), Humanitas, 2003
• Obscenitatea publică ("Public obscenity"), Humanitas, 2004
• Comedii la porţile Orientului ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005
• Despre bucurie în Est şi în Vest şi alte eseuri ("About Joy in East and West and other essays"), Humanitas, 2006
• Despre frumuseţea uitată a vieţii ("About the Forgotten Beauty of Life"), Humanitas, 2011

Audio books[link]

• Despre îngeri ("On angels") Humanitas, 2003, 2005
• Comédii la portile Orientului ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005
• Un alt fel de Caragiale ("A different Caragiale"), Humanitas, 2006
• Despre bucurie în Est şi în Vest şi alte eseuri ("About Joy in East and West and other essays"), Humanitas, 2006

Awards[link]

• Grand Officer of the Order of the Diplomatic Merit
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Faithful Service

References[link]

External links[link]

• Andrei Pleşu at Humanitas publishing house
• Andrei Pleşu on European identity (interview with Alexandre Mirlesse)