Brăila (Romanian pronunciation: [brəˈila] ( listen); Greek: Μπράιλα; Turkish: İbrail) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County, in the close vicinity of Galaţi.

According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 168,389 people living within the city of Brăila, making it the 11th most populous city in Romania.

A settlement at this location on the left bank of the Danube, in Wallachia, was mentioned with the name Drinago in a Spanish Libro de conoscimiento ("Book of knowledge", circa 1350) and in several Catalan portolan charts (Angelino de Dalorto, 1325/1330 and Angelino Dulcert, 1339). This may have been an erroneous transcription of Brillago. In Greek documents of roughly that time, the city is referred to as Proilabum or Proilava, a Greek language adaptation of its Slavic name, Brailov. In German language sources, it is mentioned as Uebereyl. The origin and meaning of the name is unknown.

As a kaza, the town and its surrounding area was controlled by Ottoman Turks from 1538–1540 until 1829 (it was restored to Wallachia through the Akkerman Convention); the Ottomans called it Ibrail or Ibraila.

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

Born in Bucharest, the son of Radu Pleşu, a surgeon and Zoe Pleşu (born Rădulescu), 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. Plesu attended the Spiru Haret National College in Bucharest majoring in humanities, where he graduated at the top of his class.

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. 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. However in 1982 he was barred from further university teaching for "political reasons", and took a job as a consultant for the Artists Union. He received his second Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for 1983–1984, and upon his return again worked at the Institute of Art History.

Dem Rădulescu (Romanian pronunciation: [dem rəduˈlesku]; September 30, 1931 – September 17, 2000) was a Romanian theatre, film and television actor and academic. He was also a professor at the Universitatea Naţională de Artă Teatrală şi Cinematografică – I.L. Caragiale, in Bucharest.

Dem Rădulescu was born in Râmnicu Vâlcea in a family of merchants. After graduating from the "Nicolae Balcescu" National College (now known as "Alexandru Lahovari" National College) in Râmnicu Vâlcea, he had to make a choice between a career as a professional sportsman (boxing) and acting. He was even awarded a golden star at an amateur boxing championship. In 1956, he won first prise for interpreting "Steaguri pe turnuri" (he played bandit Rijikov) at a contest dedicated to young actors. He was then scouted by Sică Alexandrescu which meant the beginning of Dem Rădulescu's acting career. Rădulescu befriended Ion Cojar and Liviu Ciulei; with the later he collaborated for the role of Farfuridi in "O scrisoare pierdută" where he had exceptional actors as colleagues: Rodica Tapalagă, Petre Gheorghiu, Ştefan Bănică, Mircea Diaconu, Octavian Cotescu, Cioranu and Ciulei himself. Liviu Ciulei called Dem Rădulescu "a genius of acting". He died on September 17, 2000 in Bucharest after previously having suffered a stroke.