Former Romanian minister before DNA prosecutors
A former Romanian Education Minister has appeared as a witness before prosecutors of Romania’s anti-corruption watchdog on Wednesday. Ecaterina Andronescu, a former Education Minister between 2008 – 2009 and 2012, was expected to answer questions in connection with a corruption-related case involving former Secretary of State Mihnea Costoiu, and businessman Dinu Pescariu, a former tennis player. The case involves more than €93 millions. Prosecutors of the country’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) accuse Mr. Pescariu of instigation to abuse of office.
EU Day Against Trafficking in Human Beings in Romania
A conference organised in the Romanian capital Bucharest is expected to mark the EU Day Against Trafficking in Human Beings on Wednesday. Organised by the country’s National Agency against Human Trafficking, the event is part of the three-year EU-funded project of an information campaign. Other events are organised in schools, colleges, cultural centres and other Romanian insatitutions. Some 16,000 people become victims of human traffickers in the EU. Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest-growing activities of trans-national criminal organisations. According to a Trafficking in Persons Report released in June 2016, „refugees and migrants, LGBTI individuals, religious minorities, people with disabilities, and those who are stateless” are the most at-risk for human trafficking. Governments best protect victims from being exploited when the needs of vulnerable populations are understood.
Romanian theatre legend Olga Tudorache dies at 88
Actress Olga Tudorache, a legend of the Romanian theatre, has died in a Bucharest hospital early on Wednesday. She was 88.
Born in Oituz, eastern Bacău county, on October 11, 1929, Olga Tudorache was a graduate of the Theatre Institute in the capital Bucharest. She became an actress of the Bucharest Teatrul Tineretului (Youth Theatre) where she performed until 1966 when Teatrul Tineretului became the well-known Nottara Theatre of today. However, Olga Tudorache gained her fame as a leading actress at the Teatrul Mic (Little Theatre) where she starred in such dramas as Lillian Hellman’s „The Little Foxes”, Shakespeare’s „Richard II”, Paul Zindel’s „The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds”, Jean Giraudoux’s „The Madwoman of Chaillot” and Mihail Sadoveanu’s „The Hatchet”. A teacher at the „I.L. Caragiale” Theatre and Film Institute in Bucharest since 1976, Olga Tudorache was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa title in 2006.
Highly praised, Olga Tudorache was awarded many of Romanian theatre and film trophies including UNITER’s life achievment award in 1995 and the Nihil Sine Deo Medal awarded by Romania’s Royal House.
Olga Tudorache’s filmography includes Lucian Bratu’s „Tudor” (1962), Segiu Nicolascu’s „Michael the Brave” (1970), Lucian Pintilie’s „An Unforgettable Summer” (1993), Fanny Ardant’s „Cendres et Sang” (2009) among many others.
Olga Tudorache married Cristea Avram, a well-known Romanian actor of the 60s, who left the country in 1966. After a short film career in France and Italy, Avram died in 1989.
Olga Tudorache is survived by a son, Alexandru.
Alexandru Danga
