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

In 2006, Romanian President Traian Băsescu appointed Tismăneanu president of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, which presented its report to the Romanian Parliament on December 18, 2006.

Biography

Born in Braşov, Vladimir Tismăneanu is the son of Leonte Tismăneanu and Hermina Marcusohn, Soviet and Romanian Communist Party activists, both of whom were Jewish. His father, born in Bessarabia, Russian Empire and settled in the Soviet Union at the end of the 1930s, worked in agitprop structures, returning to Romania at the end of World War II, and becoming, under the Communist regime, chair of the Marxism-Leninism department of the University of Bucharest.

During his years of study at the present-day Bucharest Jean Monnet High School, which was then largely attended by students belonging to the nomenklatura, Vladimir Tismăneanu was in the same class as Nicu Ceauşescu, son of communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, as well as the children of Leonte Răutu, Nicolae Doicaru and Silviu Brucan.

He graduated as a valedictorian from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sociology in 1974, and received his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1980, presenting the thesis "The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School and Contemporary Left-Wing Radicalism" (Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan). During the period, he became a "lecturer on propaganda" for the Union of Communist Youth, and printed several articles supporting the communist regime and the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu.

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

In September 1981, he defected while on a tourist trip to Spain. He left for Venezuela, before ultimately settling in the United States in 1982. (1984 by other sources).

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

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

Controversy

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The Marxist-Leninist texts authored by Tismăneanu and his position as propaganda lecturer for the Union of Communist Youth are the topic of a major controversy, in light of his Presidential Commission appointment.

According to an article by Victor Gaetan, a Romanian-American businessman, published in The Washington Post, Tismăneanu's doctoral thesis is "a vitriolic sermon against Western values". University of Bucharest professor Daniel Barbu considers that Tismăneanu was "a liberal student of Euro-Marxism".

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

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

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

When asked about the nomination of Tismăneanu as chair of the Presidential Commission, personalities like Lech Wałęsa and Vladimir Bukovsky indicated that they did not know who he was.

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

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

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

An extended polemic was sparked between the Tismăneanu Commission and the dissident writer Paul Goma. Goma, who initially accepted an invitation to become a Commission member, issued by Tismăneanu on behalf of the Commission, was excluded shortly after by Tismăneanu himself. According to Tismăneanu, this happened only after Goma engaged in and publicized personal attacks, calling Tismăneanu "a Bolshevik offspring", based on his family history; Goma denied having said these exact words, but later confirmed that he supported such views.

Tismăneanu invited on the Commission's panel his collaborator Sorin Antohi, a confirmed former collaborator of the Communist regime's Securitate, and known to have falsified his academic credentials. Antohi resigned in September 2006. As of February 2007, Antohi is still an editor for the scientific journal EEPS, where Tismăneanu is chair of the Editorial board.

Works

Originally published in Romanian

• Noua Stîngă şi şcoala de la Frankfurt (Editura Politică, 1976)
• Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan (Ph.D. thesis, 1980)
• Mic dicţionar social-politic pentru tineret (co-author, under the direction of Virgil Măgureanu; Editura Politică, 1981)
• Condamnaţi la fericire. Experimentul comunist în România (Grup de edituri ale Fundaţiei EXO, 1991)
• Fantoma lui Gheorghiu-Dej (Editura Univers, 1995)
• Balul mascat. Un dialog cu Mircea Mihăieş (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 1996)
• Spectrele Europei Centrale (Polirom, 2001)
• Ghilotina de scrum (Polirom, 2002)
• Scrisori din Washington (Polirom, 2002)
• Marele şoc din finalul unui secol scurt. Ion Iliescu în dialog cu Vladimir Tismăneanu (dialogue with Ion Iliescu; Editura Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 2004)
• Schelete in dulap (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 2004)
• Scopul şi mijloacele: Eseuri despre ideologie, tiranie şi mit (Editura Curtea Veche, 2004)
• Anul revoluţionar 1956: revolta minţilor şi sfîrşitulul mitului comunist (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)
• Democraţie şi memorie (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)

Originally published in English

• The Crisis of Marxist Ideology in Eastern Europe: The Poverty of Utopia (Routledge, 1988)
• Latin American Revolutionaries: Groups, Goals, Methods (with Michael Radu; Potomac Books, 1990)
• In Search of Civil Society (Routledge, 1990)
• Debates on the Future of Communism (with Judith Shapiro; Palgrave Macmillan, 1991)
• Uprooting Leninism, Cultivating Liberty (with Patrick Clawson; University Press of America, 1992)
• Reinventing Politics: Eastern Europe from Stalin to Havel (Free Press, 1994)
• Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (M. E. Sharpe, 1995)
• Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton University Press, 1998)
• The Revolutions of 1989 (Re-Writing Histories) (Routledge, 1999)
• Between Past and Future: The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath (with Sorin Antohi; Central European University Press, 2000)
• Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism (University of California Press, 2003)

Bilingual

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

Other

Vladimir Tismăneanu has authored the screenplay for Dinu Tănase's documentary film Condamnaţi la fericire ("Condemned to Happiness"), released in 1992. With Octavian Şerban, he has also authored a series about Communist Romania, which was showcased by the Romanian Television Company.

References

1. Template:Ro icon Tismăneanu interviewed by Emilia Chiscop, 2005
2. Template:Ro icon Tismăneanu, "Amintiri din copilărie: Liceul 24 şi destinul nomenclaturii", in Almanahul Caţavencu 2002
3. ^ Template:Ro icon Profile at the Romanian Presidency site
4. Template:Ro icon Gabriela Antoniu, "Tinereţe revoluţionară - Tismăneanu, întâiul comunist al ţării", in Jurnalul Naţional, December 20, 2006
5. ^ Template:Ro icon Sorin Lavric, "Cum se investighează crimele comunismului la români", in Adevărul Literar şi Artistic, October 4, 2006
6. ^ Template:Ro icon Dan Tapalagă, "Turnat de prieteni, demonizat de Securitate: Vladimir Tismăneanu", in Cotidianul, July 24, 2006
7. ^ Tismăneanu, in Template:Ro icon Armand Gosu, "N-am avut de-a face cu Securitatea", in 22, nr.849, June 2006
8. ^ Victor Gaetan, "Vinegar on Old, Open Wounds", in The Washington Post, August 26, 2006
9. Template:Ro icon Teodora Georgescu, "Felix, prezentat Americii", in Curentul, July 31, 2006
10. Daniel Barbu, Political Science in Romania, Country Report 1, at the Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe
11. Template:Ro icon Şerban Orescu, "De ce este nevoie de un apel la memorie?", in Ziua, March 11, 2006
12. Template:Ro icon Sabina Fati, "Politicienii, intelectualii şi condamnarea comunismului", in Observator Cultural
13. ^ Template:Ro icon Cristian Tudor Popescu, Cuvântul care naşte gândul, hosted by ProTV
14. Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Standardele judecăţii - altele pentru intelectuali?", in România Liberă, September 15, 2006
15. Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Politolog fără bisericuţe", in România Liberă, October 13, 2006
16. Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Netulburat de propria-i mistificare", in România Liberă, November 01, 2006
17. ^ Tom Gallagher, "A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (II)", in Ziua, April 15, 2006
18. ^ Tom Gallagher, "A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (I)", in Ziua, April 14, 2006
19. In this context, the term refers to committed Communist Party members of the interwar period, when the group had been outlawed.
20. Template:Ro icon "Interview with Lech Walesa", in Ziua, December 20, 2006
21. "Interview with Vladimir Bukovski", in Ziua, May 15, 2006
22. Template:Ro icon Vladimir Alexe, "Agentul Volodea", in Ziua, May 13, 2006
23. Template:Ro icon Sorin Roşca-Stănescu, "Vladimir Tismăneanu, punct şi de la căpat", in Ziua, June 22, 2006 (English-language version: "Vladimir Tismaneanu: end and beginning" )
24. ^ Template:Ro icon Vladimir Alexe, "Documentul «fugii» lui Tismăneanu"; Dan Mureşan, "Unde a fost Tismăneanu patru ani, până a ajuns în SUA?", in Ziua, January 23, 2003. The facsimile and Dan Mureşan's letter are available as links on the article page
25. Template:Ro icon Silviu Mihai, "Goma: 'Eu nu am amănunte de studiat'", in Cotidianul, April 11, 2006
26. Goma, in Template:Ro icon Adrian Popescu, "Paul Goma îi desfiinţează pe membrii "Comisiei Tismăneanu" de cercetare a ororilor comunismului din România", in Gândul, May 9, 2006
27. Template:Ro icon Paul Goma, Despre Vladimir Tismăneanu - şi nu numai - în 11 puncte
28. Template:Ro icon Dana Carbelea, "Antohi nu mai e în Comisia Tismăneanu", in Curentul, September 13, 2006

• Template:Ro icon Biography at Polirom.ro

External links

• Vladimir Tismaneanu, home page at the University of Maryland
• Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies
• Condamnaţi la fericire at the British Film Institute site
• Template:Ro icon The final report of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania

• 1951 births
• Living people
• American essayists
• American historians
• American journalists
• American political scientists
• American sociologists
• Cold War historians
• Jewish American writers
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• People from Braşov
• Romanian academics
• Romanian-Americans
• Romanian defectors
• Romanian essayists
• Romanian historians
• Romanian sociologists
• Romanian Jews
• Romanian journalists
• University of Bucharest alumni
• University of Maryland, College Park faculty
• University of Pennsylvania faculty