Adrian Cioroianu
Adrian Mihai Cioroianu (born January 5, 1967, in Craiova, Romania) is a Romanian historian, politician, journalist, and essayist. A lecturer for the History Department at the University of Bucharest, he is the author of several books dealing with Romanian history (and specifically with the history of Communist Romania). He is also noted for his contribution as co-author of a high school textbook.
Adrian Cioroianu
January 5, 1967
Craiova, Dolj County
National Liberal Party (PNL)
Divorced
Historian, academic, journalist
A member of the Group for Social Dialogue, he joined the National Liberal Party (PNL) and was elected to the Romanian Senate for Timiș County in 2004. Following the accession of Romania to the European Union (January 1, 2007), he served as a Member of the European Parliament in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and a vice president of the ALDE group in the European Parliament. On April 5, 2007, Cioroianu became Foreign Affairs Minister in the second Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu cabinet. On April 11, 2008, he announced his resignation, following a scandal involving the death of a Romanian citizen on hunger strike in Poland.
A contributor to numerous newspapers and magazines (including Cotidianul, 22, Sfera Politicii, Lettre International, and Dosarele Istoriei), he has been a member of the editorial staff for Dilema Veche since 1998, and an editor for Gazeta Sporturilor since 2003. Between 2000 and 2004, Cioroianu has hosted several talk shows on television (for Pax TV, TVR 1, and Realitatea TV).
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Born in Craiova to Iulian and Valeria, Cioroianu graduated from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of History in 1993, taking a Master's degree from Université Laval in Quebec (1997), and a PhD from the same institution (with the thesis The Myth, the Images and the Cult of the Leader in Communist Romania, 2002).
In 1993 he married Luminiţa, a university classmate who became an English-language translator.[1] They had a son, Mihai, in 1999 before divorcing in November 2003. His wife cited an extramarital affair and a disinterest in family obligations as motives for the divorce.[2]
Textbook controversy[edit]
One of his first noted public appearances took place in 1999, when several textbooks received endorsement from the Ministry of Education, as multiple alternatives to the older ones (which had been authored by the ministry itself). New methods and subjects proposed in the study of Romanian history became the center of controversy, which involved, among others, the textbook authored by Cioroianu and other University staff (Stelian Brezeanu, Florin Müller, Mihai Sorin Rădulescu, and Mihai Retegan) for Editura RAO; the book itself was criticized for not allocating a larger segment to the Romanian Revolution of 1989, and Cioroianu later explained that the editorial choice had been imposed by the level of trustworthy sources available at the time.[3]
Cioroianu was also highly critical of the methods used by adversaries of the textbooks during the overall debate, and publicly sided with the authors of arguably the most innovative manual, the one published by Editura Sigma.[4][5] He repeatedly argued in favor of the authors (Sorin Mitu, Ovidiu Pecican, Lucia Copoeru, Virgiliu Ţârău, and Liviu Ţîrău), debating the issue with Marius Tucă and Octavian Paler during television appearances of that year.[4]
Throughout the Adrian Năstase premiership (2000–2004), Cioroianu remained critical of the Social Democratic Party's policies on education, and questioned the decision taken by the Minister of Education, Ecaterina Andronescu, regarding restrictions on the number of textbooks receiving official approval.[6]