Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu signed up as an informant to the communist-era Securitate, according to documents.
Researcher, Emilian Tilibașa, who has access to the millions of files held by the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS), said she signed an agreement to inform on people to the secret police in 1987 when she was a student at the Conservatory.
Her code name was Gina, apparently a nickname given to her by her grandmother, Libertatea reported.
Libertatare published the documents and reported that she signed the standard pledge to inform and that only one report was found. In the report, she praises a rebellious colleague from the Patriarchal choir.
According to Romanian law, Gheorghiu is not formally considered a Securitate collaborator as she did not provide information that “denounced activities or attitudes against the communist regime which resulted in restricting (someone’s) basic human rights and freedoms.”
Gheorghiu has not responded so far to the development.
However, the revelation is embarrassing for the 57-year-old soprano who has kept the episode hidden in the more than three decades since communism ended. In a 2021 memoir, she wrote about the hardships under communism such as the lack of heating, widespread shortages and how artists were obliged to praise dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, but said nothing about her alleged personal links with the Securitate.
The Securitate, which was disbanded after the 1989 revolution, were present in all walks of life, stifling dissent and keeping tabs on citizens. Romania has refused to properly open its files and few people have admitted working for the Securitate. But a constant drip drip of information about public figures who hid their Securitate pasts has discredited and shamed scores of officials.
Gheorghiu recently canceled her two performances at the Metropolitan Opera due to Covid-19. Her next performance is in Rome.
