Respected British historian, Dennis Deletant, on Sunday reminded Romanians of the sacrifice of the more than 1,100 Romanians who were killed during the 1989 revolution which saw the overthrow of communism.
In a message on Romania’s National Day he said: “On December 1, let’s not forget the sacrifice made by those who died during the Revolution fighting for democracy in Romania.”
“We are in Europe and we will remain with it,” his message read.
His message coincided with parliamentary elections, where Romanians are facing a stark choice between parties who want to maintain close ties with the EU and NATO and sovereigntist parties who are looking for a looser commitment along the lines of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Prof. Deletant became a Romanian citizen in May 2022 in London at a ceremony at the Romanian Embassy in London, 57 years after he first visited Romania.
During his career, he dedicated himself to the study of the Romanian language, history and culture. At a time when Romania was in the grip of communism, he chose to look beyond that and focus on the positive aspects, rejecting stereotypes about Romania.
He began his academic career in 1969 as assistant at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University of London. He has taught and carried out research at higher education institutions, such as the University of Amsterdam and Georgetown University Washington.
His books include: Ceaușescu and the Securitate (published in Romanian by Humanitas, 1998), The communist terror in Romania: Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and the Police state 1948 – 1965 (Polirom, 2001) or Romania 1916 – 1941. A political history (Humanitas, 2024).
