In 2006, Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română, TVR) conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considered the 100 Greatest Romanians of all time, in a version of the British TV show 100 Greatest Britons. The resulting series, Great Romanians (Romanian: Mari Români), included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme. It concluded with a debate. On 21 October, TVR announced that the "greatest Romanian of all time" according to the voting was Stephen the Great.[1][2]
Top 10
editNo | Name | Occupation | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Stephen the Great
(1435–1504) |
Prince of Moldavia won renown in Europe for his long resistance to the Ottoman Turks. | |
2 | Carol I
(1839–1914) |
The first Romanian ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty (1866–1914), the first King of Romania (since 1881) after the country acquired full independence under his leadership. | |
3 | Mihai Eminescu
(1850–1889) |
Late Romantic poet, widely considered to be the most influential Romanian poet. | |
4 | Mihai Viteazul
(1558–1601) |
Prince of Wallachia, Prince of Moldavia, Imperial governor of Transylvania, he was the first who managed to unite in personal union the three principalities largely inhabited by Romanians. | |
5 | Richard Wurmbrand
(1909–2001) |
Evangelical Christian doctor and educator who spent a total of fourteen years in communist prison. | |
6 | Ion Antonescu
(1882–1946) |
Dictator of Romania during World War II | |
7 | Mircea Eliade
(1907–1986) |
Researcher and professor of the history of religions, Orientalist and novelist. | |
8 | Alexandru Ioan Cuza
(1820–1873) |
The first ruler of the United Principalities of Romania after the union of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859; his reforms started the modernization of Romania. | |
9 | Constantin Brâncuși
(1876–1957) |
Famous modern sculptor. | |
10 | Nadia Comăneci
(1961–) |
Gymnast, winner of five Olympic gold medals, and the first to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. |
Full list
edit- Stephen the Great
- Carol I
- Mihai Eminescu
- Mihai Viteazul
- Richard Wurmbrand
- Ion Antonescu
- Mircea Eliade
- Alexandru Ioan Cuza
- Constantin Brâncuși
- Nadia Comăneci
- Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989) – last communist dictator of Romania
- Vlad Țepeș (1431–1476) – Prince of Wallachia
- Gigi Becali (1958– ) – politician and businessman, football club owner
- Henri Coandă (1886–1972) – inventor and aerodynamics pioneer
- Gheorghe Hagi (1965– ) – football player
- Ion Luca Caragiale (1852–1912) – playwright and short story writer
- Nicolae Iorga (1871–1940) – historian, writer, and politician
- Constantin Brâncoveanu (1654–1714) – Prince of Wallachia
- George Enescu (1881–1955) – composer and musician
- Gregorian Bivolaru (1952– ) – founder of MISA yoga organization
- Mirel Rădoi (1980– ) – football player
- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (1899–1938) – founder of the Legionary Movement, the main Romanian fascist movement during the 1930s
- Nicolae Titulescu (1882–1941) – diplomat, president of the League of Nations
- Ferdinand I of Romania (1865–1927) – King of Romania during World War I, who oversaw the creation of "Greater Romania"
- Mihai I (1921–2017) – last King of Romania before communist period
- Decebalus (87–106) – last King of Dacia before Roman conquest
- Traian Băsescu (1951–) – politician, former President of Romania
- Gheorghe Mureșan (1971– ) – NBA basketball player
- Ion I. C. Brătianu (1864–1927) – liberal politician, Prime Minister of Romania for five terms
- Răzvan Lucescu (1969– ) football player and football club manager
- Nicolae Paulescu (1869–1931) – physiologist, one of the scientists who developed diabetes treatment with insulin
- Iuliu Maniu (1873–1953) – politician, fought for the national rights of the Romanians of Transylvania
- Iuliu Hossu (1885–1970) – Greek-Catholic bishop, victim of the communist regime
- Emil Cioran (1911–1995) – philosopher, writer, and essayist
- Avram Iancu (1824–1872) – leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania
- Burebista (? – 44 BC) – King of Dacia
- Marie of Romania (1875–1938) – Queen of Romania
- Petre Țuțea (1902–1991) – philosopher, Christian-fascist intellectual, victim of the communist regime
- Corneliu Coposu (1914–1995) – liberal politician, victim of the communist regime
- Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913) – inventor, aviation pioneer
- Iosif Trifa (1888–1938) – Eastern Orthodox priest, founder of the "Oastea Domnului" ("Lord's Army") Christian organisation
- Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983) – poet and essayist
- Ion Creangă (1837–1889) – writer
- Mădalina Manole (1967–2010) – pop singer
- Corneliu Vadim Tudor (1949–2015) – ultranationalist politician, writer and journalist; founder and leader of the Greater Romania Party
- Traian Vuia (1872–1950) – inventor, aviation pioneer
- Lucian Blaga (1895–1961) – poet, playwright, and philosopher
- George Emil Palade (1912–2008) – cell biologist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1974)
- Ana Aslan (1897–1988) – biologist, physician and inventor, the author of essential research in gerontology
- Adrian Mutu (1979– ) – football player
- Florin Piersic (1936– ) – theater and film actor
- Mihail Kogălniceanu (1817–1891) – politician and historian, first Prime Minister of the United Principalities of Romania
- Iancsi Korossy (1926–2013) – jazz pianist
- Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723) – Prince of Moldavia and prolific man of letters
- Ilie Năstase (1946– ) – tennis player
- Gheorghe Zamfir (1941– ) – musician, pan flute player
- Gică Petrescu (1915–2006) – musician, folk and pop music composer and singer
- Elisabeta Rizea (1912–2003) – anti-communist partisan
- Bulă (fictional) – a stock character of Romanian jokes of the communist era
- Amza Pellea (1931–1983) – theater and film actor
- Matei Corvin (1443 (?) – 1490) – King of Hungary
- Mircea cel Bătrân (1355–1418) – Prince of Wallachia
- Titu Maiorescu (1840–1917) – literary critic and politician
- Toma Caragiu (1925–1977) – theater and film actor
- Mihai Trăistariu (1979– ) – pop singer
- Andreea Marin (1974– ) – TV show host
- Emil Racoviță (1868–1947) – biologist, co-founder of biospeleology and explorer of Antarctica
- Victor Babeș (1854–1926) – biologist and early bacteriologist, one of the founders of microbiology
- Nicolae Bălcescu (1819–1852) – leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution
- Horia-Roman Patapievici (1957– ) – writer and essayist
- Ion Iliescu (1930– ) – first President of Romania after the 1989 revolution
- Marin Preda (1922–1980) – novelist
- Eugen Ionescu (1909–1994) – playwright, one of the initiators of the theatre of the absurd
- Dumitru Stăniloae (1903–1993) – Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian
- Alexandru Todea (1905–2002) – Greek-Catholic bishop, victim of the communist regime
- Tudor Gheorghe (1945– ) – singer and theater actor
- Ion Țiriac (1939– ) – tennis player and businessman
- Ilie Cleopa (1912–1998) – Eastern Orthodox archimandrite
- Arsenie Boca (1910–1989) – Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian, victim of the communist regime
- Bănel Nicoliță (1985– ) – football player
- Dumitru Cornilescu (1891–1975) – Eastern Orthodox, then Protestant priest, translated the Bible into Romanian in 1921
- Grigore Moisil (1906–1973) – mathematician and computing pioneer
- Claudiu Niculescu (1976– ) – football player
- Florentin Petre (1976– ) – football player
- Marius Moga (1981– ) – pop music composer and singer
- Nicolae Steinhardt (1912–1989) – writer
- Laura Stoica (1967–2006) – pop and rock singer, composer and actress
- Cătălin Hâldan (1976–2000) – football player
- Anghel Saligny (1854–1925) – public works, chiefly railway engineer
- Ivan Patzaichin (1949–2021) – flatwater canoer who won seven Olympic medals
- Maria Tănase (1913–1963) – traditional and popular music singer
- Sergiu Nicolaescu (1930–2013) – film director, actor and politician
- Octavian Paler (1926–2007) – essayist
- The Unknown Soldier – the Romanian soldier in the national Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
- Ciprian Porumbescu (1853–1883) – composer
- Nicolae Covaci (1947–2024 ) – founder of the Phoenix rock band
- Dumitru Prunariu (1952– ) – first Romanian cosmonaut
- Iancu de Hunedoara (c. 1387 – 1456) – Voivode of Transylvania, captain-general and regent of the Kingdom of Hungary
- Constantin Noica (1909–1987) – philosopher and essayist
- Badea Cârțan (1849–1911) – a shepherd who fought for the independence of the Romanians of Transylvania (then under Hungarian rule inside Austria-Hungary)
Other editions
editOther countries have produced similar shows; see Greatest Britons spin-offs
References
edit- ^ "Cei mai mari Români". TVR. Archived from the original on 16 July 2006.
- ^ "Cei mai mari Români". TVR. Archived from the original on 17 July 2006.