Revolution
Caramitru entered political life as an opponent of the communist regime in the Romanian Revolution of 1989. On December 22, 1989, after President Nicolae Ceauşescu had fled Bucharest, Caramitru and the known dissident writer Mircea Dinescu joined the crowd occupying the Romanian Television building, and were prominent among the numerous speakers who were proclaiming revolutionary victory.
A popular rumor circulating soon after the episode alleged that, unaware of being filmed, Caramitru had addressed Dinescu, saying, "Mircea, fă-te că lucrezi!" ("Mircea, pretend you are working!"); this version of events may have started as defamation by political adversaries, with the purpose of indicating that the Revolution was a carefully staged front for a coup d'état. According to Alex Mihai Stoenescu's research, despite its passing into contemporary folklore, such a phrase was never uttered; instead, the words used were "Mircea, arăţi că lucrezi" ("Mircea, show that you are working on something" — while holding Dinescu's booklet in front of camera), to which Dinescu replied "La un apel" (" on an appeal ") — pointing rather to their ill-preparedness and their preoccupation in quickly drafting a proper document.
Read more about this topic: Ion Caramitru, Biography, Political Career
Famous quotes containing the word revolution:
“There ought to be an absolute dictatorship ... a dictatorship of painters ... a dictatorship of one painter ... to suppress all those who have betrayed us, to suppress the cheaters, to suppress the tricks, to suppress mannerisms, to suppress charms, to suppress history, to suppress a heap of other things. But common sense always gets away with it. Above all, let’s have a revolution against that!”
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
“The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.”
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“Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind, and when the same thought occurs in another man, it is the key to that era.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)