The Romanian Academy of Scientists expresses its deep sadness and deep regret for the death of the great writer and man of culture Dinu Săraru (30.01.1932-2.03.2024).
With the departure of Dinu Săraru, Romanian literature, culture and spirituality lose a great personality, who marked and influenced the destiny of our world in the second half of the 20th century and in the first decades of the 21st century through exemplary work, involvement and dedication.
Dinu Săraru was a great writer, author of a prodigious work, which constitutes a substantial chapter in the history of contemporary Romanian literature, an exceptional cultural manager, as general director of the Teatrului Mic, the Teatrului Foarte Mic and, later, the Teatrului Nacional, a promoter of authentic culture, beyond conjunctural ideologies, of Romanian culture, spirituality and identity values in a world at the crossroads of all currents, influences and unpredictable developments.
Dinu Săraru was a great writer of the 20th and 21st centuries, a member of a glorious generation of Romanian writers, an author who focused, with uncommon courage and unique writing talent, on the social and political transformations of the middle of the last century, which led to the destruction of the traditional Romanian world, on the problems of the peasantry, faced with the tragic prospect of dissolution and disappearance, on the themes of a society adrift in a tragic struggle for survival under the pressure of a dehumanizing political regime. With the return to post-December democracy, amid chaotic and anarchic changes, the confusion of values and the struggle for enrichment, in defiance of all norms, legal or moral, the great writer became a formidable critic, with his clear conscience, uncompromising critical spirit and unrivalled condescension, of moral bankruptcy, political and economic corruption, dehumanization under the rule of money, enrichment and promiscuity. Dinu Săraru was a critical conscience of society, a lucid spirit governed by the authentic values of man and democracy, a promoter of the aspirations and ideals of the Romanian nation.
As general director of the Little Theatre, in a difficult period for the Romanian society, in full communist regime, Dinu Săraru managed to make the institution a temple of authentic culture, one of the most important points on the cultural map, by promoting authentic value, often defying the rigors of censorship, taking risks, advocating excellence in art, without limitations, without constraints, under the high sign of freedom of spirit. Through everything he did at Teatrul Mic, Dinu Săraru was one of the greatest cultural managers of contemporary Romania. His managerial and artistic work continued, after the Revolution, through his mandate as general director of the National Theatre, where the great writer made an important contribution to the development of this institution – the benchmark of Romanian culture.
After the fall of communism, Dinu Săraru was an active presence and an important voice in the Romanian public and cultural space through his literary work, through his intense journalistic activity, through which he manifested his critical spirit and his role as a lucid observer of developments in a world in a never-ending and painful transition. He initiated and edited Clipa magazine, an important and substantial publication, which has become a journalistic landmark in the media and in our society. He founded the National Foundation for Rural Civilization “Some Peasants”, through which he promoted the spiritual, cultural and moral values of the Romanian traditional world, which had been hard hit by the often tragic changes imposed by history. Dinu Săraru was and remained a living conscience of the Romanian world, at a time when our society was in dire need of authentic landmarks and models.
The writer Dinu Săraru was a founding member of the Romanian Academy of Scientists. With its disappearance, the AOSR loses an exceptional personality, a role model and a unique landmark.
The Romanian Academy of Scientists expresses its sadness at the passing from this world of the Great Writer and Great Man DINU SĂRARU, an illustrious personality of Romanian culture and society, and its gratitude for the work, involvement, activity and friendship of His Lordship, who honoured and will always honour the institution and all those who had the privilege and joy of having known and been close to him.
In these moments of deep sadness, the Romanian Academy of Scientists sends its condolences to the bereaved family and stands by them in the face of the difficult trial of parting from the great writer Dinu Săraru.
God rest his soul and place him among the righteous!
AOSR Scientific Council