Radu Florescu | |
|---|---|
.png) Florescu atClemson University in 1977 | |
| Born | (1925-10-23)23 October 1925 |
| Died | 18 May 2014(2014-05-18) (aged 88) Mougins, France |
| Education | Christ Church(BA & MA) Indiana University Bloomington(PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, Professor |
| Spouse | Nicole Michel |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Radu Florescu, Vera Soepkez |
Radu Florescu (23 October 1925 – 18 May 2014) was a Romanian academic who held the position ofEmeritus Professor of History atBoston College. His work onVlad Dracula includes a series of bestselling[1] books that he co-authored with his colleagueRaymond T. McNally. Along with serving as Director of the East European Research Center at Boston College, Florescu was also a philanthropist and an adviser toEdward Kennedy on Balkan and Eastern European affairs. At the time of his death, Radu Florescu was considered the patriarch of theFlorescu family [ro].[2]
Florescu was born in Bucharest to anaristocraticFlorescu family [ro], one of the oldest of the extant RomanianBoyar families.[2] He left Romania at the outbreak ofWorld War II and moved to London, as his father, a pro-Allied diplomat who served under Romanian MinisterViorel Tilea to the United Kingdom, defied a recall order from the pro-Axis government ofIon Antonescu.[3][4] In protest of Romania's new alliance with Nazi Germany, Florescu's father resigned his post and joined the Free Rumanian Committee in opposition to the fascist Antonescu regime.[5] After leavingSt. Edward's School, Oxford, Florescu received a scholarship to study history (BA, MA) atChrist Church,Oxford. He moved toIndiana University Bloomington in the United States for his doctorate.
With one child, Nicholas, born inAustin, Texas, Radu Florescu moved east and began his academic career as a Professor of history at Boston College. In the Boston area, he will have 3 more children: John (1954), Radu (1961), and Alexandra (1963). AtBoston College, he joined forces withRaymond T. McNally, and the two began their research onVlad the Impaler. Then with McNally andMatei Cazacu, of theParis Institut des Hautes Etudes, Florescu will go on to write six books onVlad the Impaler's life. Alongside his work onVlad the Impaler, Florescu would write seven more books on East European History and on thehistory of Romania such asThe Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian principalities, 1821–1854.
Radu Florescu created a diplomatic bridge between the United States and Romania. He advisedEdward Kennedy on matters of theBalkans, and also served as the press liaison for theWhite House during the state visit of PresidentRichard Nixon in 1969 in Romania.
In 1986, Florescu became the Director of the East European Research Center at Boston College and remained in that position until his retirement in 2008. In that function, he organized symposiums on themes varying from the diffusion ofThracian culture in antiquity to the rise ofantisemitism in interwar Romania.
From 1996 to 2004, Florescu served as Honorary Consul for New England by theRomanian Foreign Ministry, the first person to hold such a position in the United States. His first job as honorary consul was to oversee voting by Boston-area Romanian citizens in one of the first democratic Romanian elections since theRevolution of 1989. After the Revolution of 1989, he also organized visits of Romanian presidents, and members of the Romanian Royal House toHarvard University, TheJohn F. Kennedy library andBoston City Hall. He was Emeritus Honorary Consul. In his retirement from France andPoiana Brașov, Florescu repurposed theEast European Research Centre to create an annual scholarship for several gifted Romanian teenagers to study in the Boston area during summer months. These scholarships still continue to this day. His son, John M. Florescu, serves on the board of Educational Enrichment for Romanian Children.[6][7]
Florescu died on May 18, 2014, inMougins, France from complications of pneumonia.[8] Upon his death, theRomanian royal family released a statement of condolences and recognition for Florescu's work.[2]
In his bestsellerIn Search of Dracula (1972), co-authored with Raymond T. McNally,[9] he claimed that the brutalVlad III, voivod of the principality ofWallachia, was the inspiration forBram Stoker'sDracula. Vlad was a member of the House of Drăculești, and Stoker's novel took place in real locations such asTransylvania andTihuța Pass, including even correct rail lines. For this reason, Florescu concluded that the main character must also be inspired by facts. Vlad Țepeș, known for the slaughter of manySaxons andOttomans, with a penchant forimpaling his enemies on stakes, was the logical choice as the model for Dracula. The book was translated into 15 languages and boosted the Romanian tourism industry as young Westerners flocked to Romania to trace the footsteps of the historical Dracula.[need quotation to verify]
Florescu also wrote about literary creations likeFrankenstein withIn Search of Frankenstein (1975)[10] and thePied Piper of Hamelin withIn Search of the Pied Piper (2005). In the former, Florescu advocated the theory that the German theologian, alchemist, anatomist, and physicianJohann Konrad Dippel was the inspiration forMary Shelley's novelFrankenstein. Florescu's last book, also written with McNally, investigated the possible true identity of the person on whomRobert Louis Stevenson may have basedStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
