Doina Cornea
Doina Cornea (born 30 May 1929, Braşov) is a Romanian human rights activist and professor of French language. She was notable as a dissenter during the communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu.
After the revolution in December 1989, together with intellectuals like Ana Blandiana, Mihai Şora and Mircea Dinescu, to name a few, she continued her outspokenness against the new regime of Ion Iliescu, who in 1996 was removed from power and replaced by Emil Constantinescu.
She worked as teacher at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj. In 1980 she realized her first samizdat book called „The test of the labyrinth” (Incercarea Labirintului) followed by other four samizdat-translations (from French language).
After the fall of communism in Romania she published over 100 articles in newspapers and magazines. She received a great numbers of distinctions and prizes, the most important being:
- Thorolf Rafto Prize (Norway, 1989)
- Doctor Honoris Causa of Free University of Brussels (Belgium, 1989)
- Légion d’honneur with grade of officier (France, 2000)
- L’etoile of Roumanie with grade of High Cross (Romania, 2000)
Between 1982 and 1989 she released 31 texts and protests against Ceausescu regime by sending those tests illegally to the Radio Free Europe. In 1983 she was fired from the University because her political activity. She was interrogated and beaten by the Romanian Secret Police (Securitate) being also threatened to be killed.
Together with her son, Leontin Iuhas, she spread 160 manifests of solidarity with the workers which rebelled against Ceausescu regime in Brasov 1987 uprising. Both were arrested for five weeks during November and December 1987. Since that year she was practically arrested at the domicile by the Romanian Secrete Services. She was released in 21 December 1989 (in the day before the Ceausescu regime's fall) when she also participated to the street manifestations from Cluj town.
After 22 December 1989 she was asked to become member in the first post-communist government organization called Consiliul National al FSN. She quitted this body on 23 January 1990 because she realized this body was dependant of Gorbaciov and still dominated by people with communist past.
She was co-founder Forumul Democrat Antitotalitar din Romania, as the first attemp to unify the democratic opposition against the post-communist government. This organization transformed later into Conventia Democrata din Romania and took the power in at the 1996 elections.
She was co-founder of The Group for Social Dialogue in Romania (Grupul pentru dialog social), of Civic Alliance Foundation and of Cultural Memory Foundation (Fundatia Culturala Memoria).
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