Andrei Pleșu

Andrei Gabriel Pleșu (; born 23 August 1948) is a Romanian philosopher, essayist, journalist, literary and art critic. He has been intermittently involved in politics, having been appointed Minister of Culture (1989–1991), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999) and presidential counsellor for external affairs (2004–2005).

Biography Born in Bucharest, the son of Radu Pleșu, a surgeon and Zoe Pleșu (born Rădulescu), he spent much of his early youth in the countryside. He started school in Sinaia, but attended the village school in Pârscov, in the Nehoiu Valley from 1955 to 1957, and often returned to the mountains during school holidays. from which he was expelled in May 1982 due to his involvement in the so-called "Transcendental Meditation Affair". For 1975–1977 he received the first of his Alexander von Humboldt Foundation graduate scholarships, to study in Bonn and Heidelberg. From 1978 through 1982, along with Gabriel Liiceanu, he attended Constantin Noica's informal and semi-clandestine lectures in Păltiniș. In 1980 he became a faculty lecturer in the Art department at the University of Bucharest. However, in 1982 he was barred from further university teaching for "political reasons", and took a job as a consultant for the Artists Union. The first was O filozofie a intervalului: In Honorem Andrei Pleșu (A Philosophy of the Interval: In Honor of Andrei Pleșu) entirely in Romanian, and the second was an international Festschrift in honor of Pleșu's sixtieth birthday, with essays exploring the themes of his life in the current context.

Philosophy Pleșu's early works revolved around art history and theory, but, in time, his essays, published in cultural magazines and elsewhere, became oriented towards cultural anthropology and philosophy.

Works

Printed volumes Călătorie în lumea formelor ("Journey to the world of forms"), Meridiane, 1974 Pitoresc și melancolie ("The Picturesque and melancholy"), Univers, 1980 Francesco Guardi, Meridiane, 1981 Ochiul și lucrurile ("The eye and things"), Meridiane, 1986 Minima moralia ("The moral minimum"), Cartea Românească, 1988 Dialoguri de seară ("Evening dialogues"), Harisma, 1991 Jurnalul de la Tescani ("The Tescani journal"), Humanitas, 1993 Limba păsărilor ("The language of birds"), Humanitas, 1994 Chipuri și măști ale tranziției ("Faces and masks of the transition"), Humanitas, 1996 Transformări, inerții, dezordini. 22 de luni după 22 decembrie 1989 ("Transformations, inertias, disorders". 22 months after December 22, 1989"), co-authors Petre Roman and Elena Ștefoi), Polirom, 2002 Despre îngeri ("On angels"), Humanitas, 2003 Obscenitatea publică ("Public obscenity"), Humanitas, 2004 Comedii la porțile Orientului ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005 Despre bucurie în Est și în Vest și alte eseuri ("About Joy in East and West and other essays"), Humanitas, 2006 Despre frumusețea uitată a vieții ("About the Forgotten Beauty of Life"), Humanitas, 2011 Parabolele lui Iisus. Adevărul ca poveste ("Jesus' parables. The truth as story"), Humanitas, 2012

Audio books Despre îngeri ("On angels") Humanitas, 2003, 2005 Comédii la porțile Orientului ("Comedies at gates of the Orient"), Humanitas, 2005 Un alt fel de Caragiale ("A different Caragiale"), Humanitas, 2006 Despre bucurie în Est și în Vest și alte eseuri ("About Joy in East and West and Other Essays"), Humanitas, 2006

Awards Grand Officer of the Order of the Diplomatic Merit Grand Cross of the National Order of Faithful Service