Constantin ROMAN - Guest Speaker to the NATO School of Physics Conference (1968)

Constantin ROMAN – Dérive continentale ou européen en dérive

Review: ISIS Review Vol. 91 No. 2 (June 2002) – University of Chicago Journals.

by Professor David Oldroyd – University of New South Wales, Australia.

Voici une lecture aussi passionnante que captivante, bien qu’elle ne soit pas, comme le suggère son titre, un récit scientifique*/. Son auteur, un dissident Roumain ayant fait ses études de géophysique à Bucarest pendant les années folles du régime immonde de Ceausescu, est quand même parvenu a s’en échapper, afin de participer à une conférence à l’Université de Newcastle, en Grande Bretagne. N’étant plus retourné en Roumanie qu’après la chute du régime communiste, il est resté néanmoins un patriote Roumain, actuellement Professeur honoris causa de l’Université de Bucarest, tout en gardant sa résidence, près de Glyndebourne, dans une partie “chic” de l’Angleterre. Selon son propre récit, Constantin Roman doit être l’un des jeunes scientifiques recevant l’un des meilleurs honoraires du monde . Une fois arrivé en Angleterre, muni seulement d’un billet de £5 dans sa poche, il a utilisé son expertise, son charme, les meilleurs contacts ainsi que l’appui de l”unversité de Newcastle

Keith RUNCORN, invited Constantin ROMAN to a NATO Conference on Palaeomagnetism

comme plateforme de lancement. En parvenant à entretenir les meilleurs contacts, notamment avec le Professeur Keith Runcorn, de la Royal Society, il parvint à obtenir une bourse de recherches au Collège de Peterhouse, à Cambridge. Cela lui a permis de faire sa thèse de doctorat sur la tectonique des Carpathes et de l’Asie centrale, en étudiant des données sismiques afin d’identifier les limites et le mouvement des plaques lithosphériques. Dans ce contexte, utilisant les zones de compression et d’extension, il a défini l’existence de deux plaques lithosphériques non-rigides, les “plaques tampon”, ou “buffer plates”, du Tibet et du Sinkiang, cantonnées respectivement entre les plaques lithosphériques rigides de l”Inde et de l’Eurasie. Au début des années 70 une pareille suggestion aurait été étiquetée pour le moins comme iconoclaste. Une fois son doctorat obtenu, sous la direction du professeur Sir Edward Bullard, Roman est devenu par la suite Conseiller International de l’industrie petrolière, ayant gagné, je suppose, des honoraires prodigieux. Cet ouvrage traite essentiellement, de la folie des dictatures et des bureaucraties mais aussi de la douce vie de doctorant-chercheur a Cambridge. Quand aux détails de la bureaucratie “kafkaïenne”, les autorités britanniques semblent aussi obstinées que leurs consoeurs roumaines : impossible d’obtenir un permis de travail et de résident, sans avoir préalablement reçu une offre de travail, alors que pour obtenir du travail il fallait être d’abord muni d’un permis de travail. La seule différence dans cette impasse a été que Roman a joui, dès le départ, de l’influence et du soutien inconditionnel de ses contacts à Cambridge. Par surcroît, il s’est lié d’amitié avec un journaliste du quotidien conservateur, le Daily Telegraph de Londres, qui lui a offert une place de travail, faite de toutes pièces, comme “chercheur” des évènements politiques de Roumanie. Il est évident que le jeune Roman était tenace, intelligent et plein d’innovation, mais surtout plein de charme; en tant que chercheur, Roman a appliqué ces mêmes qualités qu’il a   mené jusqu’au bout avec le plus grand effet. A un certain moment clef, quand il se trouvait bien avancé dans ses recherches de doctorat, Bullard a attiré son attention sur

Teddy Bullard celebrating Constantin Roman's Wedding at Cambridge, 1973

un sujet de recherches identiques, mené par un groupe de scientifiques du Massachussetts Intitute of Technology, aux USA. Ce groupe, à la tête duquel se trouvait Peter Molnar, est arrivé aux mêmes résultats, de façon indépendante. Par surcroît. un journal scientifique americain, auquel ces résultats avaient été soumis, en avait accepté la publication, qui allait paraître à brève échéance. Bullard a mis en garde son étudiant Roman que si cela arrivait avant qu’il puisse défendre sa thèse de doctorat, il ne pourrait obtenir, au mieux, qu’un diplôme de Masterat, (comme prix de consolation à la place d’un doctorat). Cela n’empechât pas qu’avec élan et créativité, Roman se précipitât  à Londres afin de persuader l’éditeur de l’hebdomadaire scientifique New Scientist de publier les détails essentiels de sa dissertation de doctorat, avant que l’article de MIT n’arrive aux imprimeurs. Cet incident est presenté comme “un coup”, ce qu’il a bien été en réalité , car ce fut le biais par lequel son doctorat a été sauvé. Toutefois, si cela a affranchi de cette menue difficulté un jeune de Cambridge, on se demande bien ce qu’ont pu en penser ses homologues Américains . Sur ce point , rien n’est dit.

I had started to study English as my fourth foreign language after German and French, which were both spoken in the family and Russian which was compulsory at schools behind the Iron Curtain. My native language was Romanian and long before I started private English lessons I had a cartoon-like impression of the British Isles from the plays of Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens, from the short stories of J.B. Priestley, the fabulous novels of Walter Scott‘s and from my bed side History of Architecture by Sir Bannister Fletcher. I also knew and admired Henry Moore whose exhibition was organized by the British Council in Bucharest. When I was a student in the 1960′s I was, of course a fan of the Beatles, although I had to keep this a secret from the Communist authorities who regarded the Pop Music as decadent. Well, I wanted to be decadent.

… within three months I learned to down eight pints of Newcastle brown Ale in one evening …

Within three months I learned to down Eight Pints of Newcastle Brown in one evening

My first contact with Britain, was oddly enough with Newcastle-upon-Tyne and I was terribly excited to be the guest of the School of Physics, where I enjoyed the privilege of a visitor’s accommodation in a beautiful penthouse. This was all the more exciting as it was built by Sir Basil Spence an architect I much admired for his rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral. I could not understand Geordie being spoken in the pubs and did not know what a pint was and neither could I drink more than half a pint, but within three months I learned to down eight pints of Newcastle brown Ale in one evening. I found the inhabitants friendly, although being called a pet took some time to get used to given my stuffy Marxist upbringing: – well some people were more equal then others back home.

In Newcastle I was asked by the University Librarian what language we spoke in Romania and if we had a language of our own, so I decided to start a crusade in the form of a One-man Festival of Romania to proselytise the Geordies about the virtues of Romanian culture. This attracted the attention of Tyne Tees TV who interviewed me live and made me overnight an unwitting hero within two months of my arrival in town.

… My greatest trouble in England arose from my refusal to give up my Romanian nationality. In retrospect this may seem bizarre …

In the meantime I got very worried about my finances, as the one pound a day grant was not stretching far enough so I applied for various research scholarships of which I got two in Canada and the United States and a Scholarship at Cambridge. I chose the latter because I liked the architecture and the gardens. I think I got the Scholarship against intense competition because I was quite relaxed about it as I could not imagine in my wildest dreams that I will ever succeed in being a postgraduate student at Cambridge, so I did not take my interview seriously and felt no angst about it.

Whilst at Cambridge I translated and published in Encounter Romanian poetry and wrote articles about Brancusi in the Cambridge Review. I also wrote the first bilingual French-English pamphlet with the History of Peterhouse, which was my College and I remembered asking my long suffering Tutor, who was a medieval Historian:

Peterhouse, Cambridge, College History by Constantin Roman

Did you wait 700 years for a Romanian to come along and write a History of Peterhouse?

In my second year I was elected President of the Graduate Society and managed to obtain new privileges, one of which was to be allowed to have the Society Dinners in the Combination Room. I also discovered in the College a portrait of Dewar, a scientist whom I admired in Romania and who was relegated to oblivion in the College cellars, so I granted him a place of honour in the Grad Soc Common Room, where it still hangs today (NB Since writing this piece the painting was moved to the first-floor stairwell leading to the Fellows Parlour).

My greatest trouble in England arose from my refusal to give up my Romanian nationality. In retrospect this may seem bizarre, especially that I was menaced on a number of fronts: by Securitate operatives masquerading as diplomats keen to end my flouting of socialist order and drag me back to Romania; by a prospective mother-in-law who refused to allow her daughter to marry me unless I accepted British citizenship; and by officials of the British Home Office who assumed that my desire to retain what I saw as my unalienable right of birth, my nationality, might stem from communist loyalties.

Afterwards Lord Goodman decided to champion my cause, writing to the head of the Home Office that I was a

man of impeccable character clearly determined to belong here and make a significant contribution to our national life.”

In retrospect I hope that I discharged myself honourably of Goodman‘s expectations as I gave generously my expertise in discovering oil and gas for Britain and batting for Britain abroad on the cultural and scientific front, especially in my native country – Romania.

The whole drift of this saga is best captured in memoirs recently published by the Institute o Physics in London  under the title Continental Drift – Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures.

Constantin ROMAN: A History of Plate Tectonics at Madingley Rise, Cambridge

http://www.constantinroman.com/continentaldrift/

http://www.movinghere.org.uk/stories/story12/story12.htm?identifier=stories/story12/story12.htm

SFIDAREA IDIOCRATIEI

Constantin ROMAN

Prefata Acad. Prof. John F. DEWEY (Oxford si California)

Centre for Romanian Studies, London, 2010

(Recenzie – Partea III)

SFIDAREA IDIOCRATIEI

Pe parcursul cartii urmarim autorul desprinzandu-se dintr-un regim totalitar de opresiune absurda si ajungand pana la varful celei mai inalte si distinse piramide de invatamant din Anglia. Din aceasta coliziune de culturi atat de diferite ies niste scantei de o bogatie si o frumusete spirituala  pasionanta.

Iarasi il gasim mai departe in numeroasele lui vizite din Europa: Franta, Italia, Belgia, Olanda, Luxembourg, Germania si Irlanda, cu ocazia prezentarii unui articol stiintific, al unor cercetari seismologice, sau, alergand dupa o fiinta fermecatoare. Ori si care ar fi fost motivul sau locul acestor peregrinari dintr-odata ne dam seama de niste paralele, pe masura ce muzeele, galeriile si panoramele arhitectonice ale catedralelor si metropolelor isi desvaluie perspectivele, isi deschid ferestrele si comorile, adeseori comparate sau reflectate intr-o oglinda romaneasca plina de nostalgie.

Dar din tot acest cadru, cel mai important apocalips este reprezentat de un fapt inevitabil de care incepe sa isi dea seama si anume neputinta de a se intoarce in Romania si in consecinta imperativul de a se stabili in Anglia. Ori, mai intai, aceasta cerere ii este refuzata, intru cat in calitatea sa de student Constantin Roman a primit doar o viza de sedere temporara in Anglia cu ingradiri specifice acestei categorii. De aici porneste o lunga campanie la care se alatura prieteni si cunostiinte din elita stiintifica si politica a Angliei care incearca sa sprijine cererea studentului roman, personalitati care cer autoritatilor britanice si romane sa faca o exceptie.

Lord Goodman (1973), by Graham Sutherland (1903-19280. Tate Gallery

Celebra printre aceste scrisori ramane epistola lordului Goodman, avocatul primului ministru britanic Harold Wilson si negociatorul international in problema Rodeziei, scrisoare adresata ministrului de interne britanic in care face aluzie, in mod hiperbolic la posibilitatea unei razmerite la Cambridge, daca acest caz nu s-ar rezolva in mod satisfacator. Iar ca si cum aceste dificultati ne fiind suficiente, in mod ironic la ele se mai adauga si greutatile nestavilite  puse in calea planurilor sale matrimoniale de catre o viitoara soacra care se opune cu indarjire perspectivei unei casatorii.

In ciuda acestui purgatoriu neanticipat, cartea, care  pe tot parcursul narativului pastreaza un stil optimist,  nu  are deloc ca obiectiv inventarul exaustiv si precis al unor acceptari stoice ale greutatilor intampinate, ci mai degraba desvaluirea refuzului obdurat de a accepta absurdul. Aceasta pozitie  rezulta inevitabil in ciocniri de proportii Quixotice, de unde titlul editiei romanesti de “Sfidarea Idiocratiei”. Ori cand aceasta sfidare se transforma in situatii comice, comparabile cu o adevarata  Commedia dell’Arte,  desnodamantul ei trebuie sa fie un model altor hedonisti. Caci de fapt, in adancul sufletului, Constantin ROMAN ramane  un hedonist: nici o  placere cat de simpla nu este ocolita, iar in aceasta cavalcada vitalizanta, doar gastronomia intrece pasiunea pentru stiinta si arta. Ori nu exista nici o experienta care stimuleaza papilele gustative, nici o bucata delicioasa demna de ghidurile gurmande cele mai rafinate, care sa fi scapat atentiei autorului. Aceasta predilectie, ca sa nu o numim, pur si simplu, o obsesie, conduce inevitabil la refuzul unui important post, la care autorul a postulat la Haga, cu care ocazie, meniul baroc  consumat  iesise din limitele conventiilor birocratice. Explicatia acestei slabiciuni, acestei obsesii pentru gastronomie autorul o pune pe seama memoriei a mai multor generatii de stramosi – tarani infometati si mai recent, sub regimul comunist, a cozilor interminabile pentru painea ce de toata zilele.

Ca si gastronomia placerea infinita care rezulta din admirarea arhitecturii, picturii si ale gradinilor care il inconjoara la Cambridge  reprezinta un fundal mereu prezent:  aceste toate formeaza un comentariu, ca un hemiciclu, sau o tema muzicala, o reflectie permanenta a fiecarei miscari, o bucurie pe care autorul o impartaseste pe indelete cu cititorul, pe masura ce  intoarce paginile cartii.

NOTA:

Mai multe detalii despre “Sfidarea Idiocratiei” se afla la linkul:

http://www.constantinroman.com/continentaldrift/

SFIDAREA IDIOCRATIEI

(Partea II -  Recenzie)

Constantin ROMAN

Prefata Acad. Prof. John F. DEWEY (Oxford si California)

Centre for Romanian Studies, London, 2010

MAREA INITIERE

Din fericire insa, si in paralel, perioada aceasta sociala tulbure a coincis si cu marile descoperiri de la Cambridge din domeniul astrofizicii (Fred Hoyle), ale biologiei moleculare (Crick si Watson) precum si ale Tectonicii Globale (Bullard, Vine si Matthews). In cadrul de mai sus, influenta care a avut-o atmosfera de la Cambridge in dezvoltarea gandirii lui Constantin ROMAN este de necontestat.

Pe vremea cand a plecat, cu un entuziasm tineresc, din Romania doar pentru o  scurta vizita de o luna in strainatate,  el nu a putut banui caracterul permanent al acestui voiaj, greutatile neasteptate intalnite in Occident, lipsit de sprijinul familiei si avand doar un geamantan, un teanc de carti de vizita si o bancnota de cinci lire in buzunarul noului costum de haine.

La Paris, profesorul Thellier de la Institut de Physique du Globe i-a oferit un loc de doctorant, insa in luna Mai 1968 metropola franceza nu era locul cel mai linistit pentru continuarea unor studii stiintifice. Mai mult decat atata. el a fost descurajat sa mearga in aceasta directie chiar de catre amabsadorul roman de la UNESCO, caruia Roman i-a solicitatsprijinul pentru a obtine prelungirea vizei  de intoarcere in Romania, viza care expirase in timpul grevelor feroviare de la Paris. Ambasadorul Valentin Lipatti, fratele pianistului, a calificat incercarea tanarului roman de a face un doctorat in Occident drept:

“o optiune politica a carei persepectiva, in cel mai fericit caz, nu ar fi rezultat  decat in aceea de a ajunge  chelner de restaurant”.

Intelegand atitudinea oficial intransigenta si fiindu-i teama de a se intoarce in tara cu o viza expirata Constantin ROMAN totusi nu a fost afectat de acest sfat nesasteptat si gratuit si s-a hotarat in schimb sa postuleze pentru o bursa de doctorat in Anglia. Bursa castigata prin concurs  la Peterhouse, cel mai vechi colegiu din Cambridge, infiintat in 1284, i-a permis lui ROMAN sa inceapa disertatia de Tectonica Globala. Aceasta a facut-o sub conducerea  unui om de un mare prestigiu international, profesorul academician Sir Edward Bullard, urmasul direct al lui Newton, printr-un sir neintrerupt de savanti fizicieni de la Thompson, Rutherford, Kelvin si Cavendish – toti facand parte din celebrul Laborator universitar – the Cavendish Laboratory.  Colaborarea cu Bullard i-a oferit tanarului Roman o mostenire stiintifica de o valoare incomparabila prin gandirea originala, capacitatea de a defini esentialul, de a analiza, extrapola si de a deduce, dar mai ales de a pune in balanta anumite adevaruri stiintifice, de a le modifica si a le redefini.

Dar mai presus decat toate acestea, curiozitate lui innascuta i-a dat bice cunoasterii dincolo de limitele geofizicii si ale tectonicii globale. In curand  cautarea s-a intins repede, ca o vita de vie impletind lingvistica, istoria arhitecturii, critica de arta, fizica aplicata la istoria artei si arheologie, poezia, jurnalistica si promovarea artei si culturii romanesti.

Acad.  Sir Edward Bullard, mentorul si seful meu de lucrari din departamentul de Geofizica de la Cambridge, la o receptie impreuna cu secretara facultatii (1973)

Cu timpul, si in cursul multor voiajuri la colocvii si conferinte internationale, la prelegeri ca invitat al universitatilor din Anglia si din Europa, efectul acumularii unor impresii, al unor observatii,  al unor analize si a unei intuitii au  rezultat intr-o alta necesitate si anume aceea de a modifica insasi teoria Tectonicii Globale, care era chiar subiectul tezei sale de doctorat. El a resimtit nevoia de a transforma aceasta teorie intr-un model mai coerent care sa includa noi categorii de placi litosferice, nerigide, care le-a denumit placi tampon (buffer plates) precum si sa defineasca doua noi placi litosferice in Asia Centrala si anume placile Tibet si Sinkiang, amandoua cuprinse acum in marea placa a Eurasiei, prin coliziunea cu placa Indiei si ridicarea lantului alpin al Himalaiei.

Aceste rezultate au fost imediat publicate in reviste academice ce au facut ocolul lumii si cativa savanti au salutat la randul lor in alte carti si reviste de specialitate aceasta noua contributie care si-a facut ecoul din Franta si Statele Unite pana   in China, dar nu si in Romania, unde cenzura lui Ceausescu, prin terorismul sau cultural sistematic, impunea o conspiratie a tacerii: aflandu-se in exil, omul de stiinta roman nu avea dreptul sa existe ca atare in tara lui de bastina. De fapt chiar nici dupa caderea dictaturii comuniste, embargoul stiintific impus de cenzura lui Ceausescu nu s-a schimbat ramanand in mainile aceluias cerc de beneficiari ca si inainte. Din fericire, conceptul placilor litosferice nerigide, imaginat pentru prima oara de un Roman la Cambridge a fost adoptat ca un model clasic in practica de specialitate din universitatile Americane si straine si din Institutiile de cercetare din Occident, devenind un truism universal acceptat.

Dar in ciuda acestor vexatii, gandindu-ne retrospectiv observam ca nu exista totusi nici o contradictie in fenomenul de integrare al Romanilor, in particular a lui Constantin ROMAN in hegemonia gandirii si culturii occidentale. Un sir intreg de nume ilustre ne vin in minte daca ne gandim doar la cativa dintre predecesorii lui desradacinati, printre care Constantin Brancusi despre care se pomeneste adesea in carte, dar si despre Emil Cioran, Eugen Ionescu, Virgil Gheorghiu, Mircea Eliade, Dinu Lipatti, George Enescu, Panaït Istrati, Marta Bibescu, Elena Vacarescu, Ana de Noailles, Elvira Popescu, Tristan Tzara, care toti au facut din Franta tara lor adoptiva. Acestia ar fi doar cativa si lista s-ar putea continua, caci nu este deloc intamplator ca Romania, mai mult decat ori si ce alta tara europeana sa aiba o elita sociala si intelectuala impregnata de gandirea si limba franceza. Si totusi, in pofida acestui fapt, iata inca un alt exemplu al acestei dualitati prin care Constantin Roman isi alege nu Franta, ci Anglia ca tara sa adoptiva. Aici, pentru el nimic nu este mai natural decat de a frecventa si de a se imprieteni cu eminenti contemporani ai sai, printre care se numara Academicianul Joseph Needham,  Profesorul L.C. Knights, Lordul Adrian, Ambasadorul Sir Duncan Wilson, Lordul Goodman, colectionarul Jim Ede, criticul literar George Steiner, istoricii Sir Herbert Butterfield,  Sir Denis Brogan, sau Maurice Cowling.

Cambridge Review, revista la care studentul Constantin Roman a contribuit un articol de fond despre Mitul romanesc in sculptura lui Brancusi si mai multe traduceri de poezii romanesti.

Daca privim cu atentie, alte doua contraste din viata lui ROMAN, acestea devin mai putin contradictorii decat la prima vedere: activitatea paralela de geofizician expert, consilier in probleme internationale ale explorarii petroliere cu acela de publicist si impresar. Se stie ca inainte de razboi, industria americana si britanica de petrol au avut o mare influenta in Romania si este placut de mentionat faptul ca primele sale traduceri de poezii din franceza si engleza, articolele de istoria artei si contactele cu exegetii lui Brancusi, Constantin Roman le-a facut  in perioada cand era student  la Institutul de Petrol si Gaze din  Bucuresti, iar mai tarziu, la Cambridge cursul de limba romana si analiza statistica de lingvistica romaneasca, traducerile de poezie romaneasca, articolele despre Brancusi si expozitiile de arta si cultura romaneasca de la Cambridge, Londra si Newcastle au fost facute si organizate in paralel cu studii stiintifice de seismo-tectonica din Vrancea si Hindu-Kush, articole publicate in prestigioase reviste internationale printre care Nature, New Scientist, Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, precum si in sfarsit, dar mai ales teza lui de doctorat Seismo-Tectonics of the Carpathians and the Central Asia, publicata, mai tarziu la Bucuresti in doua volume de catre Institutul Geologic al Romaniei, cu o prefata al academicienilor Gheorghe Udubasa, directorul Institutului si respectiv Mircea Sandulescu, seful sectiei de Geonomie a Academiei Romane (1998).

Dar desi, din fericire, aceste contributii stiintifice esentiale pentru geofizica romaneasca si internationala in domeniul tectonicii globale nu au fost complet ignorate in textul cartii, modelele si teoriile stiintifice care au constituit reputatia stiintifica a lui Constantin ROMAN au doar o pondere redusa in parcursul cartii. De fapt in narativ aceste aspecte reprezinta doar materia prima al acestor teorii, chiar insasi autobiografia autorului, ele oglindesc calatoriile, aventurile, initierile diverse si reactiile de multe ori impartasite intr-un mediu uneori neprielnic si care, la inceput, din cauza unei lipse de experienta a vietii el nu a fost pregatit sa le inteleaga. Si totusi aceste reactii diferite si de-a dreptul fascinante reprezinta prin ele insile o experienta insolita si mereu proaspata.

Dar mai mult decat de aceste decoruri el se intereseaza de oameni si de situatii noi, fie descriind receptia de la colegiul Peterhouse data Primului Ministru Edward Heath, picnicul din gradina episcopului de Ely, caruia Constantin ROMAN i se adreseaza cu modul de apelatie ortodox de “Prea-Fericit”, lucru neauzit pana atunci, sau de dineul oficial de la colegiul Magdalene ca invitat al lui Robert Latham, directorul bibliotecii Pepys, consultatia cu Lordul Goodman,  cocktailul cu profesorul acad. Joseph Needham,  seara de poezie romaneasca de la colegiul Churchill, cu George Steiner,  cina cu profesorul  L.C. Knights, critic literar si exeget al lui Shakespeare,  expozitia de fotografii Brancusi de la facultatea de arhitectura organizata la invitatia profesorului Sir Leslie Martin, celebrul arhitect al ansamblului Royal Festival Hall, de pe malul Tamisei,  initierea in arta contemporana la muzeul “Kettle’s Yard”, de catre colectionarul si criticul de arta  Jim Ede, prieten al lui Brancusi, sau de convorbirile cu bizantinologul Sir Steven Runciman si cu istoricul Sir Herbert Butterfield despre Nicolae Iorga, sau cu fostul ambasador britanic la Moscova, istoricul Sir Duncan Wilson, rectorul colegiului Corpus Christi.

Continuare in Sfidarea Idiocratiei (Partea III):

http://www.romanianstudies.org/content/2010/02/sfidarea-idiocratiei-constantin-roman-prefata-john-f-dewey-recenzie-partea-iii/

SFIDAREA IDIOCRATIEI

(Partea I)

Constantin ROMAN

Prefata Acad. Prof. John F. DEWEY (Oxford si California)

Centre for Romanian Studies, London, 2010

INCEPUTURI

Universul din care provine Constantin ROMAN este estompat de sita vremii. Odata ajuns in Anglia, meleagurile lasate in urma sunt distruse de sistematizarea revolutiei culturale ale lui Nicolae Ceausescu, iar ruinele lor raman dincolo de   frontiere ostile.

Fiind esuat pe un tarm strain nu a reprezentat in sine un fapt surprinzator pentru un roman ai carui stramosi au trecut adesea granitele nesigure ale tulburatelor imperii carora le apartineau principatele  Moldovei, Ardealului si a Tarii Romanesti, in cautarea  unui pamant mai linistit: aceasta desradacinare nu s’a infaptuit dintr-un impuls, ci mai de graba dintr-o conjunctura neasteptata dictata de criterii de supravietuire.

Cartierul copilariei din Dealul Mitropoliei din Bucuresti

Cadrul patriarhal si molcom al cartierului din Bucuresti unde si-a petrecut copilaria, pecetluita de rasturnarile sociale si politice ce au urmat dupa razboi, aveau sa-i caracterizeze inceputul vietii lui: casa parintilor, intr-o gradina cu pomi infloriti de la poalele Dealului Mitropoliei, unde conversatia din jurul mesei facea aluzie la premiile literare de la Paris, casa bunicilor, mobilata in stil Louis XVI, cu covoare persane si tapiserii  Savonnerie si cu pianul cu coada, de concert, “Steinway” in jurul caruia familia se strangea in fiecare duminica dupa amiaza ca sa asculte nocturnele lui Chopin si sonatele lui Brahms, picturile in gustul unui  fin de siècle cu portrete de tiganci florarese descoperind un san voluptos, rafturile nesfarsite cu carti, ale caror titluri , la o privire mai atenta, erau mai mult in Franceza , urmate de cele din Germana si din alte cateva limbi straine, la fel, vocile din salon se auzeau mai mult in frantuzeste pronuntata cu un accent tipic romanesc cu “r”-aul bine “rulat”.:

Franceza era limba adultilor, care isi impartaseau secrete,

in timp ce copii mici vorbeau nemteste cu guvernantele  venite de peste munti, iar fetele din bucatarie  vorbeau ungureste  si in sfarsit soferii si oamenii de casa vorbeau romaneste.

Biserica din Poieni, Judetul Bacau, ctitorita de stramosii materni

Subiectele de conversatie faceau de multe ori aluzie la mosiile stramosilor din Tara Moldovei sau din campia Dunarii, cu recolte de grau si de floarea soarelui, cu lungi cavalcade in codrii seculari, intreceri de echipaje si batalii cu flori de la Sosea, slobozirea tiganilor si ctitoria bisericilor. Conversatia mai se avanta neasteptat  si in domenii mai savante de profilaxia plantelor, medicina, farmacie, fizica sau chimie, dar mai apoi se pierdea in amintiri apocrife pe atat de bogat brodate, pe cat erau pline de fascinatia unor vremuri apuse. Acestea arau povestile extravagante de la sfarsitul veacului al XIX-lea, al caror ecou l-a auzit chiar si regina Victoria a Angliei, care primind vestea casatoriei nepoatei sale preferate, Principesa Maria (“Missy”) cu Printul Ferdinand de Hohenzollern, a exclamat:

Tara este tulbure, iar imoralitatea societatii bucurestene este de neinchipuit.

Dar pe masura ce evenimentele politice de dupa Yalta si Teheran au inceput sa se desfasoare mai repede, atunci conversatia la masa, chiar mai mult decat povestile de pe timpuri, sau despre expozitiile de arta, despre muzica sau stiinta a inceput sa fie dominata de politica marilor puteri si sfera acestora de influenta, inainte de a fi redusa la conversatia despre cosnita, despre cozile la paine si la carne si despre supravietuire, si mai apoi, in soapta si abea perceptibil, despre prietenii ajunsi in puscarie, conversatie care, pana la urma s-a redus la o liniste adanca, plina de o demnitate subinteleasa de dezamagirea realizarii ca

“nu mai vin Americanii!”

Privind retrospectiv la aceste timpuri, nu este totusi de neconceput faptul ca cele cateva decenii care au despartit timpurile noastre de amintirile acestei copilarii, ne-ar face usor sa ne inchipuim de ce farmecul, inteligenta, hazul si umorul pe cat de fin pe atat de stimulant al conversatiilor bucurestene nu si-au mai gasit pereche pana acum. Aceasta a fost o lume care avea sa dispara in curand pentru totdeauna, o lume care, in timpul initierii din exil, si mai ales acuma cand ea a trecut in vesnicie, Constantin Roman are pentru ea un profund atasament   pentru ca a fost hranit chiar la sanul ei.

Bine inteles ca cele cateva decenii care s-au scurs de atunci, timp pe parcursul caruia s-au perindat nenumarate vexatii sociale si politice de care familia nu a putut scapa, a fost inevitabil ca anumite permutari si adaptari sa se afirme pentru ca autorul sa se fi putut desprinde de umbra  stramosilor lui, lasati pe meleaguri indepartate.

Aceasta adaptare din viata autorului a avut drept urmare o serie de consecinte care, la o prima analiza ar parea oarecum contradictorii, insa, care de fapt sunt perfect de armonioase si chiar direct conjugate.

El povesteste in primul capitol al cartii sale, cum, in timpul liceului aspira la o “educatie universala”, visand la perspectiva unor emotii si trairi in sanul culturii europene de care se simtea rupt si unde spera sa fie reintregit. Aceste visuri nu erau lipsite de fundament, caci de tanar el s-a hranit din lucrarile clasice ale lui Vitruvius, Giorgio Vasari si mai tarziu ale arhitectului si istoricului de arta britanic Banister Fletcher si a invatat cu profesori particulari limbi straine in paralel cu indoctrinarea Marxista obligatorie, impusa in scolile de stat ale regimului totalitar.

Student la Universitatea din Bucuresti

Si iata ca, in ciuda hiperbolelor politice si sociale ale vietii din Romania post-belica care l-au obligat pe Constantin ROMAN sa devina geofizician, (in timp ce el spera, inca din frageda copilarie sa devina arhitect), iata cum, in mod inevitabil, el a devenit un om de o cultura multilaterala in spiritul intelectualilor francezi din veacul al XVIII-lea: viata lui a devenit un sir nesfarsit de sinteze de romantism cu clasicism, de fizica cu poezie, de geologie cu estetica, de viata ordonata cu trairile boeme, de  mostenire conservatoare conjugata cu liberalism, de o gandire structurata a disertatiei stiintifice modificata de un iconoclasm fara preget, de constrangeri geonomice cu ritmul sonetului, de precizia geofizicii cu fascinatia fata de muzica, de alchimia subconstienta a verbului, a emotiei necurmate cu analiza linistita a magicului, de evaziunea visului cu realiatea prozaica. Desi acest lung catalog de antiteze superficial impacate este incomplect, el totusi defineste, pe undeva, etosul unei bipolaritati asemenea unor gemeni dizogotici.

Caci intr-adevar din aceasta convergenta spirituala, din aceasta suprapunere de culturi diferite, din incapatanarea obdurata a tanarului educat intr-o societate controlata de dimensiuni Orwelliene, acest vlastar a fost grefat pe o tulpina noua in Occident si mai apoi a inflorit in aerul pur, in precizia luminata si limpede a universitatii din Cambridge care l-a stimulat in anii 1970: o institutie care avea sa fie martora unor evenimente revelatoare punctuate de revoltele studentilor si de liberarea feminista invocata de Germaine Greer in celebrul sau manifest The Female Eunuch.

Colegiul Peterhouse, Cambridge, ctitorit in 1284, care i-a oferit lui Roman o bursa de doctorat, prin concurs

Continuarea in Sfidarea Idiocratiei (Partea II):

http://www.romanianstudies.org/content/2010/02/sfidarea-idiocratiei-partea-ii-recenzie-constantin-roman-prefata-john-f-dewey/

17. Lord Dewar’s rescue

No sooner that I accepted, with great glee, my Presidency of the Peterhouse Grad. Soc. the style of leadership had to change. New blood was needed to inject some tonus in the proceedings and I was determined to encourage more social contacts amongst its members, by creating  more diverse and interesting venues. As much as I would have liked to, I could not easily ask the College Housekeeper to change curtains or fitted carpets, or indeed the furniture.  I decided instead, in close consultation with James Thring, a student in architecture, to create  a bar area with a kitchenette, hidden behind a wooden screen. A new notice board was installed and the room was extended to the East to include an adjoining space and in the process we discovered an exciting  15th century Gothic  archway, hidden in the masonry. This was opened and preserved, enhancing the character of the room.

Still , I felt that the room lacked warmth and could do  with some period paintings. Rumor had it that there were some College paintings “hidden away” and I was determined to inspect and see if any might be available for our enjoyment, to cover the barren walls of the GCR.

I wrote to Professor Clark an  Archaeologist, who was in charge of the paintings held in storage.  I did not expect to find any long-lost Rubens, as I had no illusions that the best paintings the College had were actually hanging either in Hall,  in the Master’s Lodge, or the Fellows’ rooms. Still, it was worth trying.

Graeme Clark took me to the  William Stone building and there, in its dry cellars, were piled a series of oil paintings, which I felt were unfashionable, unloved and forgotten. I chose two  portraits – one of them was a Victorian oil of the Archbishop of York.  Poor fellow, he had collected a lot of dust and he deserved to be resurrected – he had a cheerful well painted face, quite a distinguished little painting, which should bring some style to our room.

Far more exciting, amongst the paintings in storage, was though the second sitter – Sir James Dewar, Fellow of Peterhouse, Fullerian Professor at the Royal Institution, in London  and Jacksonian Professor at Cambridge.  He taught at Cambridge since 1875 and was responsible for a series of inventions, one of which involved obtaining liquid oxygen and hydrogen. The  double-walled vacuum flask,  represented in this canvass and named after him, was used in all Chemistry laboratories round the world. This is the ubiquitous “thermos” flask, more politely known as the “Dewar flask”. The painting had  an uncanny resemblance with my grandfather’s Victorian photograph, in his Apothecary Lab in Buzãu and I took to it immediately.

In Romanian  textbooks Dewar was revered as a world scientist and I was shocked to find him relegated, by some unseen  if silent “Cultural Revolution”, to a corner of a College cellar. True, Dewar had not endeared himself in Cambridge, where he indulged in severe bullying of his staff: neither did he form a “school” around himself, although his early experiments in low temperature Physics (the liquefaction of hydrogen, in 1898), preceded by a good generation work done by Rutherford’s pupils on the liquefaction of helium, which he tried but did not succeed. To this Continental scientist, Dewar was an icon and his abandonment to a college repository, was an unmitigated piece of iconoclasm.

Sir William Quiller Orchardson, RA (1832-1910), who painted this portrait, was better known for his painting, “Napoleon on Board  the Bellerophon”, hanging in the Tate Gallery and other works in the “Uffici” of Florence. Dewar’s portrait was an important work, which  was probably commissioned soon after the scientist was knighted in 1904.  The style of the brush prefigured the  Edwardian taste and the chromatics of the portrait was characteristic of Orchardson’s muted colors, of predominant yellow and browns.  I felt a sense of urgency in rescuing  Dewar’s rubicund face straight away and bring it to light.  Today it still hangs  in its rightful place, amongst research students, in the GCR, at Peterhouse

2. Bishop’s Money

Peterhouse has the oldest Hall in Cambridge, going back to its foundation, in 1284. The Hall was restored in the 19c century when it was decorated by William Morris. It could take up to over one hundred undergraduates, but as their number grew,  two sittings were introduced and eventually  a self-service system. Formal dinners got fewer and attendance was no longer compulsory. However, as meals were heavily subsidized from college funds and benefactions, it made sense for all students to eat in College. There were, in all some 240 undergraduate students at Peterhouse and 60  postgraduates.

The College had charitable status, being a seat of learning, which gave it considerable tax advantages. This meant that all donations or “benefactions” were exempt of tax and so the wealth of the College could accrue accordingly. Revenue was not taxed either, whether it came from arable land let to tenant farmers, or from rent of property in London and elsewhere, or indeed from financial investments in the City. The affairs of the College were looked after by the Bursar, who was accountable to the Master and Fellows, the custodians of these “livings”. Peterhouse, not being a Royal foundation and  being one of the smallest of Cambridge colleges, was not the richest either. But its benefactions accumulated in value over seven hundred years of its existence. Like other Colleges in Cambridge Peterhouse had certain benefactions intended solely for scholarships, with specific clauses attached to them. The Research Scholarship which I was granted by Peterhouse, together with three or four other postgraduates, had its source in a fund established by the Bishop of Ely, in the 13th century. It therefore gave me a tremendous pleasure to acknowledge this, especially to those who would say:

“This is the British taxpayer’s money”.

“No”, I would retort, “not at all, this is Hugh de Balsham’s money”.

“Who is he?”

“Why? The Bishop of Ely, of course! He lived in the 13th century, when your ancestors probably were herding the swine”.

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Cambridge and Romanian Memoir

NOTE: Extract from the Cambridge Memoirs: “Continental Drift – Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures” by Constantin ROMAN, Institute of Physics Publishers, Bristol and Philadelphia:

http://www.constantinroman.com/continentaldrift/