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	'''Vladimir Tismăneanu''' (b. ], ]) is a ]n-born ] political scientist, sociologist, and professor at the ]. A specialist in ]s and compared politics, he is editor of the ''East European Politics and Societies'' academic review and director of the University of Maryland's ''Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies''. Tismăneanu is a ~~noted~~ contributor to several periodicals, including '']'', ''Studia Politica'', '']'', ~~'']'',~~ and '']''.		'''Vladimir Tismăneanu''' (b. ], ]) is a ]n-born ] political scientist, sociologist, and professor at the ]. A specialist in ]s and compared politics, he is editor of the ''East European Politics and Societies'' academic review and of the magazine '']'' and director of the University of Maryland's ''Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies''. Tismăneanu is a contributor to several periodicals, including '']'', ''Studia Politica'', '']'', and '']''.

			From late 1960s and until his defection from Romania in 1981, he authored several articles which displayed support for the communist regime of ], and, as vice-president of the UTC's ''Communist Student Association'', took part in authoring and compiling ] aimed at students.<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="Lavric">{{ro icon}} </ref>

	In ], ] ] appointed Tismăneanu president of the ], which presented its report to the ] on December 18, 2006.		In ], ] ] appointed Tismăneanu president of the ], which presented its report to the ] on December 18, 2006.
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	In his preface to the Romanian-language edition of his 2003 book ''Stalinism for All Seasons'', Tismăneanu indicated that, starting in 1970, he became interested in critiques of Marxism-Leninism and the Romanian communist regime in particular, after reading banned works made available to him by various of his acquaintances (among others, writer ] and his wife, translator ], as well as Ileana, the daughter of Communist Party dignitary ]).<ref name="bizantinism">Tismăneanu, "Bizantinism şi revoluţie. Istoria politică a comunismului românesc", preface to ''Stalinism pentru eternitate. O istorie politică a comunismului românesc'', ], Iaşi, 2005, p.14-16</ref> He stated that, at the time, he was influenced by ]'s ''Communism in Romania'', as well as by ], ], ] and ] scholarship (among others, the ideas of ], ], ], ], and the ]).<ref name="bizantinism"/> According to Tismăneanu, his family background allowed him insight into the hidden aspects of Communist Party history, which was comparing with the ideological demands of the Ceauşescu regime, and especially with the latter's emphasis on ].<ref name="bizantinism"/>		In his preface to the Romanian-language edition of his 2003 book ''Stalinism for All Seasons'', Tismăneanu indicated that, starting in 1970, he became interested in critiques of Marxism-Leninism and the Romanian communist regime in particular, after reading banned works made available to him by various of his acquaintances (among others, writer ] and his wife, translator ], as well as Ileana, the daughter of Communist Party dignitary ]).<ref name="bizantinism">Tismăneanu, "Bizantinism şi revoluţie. Istoria politică a comunismului românesc", preface to ''Stalinism pentru eternitate. O istorie politică a comunismului românesc'', ], Iaşi, 2005, p.14-16</ref> He stated that, at the time, he was influenced by ]'s ''Communism in Romania'', as well as by ], ], ] and ] scholarship (among others, the ideas of ], ], ], ], and the ]).<ref name="bizantinism"/> According to Tismăneanu, his family background allowed him insight into the hidden aspects of Communist Party history, which was comparing with the ideological demands of the Ceauşescu regime, and especially with the latter's emphasis on ].<ref name="bizantinism"/>

	He graduated as a ]<ref name="cvpres">{{ro icon}} </ref> from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sociology in 1974, and received his ] from the same institution in 1980, presenting the thesis "The ] of the Frankfurt School and ]" (''Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan'').<ref name="cvpres"/> During the period, he was received into the ranks of the ] (UTC), authored several articles which displayed support for the regime, and, as vice-president of the UTC's ''Communist Student Association'', took part in authoring and compiling ] aimed at students.<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="Lavric">{{ro icon}} </ref>		He graduated as a ]<ref name="cvpres">{{ro icon}} </ref> from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sociology in 1974, and received his ] from the same institution in 1980, presenting the thesis "The ] of the Frankfurt School and ]" (''Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan'').<ref name="cvpres"/>

	Between 1974 and 1981, Tismăneanu worked as a sociologist, employed by the Urban Sociology Department of the Institute for Designing Typified Buildings in Bucharest.<ref name="cvpres"/> He was not given approval to hold an academic position.<ref name="cvpres"/><ref name="tapalaga">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', July 24, 2006</ref>		Between 1974 and 1981, Tismăneanu worked as a sociologist, employed by the Urban Sociology Department of the Institute for Designing Typified Buildings in Bucharest.<ref name="cvpres"/> He was not given approval to hold an academic position.<ref name="cvpres"/><ref name="tapalaga">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', July 24, 2006</ref>
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			===Tismăneanu as head of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania===

	Various ] texts authored by Tismăneanu in Romania and his activities inside the ] are the topic of a major controversy, and frequently contrasted with his ] appointment.		Various ] texts authored by Tismăneanu in Romania and his activities inside the ] are the topic of a major controversy, and frequently contrasted with his ] appointment.

	According to an article by Victor Gaetan, a ] businessman, published in '']'' as a reply to the paper's earlier comments (which had been sympathetic towards the Commission's investigation),<ref name="Gaetan"> </ref><ref name="Teodora Georgescu">{{ro icon}} </ref> Tismăneanu's doctoral thesis is "a vitriolic sermon against ]".<ref name="Gaetan"/> The same work was nonetheless cited as evidence that Tismăneanu was "a ] student of ]" by University of Bucharest professor ] (who contrasted Tismăneanu with the official ideological background, as one in a group of "outstanding authors", alongside ], ], ], and ]).<ref name="dbarbu">, at the Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe</ref>		According to an article by Victor Gaetan, a ] businessman, published in '']'' as a reply to the paper's earlier comments (which had been sympathetic towards the Commission's investigation),<ref name="Gaetan"> </ref><ref name="Teodora Georgescu">{{ro icon}} </ref> Tismăneanu's doctoral thesis is "a vitriolic sermon against ]".<ref name="Gaetan"/>

	Among the critics of Tismăneanu's early activities stands the philosopher ], who stated that they were incompatible with the moral status required from a leader of the Commission.<ref name="Lavric"/> However, Liiceanu endorsed the incrimination of Communist regime and eventually the report itself,<ref name="apelmemorie">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', March 11, 2006</ref><ref name=fati>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="tudorpopescu">{{ro icon}} ], </ref> engaging in a public debate with ] and ] over its implications.<ref name="tudorpopescu"/>		Among the critics of Tismăneanu's early activities stands the philosopher ], who stated that they were incompatible with the moral status required from a leader of the Commission.<ref name="Lavric"/> However, Liiceanu endorsed the incrimination of Communist regime and eventually the report itself,<ref name="apelmemorie">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', March 11, 2006</ref><ref name=fati>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="tudorpopescu">{{ro icon}} ], </ref> engaging in a public debate with ] and ] over its implications.<ref name="tudorpopescu"/>

		⚫	As leaders of ] opinion inside the former ], ] and ] had been requested to comment on the Commission's activities. When asked if he knows Tismăneanu, Wałęsa replied "No, I don’t know, I don't have such a good memory",<ref name="walesa">{{ro icon}} </ref> while Bukovsky stated "I don't know Tismăneanu, I know nothing about him. I would like people to understand what they did in the past. He too should understand the part he played".<ref name="bukovsky"></ref>

		⚫	An extended polemic was sparked between the Tismăneanu Commission and the ] writer ]. Goma, who initially accepted an invitation to become a Commission member, as issued by Tismăneanu himself,<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref> claims to have been excluded after a short while by "the self-styled 'eminent members of ]'".<ref>Goma, in {{ro icon}} </ref> According to Tismăneanu, this happened only after Goma engaged in and publicized personal attacks aimed at other Commission members, allegedly calling Tismăneanu "a ] offspring",<ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> based on his family history; Goma denied having said these exact words, but later confirmed that he supported such views.<ref name="Goma">{{ro icon}} </ref> He also indicated that attacks on Tismăneanu had been prompted by rumors that the latter had sided with other intellectuals in condemning as "antisemitic" the views he had expressed on issues pertaining to the 1940 ];<ref name="Goma"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Tismăneanu denied ever having made public his attitudes on this particular matter, and Goma consequently apologized for not having sufficiently verified the information.<ref name="Goma"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> The Commission justified the exclusion based on Goma's implicit and later explicit refusal to recognize the board as a valid instrument;<ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Goma maintains his view that personal issues played the bigger part in the final decision.<ref name="Goma"/>

		⚫	The fact that ], who was a confirmed former collaborator of the Communist regime's Securitate, and known to have falsified his academic credentials, was selected for the Commission's panel, has prompted further criticism. Antohi resigned in September 2006.<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref>

		⚫	Several commentators have argued that the negative reception was partly due to the investigation's implications, as the latter's overall condemnation of the ] has opened the road for further debates regarding the links between various contemporary politicians and the former Communist structures<ref name="Betlevy">{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="Teodora Georgescu"/><ref name="fati"/><ref name="Manolache">{{ro icon}} </ref> (examples cited include the ]'s ],<ref name="Betlevy"/><ref name="Manolache"/> former ], and ],<ref name="Manolache"/> as well as ] leader ]<ref name="Betlevy"/> and ] leader ], owner of both '']'' and ]).<ref name="Teodora Georgescu"/>

			===Debate between Tismăneanu and his critics not directly related to the activity of the Commission===

			Tismăneanu's thesis was cited not only as evidence of his support of the Communist regime, but also as evidence that Tismăneanu was "a ] student of ]" by University of Bucharest professor ] (who contrasted Tismăneanu with the official ideological background, as one in a group of "outstanding authors", alongside ], ], ], and ]).<ref name="dbarbu">, at the Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe</ref>

	Tom Gallagher, a Professor of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at the ] and author of influential works on Romanian politics authored a series of articles critical of Tismăneanu's involvement in local Romanian issues in the post-1989 era, and especially of his relations with former ] ] (one of the leaders of the ], PSD).<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref>{{ro icon}} </ref> According to Gallagher, Tismăneanu "was useful to Iliescu in 2004 because the then President recognised the type of figure he was beneath the western reformist image he has cultivated".<ref name="Gallagher 2"> </ref> Gallagher writes that Tismăneanu's book of interviews with Iliescu, ''Marele Şoc'', "was ready to depict ] as an enlightened leader who, despite some flaws, had been instrumental in consolidating Romanian democracy", and that the volume, which he called "one of the strangest books to emerge from the Romanian transition", did not include, to Iliescu's advantage, any mentions of the controversial aspects of his presidency ("any serious enquiries about the ], the manipulation of ], the denigration of the historic parties ] and the ]], civic movements and the ], the explosion of ], or indeed the continuing political influence and fabulous wealth of the heirs of the pre-1989 intelligence service").<ref name="Gallagher 1"> </ref>		Tom Gallagher, a Professor of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at the ] and author of influential works on Romanian politics authored a series of articles critical of Tismăneanu's involvement in local Romanian issues in the post-1989 era, and especially of his relations with former ] ] (one of the leaders of the ], PSD).<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref>{{ro icon}} </ref><ref>{{ro icon}} </ref> According to Gallagher, Tismăneanu "was useful to Iliescu in 2004 because the then President recognised the type of figure he was beneath the western reformist image he has cultivated".<ref name="Gallagher 2"> </ref> Gallagher writes that Tismăneanu's book of interviews with Iliescu, ''Marele Şoc'', "was ready to depict ] as an enlightened leader who, despite some flaws, had been instrumental in consolidating Romanian democracy", and that the volume, which he called "one of the strangest books to emerge from the Romanian transition", did not include, to Iliescu's advantage, any mentions of the controversial aspects of his presidency ("any serious enquiries about the ], the manipulation of ], the denigration of the historic parties ] and the ]], civic movements and the ], the explosion of ], or indeed the continuing political influence and fabulous wealth of the heirs of the pre-1989 intelligence service").<ref name="Gallagher 1"> </ref>
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	Referring to Tismăneanu's books, Tom Gallagher also wrote: "But what about the role of the Securitate? In his books, has never been especially interested in their role. Much of the time, he has seemed far more concerned with creating a psycho-biography of the life and times of his illegalist<ref>In this context, the term refers to committed Communist Party members of the ], when the group had been outlawed.</ref> family in order to overcome the long lasting shock of having been cast into the wilderness for over twenty years when his family fell from grace under ]."<ref name="Gallagher 1"/>		Referring to Tismăneanu's books, Tom Gallagher also wrote: "But what about the role of the Securitate? In his books, has never been especially interested in their role. Much of the time, he has seemed far more concerned with creating a psycho-biography of the life and times of his illegalist<ref>In this context, the term refers to committed Communist Party members of the ], when the group had been outlawed.</ref> family in order to overcome the long lasting shock of having been cast into the wilderness for over twenty years when his family fell from grace under ]."<ref name="Gallagher 1"/>

⚫	As leaders of ] opinion inside the former ], ] and ] had been requested to comment on the Commission's activities. When asked if he knows Tismăneanu, Wałęsa replied "No, I don’t know, I don't have such a good memory",<ref name="walesa">{{ro icon}} </ref> while Bukovsky stated "I don't know Tismăneanu, I know nothing about him. I would like people to understand what they did in the past. He too should understand the part he played".<ref name="bukovsky"></ref>

	In 2006 and early 2007, '']'' newspaper repeatedly published accusatory claims that Tismăneanu had left with support from the the Securitate, that he had settled abroad with assistance from the ], and that, after escaping communist ], he continued to publish materials supporting official communist tenets.<ref name="alexevolodea">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', May 13, 2006</ref><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Tismăneanu has rejected all allegations, indicating that they contradicted data present in, among others, files kept on him by the Securitate and the official conclusion reached by the ] (CNSAS).<ref name="tapalaga"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Soon afterwards, ''Ziua'''s editor in chief, ], issued a formal apology for those particular claims (while expressing further criticism of various aspects of Tismăneanu's biography).<ref name="stanescu">{{ro icon}} ], , in '']'', June 22, 2006 (English-language version: )</ref>		In 2006 and early 2007, '']'' newspaper repeatedly published accusatory claims that Tismăneanu had left with support from the the Securitate, that he had settled abroad with assistance from the ], and that, after escaping communist ], he continued to publish materials supporting official communist tenets.<ref name="alexevolodea">{{ro icon}} , in '']'', May 13, 2006</ref><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Tismăneanu has rejected all allegations, indicating that they contradicted data present in, among others, files kept on him by the Securitate and the official conclusion reached by the ] (CNSAS).<ref name="tapalaga"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Soon afterwards, ''Ziua'''s editor in chief, ], issued a formal apology for those particular claims (while expressing further criticism of various aspects of Tismăneanu's biography).<ref name="stanescu">{{ro icon}} ], , in '']'', June 22, 2006 (English-language version: )</ref>
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	In January 2007, ''Ziua'' published in facsimile a document presented as part of a separate file kept on Tismăneanu by the Counter-Espionage unit of the Securitate, dated 1987.<ref name=Alexe>{{ro icon}} , in ''Ziua'', January 23, 2003. The facsimile and Dan Mureşan's letter are available as links on the article page</ref> According to this document, Tismăneanu was well appreciated for his professional and ] work prior to 1981, and had held the position of lecturer on the Propaganda Commission of the Communist Party Municipal Committee for Bucharest.<ref name="Alexe"/> The same document also contradicts Tismăneanu's indication that he had not been allowed to travel to the West prior to 1981, by stating that he had been approved tourist visas for both the ] and "] states".<ref name="Alexe"/> The facsimile was accompanied by an ] containing similar accusatory claims made by Dan Mureşan, a political consultant for the ],{{vc}} and relying on the assertion that Tismăneanu had settled in the United States only after 1985.<ref name="Alexe"/>		In January 2007, ''Ziua'' published in facsimile a document presented as part of a separate file kept on Tismăneanu by the Counter-Espionage unit of the Securitate, dated 1987.<ref name=Alexe>{{ro icon}} , in ''Ziua'', January 23, 2003. The facsimile and Dan Mureşan's letter are available as links on the article page</ref> According to this document, Tismăneanu was well appreciated for his professional and ] work prior to 1981, and had held the position of lecturer on the Propaganda Commission of the Communist Party Municipal Committee for Bucharest.<ref name="Alexe"/> The same document also contradicts Tismăneanu's indication that he had not been allowed to travel to the West prior to 1981, by stating that he had been approved tourist visas for both the ] and "] states".<ref name="Alexe"/> The facsimile was accompanied by an ] containing similar accusatory claims made by Dan Mureşan, a political consultant for the ],{{vc}} and relying on the assertion that Tismăneanu had settled in the United States only after 1985.<ref name="Alexe"/>

⚫	An extended polemic was sparked between the Tismăneanu Commission and the ] writer ]. Goma, who initially accepted an invitation to become a Commission member, as issued by Tismăneanu himself,<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref> claims to have been excluded after a short while by "the self-styled 'eminent members of ]'".<ref>Goma, in {{ro icon}} </ref> According to Tismăneanu, this happened only after Goma engaged in and publicized personal attacks aimed at other Commission members, allegedly calling Tismăneanu "a ] offspring",<ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> based on his family history; Goma denied having said these exact words, but later confirmed that he supported such views.<ref name="Goma">{{ro icon}} </ref> He also indicated that attacks on Tismăneanu had been prompted by rumors that the latter had sided with other intellectuals in condemning as "antisemitic" the views he had expressed on issues pertaining to the 1940 ];<ref name="Goma"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Tismăneanu denied ever having made public his attitudes on this particular matter, and Goma consequently apologized for not having sufficiently verified the information.<ref name="Goma"/><ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> The Commission justified the exclusion based on Goma's implicit and later explicit refusal to recognize the board as a valid instrument;<ref name="Tismăneanu22"/> Goma maintains his view that personal issues played the bigger part in the final decision.<ref name="Goma"/>

⚫	The fact that ], who was a confirmed former collaborator of the Communist regime's Securitate, and known to have falsified his academic credentials, was selected for the Commission's panel, has prompted further criticism. Antohi resigned in September 2006.<ref>{{ro icon}} </ref>

⚫	Several commentators have argued that the negative reception was partly due to the investigation's implications, as the latter's overall condemnation of the ] has opened the road for further debates regarding the links between various contemporary politicians and the former Communist structures<ref name="Betlevy">{{ro icon}} </ref><ref name="Teodora Georgescu"/><ref name="fati"/><ref name="Manolache">{{ro icon}} </ref> (examples cited include the ]'s ],<ref name="Betlevy"/><ref name="Manolache"/> former ], and ],<ref name="Manolache"/> as well as ] leader ]<ref name="Betlevy"/> and ] leader ], owner of both '']'' and ]).<ref name="Teodora Georgescu"/>

	==Works==		==Works==

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File:VladimirTismaneanu.jpg

Vladimir Tismăneanu, photograph by Eduard Koller

Vladimir Tismăneanu (b. July 4, 1951) is a Romanian-born American political scientist, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and compared politics, he is editor of the East European Politics and Societies academic review and of the magazine 22 and director of the University of Maryland's Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies. Tismăneanu is a contributor to several periodicals, including Journal of Democracy, Studia Politica, Sfera Politicii, and Cotidianul.

From late 1960s and until his defection from Romania in 1981, he authored several articles which displayed support for the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, and, as vice-president of the UTC's Communist Student Association, took part in authoring and compiling propaganda aimed at students.

In 2006, Romanian President Traian Băsescu appointed Tismăneanu president of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, which presented its report to the Romanian Parliament on December 18, 2006.

Biography

Born in Braşov, Vladimir Tismăneanu is the son of Leonte Tismăneanu, an activist of the Romanian Communist Party activist, and Hermina Marcusohn, a physician, both of whom were Jewish and Spanish Civil War veterans. His father, born in Bessarabia and settled in the Soviet Union at the end of the 1930s, worked in agitprop structures, returning to Romania at the end of World War II, and becoming, under the Communist regime, chair of the Marxism-Leninism department of the University of Bucharest. Progressively after Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej acted against Ana Pauker, the Tismăneanus were sidelined inside the Romanian nomenklatura; in 1960, Leonte Tismăneanu was stripped of his position as deputy head of Editura Politică.

During his years of study at the Bucharest Lyceum No. 24, which was then largely attended by students belonging to the nomenklatura, Vladimir Tismăneanu was in the same class as Nicu Ceauşescu, son of communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, as well as the children of Leonte Răutu, Nicolae Doicaru and Silviu Brucan.

In his preface to the Romanian-language edition of his 2003 book Stalinism for All Seasons, Tismăneanu indicated that, starting in 1970, he became interested in critiques of Marxism-Leninism and the Romanian communist regime in particular, after reading banned works made available to him by various of his acquaintances (among others, writer Dumitru Ţepeneag and his wife, translator Mona Ţepeneag, as well as Ileana, the daughter of Communist Party dignitary Gheorghe Gaston Marin). He stated that, at the time, he was influenced by Ghiţă Ionescu's Communism in Romania, as well as by Marxist, Western Marxist, Democratic and Libertarian Socialist scholarship (among others, the ideas of Georg Lukács, Leszek Kołakowski, Leon Trotsky, Antonio Gramsci, and the Frankfurt School). According to Tismăneanu, his family background allowed him insight into the hidden aspects of Communist Party history, which was comparing with the ideological demands of the Ceauşescu regime, and especially with the latter's emphasis on nationalism.

He graduated as a valedictorian from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sociology in 1974, and received his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1980, presenting the thesis "The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School and Contemporary Left-Wing Radicalism" (Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan).

Between 1974 and 1981, Tismăneanu worked as a sociologist, employed by the Urban Sociology Department of the Institute for Designing Typified Buildings in Bucharest. He was not given approval to hold an academic position.

In September 1981, a short while after the death of his father, he accompanied his mother on a voyage to Spain, after she had been granted a request to visit the sites where she and her husband had fought as young people. Unlike Hermina Tismăneanu, he opted not to return, and soon after left for Venezuela, before ultimately settling in the United States in 1982.

He lived first in Philadelphia, where he was employed by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (1983-1990), while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania (1985-1990). At the time, he began contributing comments on local politics to Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, beginning with an analysis of the "dynastic socialism" in Romania, centered on the political career of Nicu Ceauşescu. In 1990, Tismăneanu received a professorship at the University of Maryland, College Park and moved to Washington, D.C. Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he has been visiting his native country on a regular basis.

He is married to Mary Frances Sladek, and has fathered a son, Adam.

Controversy

This article may lack focus or may be about more than one topic. Please help improve this article, possibly by splitting the article and/or by introducing a disambiguation page, or discuss this issue on the talk page.

The relevance of particular information in (or previously in) this article or section is disputed. The information may have been removed or included by an editor as a result. Please see discussion on the talk page considering whether its inclusion is warranted.

Tismăneanu as head of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania

Various Marxist-Leninist texts authored by Tismăneanu in Romania and his activities inside the Union of Communist Youth are the topic of a major controversy, and frequently contrasted with his Presidential Commission appointment.

According to an article by Victor Gaetan, a Romanian-American businessman, published in The Washington Post as a reply to the paper's earlier comments (which had been sympathetic towards the Commission's investigation), Tismăneanu's doctoral thesis is "a vitriolic sermon against Western values".

Among the critics of Tismăneanu's early activities stands the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, who stated that they were incompatible with the moral status required from a leader of the Commission. However, Liiceanu endorsed the incrimination of Communist regime and eventually the report itself, engaging in a public debate with Cristian Tudor Popescu and Octavian Paler over its implications.

As leaders of anti-communist opinion inside the former Eastern Bloc, Lech Wałęsa and Vladimir Bukovsky had been requested to comment on the Commission's activities. When asked if he knows Tismăneanu, Wałęsa replied "No, I don’t know, I don't have such a good memory", while Bukovsky stated "I don't know Tismăneanu, I know nothing about him. I would like people to understand what they did in the past. He too should understand the part he played".

An extended polemic was sparked between the Tismăneanu Commission and the dissident writer Paul Goma. Goma, who initially accepted an invitation to become a Commission member, as issued by Tismăneanu himself, claims to have been excluded after a short while by "the self-styled 'eminent members of civil society'". According to Tismăneanu, this happened only after Goma engaged in and publicized personal attacks aimed at other Commission members, allegedly calling Tismăneanu "a Bolshevik offspring", based on his family history; Goma denied having said these exact words, but later confirmed that he supported such views. He also indicated that attacks on Tismăneanu had been prompted by rumors that the latter had sided with other intellectuals in condemning as "antisemitic" the views he had expressed on issues pertaining to the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia; Tismăneanu denied ever having made public his attitudes on this particular matter, and Goma consequently apologized for not having sufficiently verified the information. The Commission justified the exclusion based on Goma's implicit and later explicit refusal to recognize the board as a valid instrument; Goma maintains his view that personal issues played the bigger part in the final decision.

The fact that Sorin Antohi, who was a confirmed former collaborator of the Communist regime's Securitate, and known to have falsified his academic credentials, was selected for the Commission's panel, has prompted further criticism. Antohi resigned in September 2006.

Several commentators have argued that the negative reception was partly due to the investigation's implications, as the latter's overall condemnation of the Communist regime has opened the road for further debates regarding the links between various contemporary politicians and the former Communist structures (examples cited include the Social Democratic Party's Ion Iliescu, former President of Romania, and Adrian Păunescu, as well as Greater Romania Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor and Conservative Party leader Dan Voiculescu, owner of both Jurnalul Naţional and Antena 1).

Debate between Tismăneanu and his critics not directly related to the activity of the Commission

Tismăneanu's thesis was cited not only as evidence of his support of the Communist regime, but also as evidence that Tismăneanu was "a liberal student of Euro-Marxism" by University of Bucharest professor Daniel Barbu (who contrasted Tismăneanu with the official ideological background, as one in a group of "outstanding authors", alongside Pavel Câmpeanu, Henri H. Stahl, Zigu Ornea, and Vlad Georgescu).

Tom Gallagher, a Professor of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at the University of Bradford and author of influential works on Romanian politics authored a series of articles critical of Tismăneanu's involvement in local Romanian issues in the post-1989 era, and especially of his relations with former President Ion Iliescu (one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party, PSD). According to Gallagher, Tismăneanu "was useful to Iliescu in 2004 because the then President recognised the type of figure he was beneath the western reformist image he has cultivated". Gallagher writes that Tismăneanu's book of interviews with Iliescu, Marele Şoc, "was ready to depict Ion Iliescu as an enlightened leader who, despite some flaws, had been instrumental in consolidating Romanian democracy", and that the volume, which he called "one of the strangest books to emerge from the Romanian transition", did not include, to Iliescu's advantage, any mentions of the controversial aspects of his presidency ("any serious enquiries about the mineriade, the manipulation of nationalism, the denigration of the historic parties , civic movements and the monarchy, the explosion of corruption, or indeed the continuing political influence and fabulous wealth of the heirs of the pre-1989 intelligence service"). Gallagher expressed further criticism on Tismăneanu, writing that "he wishes to build up a vast patron-client network in contemporary history and political science not dissimilar to what the PSD did in those areas where it desired control".

Tismăneanu replied to Gallagher's accusations in an interview with Jurnalul Naţional, arguing that Marele Şoc largely reflected Iliescu's own beliefs, which he had wanted to render accurately, and stating that "all I could do was to obtain the maximum of what can be obtained through dialog with ". He depicted Gallagher's attitude as "an outbreak of resentments", and indicated that "the only praise I could offer " was in regard to the latter's respect for pluralism in front of authoritarianism. In later statements on the issue, he argued that Gallagher concerns about a supposed change in political views had been unfounded, while expressing regret over the fact that "I had not highlighted in those sections I authored, certain elements that would have made it clear for the reader where I stand".

Referring to Tismăneanu's books, Tom Gallagher also wrote: "But what about the role of the Securitate? In his books, has never been especially interested in their role. Much of the time, he has seemed far more concerned with creating a psycho-biography of the life and times of his illegalist family in order to overcome the long lasting shock of having been cast into the wilderness for over twenty years when his family fell from grace under Gheorghiu-Dej."

In 2006 and early 2007, Ziua newspaper repeatedly published accusatory claims that Tismăneanu had left with support from the the Securitate, that he had settled abroad with assistance from the Communist Party of Venezuela, and that, after escaping communist censorship, he continued to publish materials supporting official communist tenets. Tismăneanu has rejected all allegations, indicating that they contradicted data present in, among others, files kept on him by the Securitate and the official conclusion reached by the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS). Soon afterwards, Ziua's editor in chief, Sorin Roşca-Stănescu, issued a formal apology for those particular claims (while expressing further criticism of various aspects of Tismăneanu's biography).

Based on data which he indicated formed part of his CNSAS file, Tismăneanu also specified that he was the object of constant Securitate surveillance after his departure, that his mother was subject to pressures, and that derogatory comments on him, including a coded reference to his Jewish background (tunărean), were gathered from various informants and agents. He made mention of the fact that, according to the documents (the last of which were allegedly compiled in April 1990), the post-Revolution Foreign Intelligence Directorate had continued to monitor him. Tismăneanu also indicated his belief that the author of a denunciation note, who used the name "Costin" and recommended himself as a Faculty of Sociology professor, was the same person who, after 1989, had sent a letter to his University of Maryland employer, in which he had called attention to the communist activities of Leonte Tismăneanu (according to Vladimir Tismăneanu, the letter was dismissed as "abject" and irrelevant by its recipient).

In January 2007, Ziua published in facsimile a document presented as part of a separate file kept on Tismăneanu by the Counter-Espionage unit of the Securitate, dated 1987. According to this document, Tismăneanu was well appreciated for his professional and Romanian Communist Party work prior to 1981, and had held the position of lecturer on the Propaganda Commission of the Communist Party Municipal Committee for Bucharest. The same document also contradicts Tismăneanu's indication that he had not been allowed to travel to the West prior to 1981, by stating that he had been approved tourist visas for both the Eastern Bloc and "capitalist states". The facsimile was accompanied by an open letter containing similar accusatory claims made by Dan Mureşan, a political consultant for the United States Republican Party, and relying on the assertion that Tismăneanu had settled in the United States only after 1985.

Works

Originally published in Romanian

Noua Stîngă şi şcoala de la Frankfurt (Editura Politică, 1976)
Teoria Critică a Şcolii de la Frankfurt şi radicalismul de stînga contemporan (Ph.D. thesis, 1980)
Mic dicţionar social-politic pentru tineret (co-author, under the direction of Virgil Măgureanu; Editura Politică, 1981)
Condamnaţi la fericire. Experimentul comunist în România (Grup de edituri ale Fundaţiei EXO, 1991)
Fantoma lui Gheorghiu-Dej (Editura Univers, 1995)
Balul mascat. Un dialog cu Mircea Mihăieş (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 1996)
Spectrele Europei Centrale (Polirom, 2001)
Ghilotina de scrum (Polirom, 2002)
Scrisori din Washington (Polirom, 2002)
Marele şoc din finalul unui secol scurt. Ion Iliescu în dialog cu Vladimir Tismăneanu (dialogue with Ion Iliescu; Editura Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 2004)
Schelete in dulap (dialogue with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 2004)
Scopul şi mijloacele: Eseuri despre ideologie, tiranie şi mit (Editura Curtea Veche, 2004)
Anul revoluţionar 1956: revolta minţilor şi sfîrşitulul mitului comunist (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)
Democraţie şi memorie (Editura Curtea Veche, 2006)

Originally published in English

The Crisis of Marxist Ideology in Eastern Europe: The Poverty of Utopia (Routledge, 1988)
Latin American Revolutionaries: Groups, Goals, Methods (with Michael Radu; Potomac Books, 1990)
In Search of Civil Society (Routledge, 1990)
Debates on the Future of Communism (with Judith Shapiro; Palgrave Macmillan, 1991)
Uprooting Leninism, Cultivating Liberty (with Patrick Clawson; University Press of America, 1992)
Reinventing Politics: Eastern Europe from Stalin to Havel (Free Press, 1994)
Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (M. E. Sharpe, 1995)
Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton University Press, 1998)
The Revolutions of 1989 (Re-Writing Histories) (Routledge, 1999)
Between Past and Future: The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath (with Sorin Antohi; Central European University Press, 2000)
Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism (University of California Press, 2003)

Bilingual

Vecinii lui Franz Kafka. Romanul unei nevroze/The Neighbors of Franz Kafka. The Novel of a Neurosis (with Mircea Mihăieş; Polirom, 1998)

Other

Vladimir Tismăneanu has authored the screenplay for Dinu Tănase's documentary film Condamnaţi la fericire ("Condemned to Happiness"), released in 1992. With Octavian Şerban, he has also authored a series about Communist Romania, which was showcased by the Romanian Television Company.

References

Template:Ro icon Gabriela Antoniu, "Tinereţe revoluţionară - Tismăneanu, întâiul comunist al ţării", in Jurnalul Naţional, December 20, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Sorin Lavric, "Cum se investighează crimele comunismului la români", in Adevărul Literar şi Artistic, October 4, 2006
Template:Ro icon Tismăneanu interviewed by Emilia Chiscop, 2005
Template:Ro icon Tismăneanu, "Amintiri din copilărie: Liceul 24 şi destinul nomenclaturii", in Almanahul Caţavencu 2002
^ Tismăneanu, "Bizantinism şi revoluţie. Istoria politică a comunismului românesc", preface to Stalinism pentru eternitate. O istorie politică a comunismului românesc, Polirom, Iaşi, 2005, p.14-16
^ Template:Ro icon Profile at the Romanian Presidency site
^ Template:Ro icon Dan Tapalagă, "Turnat de prieteni, demonizat de Securitate: Vladimir Tismăneanu", in Cotidianul, July 24, 2006
^ Tismăneanu, in Template:Ro icon Armand Gosu, "N-am avut de-a face cu Securitatea", in 22, nr.849, June 2006
^ Victor Gaetan, "Vinegar on Old, Open Wounds", in The Washington Post, August 26, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Teodora Georgescu, "Felix, prezentat Americii", in Curentul, July 31, 2006
Template:Ro icon Şerban Orescu, "De ce este nevoie de un apel la memorie?", in Ziua, March 11, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Sabina Fati, "Politicienii, intelectualii şi condamnarea comunismului", in Observator Cultural
^ Template:Ro icon Cristian Tudor Popescu, Cuvântul care naşte gândul, hosted by ProTV
Template:Ro icon "Interview with Lech Walesa", in Ziua, December 20, 2006
"Interview with Vladimir Bukovski", in Ziua, May 15, 2006
Template:Ro icon Silviu Mihai, "Goma: 'Eu nu am amănunte de studiat'", in Cotidianul, April 11, 2006
Goma, in Template:Ro icon Adrian Popescu, "Paul Goma îi desfiinţează pe membrii "Comisiei Tismăneanu" de cercetare a ororilor comunismului din România", in Gândul, May 9, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Paul Goma, Despre Vladimir Tismăneanu - şi nu numai - în 11 puncte
Template:Ro icon Dana Carbelea, "Antohi nu mai e în Comisia Tismăneanu", in Curentul, September 13, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Dana Betlevy, "România condamnă în mod oficial comunismul", in The Epoch Times - Romanian edition, December 18, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Lica Manolache, "Efectul Comisiei Tismăneanu", in Evenimentul Zilei, December 17, 2006
Daniel Barbu, Political Science in Romania, Country Report 1, at the Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe
Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Standardele judecăţii - altele pentru intelectuali?", in România Liberă, September 15, 2006
Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Politolog fără bisericuţe", in România Liberă, October 13, 2006
Template:Ro icon Tom Gallagher, "Netulburat de propria-i mistificare", in România Liberă, November 01, 2006
^ Tom Gallagher, "A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (II)", in Ziua, April 15, 2006
^ Tom Gallagher, "A historian indispensable for two Romanian presidents (I)", in Ziua, April 14, 2006
^ Template:Ro icon Monica Iordache, "Nu cred că găsim în această carte adevărul", in Jurnalul Naţional
Template:Ro icon Ovidiu Şimonca, "«Există un mare interes să înţelegem din ce lume venim». Interviu cu Vladimir Tismăneanu", in Observatorul Cultural
In this context, the term refers to committed Communist Party members of the interwar period, when the group had been outlawed.
Template:Ro icon Vladimir Alexe, "Agentul Volodea", in Ziua, May 13, 2006
Template:Ro icon Sorin Roşca-Stănescu, "Vladimir Tismăneanu, punct şi de la căpat", in Ziua, June 22, 2006 (English-language version: "Vladimir Tismaneanu: end and beginning" )
^ Template:Ro icon Vladimir Alexe, "Documentul «fugii» lui Tismăneanu"; Dan Mureşan, "Unde a fost Tismăneanu patru ani, până a ajuns în SUA?", in Ziua, January 23, 2003. The facsimile and Dan Mureşan's letter are available as links on the article page

Template:Ro icon Biography at Polirom.ro

External links

Vladimir Tismaneanu, home page at the University of Maryland
Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies
Condamnaţi la fericire at the British Film Institute site
Template:Ro icon The final report of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania

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