Ana BLANDIANA (pseudonym) – Otilia-Valeria RUSAN, born Coman
Personal Information
Born in Timisoara, March 25, 1942
Daughter of the Orthodox priest Gheorghe Coman and of Otilia Coman, born Diacu, accountant.
Married to Romulus Rusan (m. 1960)
Studies:
Graduated in Romance Philology, Faculty of Philology of Babeș Bolyai University, Cluj (1963-1967)
Positions Held
- President of the Romanian PEN Club (1990-2004)
- Honorary President of the Romanian PEN Club (since 2004)
- President of the Civic Alliance (1991-2001)
- Member of the Academy of Poetry Stéphane Mallarmé
- Member of the European Academy of Poetry
- Member of the World Academy of Poetry (UNESCO)
- President of the Foundation “Academia Civica” (since 1994)
- Founding Director of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance (since 1994)
In November 1990 she was one of the founders of the Civic Alliance, acted as President from 1991-2001.
Together with Romulus Rusan and under the aegis of the European Council she founded the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance at Sighet (Romania).
Conferences and Festivals
Over the years, the poet has been awarded a number of grants by universities and foundations from different European countries and the US. She has received numerous invitations from academies and cultural organizations to participate in poetry festivals, meetings, conferences, at which she gave public lectures and poetry readings.