100 Greatest Romanians

TV show's logo

Ştefan cel Mare (here on some stamps from 2004), the winner of the contest

In 2006, the Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română, TVR) conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considers the 100 greatest Romanians of all time, in a version of the British TV show 100 greatest Britons. The resulting series, "Great Romanians" ("Mari Români"), included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme. It concluded with a debate. On October 21, TVR announced that the "greatest Romanian of all time" according to the voting was: Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great).

1–100

1. Stephen the Great (1433–1504) Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat
2. Carol I (1839–1914) – the first Romanian ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty (1866–1914), the first King of Romania (since 1881) after the country acquired full independence under his leadership
3. Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889) – late Romantic poet, widely considered to be the most influential Romanian poet
4. Mihai Viteazul (1558–1601) – Prince of Wallachia, he achieved the first union of Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia (the three principalities largely inhabited by Romanians)
5. Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001) – Lutheran Christian minister, author and educator who spent a total of fourteen years in communist prison
6. Ion Antonescu (1882–1946) – the prime minister and leader of Romania during World War II
7. Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) – researcher and professor of the history of religions, Orientalist and novelist
8. Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1820–1873) – the first ruler of the United Principalities of Romania after the union of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859; his reforms started the modernization of Romania
9. Constantin Brâncuşi (1876–1957) – famous modern sculptor
10. Nadia Comăneci (born 1961) – gymnast, winner of five Olympic gold medals, and the first to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event
11. Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918–1989) – last communist president of Romania
12. Vlad Ţepeş (1431–1476) – Prince of Wallachia
13. Henri Coandă (1886–1972) – inventor and aerodynamics pioneer
14. Gheorghe Hagi (born 1965) – football player
15. Ion Luca Caragiale (1852–1912) – playwright and short story writer
16. Nicolae Iorga (1871–1940) – historian, writer, and politician
17. Constantin Brâncoveanu (1654–1714) – Prince of Wallachia
18. George Enescu (1881–1955) – composer and musician
19. Gregorian Bivolaru (born 1952) – founder of MISA yoga organization
20. Nicolae Titulescu (1882–1941) – diplomat, president of the League of Nations
21. Ferdinand I of Romania (1865–1927) – King of Romania during World War I
22. Mihai I (born 1921) – last King of Romania before communist period
23. Decebal (87–106) – last King of Dacia before Roman conquest
24. Traian Băsescu (born 1951) – politician, President of Romania
25. Gheorghe Mureşan (born 1971) – NBA basketball player
26. Ion I. C. Brătianu (1864–1927) – liberal politician, Prime Minister of Romania for five terms
27. Răzvan Lucescu (born 1969) football player and football club manager
28. Nicolae Paulescu (1869–1931) – physiologist, the discoverer of insulin
29. Iuliu Maniu (1873–1953) – politician
30. Iuliu Hossu (1885–1970) – Greek-Catholic bishop, victim of the communist regime
31. Emil Cioran (1911–1995) – philosopher, writer, and essayist
32. Avram Iancu (1824–1872) – leader of the 1848 revolution in Transylvania
33. Burebista (? – 44 BC) – King of Dacia
34. Regina Maria (1875–1938) – Queen of Romania
35. Corneliu Coposu (1914–1995) – politician, victim of the communist regime
36. Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913) – inventor, aviation pioneer
37. Iosif Trifa (1888–1938) – Eastern Orthodox priest, founder of the "Oastea Domnului" ("Lord's Army") Christian organisation
38. Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983) – poet and essayist
39. Ion Creangă (1837–1889) – writer
40. Mădalina Manole (1967–2010) – pop singer
41. Corneliu Vadim Tudor (born 1949) – strongly nationalistic politician, writer and journalist; founder and leader of the Greater Romania party
42. Traian Vuia (1872–1950) – inventor, aviation pioneer
43. Lucian Blaga (1895–1961) – poet, playwright, and philosopher
44. George Emil Palade (1912–2008) – cell biologist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1974)
45. Ana Aslan (1897–1988) – biologist, physician and inventor, the author of essential research in gerontology
46. Adrian Mutu (born 1979) – football player
47. Florin Piersic (born 1936) – theater and film actor
48. Mihail Kogălniceanu (1817–1891) – politician and historian, first Prime Minister of the United Principalities of Romania
49. Iancsi Korossy (born 1926) – jazz player
50. Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723) – Prince of Moldavia and prolific man of letters
51. Ilie Năstase (born 1946) – tennis player
52. Gheorghe Zamfir (born 1941) – musician, pan flute player
53. Gică Petrescu (1915–2006) – musician, folk and pop music composer and singer
54. Elisabeta Rizea (1912–2003) – anti-communist partisan
55. Bulă (fictional) – the main character of Romanian jokes
56. Amza Pellea (1931–1983) – theater and film actor
57. Matei Corvin (1443 (?) – 1490) – King of Hungary
58. Mircea cel Bătrân (1355–1418) – Prince of Wallachia
59. Titu Maiorescu (1840–1917) – literary critic and politician
60. Toma Caragiu (1925–1977) – theater and film actor
61. Andreea Marin (born 1974) – TV show host
62. Emil Racoviţă (1868–1947) – biologist, speleologist and explorer of Antarctica
63. Victor Babeş (1854–1926) – biologist and early bacteriologist, one of the founders of microbiology
64. Nicolae Bălcescu (1819–1852) – leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution
65. Horia-Roman Patapievici (born 1957) – writer and essayist
66. Marin Preda (1922–1980) – novelist
67. Eugen Ionescu (1909–1994) – playwright, one of the initiators of the theatre of the absurd
68. Dumitru Stăniloae (1903–1993) – Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian
69. Alexandru Todea (1905–2002) – Greek-Catholic bishop, victim of the communist regime
70. Tudor Gheorghe (born 1945) – singer and theater actor
71. Ion Ţiriac (born 1939) – tennis player and businessman
72. Ilie Cleopa (1912–1998) – Eastern Orthodox archimandrite
73. Arsenie Boca (1910–1989) – Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian, victim of the communist regime
74. Dumitru Cornilescu (1891–1975) – Eastern Orthodox, then Protestant priest, translated the Bible into Romanian in 1921
75. Grigore Moisil (1906–1973) – mathematician and computing pioneer
76. Nicolae Steinhardt (1912–1989) – writer
77. Anghel Saligny (1854–1925) – engineer
78. Ivan Patzaichin (born 1949) – flatwater canoer who won seven Olympic medals
79. Maria Tănase (1913–1963) – traditional and popular music singer
80. Octavian Paler (1926–2007) – essayist
81. Ciprian Porumbescu (1853–1883) – composer
82. Nicolae Covaci (born 1947) – founder of the Pasărea Phoenix rock band
83. Dumitru Prunariu (born 1952) – first Romanian cosmonaut
84. Iancu de Hunedoara (c. 1387–1456) – Voivode of Transylvania, captain-general and regent of the Kingdom of Hungary
85. Constantin Noica (1909–1987) – philosopher and essayist
86. Badea Cârţan (1849–1911) – a shepherd who fought for the independence of the Romanians of Transylvania (then under Hungarian rule inside Austria-Hungary)

Worst Romanians

Evenimentul Zilei also conducted a poll about the worst Romanians (Amari Români – "bitter Romanians", a pun on Mari – "greatest") and the results were:

1. Ion Iliescu (the first president after 1989)
2. Nicolae Ceauşescu (the last communist president before December 1989)
3. Gigi Becali (controversial businessman, party leader and chairman of the football club Steaua Bucharest)
4. Adrian Năstase (the Prime Minister of Romania between 2000 and 2004)
5. Carol II (King of Romania between World Wars)
6. Mihai I (the last King of Romania)
7. Traian Băsescu (president of Romania, elected in 2004)
8. Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (first communist leader of Romania, after World War II)
9. Elena Ceauşescu (Nicolae Ceauşescu's wife and #2 in the Romanian communist government until December 1989)
10. Sorin Ovidiu Vântu (a controversial businessman)

External links

• mariromani.ro
• Evenimentul Zilei, Ion Iliescu, "pelinul" romanilor