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We also discussed books and the intellectual issues of the time. We were subscribers to Romanian culture magazines and we purchased books.
During the Communist regime, the Romanian intellectual life was not bad. There were valuable writers, good theater plays and great actors, and we had access to all the cultural manifestations. Outside my professional activity, which had forced me to study Soviet architecture at the beginning, I had subscriptions to some Russian-speaking magazines, like Arhitectura CCCP; I couldn't understand a word. I had architecture books in my library, including the history of architecture written by the Soviets and translated into Romanian. I sold it because it wasn't worth a dime anymore. We had Romanian literature and foreign literature: French, English. My wife had studied German, English and French in high school. I learnt English very late, in my sixties. I had a lot of French literature in particular. There were many translations from the foreign literature during the Communist period. The publishing house was Russian, but the translation was Romanian. I kept in touch with my brother and sister, and they would send us books.
During the Communist regime, the Romanian intellectual life was not bad. There were valuable writers, good theater plays and great actors, and we had access to all the cultural manifestations. Outside my professional activity, which had forced me to study Soviet architecture at the beginning, I had subscriptions to some Russian-speaking magazines, like Arhitectura CCCP; I couldn't understand a word. I had architecture books in my library, including the history of architecture written by the Soviets and translated into Romanian. I sold it because it wasn't worth a dime anymore. We had Romanian literature and foreign literature: French, English. My wife had studied German, English and French in high school. I learnt English very late, in my sixties. I had a lot of French literature in particular. There were many translations from the foreign literature during the Communist period. The publishing house was Russian, but the translation was Romanian. I kept in touch with my brother and sister, and they would send us books.
Period
Location
Bucharest
Romania
Interview
Aristide Streja