Dear Friends,
The Ratiu Foundation Annual Reception took place on Friday 7 March 2008. We promised an unforgettable evening, with a warm friendly atmosphere and a strong national flavour of Romanian food and wine. As all who were present, sporting bow ties, can attest, our promise was fulfilled. We delivered a fun, informal yet elegant reception for an audience of more than one hundred guests.
A big thank you to all who attended the Ratiu Foundation Annual Reception: you made the evening sparkle by your simple presence, and your fine conversation and good humour made the old walls of No. 1 Belgrave Square resound.
The reception was opened on a serious note with the projection of a short documentary film on the late Ion Ratiu (1917-2000), founder of the Ratiu Foundation. ‘The Man Behind the Bow Tie’, by Ivor Barladeanu, presented a portrait of Ion Ratiu through the words of those who knew him best. The film also made wide use of excerpts from interviews given by Ion Ratiu on his return to Romania revealing his passionate belief in democracy and the determination of his unique character.
After the film, the new Ambassador of Romania to the UK, His Excellency, Mr Ion Jinga, greeted the audience. The Ambassador thanked the Foundation for its involvement in advancing British-Romanian relationships and thanked all present for their work as unofficial ambassadors of Romania and its culture.
Next, Mr Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman of the Ratiu Foundation, made a concise presentation of the Foundation’s work. During his speech, he mentioned all the fields in which support was given, from theology and biometrics to curatorial studies and political science. Scholars and project partners were all thanked for their hard work, and were assured of the Foundation’s continuing and enthusiastic support for future projects furthering education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people – ‘offering financial support to people and projects to give them that vital opportunity.’ Mr Ratiu also expressed his hope that a subsequent reception could take place in Turda, Transilvania, where the Ratiu family house is located. He extended his invitation to this event to all those present.
There followed a short speech by Mr Indrei Ratiu, Trustee of the Foundation, and Vice-President of the Ratiu Center for Democracy from Turda, in Transylvania. Indrei recalled Ion Ratiu’s interest in working with young people, and his genuine care for their concerns. Mrs Pamela Ratiu, Director of the Apply department of the Ratiu Center, briefly presented the Center activities in the Turda and Cluj area.
Before the utterly delicious and very Romanian buffet – accompanied generously by Romanian wine – all the guests of the evening were enchanted by a short recital given by Ms Diana Ionescu (piano) and Mr Vlad Hirlav Maistorovici (violin), both of them Ratiu Scholars. The programme, with works by Mozart, Rachmaninov, Messiaen, and Brahms, left the audience breathless.
A crew working on a documentary on the Foundation filmed the event and also took interviews from various beneficiaries of our programmes. It will be screened in 2009, on the 30th anniversary of the Ratiu Foundation. Some of the participants were asked for testimonials, and we are grateful to all who agreed to do so.
There was much rejoicing and unlimited networking, as people of all professional fields mingled and talked and made acquaintance with each other. The Trustees of the Foundation were also present, meeting and talking with our guests and discussing plans for the future.
We extend also our thanks to the Embassy of Romania in the UK, who graciously provided the rooms for the reception in the same historic building where Ion Ratiu first worked as a young attaché of the Romanian Legation sixty-eight years ago.
In short, stimulated as we were by the high level of IQ per square metre, and the presence of all other necessary elements conducive to an excellent atmosphere, we can conclude that we had a superb event. We hope all participants would agree with this statement, and we look forward to meeting you all again next year – maybe in London, maybe in Turda!
