contributors' biographies

Emil Constantinescu

Tutored in politics by Corneliu Coposu, one of Romania's most famous dissidents, Emil Constantinescu now faces the challenge of resuscitating a country emerging from thirty years of Communist control. He won an improbable victory in Romania's election in 1996, becoming his country's first democratically elected President.

Emil is known for his intellect and open-mindedness. In April, 1990, as the newly elected rector of Bucharest University, he threw open the balcony doors so that students could be heard protesting Ion Iliescu, the man he would defeat in the presidential election six years later.

President Constantinescu is also a distinguished professor of Geology and holds a law degree.