Raoul Șorban

Raoul Șorban(September 4, 1912 – July 19, 2006) was aRomanianpainter, journalist, writer, essayist, art historian, academic, and memoirist.

Biography

His father, the composerGuilelm Șorban,descended from an oldethnic Romaniannoble family inTransylvania;his grandmother was ofAlsatianorigin.

Born inDej(then Dés,Kingdom of Hungary), Șorban studied painting and music inItaly(at theGiuseppe Verdi ConservatoryinMilan),Austriaand Germany between 1930 and 1934. He then studied Law at theUniversity of Cluj.Meanwhile, he exhibited his works of painting in art shows atBaia MareandCluj(1935),Bucharestand Baia Mare (1938), and again in Cluj (1939, 1942, 1943). In 1938, Șorban became a teaching assistant of art history at Cluj University.

Following theSecond Vienna Awardwhich assignedNorthern TransylvaniatoHungary,he decided to remain in Cluj (Kolozsvár), and founded the Northern Transylvanian Romanian Publishing House (Editura Românească din Ardealul de Nord), the onlyRomanian-languagepublishing house in the region. At the same time, he contributed articles for the Romanian-language newspaperTribuna Ardealului( "The Transylvanian Tribune" ). He was arrested by the Hungarian authorities and held in custody between March and October 1942.

In 1944, Șorban played an active part in the rescue ofJewswho faced death duringThe Holocaust,helping the remaining members of the community to escape toBritish Palestine.In May 1944, he returned to Bucharest, where he joined the Public Relations Department in the Romanian government (seeRomania during World War II).

After Romania's exit from theAxisand the onset ofSoviet occupation,as Northern Transylvania was returned to Romania, Șorban again moved to Cluj. Between 1946 and 1948, he headed the Cluj Conservatory and, starting with 1948, the Art Institute of Cluj (until 1949). TheCommunist regimepurged him from office, which forced him to earn his living as ahouse painterin a cooperative. He was arrested in 1952 by theSecuritateand detained without trial until 1955 (overall, Șorban spent 50 months in prison without trial during his life).

In 1956, he was again allowed access to academia. A publisher atEditura de stat pentru literatură și artă,he was re-admitted as professor, teaching at theUniversity of Bucharest(1965) and theNicolae GrigorescuArt Institute of Bucharest (1968).

TheYad VashemHolocaust Museum awarded him in 1987 theRighteous Among the Nationstitle for his efforts to save the Transylvanian Jews from extermination. He received the Honorary Citizenship ofIsraelin 1990. This role of his is disputed by some. A web site is dedicated to his memory.

Literary works

• Aurel Popp(biography), Raoul Ṣorban and Zoltan Banner, col. "Maeṣtrii Artei Româneṣti", Editura Meridiane, Bucureṣti, 1968
• Fantasma imperiului ungar și casa Europei(Editura Globus, București, 1990,ISBN973-49-0000-5)
• Chestiunea maghiară(Editura Valahia, București, 2001,ISBN973-95092-4-X)
• Invazie de stafii. Însemnări și mărturisiri despre o altă parte a vieții(Editura Meridiane, București, 2003,ISBN973-33-0477-8)
• Rețelele Omeniei(with Adrian Riza) (Editura R.A.I., 1995,ISBN973-570-018-2)
• Vida (album)(Editura Meridiane, 1981)
• Theodor Pallady (Mică bibliotecă de arta),Editura Meridiane, 1975
• Constantin Mustață, Raoul Șorban -Dialoguri cu Raoul Șorban,Edditura Anotimp, Oradea, 2002,ISBN973-98564-1-1
• Aurel Ciupe,Editura Meridiane, București, 1967,
• Constantin Baraschi,Editura Meridiane, București 1966
• O viață de artist între München și Maramureș (Hollósy Simon),Editura Meridiane, București 1986
• Ter Borch,Editura Meridiane, București 1985
• Theodor Pallady (album)

External links

• Raoul Șorban– his activity to save Jews' lives during theHolocaust,atYad Vashemwebsite