Silviu Brucan

Silviu Brucan (born Saul Bruckner; 18 January 1916 – 14 September 2006) was a Romanian Communist politician. Though he disagreed with Nicolae Ceauşescu's policies, he never gave up his Communist beliefs and did not oppose Communist ideology. After the Romanian Revolution, Brucan became a political analyst and author of books on Communism and Eastern Europe.

Silviu Brucan was born in Bucharest to wealthy Jewish parents living in Berzei Street, near Matache Măcelaru Market. Brucan's father was a wholesale wool merchant who imported fabrics from England in the aftermath of World War I, suits of fine English fabrics being a luxury item that was popular among the Romanian bourgeoisie rising due to the economic boom. He attended the German-language Evangelische Schule of Luterană Street and the Saint Sava National College.

In 1929 came the Wall Street Crash, leading to the Great Depression, which slumped the luxury industry, including English clothes and Brucan's father's shop in Şepcari Street went bankrupt and the Brucan family was left penniless. They moved into a modest apartment on Vlad Ţepeș Street. Brucan's father found a job as a fabric expert working for a German merchant, but as this was not enough to feed a family of six, Silviu Brucan began giving private lessons to pupils of wealthy families, thus gaining access to the world of the rich landowners and industrialists. In his memories, Brucan said that the sharp contrast between the world of luxury of the privileged classes and the misery of those who worked hard all day to earn a living and the feeling of social injustice strongly influenced him.

As a social outcast (his father had been indicted for fraudulent bankruptcy) and as a Jew in the 1930s, he was prevented by the Iron Guard supporters from formally studying at the University of Bucharest. Nevertheless, with the help of some friends, he did attend some courses at the university, such as the lectures of historian Nicolae Iorga, the philosopher Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, the aesthetician Tudor Vianu, and the philosopher Nae Ionescu.

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