Ana Simon. Unusual Encounters

Reputed scholar, writer, director and translator Ana Simon left Romania more than 50 years ago and settled in Geneva

Luana Pleşea, 27.10.2018, 11:00

Reputed scholar, writer, director and translator Ana Simon left
Romania more than 50 years ago and settled in Geneva, Switzerland, after a
doctoral scholarship in Spain. She was born in Caras Severin county, south-western
Romania. Few things are known about her in her native country though, but a
first step in changing this state of affairs was taken by Alina Mazilu, Vasile
Bogdan and Cornel Ungureanu who wrote a book entitled Ana Simon. Unusual Encounters. The book appeared at the Diacritic
Publishing House and was launched in late September in Timisoara, western
Romania.

We caught up with Alina Mazilu, one of the authors who also
coordinated the book launch:

From my point of view the book is
a beginning because few things are known about Ana Simon in Romania and that’s
a pity. I wouldn’t say it’s unfair because Ana didn’t want to promote herself
very much. Few things are known and I believe that has to change and people should
know more about her. And that’s why we wrote the book; it’s a book about and
with Ana… It consists of interviews and manages to reveal Ana Simon’s complex
personality. She is the most generous human being I have ever met. We wanted
our book not to reveal everything from the beginning but keep the suspense and
allow readers to discover Ana Simon’s universe for themselves.

Ana Simon is the wife of Swiss actor Francois Simon and the daughter-in-law
of Michel Simon, one of Europe’s best actors. Ana is the author of numerous
films and poetry volumes and has translated works by Mircea Eliade, Marin
Sorescu and Miguel de Unamuno. The book is evoking these authors and contains
several of her poems translated by Marin Sorescu and Jean Grosu.

Here is Alina
Mazilu again:

There are several photos in the book, including one with Mario
Vargas Llosa in Lima, long before his shot to fame. It also has letters from
Ana’s very good friend Ion Negoitescu and a letter from Emil Cioran. There is
also a portrait drawn by the famous German graphic artist Margarethe Krieger,
another good friend of Ana’s. Right on the book cover there is a great portrait
by Chilean painter Jose Venturelli, a close friend to Pablo Neruda. Various
photos with her great love, Francois Simon, as well as with Ion Vianu.

Ana’s entire work, literary reviews, film presentations and interviews,
poems and translations are borne of admiration, writes Alina Mazilu in her
book. Ana herself admitted that admiration was what enabled her to create.
Let’s listen to an interview she gave to Radio Romania International on the
occasion of the book launch in Timisoara:

Everything I did came out of
great admiration. Maybe it was my background that also counted, as I
specialized in world and comparative literature and was always interested in
the world of artists. Artists come from somewhere and reveal what they can from
their world. And I did exactly that, revealing as much as I could out of this
admiration in a film.

The book also comprises the cover of a volume about Michel Simon and
Francois Simon, father and son, which Ana coordinated. Alina Mazilu:

It’s a small part from the
complex works Ana has done in order to recover and strengthen the image of the
two actors, Michel and Francois, father and son. Actually, upon the death of
Francois, Ana devoted herself almost entirely to the project focusing on their
image. She dedicated books, poems and reviews to them and she made great
efforts so that people would recognise the value of Francois Simon, because he
was a great French-speaking actor and founder of the Theatre de Carouge, which
is still functional in Geneva today… Ana went to great lengths to keep his
image alive.

A traveller around the world,
spending her time mostly in Geneva, Paris and Barcelona, Ana Simon returns
home, in Romania’s Banat region, in the west, on a regular basis. What is home
for her?

Home… is just what home
was for Camus. My country was my mother and this meant home. I haven’t had a
home ever since. I had temporary homes, because, being married to Francois, he
was involved in making films and we were together all the time. We travelled a
lot and we returned from time to time to rest. Home was where we were together,
and, since I’ve lost my parents, there’s no home any more. Camus used to say
that his country was his mother. And then he no longer had a country. I have
always had a home, because language is important, because I am linked to
Romania through my education, and if something happened to it, I would defend
it. I always start criticising others before I criticise Romania. It’s the
country of my birth, the place of my spiritual education. I cannot be French or
Swiss.

Ana Simon. Unusual Encounters is a book that urges you to find out
more about Ana Simon’s life. A life like a dream. Here is Alina Mazilu:

Each of the three
authors had totally unusual encounters with Ana Simon. Each of them related to
her from the perspective of their first encounter. Their encounter had
surrealistic elements, I’d say. And each of them described the encounter in
their own manner and style. I didn’t want the book to be dry and hard to read.
I wanted it to be read like a well-written novel. And I hope I succeeded in my
attempt.