Reputed scholar, writer, director and translator Ana Simon left
\nRomania more than 50 years ago and settled in Geneva, Switzerland, after a
\ndoctoral scholarship in Spain. She was born in Caras Severin county, south-western
\nRomania. Few things are known about her in her native country though, but a
\nfirst step in changing this state of affairs was taken by Alina Mazilu, Vasile
\nBogdan and Cornel Ungureanu who wrote a book entitled Ana Simon. Unusual Encounters. The book appeared at the Diacritic
\nPublishing House and was launched in late September in Timisoara, western
\nRomania. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We caught up with Alina Mazilu, one of the authors who also
\ncoordinated the book launch: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From my point of view the book is
\na beginning because few things are known about Ana Simon in Romania and that’s
\na pity. I wouldn’t say it’s unfair because Ana didn’t want to promote herself
\nvery much. Few things are known and I believe that has to change and people should
\nknow more about her. And that’s why we wrote the book; it’s a book about and
\nwith Ana… It consists of interviews and manages to reveal Ana Simon’s complex
\npersonality. She is the most generous human being I have ever met. We wanted
\nour book not to reveal everything from the beginning but keep the suspense and
\nallow readers to discover Ana Simon’s universe for themselves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ana Simon is the wife of Swiss actor Francois Simon and the daughter-in-law
\nof Michel Simon, one of Europe’s best actors. Ana is the author of numerous
\nfilms and poetry volumes and has translated works by Mircea Eliade, Marin
\nSorescu and Miguel de Unamuno. The book is evoking these authors and contains
\nseveral of her poems translated by Marin Sorescu and Jean Grosu. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is Alina
\nMazilu again:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are several photos in the book, including one with Mario
\nVargas Llosa in Lima, long before his shot to fame. It also has letters from
\nAna’s very good friend Ion Negoitescu and a letter from Emil Cioran. There is
\nalso a portrait drawn by the famous German graphic artist Margarethe Krieger,
\nanother good friend of Ana’s. Right on the book cover there is a great portrait
\nby Chilean painter Jose Venturelli, a close friend to Pablo Neruda. Various
\nphotos with her great love, Francois Simon, as well as with Ion Vianu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ana’s entire work, literary reviews, film presentations and interviews,
\npoems and translations are borne of admiration, writes Alina Mazilu in her
\nbook. Ana herself admitted that admiration was what enabled her to create.
\nLet’s listen to an interview she gave to Radio Romania International on the
\noccasion of the book launch in Timisoara:<\/p>\n
Everything I did came out of
\ngreat admiration. Maybe it was my background that also counted, as I
\nspecialized in world and comparative literature and was always interested in
\nthe world of artists. Artists come from somewhere and reveal what they can from
\ntheir world. And I did exactly that, revealing as much as I could out of this
\nadmiration in a film.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The book also comprises the cover of a volume about Michel Simon and
\nFrancois Simon, father and son, which Ana coordinated. Alina Mazilu: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It’s a small part from the
\ncomplex works Ana has done in order to recover and strengthen the image of the
\ntwo actors, Michel and Francois, father and son. Actually, upon the death of
\nFrancois, Ana devoted herself almost entirely to the project focusing on their
\nimage. She dedicated books, poems and reviews to them and she made great
\nefforts so that people would recognise the value of Francois Simon, because he
\nwas a great French-speaking actor and founder of the Theatre de Carouge, which
\nis still functional in Geneva today… Ana went to great lengths to keep his
\nimage alive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A traveller around the world,
\nspending her time mostly in Geneva, Paris and Barcelona, Ana Simon returns
\nhome, in Romania’s Banat region, in the west, on a regular basis. What is home
\nfor her?<\/p>\n
Home… is just what home
\nwas for Camus. My country was my mother and this meant home. I haven’t had a
\nhome ever since. I had temporary homes, because, being married to Francois, he
\nwas involved in making films and we were together all the time. We travelled a
\nlot and we returned from time to time to rest. Home was where we were together,
\nand, since I’ve lost my parents, there’s no home any more. Camus used to say
\nthat his country was his mother. And then he no longer had a country. I have
\nalways had a home, because language is important, because I am linked to
\nRomania through my education, and if something happened to it, I would defend
\nit. I always start criticising others before I criticise Romania. It’s the
\ncountry of my birth, the place of my spiritual education. I cannot be French or
\nSwiss.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ana Simon. Unusual Encounters is a book that urges you to find out
\nmore about Ana Simon’s life. A life like a dream. Here is Alina Mazilu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Each of the three
\nauthors had totally unusual encounters with Ana Simon. Each of them related to
\nher from the perspective of their first encounter. Their encounter had
\nsurrealistic elements, I’d say. And each of them described the encounter in
\ntheir own manner and style. I didn’t want the book to be dry and hard to read.
\nI wanted it to be read like a well-written novel. And I hope I succeeded in my
\nattempt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reputed scholar, writer, director and translator Ana Simon left Romania more than 50 years ago and settled in Geneva<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":162198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[44948,44947],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-162197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-alina-mazilu","tag-ana-simon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n