to the Romanian state in three successive stages: 1947, 1957 and 1962. He donated
inclusively the house where he lived, a house built according to the project of the
architect C. G. Galin, which became a museum. He authored several books: Pagini
de arta ˘ (1938; 2nd ed. in 1943, 3rd ed. in 1965); N. Grigorescu (1945); Gh.
Petras ¸cu (1945); Theodor Pallady (1945); Nicolae Tonitza (1955); Cornel Medrea
(1957); I ˆ nsemna ˘rile unui amator de arta ˘ (1957; 2004, 2nd ed.); Corneliu Baba
(1958); and he signed also numerous articles for journals and magazines, dedicated
to the Romanian artists and their exhibitions. (Rusu 2016, 870–1)
ROMEO S ¸ TEFAN BELEA (1932, Tulcea, a county and a municipal in the North
of Dobruja, near the Danube Delta) is architect and a Correspondent Member of the
Romanian Academy since 2010. (Rusu 2016, 163–4) After his PhD in Architecture
in 1973 he secured a Ford grant for urbanism and territorial improvement at
Brussels in 1976 and then he became a remarkable presence at the national
(Bucharest, Craiova, Ias ¸i, Pites ¸ti, Ploies ¸ti) and international (Austria, Germania,
Maroc, Polonia, Siria) architecture contests. He has designed the National Theatre
in Damascus, a high building of luxury apartments in Beirut, the Olimpic Pool, the
multifunctional Arena and the Sports Hall in Tripoli, “Ouzoud Waterfall” Hotelul
in Maroc etc. He wrote, in collaboration, the volume Desenul ı
ˆn arhitectura ˘,
construct ¸ii s ¸i urbanism (1962). He is a member of the Romanian Union of Architects, founding member of the Romanian Order of Architects, member in the
Urbanism and Territorial Improvement Commissions in the Ministry of Transportation, in the Town Hall of Bucharest City, sector 1 Mayor’s Office, distinguished
with “Work Order”, class III (1960) and class II (1970), the Cultural Distinction of
the Romanian Academy (2001), the National Order “Faithful Service”, Chevalier
degree (2002), “Academic Merit” Diploma of the Romanian Academy (2005).
(Rusu 2016, 163–4)
CONSTANTIN I. BRA ˘ TESCU (1882, C^ as ¸la, called now Mineri, Tulcea
County – 1945, Bucharest) was a geographer and Correspondent Member of the
Romanian Academy since 1919. (Rusu 2016, 370–1) After his PhD in 1920 he was
a Dean at the Sciences Faculty in Cerna ˘ut ¸i (1930–1933) and a Professor at the
Faculty of Sciences in Bucharest (1938–1945) and he was one of the founders of the
journals “Arhiva Dobrogei” and “Analele Dobrogei”, of the “Dobrogea” Cultural
Society and among the organizers of the Regional Museum of Dobruja. Professor
Bra ˘tescu was a promotor of the conceptions of regional physical geography, applied
for the first time in the analytical study of Dobruja, he elaborated an original theory
concerning the dating of terraces, as well as of the level oscillations of the waters
and of the Black Sea basin during Quaternary, and he inaugurated in the geomorphological research the morphoclimatic, on the basis of the fossil soils. Professor
Bra ˘tescu championed the establishment of the balance between general and
regional geography, giving precedence to the latter. The results of research were
published in numerous books and studies, among which: Forme de relief din
Muscel (1911); Metoda geografica ˘ s ¸i cerceta ˘rile etnografice (1913); Lacul
Mangalia (1915); Mis ¸ca ˘ri epirogenetice s ¸i caractere morfologice ı
ˆn bazinul
Duna ˘rii de Jos (1920); Contribut ¸iuni la studiul Deltei duna ˘rene (1921); Lacul
Tas ¸aul (1922); Delta Duna ˘rii. Geneza s ¸i evolut ¸ia morfologica ˘ s ¸i cronologica ˘
3 Dobruja: A Unique, Intercultural and Spiritual Realm at the Black Sea
51
inclusively the house where he lived, a house built according to the project of the
architect C. G. Galin, which became a museum. He authored several books: Pagini
de arta ˘ (1938; 2nd ed. in 1943, 3rd ed. in 1965); N. Grigorescu (1945); Gh.
Petras ¸cu (1945); Theodor Pallady (1945); Nicolae Tonitza (1955); Cornel Medrea
(1957); I ˆ nsemna ˘rile unui amator de arta ˘ (1957; 2004, 2nd ed.); Corneliu Baba
(1958); and he signed also numerous articles for journals and magazines, dedicated
to the Romanian artists and their exhibitions. (Rusu 2016, 870–1)
ROMEO S ¸ TEFAN BELEA (1932, Tulcea, a county and a municipal in the North
of Dobruja, near the Danube Delta) is architect and a Correspondent Member of the
Romanian Academy since 2010. (Rusu 2016, 163–4) After his PhD in Architecture
in 1973 he secured a Ford grant for urbanism and territorial improvement at
Brussels in 1976 and then he became a remarkable presence at the national
(Bucharest, Craiova, Ias ¸i, Pites ¸ti, Ploies ¸ti) and international (Austria, Germania,
Maroc, Polonia, Siria) architecture contests. He has designed the National Theatre
in Damascus, a high building of luxury apartments in Beirut, the Olimpic Pool, the
multifunctional Arena and the Sports Hall in Tripoli, “Ouzoud Waterfall” Hotelul
in Maroc etc. He wrote, in collaboration, the volume Desenul ı
ˆn arhitectura ˘,
construct ¸ii s ¸i urbanism (1962). He is a member of the Romanian Union of Architects, founding member of the Romanian Order of Architects, member in the
Urbanism and Territorial Improvement Commissions in the Ministry of Transportation, in the Town Hall of Bucharest City, sector 1 Mayor’s Office, distinguished
with “Work Order”, class III (1960) and class II (1970), the Cultural Distinction of
the Romanian Academy (2001), the National Order “Faithful Service”, Chevalier
degree (2002), “Academic Merit” Diploma of the Romanian Academy (2005).
(Rusu 2016, 163–4)
CONSTANTIN I. BRA ˘ TESCU (1882, C^ as ¸la, called now Mineri, Tulcea
County – 1945, Bucharest) was a geographer and Correspondent Member of the
Romanian Academy since 1919. (Rusu 2016, 370–1) After his PhD in 1920 he was
a Dean at the Sciences Faculty in Cerna ˘ut ¸i (1930–1933) and a Professor at the
Faculty of Sciences in Bucharest (1938–1945) and he was one of the founders of the
journals “Arhiva Dobrogei” and “Analele Dobrogei”, of the “Dobrogea” Cultural
Society and among the organizers of the Regional Museum of Dobruja. Professor
Bra ˘tescu was a promotor of the conceptions of regional physical geography, applied
for the first time in the analytical study of Dobruja, he elaborated an original theory
concerning the dating of terraces, as well as of the level oscillations of the waters
and of the Black Sea basin during Quaternary, and he inaugurated in the geomorphological research the morphoclimatic, on the basis of the fossil soils. Professor
Bra ˘tescu championed the establishment of the balance between general and
regional geography, giving precedence to the latter. The results of research were
published in numerous books and studies, among which: Forme de relief din
Muscel (1911); Metoda geografica ˘ s ¸i cerceta ˘rile etnografice (1913); Lacul
Mangalia (1915); Mis ¸ca ˘ri epirogenetice s ¸i caractere morfologice ı
ˆn bazinul
Duna ˘rii de Jos (1920); Contribut ¸iuni la studiul Deltei duna ˘rene (1921); Lacul
Tas ¸aul (1922); Delta Duna ˘rii. Geneza s ¸i evolut ¸ia morfologica ˘ s ¸i cronologica ˘
3 Dobruja: A Unique, Intercultural and Spiritual Realm at the Black Sea
51