Mitzura Arghezi | |
|---|---|
 Arghezi in Titanic Waltz | |
| Born | Domnica Theodorescu 10 December 1924 |
| Died | 27 October 2015 (aged 90) Bucharest, Romania |
| Other names | Mitzura Domnica Arghezi |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1943–2015 |
| Spouse | 2 (unknown husbands) |
Mitzura Domnica Arghezi (also spelled Mițura, born Domnica Theodorescu; 10 December 1924 – 27 October 2015) was a Romanian actress, visual artist and politician, also active as a ballerina, book editor, and museum curator. She was the daughter of poet-journalist Tudor Arghezi, the sister of writer Baruțu T. Arghezi, as well as the half-sister of art photographer Eli Lotar. Her childhood was spent at Mărțișor, her father's estate in Bucharest, and became the inspiration for his children's books, which a grown-up Mitzura illustrated. She was trained in dancing by Floria Capsali, and appeared in music shows for both the National Opera and the National Theater Bucharest. During and shortly after World War II, she exhibited her work in the graphic arts, to critical acclaim. Mitzura's career in both visual arts and letters was interrupted by her family's persecution in the early stages of Romanian communism. Deemed a child "of the bourgeoisie" by Scînteia, she was forced to renounce her studies at the University of Bucharest and focus instead on becoming an actress. She graduated from the Caragiale Institute of Theater just as Arghezi Sr was undergoing rehabilitation.
Debuting on the screen with the 1951 In Our Village, Arghezi returned ten years later with a leading role in Doi vecini—based on a comedic story by her father, and marking the directorial debut of her Institute colleague Geo Saizescu. This was followed in 1964 by another substantial role, as Gena in Titanic Waltz. Though she continued to appear in films and was part of the National Theater company, from 1967 she became mainly focused on preserving her late father's legacy, and by 1975 was in charge of Mărțișor, reopened as a museum. Following Baruțu's self-exile and Lotar's death, she took full managerial control of the estate, sparking controversy with her rigid interpretation of copyright, and being accused of stealing others' research in her own work as editor of the Tudor Arghezi corpus. She was also criticized for her alleged compromises with communist governments, and, into her old age, remained adamant that Romania under socialism was preferable to the United States.
Despite being part-Székely, Arghezi was an advocate of Romanian nationalism, and repeatedly voiced suspicion toward the Hungarian minority. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, she entered electoral politics with the Romanian National Unity Party, presenting herself in the race of September 1992. She later joined Corneliu Vadim Tudor's Greater Romania Party (PRM); for several months in 1995, she was the inaugural holder of a government secretariat channeling support for the Romanian diaspora. Arghezi was elected to the Chamber for Olt County in the general election of 1996, and reelected in 2000 (when she was also the first woman to preside over a Chamber session). Openly calling for a ban on the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians, she was also an opponent of the then-governing Romanian Democratic Convention. Arghezi defended the PRM's image as a moderate-nationalist force, expressed support for European integration, and spoke about her father's philosemitism, while remaining loyal to Vadim Tudor throughout the PRM's decline and factional splits. She died in 2015, weeks after Vadim Tudor's own death, and was buried at Mărțișor amid a controversy surrounding her inheritance.