[lbo-talk] Nostalgia for Vlad the Impaler

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Fri Apr 25 01:25:21 PDT 2003


[Apropos posterity's view of Stalin]

Financial Times; Apr 23, 2003

Romania pins anti-corruption hopes on its modern-day Vlad the Impaler By Phelim McAleer

Ioan Amarie, the Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor, proudly shows visitors the statue of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century Romanian leader, which sits in the foyer at his new offices.

The statue belongs to the previous tenants but Mr Amarie wants to keep it as a role model for his officers.

Although Vlad is better known in the west as the historical model for Dracula, the fictional vampire, in Romania he is remembered with fondness and for very different reasons.

Vlad the Impaler was the first Romanian leader to expel successfully the Turkish invaders but his reign was also known for being virtually crime-free. Modern Romanians and many foreign investors long for the return of that golden age.

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