National Museum of Romanian Literature, 60th Anniversary. Launch of Book 'The Pandemic Diary or Wuhandemia - 2020' by Ion Hadârcă

The National Museum of Romanian Literature marks its 60th anniversary with a string of cultural and educational events throughout the year. The opening event of the anniversary year was the launch of the book 'The Pandemic Diary or Wuhandemia - 2020', authored by poet and publicist Ion Hadârcă.

'The Pandemic Diary or Wuhandemia - 2020' includes 366 texts, describing each day of the year 2020 under the sign of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Ion Hadârcă was a senator in Bucharest and closely followed the entire period, meticulously documenting it in his diary suggestively titled 'Wuhandemia' (Wuhandemic), named after the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic erupted.

'I followed this complicated period both for the entire nation and for those around us, for neighbors, what measures were taken, what actions, how the authorities reacted, how we suffered losses, how each went through this very complicated ordeal. Meanwhile, I organized my readings, refreshed them with some classic sources from Defoe, Marquez, Camus, who wrote about the epidemics other peoples have gone through, and the conclusions, if humanity can still draw conclusions after such trials.

I captured the endemic unpreparedness and chaos of authorities, the rapacity of mafia structures that exploited, and unfortunately, as observed by the concerned bodies, continue to exploit human miseries, but I appreciated the heroism of the doctors and medical staff who fought practically with bare hands against an unknown hydra that has not yet been completely defeated,' Ion Hadârcă also said.

The book was curated by museum curator Veronica Boldișor, who was also the first reader of this diary. Contacted by MOLDPRES, Boldișor mentioned experiencing both the joy of a new book and the sadness for human losses and suffering.

'Every day, he made notes and ended with statistical data - how many patients were in intensive care, how many had died, especially in Romania, but also giving the statistics of Moldova and European states, the USA. This book is very precious, especially because it is a kind of fresco of those days. It is also important through these statistics that he recorded daily at the end of the day in the journal. He brought the handwritten journal to the museum, and I transcribed the entire text. Therefore, I am the first reader.

I experienced contradictory feelings when working on the book. On one hand, the joy of reading and working with novel material, with a manuscript, is always a spiritual satisfaction and joy. On the other hand, the overwhelming sadness when you read such a diary. It speaks of a plague where personalities from Moldova, people of all ages, professions, and intellects were lost. These contradictory feelings were unavoidable,' said Veronica Boldișor.

Ion Hadârcă writes about the personalities who lost their lives during the pandemic. 'The book will be read with emotion,' affirms Veronica Boldișor because 'it is about people we lost and who should have lived longer: Efim Josanu, Nicolae Dabija, Tudor Colac, Valeriu Turea, many...'

'The Pandemic Diary or Wuhandemia - 2020' was published by the National Museum of Romanian Literature in partnership with 'Polislam' Publishing House.  Ion Hadârcă's book will enrich the library shelves, which will be set up within the museum, said the director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, Maria Șleahtițchi, who also spoke about the events to be organized in the anniversary year.

'We published it because the manuscript of this book is with us, at the museum, donated by Ion Hadârcă a few years ago. This is the sixth book we have published at the museum in the last three years. Thus, we have the idea to create a museum library and possibly establish a publishing house in the future. We have even planned the name: 'MNLR Books'. We plan to organize an exhibition dedicated to this anniversary, a scientific conference in autumn that will be a larger event,' stated Maria Șleahtițchi.

During the book launch event for Ion Hadârcă, a photography exhibition by master Mihai Poiată dedicated to the pandemic period was also opened.

The National Museum of Romanian Language was established on February 10, 1965, at a request by the Writers' Union, initially named 'The Republican Museum of Literature'. In 2012, the institution transitioned under the Ministry of Culture, being transformed into the National Center for Literary and Museum Studies 'Mihail Kogălniceanu'. Starting from 2023, following the Government's Decision, the institution has been bearing the title of 'The National Museum of Romanian Literature'.