Marcian Bleahu

Marcian David (Matty) Bleahu

Marcian David (Matty) Bleahu (born 14 March 1924, in Brașov) is a Romanian geologist, speleologist, geographer, alpinist, explorer, writer and politician. He is well known for his scientific contributions to the development of the theories of global tectonics (applied to the study of the geology of the Carpathian Mountains), for his pioneering in speleology and for the development of this science, but also for the popularization of science and of ecology in Romania.

Marcian Bleahu is the author of more than 41 books and 126 scientific papers, of more than 400 articles on different topics. He has more than 500 public appearances as a speaker, including the radio and the television, he is a pioneer in using the multimedia in conferences, he is the author of the first geological map of Romania. As such, Marcian Bleahu is one of the most important Romanian scientific personalities of the second half of the last century.

His books and his conferences have inspired generations of youth fond of nature, mountains, the exploration of the caves in Romania, and he has been, at the same time, a mentor for many Romanian geologists after the second World War.

Biography

Marcian David Bleahu was born on March 14, 1924, in Brașov, in the family of a notary, but his maternal ancestry goes up to the prince Constantin Brâncoveanu.[1] He was enlisted during the World War II.

He graduated from school and high-school in Brașov. In 1949, he graduated from the Faculty of Sciences (Sections of Natural Sciences and Geography) of the University of Bucharest. In 1974 he obtains a PhD with a thesis about the Geology and the Morphology of the Karst and of the Caves, at the University of Cluj.

He begins his teaching activity at the Geology Department of Bucharest University, where he was a teaching assistant, lecturer and associate professor between 1949 and 1961. He was eliminated from the teaching system for political reasons, and he started again his university career after 1989, when, together with prof. Dolphi Drimer, he founded the Ecological University, where he was appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences (afterwards transformed in Faculty of Ecology).

Between 1949 - 1994, Marcian Bleahu worked as a geologist, a researcher and as a manager (including General Manager) at the Geological Institute of Romania.

He was elected as a senator for the legislatures 1990-1992 and 1996-2000, on the lists of the Romanian Ecologist Movement, and of the Romanian Ecologist Federation.[2] Between 1991 - 1992 he was the Minister of the Environment.

He has received several awards and decorations; in 2008 he was decorated with the Order "Steaua Româniai" ("The Star of Romania") as Knight, which is the highest Romanian civil order.

At present, he has retired from the public activity, but he continues to write articles and books in several fields, including music (he is known as a sophisticated melomaniac), or ecology.

Professional career

After graduation, in 1949, Marcian Bleahu joins the Geology Department of the Bucharest University. He teaches the first classes of Structural Geology and of the Geology of the Quaternary. In 1961 he is eliminated from the Department by the communist administration, on political grounds.

On April 4, 1990, together with Dolphi Drimer, Marcian Bleahu founds the Ecological University, the first private university in Romania and the only university with an ecological profile. Dolphi Drimer becomes the rector of this university and Marcian Bleahu is appointed as dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences (later on named Faculty of Ecology), where he teaches Dynamic Geology, Physical Geography of Romania, Geology of Romania, Protection of nature and protected areas. He ends his teaching career in 2001.

Between 1949 - 1994, simultaneously with his teaching activity, Marcian Bleahu worked as a geologist at the Geological Institute, where he implements most of his scientific activities.

Between 1952 - 1985, he does a long series of research in the Carpathian Mountains, mainly in the Apuseni. During all these 33 years of field research, he synthesized and made public the stratigraphy and the structure of the Apuseni Mountains. The papers he published in this field are the first scientific source about the geology of the Maramures, Bihor, Codru-Moma and Metaliferic Mountains - he dedicated to each of them a monography. These researches had an important impact on synthesis of national interest, such as coal deposits, Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations, but also from the tectonic point of view, in the general works about the structure of the territory, as well as in the integration of these researches in the wider framework of the study of Triassic paleography in Eastern Europe.

Directly, or by coordinating teams of geologists, Marcian Bleahu also produced over 50 maps (pages) component of the Geological Map of Romania, on a scale of 1:200.000, for which he also made the state standards in the field.[3]

A special chapter of this field activity was the study of karstology, meaning the exploration, the mapping and the research of the caves in the Apuseni mountains,[4] almost unknown until then: Peștera de la Căput, Peștera Buciumul Sucit, Peștera Vântului, Peștera Vadu Crișului, Peștera Șura Mare, Peștera din Peretele Dârnini, Peștera Coliboaia, Avenul de sub Pietruța, Peștera Izvorul Tăușoarelor, Peștera-aven ghețarul de sub Zgurăști, Peștera Cetatea Rădesei, Peștera Pojarul Poliței, Peștera Scărișoara, Peștera Huda lui Papară, Vânătările Ponorului, Izbucul de la Cotețul Dobreștilor, Avenul de sub Colții Grindului, Peștera Gaura cu Muscă, Peștera Bolii, Peștera Neagră, Peștera Ghețarul de la Vârtop, Avenul din Piatra Ceții, Peștera Calului, Peștera Bisericuța, Peștera din Dealul Cornului, Peștera Mică de la Vânătare, Peștera Dâlbina, Peștera Corobana lui Gârtău, Peștera V5, Peștera Poarta lui Ionele, Avenul din Șesuri etc.

In 1976 he publishes Caves from Romania "Peșteri din România", which becomes one of the first scientific best-sellers in Romania.

All these researches, as well as the world scientific trends of the '60s in the field of plate tectonics catalyses Marcian Bleahu's research activity and he becomes a pioneer in the field of global tectonics not only in Romania, but also with significant contributions in the international scientific community.[5] The results of his studies were synthesized in the book Global tectonics - Bucharest, 1983, Editura Științifică, (Tectonica globală), in two volumes, with over 1000 pages.

Despite the opposition of the scientific world of that time, which got quickly past any debate over ideas and arrived at the political questioning of the research results (the communist authorities forbade him to leave the country for 6 years, 1978 - 1984), Marcian Bleahu managed to thrust his theories, and he was invited in 1974, 1976 and 1978 to teach at the University in Geneva the first course in Global Tectonics; he also gave conferences in Vienna, Zurich, Freiburg, Basel, Potsdam, etc.

Between 1949 - 1952 he was the manager of the geology service for the Danube - Black Sea Canal.

In 1953, he coordinated the geological research for the project of Bucharest Metro.

He was a member of the inter-ministerial commission of analysis for the Earthquake on March 4th 1977.

Between 1985 - 1994 he was a member of the team that founded and coordinated The National Museum of Geology in Bucharest.

Political career

While a student, he sympathized with the National Liberal Party, but he was not a member of any political party until 1965, when he joins the Romanian Communist Party, in order to be appointed on a management position in the Geological Institute. If, politically, his activity until 1990 was almost non-existent, from the professional point of view he will be remembered as the founder of the National Museum of Geology, in 1985, where he also worked as a scientific coordinator, until 1994.

After the Revolution in December 1989, Marcian Bleahu founds the Ecologist Movement in Romania, thus putting into practice his professional belief regarding the protection of nature and of environment.

He is elected as a senator in May 1990, in the first free post-communist Parliament and he becomes the Minister of Environment in the Stolojan cabinet. In this position, he elaborated the legislation in the field (again, a pioneer work) and he tried to integrate Romania in the international conventions and programs regarding the environment.

In 1992 he is appointed vice-president of the UN Conference for environment and development in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1996 he is elected again as a senator, on the lists of the Democratic Convention, for the Ecologist Federation of Romania. He was a member of the Commission for Foreign Affairs and of the parliamentary group of the National Liberal Party.

In 2008 he is appointed as President of Honor of the Green Party, successor of the Ecologist Federation of Romania.

Medals and Awards

Bibliography

Geology:

Geography:

Speleology:

Ecology:

Tourism and Alpinism:

Miscellaneous:

Co-author in reference works:

References

  1. ↑ Spovedania unui neînvins - Marcian Bleahu, Editura Paideia, 2006, București
  2. ↑ Marcian David Bleahu - Parliamentary activity in legislature 1996-2000
  3. ↑ Geology of Romania - B.C. Burchfiel, Boulder, Colo. Geological Society of America, c1976.
  4. ↑ Sur les confluences souterraines - International Journal of Speology
  5. ↑ Bibliography of Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics - Tina Kasbeer, The Geological Society of America, 1975
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