Mihai Dim. Sturdza

ZN- mai 2012

SAVOIR FAIRE

Aristocraţie, poveşti şi totuşi istorie

Volumele masive par o lectură imposibilă, doar par astfel.

Mihai Dim. Sturdza

Este strănepot al lui Mihail Vodă Sturdza, domnitor al Moldovei. Academia Mihăileană  purta numele ctitorului.  Bunica paternă, Olga Sturdza   a făcut şi sculptură, cu destul succes. Totuşi Mihai Dim. Sturdza s-a născut la Bucureşti. Bunicul matern a construit celebra casă care îl are acum proprietar pe dl. G. Becali.

Născut în 1934 într-o familie istorică, bogată, cultivată, părea că va avea o viaţă uşoară. N-a fost aşa.  Arestat la 18 ani, este deţinut politic pînă în 1954, devine student  al  Universităţii bucureştene, este învăţător la o şcoală sătească şi mai apoi traducător  în Bucureşti.  Stabilit în Franţa în 1963, diplomat al Institutului de Ştiinţe Politice din Paris,  devine  interpretul oficial pentru limba română al preşedinţilor Franţei pînă în 1986 cînd  se alătură echipei de redactori ai postului de radio Europa Liberă .   Soţia sa vine din vechea aristocraţie franceză.

 Se stabileşte în România în 1991 şi începe marea aventură, după atîtea altele, mari şi ele, marea aventură  a acestei cărţi.

Ce este genealogia ?

Nu mai ştiu cine spunea că majoritatea dintre noi ne ştim strămoşii pînă la 2-3 generaţii în urmă. Dacă am fi fost în Imperiul Britanic ne-am fi putut reconstitui genealogia din arhive. La noi  arhivele păstrează urmele mai ales ale familiilor boiereşti, astfel că acestea îşi pot reconstitui arborele genealogic pentru mult mai multe generaţii în urmă. Dar la noi e mai greu de reconstuit aceste încrengături genealogice pentru că s-au pierdut foarte multe acte, s-au distrus. De unde nebunia cu proprietăţi revendicate  pe drept sau pe nedrept, cu punerea în posesie şi aşa mai departe. Dacă veţi avea curiozitatea de a citi măcar cîteva poveşti din carte veţi vedea că nimic nu e nou sub soare şi că arghirofilia e probabil unul dintre cele mai vechi păcate.

Cartea

La o masă rotundă întîmplată la Sighet cu ceva timp în urmă , dl. Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza spunea : “Revenind la originile mele sociale, care, în 1945-1946, erau deja socotite de propaganda comunistă drept origine foarte putredă (acesta era termenul), familia mea făcea parte cu multă vizibilitate din ceea ce se numea atunci "bestiile burghezo-moşiereşti".În 1945, moşierimea nu mai era compusă, cel puţin pentru trei sferturi din ea, din ceea ce fusese moşierimea vechiului regim, moşierimea boierească. Boierimea decăzuse, sărăcise sau se consacrase unor profesii liberale, moşiile trecând în mâna clasei noi (aşa cum câteodată spune şi marxismul, când are dreptate). Se ridicase burghezia, foştii arendaşi luaseră locul vechilor moşieri. Mai rămăseseră, totuşi, destule familii, printre care şi a mea, proprietară, printre altele, în 1907, a celebrului domeniu de la Flămânzi, unde a izbucnit răscoala. Atunci, proprietari erau bunicii mei, proaspăt căsătoriţi.”

Şi astfel a lămurit lucrurile.  Ca să lămurească toată povestea cu aristocraţia românească, ce familii erau boiereşti şi care nu prea, istoricul Mihai Dim. Sturdza a pornit în lupta cu bibliografia prea stufoasă sau inexistentă, după caz, pentru  a da lucrarea de referinţă care este « Familiile boiereşti din Moldova şi Ţara Românească : enciclopedie istorică, genealogică şi biografică » din care un prim volum a apărut în 2004, iar cel de-al doilea  în   2011, celelalte urmează.

                                                                 

Downton Abbey

Did you use any personal story for the book ?

Not my personal stories so much but some from the Fellowes family, which is mine too of course. Julian, my uncle, is the creator and writer of the show, and like any writer he looked to his own life for inspiration. So many of the characters and their plots, or even just their witty one-liners, came from family stories – such as the Dowager Countess, who is based on Julian’s great-aunt, Isie Stephenson. The rest of it comes from history itself, a huge interest of Julian’s. He was keen that the show should be steeped in authenticity, which is why we have the wonderful juxtaposition of fictional characters dealing with events that actually happened in history – such as the Troubles in Ireland and World War I.

Did you enjoy going to set ?

Yes, it’s a real privilege and not one I pass up on! It’s a treat to watch something right before your eyes and know that it will be screened on televisions to millions of people around the world. They are all consummate professionals but also clearly hugely enjoy their work, so have a lot of fun together. The only problem is that there are so many crew – around 60 or 70 at least, daily – that an extra person like me can feel a bit in the way. I say ‘sorry, excuse me!’ quite frequently…

Do you feel close to the characters of the époque ?

Julian and I have always shared an interest in that period between the wars – partly, I think, because so many of our family stories come from then. Julian’s father, my grandfather, was born in 1912, the year the first Downton Abbey episode was set – so he was certainly in that era, if not quite in that world. But we are fascinated by it too because it was, in many ways, the beginning of the modern age – with electricity, motorcars, rail travel, the rise of socialism, women’s rights, medical advances and so on – yet those who lived within it were still heavily influenced by Victorian mores. They struggled to adapt but knew they had to if they wished to survive. That’s the basic premise of Downton Abbey and the reason it is so compelling – we are going through something very similar ourselves, with the huge advances in technology impacting on our social and political lives.

Something you still use in the kitchen and you inherited.

I still use my grandmother’s cookbooks, although it’s interesting to see how fashions change with food – right now, quite rapidly, as we get into ‘clean eating’ and so on. But if you look at cookbooks of a hundred years ago, they are very similar to modern cooking, in terms of low sugar, fresh ingredients and so on. One thing that is very different is that in England at the turn of the 20^th century, French cooking was the most fashionable, and a lot of it was rather fiddly and highly skilled. Mrs Patmore may look like a simple cook but she was actually a chef of supreme ability!

Your favorite receipt in the book. Do you cook often?

My son is a huge fan of pancakes, so at the weekends the book will fall open at that page! But I love the more traditional receipts too, such as the marmalade. My father lives in Ireland, and I have been spending summers there every year since I was a little girl, so when I’m feeling nostalgic I’ll do a big Irish stew, with slices of warm soda bread on the side to mop up the gravy. Delicious!

It was a difficult research for the book ?

The research is, for me, the most enjoyable part of the process. As it was my third Downton Abbey companion book, a lot of the research had built up in layers – on my bookshelves and in my head. Even when not officially researching a Downton book, I still read around the period, particularly memoirs of that time, as I prefer to read a first-hand account to a historian’s analysis. Julian also has a huge amount of knowledge, so if I got stuck on anything, I’d just fire off a quick email to ask him.

Do you think the success of Downton Abbey will bring more politeness and elegance in the world?

It would be nice to think so, wouldn’t it? Perhaps it does – people seem to appreciate the elegance and style of the period. Whether nice people watch it or it makes people nice, I don’t know. But I interviewed the woman who lives in a house that is used for filming – as the exterior of Isobel Crawley’s house – and she was telling me that people frequently knock on the door, peer over her garden wall and so on. ‘Don’t you mind?’ I asked her. ‘Oh, no,’ she said, ‘the sort of people who like Downton Abbey are usually very nice people.’

Cecile David-Weill

 

Are you a newyorker now? How important is NY for you?

 

J’habite à New York depuis 8 ans,  et cette ville a toujours été importante pour moi.  J’y suis née, j’y ai vécu les 7 premières années de ma vie, et j’y suis retournée très régulièrement car mon père y a vécu la plus grande partie de sa vie. Maintenant je m’y sens vraiment chez moi, au point que mon dernier livre publié en France chez Grasset, Chroniques de New York,  regroupe une série de chroniques que j’ai écrit sur la ville pour le magazine français Le Point. (http://www.lepoint.fr/invites-du-point/cecile-david-weill/)

 

 

Did you have a glittering childhood?

Mon enfance mêlait le glamour et l’austérité. C’était glamour car les maisons de mes parents étaient grandes, belles, et bourrées d’œuvres d’art. Que le personnel y était nombreux, et les invités, élégants. Et que nous nous déplacions en première classe ou en voiture avec chauffeur. Mais c’était austère car ma vie d’enfant était dépourvue de fantaisie, d’imprévu et parfois même de joie car elle était régie par des règles de discipline d’autant plus strictes qu’il était hors de question  pour mes parents que mon milieu privilégié fasse de moi une enfant gâtée.

 

How was your childhood as a cosmopolite upper class girl ? What means now to be an upper class woman?

Je crois que le fait d’avoir été élevée dans ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la haute société fait que je ne suis pas intimidée par la culture, et que je n’ai pas honte des lacunes que je peux avoir en la matière. D’autre part, les gens riches ou qualifiés d’important ne m’impressionnent pas en tant que tels, car je sais par expérience que cela ne les empêche en rien d’être des gens tout à fait normaux, et parfois même des gens qui se sentent assez seuls, surtout lorsqu’ils sont également célèbres. Mais cela ne m’empêche pas d’être éblouie par des gens que je juge remarquables, humainement ou intellectuellement, et qui font d’ailleurs assez rarement partie de la haute société.

En revanche j’ai l’impression que le fait d’être née dans ce milieu ne m’a pas préparée à aller de façon naturelle vers les gens de tous les milieux, et qu’à ce titre, c’est un peu un ghetto dont il est essentiel d’apprendre à sortir.

 

When you decide that you want to write? How was this regarded in your family?

J’ai toujours voulu écrire, et j’ai commencé très tôt à écrire des histoires et à faire des portraits des invités de mes parents que je gardais pour moi. Mais j’ai mis mes parents à rude épreuve avec mon premier roman, qui était érotique, et je dois dire qu’ils ont fait preuve de beaucoup d’élégance et qu’ils m’ont soutenu. Mais je pense qu’ils ont trouvé beaucoup plus impudique mon dernier roman Les Prétendants. Et il est vrai  qu’il s’agissait de ma part d’une transgression car c’est une comédie de mœurs qui lève un voile sur une façon de vivre qui a vocation à rester, non pas secrète, mais discrète, voire confidentielle.

 

Did you have a nanny? Do your children have one ?

Oui, j’ai eu une nanny, vieille et anglaise, qui faisait son travail sans affect, c’est à dire sans amour, ni méchanceté. Et si j’ai, moi aussi, eu recours à des au pair pour mes enfants, j’ai essayé d’en engager des plus jeunes et des plus enthousiastes, et de passer le plus de temps possible avec mes enfants.

 

Did you raise your child in the same you were rise?

How important is the family in the development of a child?

Je crois en effet que la famille est essentielle au développement d’une enfant. D’ailleurs, le sujet de l’éducation des enfants me passionne. Au point que je suis en train d’écrire un livre sur le sujet sur l’influence de l’éducation qu’on a reçue sur celle que l’on donne à ses enfants.

 

 

What you thought in your childhood that your way in life will be?

Petite, je savais déjà que j’écrirais et que je serais très maternelle envers mes enfants. Sur ces deux points au moins, je ne me suis pas trompée. Pour le reste, la vie est très inventive, et donc inattendue.

 

You were always surrendered to art. The best way to develop an addiction? A hobby? Anyway a very good taste. Do you still collect and buy art, or borough from family collections ?

Le fait d’être baignée dans l’art depuis l’enfance est une chance car c’est cette familiarité qui me permet de reconnaître la qualité d’une œuvre sans effort. Et si aujourd’hui je me tiens au courant, et que je visite des expositions, je me sens néanmoins formée à l’art par cette fréquentation précoce et assidue, d’enfant issue d’une famille de collectionneurs.

Et je vois bien la différence avec la musique, qui n’a pas curieusement pas fait partie de mon éducation, et dont la familiarité me fait défaut pour comprendre la grammaire et la qualité de la musique, et que j’ai maintenant décidé d’acquérir en apprenant le solfège et en écoutant beaucoup de musique et d’opéra.

 

Your book The Suitors is a bestseller. Do you think that putting something very autobiographical with sincerity is the key to success?

 

Oui, je crois que les lecteurs ressentent l’énergie que l’on met à écrire quelque chose de sincère, de personnel, ou de douloureux, et que c’est cela qui les touche, qui crée l’émotion de la lecture.

 

 

Did you ever travel in Romania ? Or you just love Brancusi ?

 

Je n’ai jamais été en Roumanie, mais j’aimerais y aller, et oui, en effet, j’admire beaucoup Brancusi, et je vais souvent à l’atelier Brancusi reconstruit au centre Pompidou à Paris.

 

Favorite places in NY

-The Cloisters

-The Frick Collection

-The High Line

-The Neue Galerie

 

 

Favorite places in Paris, of course.

 

-Place  Furstenberg

-Pont des Arts

-Cour carrée du Louvre

-Jardin du Palais Royal

 

-Do you take breakfast at home or in town?

 

Je prends mon petit déjeuner chez moi, mais quand je le prends dehors à Paris, c’est souvent au café de Flore (www.cafedeflore.fr/)

et à New York,  au Regency Bar and Grill (http://www.regencybarandgrill.com)

 

 

-Which are your favorite restaurants

 

À NEW YORK

 

-CARBONE, pour son ambiance de restaurant confidentiel pour mafieux italien, et sa cuisine populaire mais néanmoins sophistiquée

( http://carbonenewyork.com)

 

-MAREA, parce que c’est le meilleur restaurant de poisson de New York, (http://www.marea-nyc.com )

 

-MILOS, plus bruyant, et moins sophistiqué que Maréa, le néanmoins formidable restaurant grec (http://milos.ca/restaurants/new-york)

 

-THE FOUR SEASONS RESTAURANT, parce que c’est un lieu de design mythique à New York. (http://www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com)

 

À PARIS

 

 

-LE STRESA, pour ses pâtes, et son ambiance happy few

(http://www.lestresa.com)

 

 

-LE JARDIN FRANCAIS DE L’HOTEL BRISTOL, pour ses clubs sandwichs (http://www.lebristolparis.com/eng/gastronomy/le-jardin-francais/)

 

 

 

-Which is the best grocery? Patisserie? Cakes?

 

À NEW YORK

 

-SANT AMBROEUS, pour sa miche de pain aux graines, ses sorbets, ses sandwiches et ses sablés (http://www.santambroeus.com/products.html)

 

- DOMINIQUE ANSEL pour ses cronuts, contraction de croissant et de doughnut (http://dominiqueansel.com

 

 

À PARIS

 

-FOUQUET, pour leurs thés, leurs confitures, leurs moutardes, leurs caramels, et les plus chics des boites de chocolat à offrir quand on est invité chez des gens, car ce sont des coffrets composés de petits pots de verre à remplir de différentes confiseries de toutes les formes et les couleurs. (http://www.fouquet.fr/la-maison-fouquet)

 

-LA PATISSERIE DES RĒVES, pour leur carrousel de pâtisseries, qui sont à perdre la tête, et de loin supérieures à toutes celles des chaines, genre Dalloyau, ou La Durée (http://lapatisseriedesreves.com)

 

-ANGELINA, pour son incroyable Mont-Blanc aux marrons (http://www.angelina-paris.fr/fr/)

 

 

- And shopping? Shoes, clothes, bags, gloves, or things for house, antiquities?

 

Je ne suis pas très intéressée par la mode et je n’aime pas beaucoup acheter des vêtements.

Mais j’aime les antiquaires, surtout la Galerie KUGEL à Paris

http://www.galeriekugel.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?lg=fr

 

et le marché aux Puces, le weekend

http://www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/1.aspx

 

HOW TO BE PARISIAN

ANNE SEBBA

Interviu aparut in revista TABU octombrie 2014.

 

How you choose your subjects?

Obviously they have to intrigue you and you have to want to know more but sadly these days you have to get the publisher to agree that the world also wants to know more about them. In my case it was the history of the period as much as anything and the sense that nobody could really understand Wallis. She needed to be explained not seen as  a one dimensional caricature.

How long  did you work on your book about  Duchess of Windsor?

In one sense just 3 years , in another all my life as I specialized in history of the 1930s at University and have read lots about her over many years.

Sometimes you seem to be a bit cruel . Do you think the author must have a sympathy for her/his subject ?

I don’t think I am cruel but I think until very recently when people were extremely deferential to the Royal Family nobody dared say anything negative about Edward 8^th. However I think the present royal family admit that h3 was something of the black sheep of the family and that once you understand how weak and defective a personality he was, you are actually being very kind and sympathetic to Wallis. You are turning the whole story on its head. I do think a biographer must have sympathy with your subject to the extent that you care about them or you will end up just bashing your person unfairly but I don’t think that sympathy should lead you to create a warped version of the truth , More important than sympathy is a feeling of responsibility to the truth.

Is it possible to create a bond between you and your subject?

Yes but that is dangerous in some ways. You must not believe you are the savior or the interpreter or the one person who can tell their story as human beings are far too complicated and there are many aspects of a personality. It is dangerous to identify with your subject, I believe

How difficult was to do the research ? What involved this ?

The research is fun…I spent a lot of time in libraries in England and America, read a lot of diaries and other books but I also went to Mexico to interview the son of Ernest Simpson which was fascinating in my quest to understand Wallis and Ernest and why they let this royal liaison take over their lives. Family

Was Wallis Simpson  a good or a bad woman in your opinion ?

No one is pure god or pure evil. She was weak in some ways in that she craved money and jewellery and recognition but it was created by her insecurity as a child. She became strong once she realised there was no way out and that turned her into an unpleasant personality as far as many people were concerned. But she was loyal and believed that her new found status and money was in  some ways recompense for her mother’s struggle and insecurity. To understand is to forgive I believe. Or it can be!

Do you own things which belonged to her ? Or do you wish to have one?

No I don’t own anything and I don’t crave jewellery, it isn’t part of my life style.

What was the most difficult thing or situation while working on your book ?

It is the same as it always is; not to hurt minor characters who happen to be swept up in the story and who never expected to be part of history or to be public characters.

Are you a fashionista ?

I love beautiful clothes but no not a fashionista as I spend most of my working day in trousers at my desk or in the library and in yoga or gym clothes! But every so often I appear on TV and then I have to look smart! I love to have something striking when publication comes and I was lucky that the designer Roland Mouret made me a fabulous gold dress for publication of THAT WOMAN which he called THAT DRESS because he was inspired by Wallis rags to riches story.

What was always in the Duchess purse ? And in yours ?

Oh she had lipstick and compact and not much else…me you don’t want to know my bag is so heavy…I have notebooks and dozens of pens and pencils and a wallet and make up bag and keys and a book in case I am stuck on the metro and a spare set of glasses and a phone and a diary and much, much else  JUST IN CASE!

Did you meet people whom are living  at the same addresses as the Duchess ? Are they  disturbed in anyway about the fact ? Or are they proud about this ?

No not really…Only Mohamed al Fayed who lives in her Paris house but he is very proud of the association

Do you think the Duchess was a trend setter ?

Yes definitely what she wore others copied …if they could e.g. the jewels she wore as dress clips became a fashion accessory but were very expensive!

What  you discovered at her and become something for you ( a place, a thing, a custom)?

After finishing book did closed the door between her and you ?

No not at all new material kept emerging and other people told me things that I thought were probably true but not sure about and they confirmed these. You can read about some of these on my blog.

www.annesebba.com

 -

Photos: Anne Sebba,  and Cartier.