Condolences on death of Valentin Nicolau, former director of Romanian public television

Nearly 100 people left condolence messages on the Facebook page of Valentin Nicolau, a respected playwright and former director of TVR (the Romanian public television) who died on Tuesday, at the age of 54, following a cardiac and respiratory arrest.

Photo credit: (c) MIHAI POZIUMSCHI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

'He was just 54, and had tenths of frontlines opened in his life. He was the owner of a successful and high-class publishing house, Nemira', wrote journalist Radu Tudor; he called Nicolau 'a free, relaxed man, ambitious and cultivated, permanently obsessed with doing something concrete.'

Journalist Victor Roncea posted 'God rest his soul!"; writer and TV producer Daniela Zeca Budura, a former director of TVR's cultural channel, conveyed 'condolences to the family and power to endure their loss.'

Nicolau passed out on Tuesday night, in his car. By the time paramedics got to him, he was unconscious, and 45 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation did not help, said Dr. Alis Grasu, the manager of the Bucharest and Ilfov County Ambulance Service.

Valentin Nicolau was born on June 22 1960 in Bucharest.

He graduated from the Geology and Geophysics Faculty in 1985. In 2009, he got a PhD in communication at the University of Bucharest, with a dissertation on 'Public service in Romanian audiovisual, compared to European models.' From 2010 to 2011, he attended the Orthodox Theology Faculty. In 1991, he founded the Nemira publishing house.

From July 2001 to June 2002, he was prime minister's advisor for culture, education, research and tourism.

From June 2002 to June 2005, he was the CE) of the Romanian Television Society; from July 2005 to March 2006 ? vice president of the Intact media group. In 2007, he founded the...