Ion and Elisabeth Ratiu established THE RATIU FOUNDATION UK in London, in 1979. The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and support projects which further education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people. Projects, undertaken in Romania, are encouraged on different subjects, such as patrimony, civil society, democracy, civilisation and environment protection. Grants are of variable size. The current Trustees are Elisabeth Ratiu, Indrei Ratiu, Ioana Ratiu, Nicolae Ratiu, and Ileana Troiano-Tilea.

Ion Ratiu (6 June 1917 - 17 January 2000), distinguished Romanian diplomat, entrepreneur, publisher, writer and humanitarian, was an outspoken critic of the communist regime in Romania during the 1947-1989 period. He devoted his life to the fight for democracy in Romania and its integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures.

SCHOLARSHIPS
The Ratiu Scholarships are awarded to Romanian students to study a wide range of subjects in the UK. The scholarships enable talented graduates and young professionals to become familiar with the UK and gain skills, which they can adapt and apply in Romania. The Ratiu Foundation currently provides up to 25 scholarships each year for MA and PhD students, who wish to continue or deepen their research in UK Institutions of Higher Education. In addition, the Ratiu Foundation awards grants for short time studies for summer schools and other academic projects. The Ratiu Foundation has to date supported Romanian students in a range of subjects including architecture, music, theatre, business, theology, philosophy, town planning, political studies, law, art, design, fashion design, archaeology, and ethnomusicology.

In addition, The Ratiu Foundation awards Travel Scholarships to students and researchers from the USA in order to participate in projects and summer schools in Romania.

Application Procedure: Write to the Trustees of the Foundation for the attention of Mr Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman. Application forms could be downloaded from www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com   

PROJECTS
The Foundation supports a wide range of projects including theatrical and musical productions and tours, translations to and from Romanian, book publishing, CDs and CD-ROMs publishing, prizes (European Poetry Literary Translation Prize, The Annual Political Cartoon Competition from Ploiesti), cartoon exhibition (The Great Challenge), photo and painting exhibitions, Romanian Guide books etc.

The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation (awarded every other year) is organised by Poetry Society and sponsored by Ratiu Foundation. The prize is £1,500 and the competition is open to collections of poetry translated from a European language into English. The deadline is on 31 May 2005 and the award ceremony will take place in London on 8 September 2005. The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation was set up to acknowledge the extraordinary talent of a young Romanian translator, Corneliu M Popescu, who had beautifully translated the work of one of Romania’s leading poets, Mihai Eminescu, into English. Unfortunately Popescu died aged 19, in the 4 March 1977 earthquake in Romania, and the prize is a tribute to this prodigiously talented young man and indeed translators all over Europe. This year the competition was launched on 17 January 2005 commemorating five years from Ion Ratiu’s death, who founded this prize in 80’s. More details at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/comp/popesc05.htm

In 1990 The Ratiu Foundation provided a substantial gift to Georgetown University, endowing the Ion Ratiu Chair in Romanian Studies, the first chair of this type in the world. To expand knowledge of modern Romanian history, politics, and culture, The Foundation also established the Ion Ratiu Library, an important repository for scholarly materials on Romania and Eastern Europe. (more details on http://ceres.georgetown.edu/library/ )

In recent years, The Ratiu Foundation UK has been able to make a substantial contribution to its present vitality and future viability by providing support to the following projects:

- The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, a festival which presents shows by Romanian and foreign companies and also organizes lectures and workshops for artists, managers, and young people. The Ratiu Foundation UK has funded a program for children – ‘education through theatre’.

- In the 2007 ‘Sibiu – A European Capital’ programme, the Foundation shall support some projects in collaboration with the Sibiu International Theatre Festival.

- The DramAcum programme was initiated in Bucharest by Andreea Valean together with a group of young playwrights and theatre directors. This programme encourages young authors in the Romanian language to write and to realize their ideas, in partnership with Bulandra Theatre and Act Theatre in Bucharest. It also encourages the translation of foreign plays into Romanian and Romanian plays into other languages. The Ratiu Foundation UK grants support to this programme.

- The Ratiu Foundation UK supports the UNITER “Artists for Artists” programme. This project is about solidarity with older, retired artists who have difficulties in earning a living. All proceeds from the shows organised within this programme will be given to the charity, Theatre Solidarity Fund.

- The work of Romanian playwright Matei Visniec has been represented in London by the performance ‘The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield’, staged at the Young Vic Theatre, in November 2000. The play received rave reviews in the British newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian. The Ratiu Foundation UK supported the performance of Visniec’s work.

- The Ratiu Foundation UK helped three young Romanian playwrights and theatre directors, Andreea Valean, Theodora Herghelegiu and Gianina Carbunariu, to benefit from the The Royal Court Young Writers Programme in London, financed in collaboration with British Council.

- The Ratiu Foundation supported the Eminescu poetry show with Ion Caramitru, Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan, Valeria Seciu, Aurelian Octav Popa at the Arts Theatre in London in December 2000.

- Anthology of Contemporary Theatre: ‘Balkan Plots’ has been published in London with the Ratiu Foundation’s help. The volume incorporates new plays from Central and Eastern Europe, some of which are written by Romanian authors: ‘The body of a Woman as a Battlefield’ by Matei Visniec and ‘When I want to Whistle, I Whistle’ by Andreea Valean.

- In the frame of The Romanian Film Club and The Romanian Film Festival, both initiated by the Romanian Cultural Centre in London, The Ratiu Foundation supported in 2003 and 2004 meetings between the London film public and stars of Romanian cinema, such as Victor Rebengiuc, Ion Caramitru, Lucian Pintilie. Among the guests there were also the film director Cristian Mungiu, critics Alex Leo Serban and Mihai Chirilov and Alina Salcudeanu, CNC representative. The Ratiu Foundation supported ‘Lucian Pintilie’ Retrospective, which took place in London in October 2004. The project was established in collaboration with Romanian Cultural Centre in London and National Centre of Cinematography – Bucharest.

- The Ratiu Foundation supported the making of the documentary ‘The Heart of the Tornado’. This is a documentary film about Paul Neagu (1938-2004), the well-known Romanian sculptor. The film made by Laurentiu and Agnieszka Garofeanu presents an amazing character, one of the most influential and sometimes controversial creators in contemporary Romanian and international art.

- Young theatre specialists undertake their MAs or PhDs in the UK every year at such institutions as Goldsmith College, London, and Hull University.

Ion Ratiu is well known as a Romanian politician, a successful businessman, a philanthropist, a champion of democracy, and a supporter of the arts. Less well known is the fact that Ion Ratiu himself once was a playwright. Assuming the pseudonym Anthony Lock, in 1958 Ion Ratiu wrote the political play ‘Clive and Anna’, which was successfully presented to the public in 1959 at the “Arts Theatre Club” in London under the title ‘Templeton’. Some years after the Romanian revolution, in 1992, ‘Clive and Anna’ was adapted for the Romanian Television by director Horia Popescu.

Other projects:
- Support of the international organisation Pro Patrimonio (http://www.propatrimonio.org );
- Support to The Romanian Cultural Centre in London (http://www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk );
- Support for the Romanian Crafts Foundation;
- The Dr Ioan Ratiu kindergarten renovation project in Turda;
- Grants to various Romanian churches;
- Preservation of wooden churches in Maramures;
- Support for Relief Fund for Romania (http://www.relieffundforromania.co.uk );
- Support for the Library of Faculty of Journalism from ‘Lucian Blaga’ University, Sibiu (donation of the latest editorial publications in the field);
- Organising the visit to Romania of a group of UK curators and journalists interested in Romanian contemporary visual arts. This project, established in collaboration with Visiting Arts in London, will take place in October 2005.

The Ratiu Foundation in the United Kingdom supports and collaborates with THE RATIU FOUNDATION ROMANIA, Bucharest and the RATIU CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY, Turda (http://www.ratiucenter.org )