The Founder
The Action in Europe's Service
The Europeanist and his Ecumenical Action
A convinced Europeanist, Iosif Constantin Dragan was among the protagonists in the actual accomplishment and development of a Europe that is not just united on the economic level but also and mainly on the cultural one. He fought at the highest levels for the affirmation of the true Europe stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the 30th Meridian, where Eurasia begins.
Undoubtedly Iosif Constantin Dragan anticipated the European Union’s enlargement, committing himself from the outset, in the 1950s, to the idea of a reconstituted Europe, where its western and eastern parts, which had been separated by the Yalta agreement, could be reunited. To prove his fervent Europeanism, in March 1950 he started publishing the monthly journal Bulletin Européen, the first free forum on Europeanism, still being published in two languages (French and Italian).
Iosif Constantin Dragan believed that the cultural unification of the Old Continent should be effected through the unification of its Churches, and he spared no effort to bring about ecumenism, by organizing conferences and discussing with the highest prelates of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Some of his friendships worth noting in that milieu are with Cardinal Casaroli (past Secretary of State of the Holy See) and Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, former Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelini, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, Meliton Metropolita of Chalcedony and Patriarch Bartholomew The First. He developed a similar commitment towards a dialogue involving not only the Christian beliefs but also the three main monotheistic religions.
The Dragan European Foundation
Ever aware of the role and importance of culture, once he achieved economic success, Iosif Constantin Dragan devoted himself with enthusiasm to realising another dream of his: creating a Cultural Foundation at European level.
His efforts and passion brought about the de facto launch in 1967 in Italy, Rome, and legally in 1968 in Spain, at Palma de Mallorca, of the Dragan European Foundation, which developed quickly with branches in several European capitals. The mission of the Dragan European Foundation is to foster culture in its various forms and expressions as an important factor in the unification of Europe, and to spread the Europeanist ideal of which Doctor Dragan is a precursor.
Over the years the Dragan European Foundation encouraged numerous international activities, creating study departments in several fields of knowledge, namely Cybernetics, Bio-Economics, and Thracology – the study of the Thracian civilization, which, according to Herodotus, represented the largest population of antiquity –, the outcome of this being the creation of the European Centre of Thracian Studies and the organization of several conferences of high international standing.
The Dragan European Foundation reflects its president’s cultural interests and shows his contribution to the progress of culture and society.
The well-known name of Iosif Constantin Dragan and, consequently, of the Dragan European Foundation in several cultural and scientific fields made it possible, by public demand, to publish a volume on the publications of the Dragan European Foundation, reflecting its interests and activities. The fact that an ever growing number of university lecturers, intellectuals and scholars, representatives of European institutions, Ministerial Departments, diplomats from European and non-European countries, illustrious representatives of the legal, medical and surgical, academic and institutional world, wish to establish a cultural collaboration with the Dragan European Foundation, is not due to chance.
Universities created by Doctor Iosif Constantin Dragan: the Dragan European University Romania and the Dragan University-Golden Age in Milan
The seal on Iosif Constantin Dragan’s cultural activities is undoubtedly the creation of the Dragan European University, with campuses in Lugoj, his birthplace, and Braşov, and two university faculties. The Lugoj campus is now housed in a new facility, a gift by Doctor Dragan to the place where he spent his childhood and early youth, to which he was always particularly attached.
Iosif Constantin Dragan actually never forgot his country of origin, Romania, and one of the aims of the Dragan European Foundation is to promote the Romanian culture and values, that were obscured during the years of dictatorship. At the same time the Dragan European Foundation’s mission in Romania too, is to promote European culture while the Dragan European University enables new generations to acquire an education level of international standing.
Iosif Constantin Dragan’s keen interest in permanent education led him to also create in Milan the Dragan University - Golden Age, a university sustaining education throughout one’s lifetime. Starting its activities in the 1988-89 academic year, the University – which at the beginning was called Golden Age University (Unigold) and which now bears the name of its founder – boasts a teaching staff of about 60 professors and lecturers and offers 40 different courses in different streams.
In the last decades the development of knowledge has seen an impressive increase: science, culture and our entire world are subject to unstoppable and sudden changes. Our way of thinking must constantly face new challenges, open up to new horizons. In this context Iosif Constantin Dragan has held on to the principle that the real treasure lies in one’s cultural heritage and ability to constantly update it. On the basis of that Iosif Constantin Dragan became president of the UNESCO Centre in Milan and founded the Dragan University. This was an initiative with a strong social impact, that pursued an educational process where the value and dignity of the person are respected and based on principles stated in UNESCO’s Constitutional Act.