The Founder
The Writer and the Man
The Writer
As evidenced by the above, Iosif Constantin Dragan’s numerous activities cannot be summarized in these few lines. He is well known as a writer and respected historian, as can be evinced from his numerous works published in many languages.
The Founder of the publishing house Edizioni Nagard, Iosif Constantin Dragan thus made a contribution to spreading Romanian culture around the world, through the publication of works by various Romanian writers.
In the recently published catalogue of the Dragan European Foundation’s publications, the section reserved to Iosif Constantin Dragan’s biography houses more than 30 titles. After all, his life and what happened during it deserve to be analysed in-depth. A tycoon and scholar, Iosif Constantin Dragan is a unique and interesting study subject on which books are being written as well as degree theses.
Culture and Industry
For a more in-depth approach we recommend Iosif Constantin Dragan's autobiographical works, an invaluable testimony to his mark. What emerges so far, if we simplify to the extreme, is the fact that culture and industry are two sectors where he left the mark of his greatness. His love for culture and passion for enterprise are the two sides of the same coin in the story of his professional and personal life. Nor must we forget that he went to Italy from Romania to study. For the rest of his life as an entrepreneur he never neglected his science studies and cultural interests, because culture was a means to an end for his activities. Enterprise was the means. In a modern society where everything is based on money this is one of the great lessons Iosif Constantin Dragan taught us.
Worth mentioning among the numerous honours conferred on Iosif Constantin Dragan are the titles of Cavaliere di Gran Croce al merito della Repubblica Italiana (Italy’s highest honour), Gold Cross of the Order of George I, awarded by King Constantine of Greece, the Grand Cross of the Equestrian order of Saint George of Bourgogne, the title of Commander of the Order of Constantine, of Grand Referendary Archon of the Orthodox Ecumenical Church of Constantinople, as well as the Golden Euthynos of Athens for Public Relations, the First Class Diploma di Benemerenza with Gold Medal awarded by the Italian Ministry of Education, the Gold Medal of European Merit (Luxembourg) and the European Award “Lorenzo il Magnifico” (AIM Florence). Iosif Constantin Dragan was also conferred the Laurea Honoris Causa by the University of Craiova, Timişoara, and was made honorary citizen of Lugoj, Cluj-Napoca, Spataru and Timişoara.
The man
The above refers to Iosif Constantin Dragan’s public life and his successes resulting from sacrifice and hard work. There is, however, the private journey and that deserves a mention.
In 1959 Iosif Constantin Dragan married Teresa Maria Moriglioni, and shared a serene life with her for almost 30 years until her sudden demise in 1986 at the height of her maturity as a woman and writer. Teresa Maria Moriglioni descended from a noble Tuscan family, with an ancestry of noted musicians, such as Pietro Alessandro Gugliemi, just to mention one, the author of a rich production of both sacred and secular music. She was a distinguished poet and writer, as well as organizer of cultural events. Notable among her writngs are Il lume sotto il sole; Ameba o stella; Poemi, that were published in several languages. Her poetry was characterized by its existential lyricism.
During the years before her premature demise, Teresa Maria Moriglioni, as vice-President of the Dragan European Foundation, developed an intensive cultural program organizing conferences on European topics, painting exhibitions and promoting talented musicians. She also re-organized the publishing house Edizioni Nagard and nursed the idea to open a literary and artistic salon in Rome. During the early 80’s she was in charge of Europeanistic programs at Radio Mediolanum.
No children were born of the marriage to Maria Teresa Moriglioni. Thus Iosif Constantin Dragan had only one unfulfilled wish: to have an heir to his cultural ideals.
In 1995 fate smiled on him once more when he married Doctor Veronica Daniela Gusa, the daughter of a famous Romanian general, Stefan Gusa, former Army Chief of Staff who was assassinated by irradiation for putting a stop to the onset of Soviet infiltration during the 1989 coup, and is remembered in his country for his heroism during the days that lead to the demise of Ceausescu’s regime. He saved his people from worse sufferings than those they had already endured.
Veronica Daniela Gusa de Dragan, besides the harmony of a happy union, also gave Iosif Constantin Dragan the most valuable asset: descendants.
1999 marked the birth of the first born Stefan Constantin and, in 2001, Iosif Constantin Dragan then 84 but still quite sprightly, was rewarded with the birth of twin boys Alexandru Eugen e Tudor Sebastian.
The great adventure of Iosif Constantin Dragan both as an entrepreneur and a man of culture is thus destined to continue with the President Veronica Daniela Gusa de Dragan. Moreover, the descendants will ensure in future that the commitment made many years ago “in Europe’s service” – as in the title of a famous book of him – will stand for the development of that Cultural European Community in which Iosif Constantin Dragan always believed and operated.
His Spirit Remains
Iosif Constantin Dragan died peacefully on the 21st of August 2008 at Palma de Mallorca, surrounded by his loved ones, his beloved wife Veronica Daniela Gusa de Dragan and their children Stefan, Tudor and Alexandru. The funeral was held in Lugoj, Romania on the 25th of August, in the Greek-Catholic Church of his birthplace. The highest representatives of both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches were in attendance. On the previous day his coffin remained exposed at the Dragan European University, where an uninterrupted stream of several thousand people paid their last tribute from the early hours of the morning until night.
One month later, on 21st September 2008, the life and personality of Iosif Constantin Dragan were commemorated in the presence of his collaborators and admirers from numerous countries at the inauguration of a particularly significant monument in his honour, at the Dragan European University.
The thoughts of all the collaborators and of all those who knew and loved him are aptly expressed in the words of Veronica Daniela Gusa de Dragan, Executive President of the ButanGas Group and the Dragan European Foundation: “his example and wisdom will always remain and guide us. His spirit will light our path in the future”.