Emil Constantinescu was born on November 19th 1939 in Tighina (today in the Republic of Moldova), as the son of an agronomy engineer originating in the southern part of Romania, where his family would return in 1943. After graduating the high school (1956) he entered the Faculty of Law at the Bucharest University. He got his degree in legal sciences (1960) and he started his activity as junior judge to a District Court. Because of the political climate he gave up this position and he became again student, at the Faculty of Geology – Geography (1961 – 1966). He is Doctor in Geology of the Bucharest University, Doctor ès Sciences of the Duke University, USA.
Emil Constantinescu went through all stages of a university career as assistant professor, lecturer and associate professor (1966 - 1990). He is, since 1991, a professor of Mineralogy at the Bucharest University. Visiting professor at Duke University, USA (1991 – 1992).
Emil Constantinescu was elected vice-president (1990 – 1992) and president (1992 - 1996) of the Bucharest University; president of the National Council of University Presidents in Romania (1992 - 1996); member of the Steering Committee of the Association of European Universities - CRE (1992 - 1993; 1994 - 1998); member of the International Association of University Presidents - IAUP (1994 - 1996).
Author of 12 books and of more than 60 studies in geology field, published in prestigious scientific magazines in Romania and abroad.
Honorary member and elected member of Geology and Mineralogy Societies of Great Britain, Germany, USA, Greece, Japan, the Society of Geography in France and the National Geographic Society in USA. He has given conferences at the Universities of Tubingen, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Columbia - New York, Georgetown - Washington, Indiana - Bloomington, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Prague, Turku, Cairo, Lublin.
He was conferred the Romanian Academy Award for scientific contributions in geology domain (1980); Palmas Academicas of the Brazillian Academy of Letters, Rio de Janeiro (2000); gold medals and honorary medals of the Comenius University in Bratislava, the Caroline University in Prague and the University of Sao Paolo; the Arthur Bertrand Medal of the Sciences Academy, Institut de France; medals of the National Institute of Sciences and Arts in France, the University Paris - Sorbonne and the University of Amsterdam.
Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universities in Liège, Athens, Montreal, New Delhi, Beijing, Bilkent - Ankara, Sofia, Maribor, Astana, Chisinau, Bangkok, and Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.
After the overthrow of the communist dictatorship (December 1989), he got involved, together with university colleagues and reputed intellectuals, in a sustained effort for the democratization of the country, for human rights protection, for civil society establishment. He was among the personalities protesting against antidemocratic actions of the new authorities participating in April - May 1990 in the 42 days long meeting in the University Square in Bucharest. As a reaction against the violent bloody acts of the miners, who, at the call of the acting President, rioted Bucharest in June 1990, he founded together with his colleagues, professors, and students, the association "University Solidarity". He has also been one of the founding members of the Civic Alliance (1990), the most important NGO in the country. These associations have joined the democratic opposition parties and have created the Democrat Convention of Romania - CDR (1991). At the proposal of the University Solidarity, supported by the Civic Alliance, Emil Constantinescu was appointed the candidate of the CDR in the presidential elections of 1992. He got into the second round and secured 38% of the votes in the confrontation with the acting President.
Following this first important political experience, CDR elected him its president (1992 - 1996). He continued to act for strengthen the democratic opposition. Consequently, the CDR won the local and parliamentary elections of 1996, and, by direct vote, Emil Constantinescu was elected President of Romania for a term of four years.
Over the period of his presidential mandate (1996 – 2000), Romania entered a wide process of reforms in the fields of economy, justice and administration. The coalition Government, comprising the CDR, the Democrat Union of the Hungarians in Romania and the Social Democrat Union, has accelerated privatization and restructuring of the state-owned industry. A series of laws have been instated for the restitution of farming land and forests confiscated by the communist regime, for acceding the files of the political police of the previous Secret Service Department, for managing the local budgets, as well as for combating corruption and money laundry. Another set of laws have been amended and completed: the law of local administration, the Criminal Code, the guarantees for observing human rights in penal trials and civil lawsuits.
As a mediator between the authorities within the state, President Constantinescu has succeeded to create a solidarity between the political forces and the civil society in surpassing moments of governmental, parliamentary or social crises, in solutioning essential problems concerning the legal status of ownership.
President Constantinescu coordinated the foreign politics of Romania and he has represented his country at the main summits which lead to Romania's nomination as ranking first in a second NATO enlargement wave (Madrid 1997; Washington 1999); to the beginning of EU accession negotiations (Helsinki 1999); to Romania's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2001 and its accession into the OSCE troika in 2000. He has substantially contributed to the improvement of the bilateral relationships with other states and to the regional cooperation of the neighbor countries from Central and South-Eastern Europe.
He was conferred the European Statesman of the Year Award of the East West Institute in New York (1998); The American Bar Association Award for outstanding merits in promoting the rule of law (Atlanta, 1999); The Aristide Calvani Award for peace, democracy and human development, (Paris, 1999); The Award for democracy of the Democrat Center, Washington (1998); The Coudenhove - Kalergi European Award for his contribution in developing Europe and free circulating of ideas (Bern, 2000).
As he considered that 2000 was a decisive year for supporting Romania's NATO and EU candidateship, President Constantinescu decided to avoid all electoral connotations of his actions and decline running for a new term in office in the elections of 2000. He succeeded in mediating and securing the signature of the National Strategy for Economic Development on medium term by all parliamentary parties. He decided to assume the political cost of all unachievements of the administration concerning the living standard improvement and the fight against corruption. He proposed to the governmental coalition to support the independent candidateship for President of a technocrat, the acting Prime Minister of the Government which had secured over the same year the first sound and sustainable growth of the Romanian economy.
In December 2000, Emil Constantinescu resumed his university duties and his endeavors for consolidating the role of NGOs as president of the Association for Civic Education, of the Romanian Foundation for Democracy and as founding president of the Institute for Regional Cooperation and Conflict Prevention. Since 2001 he is one of the founding members of the Balkan Political Club, a member of its Board of Directors; member of the Board of Directors of the East West Institute in New York. Since 2004 he is member of the High Council of the International Organization of Francophony. Since 2006 he is member of the Consultative International Board of International Centre for Democratic Transition in Budapest. He was the president of the international commission of monitoring in the parliamentary elections in Senegal (2001).
In the last years he has published several document-books regarding his mandate as President of Romania and the evolution of his country in the first 15 years after the fall of communism.
In 2006 he became founder member of European Generation Foundation and launched the project XXI European Generation Forum having as aim the forming of new Romanian professional and moral elite.
The main books and studies in geology field
• Mineralogy in the System of Earth Sciences (London, Imperial College Press, 1999, 384 p.);
• Mineral Genesis of Skarns of Sasca Montana (in Romanian, Bucharest, Romanian Academy Press, 1980, 170 p.);
• Mineralogy. Treatise (in Romanian, Bucharest, Didactica Press, 1979, 927 p., co-authors Ianovici V.,Stiopol V.);
• Determinative Mineralogy (in Romanian, Bucharest University Press, 1996, 550 p., co-author Matei L.);
• Metasomatic Origin of Some Intergrowths (American Mineralogist, Vol. 57, No. 5-6, pp. 932-940, 1972, co-author Șeclăman M).
• Some Features of Ore Fabric, Ore Genesis, The State of the Art (pp. 784-793, Springler Verlag, Heidelberg, London, New York, 1982, co-author Udubașa Gh.);
• Gold Mineralogy in Romania (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Gold Geology, Publishing House of North University Schenyang, China, 1989.);
• Relatively Unoxidized Vivianite in Limnic Coal from Căpeni, Baraolt Basin, Romania (Canadian Mineralogist 35, 3, Ontario, Canada, 1997, co-authors Marincea Șt., Ladriere I.);
• Alpine Granitoid Series and Associated Mineralisation in the Carpathian – Balkan Fold Belt (Journal of Resource Geology, Tokio, Japan, 1998, co-authors Berza T., Vlad Ș. N.). The main books in socio-political field
• The Two Sides of the Wall (Universalia Press, Bucharest, 2002, 685p.);
• Touchstones (Universalia Printing House, Bucharest, 2002, 900p);
• The World We Live in (Universalia Press, Bucharest, 2002, 914p);
• The Books of Change (Universalia Press, Bucharest, 2002, 713 p);
• Time of Tearing Down, Time of Building 479p (Universalia Press, Bucharest 2002, 497p.);
• The Truth about Romania (first edition, 343 p., Universalia Press, Bucharest, 2004; the second revised edition – 598 p., Universalia Press, Bucharest, 2004).
• Introductory study at the volume Il semipresidenzialismo: dall’ archipelago europeo al dibato italiano (a a cura Adriano Giovannelli; G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 1998)
• Studies on education, scientific research, sustainability and ecology themes.
