As one of Transylvania’s oldest families, known for duty and service to Romanian Civil Society, the Ratiu’s have made significant contributions to the nation for many generations. With a history of activism dating far back to the 14th Century, Dr Ioan Ratiu’s leadership in 1892 of the Memorandists demanding equal rights for Romanians in Transylvania, Emilia Ratiu’s Fight for Women’s Rights in the 1900s, Ion Ratiu’s 50 year anti-communist protest from exile and his arrest in London in 1978 when demonstrating his outrage over the state visit of Ceausescu, the members of the Ratiu family have initiated numerous actions fighting for Romanian rights and justice.

The London based Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation has financed over 2000 Romanian students for higher-level education in the UK to an amount in excess of £2 million since 1996. Our international network includes partnership with Georgetown University Washington, where a Chair of Romanian studies was endowed and inaugurated in 1989 by our founder Ion Ratiu. Our long-standing collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies awards annually the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award and Fellowship to human rights activists from around the world, offering them the opportunity to research, study and build networks in the US Capital.

On a national and grass-roots level, we are recognised for our work with youth at the Ratiu Democracy Centre of Turda. Since inception in 2004, over 3000 high school volunteers have participated and benefitted in our initiatives.

We realize democracy is fragile, and we cannot overnight change the world. Severe threats and challenges to democracy prevail today in Eastern Europe. To seek to address these a more cohesive regional approach we believe is required. We have consequently elected to partner with and benefit from the expertise offered by the LSE Ideas Think Tank – the No. 1 university think tank in Europe. Together, we intend to introduce long term creative programs in the areas of journalism, history teaching. dialogues on democracy and strategy

The title of this collaboration is the Ratiu Forum. We, as a family, have invested a minimum of 20k GBP annually in this particular initiative. However to succeed in making a substantial impact, each of these projects will need further investment support. For this we are appealing to likeminded persons, associations, foundations and corporations who have perhaps already invested in Romania and who share our concerns for the country and the region’s future safety, stability and prosperity.

Nicolae Ratiu
Chairman of The Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation,
President of the Ratiu Democracy Centre