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Claude Romano

Claude Romano is the pseudonym of Georges Zbârcea, a Romanian pianist, composer, musicologist, journalist, writer, translator, and diplomat. 03/23/1914, Toplita* (Toplita), Romania – 07/27/2005, Bucharest, Romania In the biography of Petr Leshchenko, as well as in publications about Georges Zbyrcha, only the name of the composer Claude Romano is mentioned. But there is no doubt that the author and the singer were familiar. In the late thirties, Zbircea served as a pianist at the Alhambra Theater in Bucharest. He works with the famous Romanian folklore performer Maria Tanase, with whom Petr Leshchenko also participated in joint concerts. In the early 40s of the last century, Zbirch manages to interview Mussolini and Hitler. Not only these publications, but also the speeches of the journalist against the return of Bessarabia to the Soviet Union, served as a pretext for the issuance by the new Romanian authorities in 1945 of a warrant for the arrest of Zbirch and putting him on the wanted list. In 1946, Zbyrcha was arrested and sentenced to fifteen years in prison for anti-Soviet activities and "betrayal of democratic ideals." Zbyrcea spent eight years in Zhilava. He was released in 1956 after the intervention of foreign embassies. He returned to literary and musical activities. More than 80 books were published on the history and theory of music and culture, literary works of famous writers, which were translated and edited by Zbircha, who spoke Hungarian, German, English, French, Italian, Swedish. Georges Zbircea entered the pop world of Bucharest at the beginning of the war with the song "Johnny, Johnny", which is still popular today.