New Romanian President’s Life Story Turns into Bestseller

It has been a good month for Klaus Iohannis – Romania’s new president. First the introverted traditionalist made an unexpected victory in the run-off presidential election in Romania on November 16th, defeating the favourite, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, with 54.4 % of the vote.

Then, a few days later, his autobiography “Pas cu pas” was officially launched to much fanfare at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair in Bucharest. In less than three hours over 2,000 copies of the book were sold and all were signed by the new head of the country. “I was very curious to meet Mr Iohannis in person and he has proven a warm-hearted man. I want to find out more about his life and career. He is still almost unknown to many Romanians”, one buyer said, happily showing the signed autograph of the soon-to-be President. But what is so interesting about the life of Iohannis that this 200-page book reveal?

In his autobiography the new president presents important moments of his life and talks about his childhood, adolescence, his wife and sister, about the time when he was a student in Cluj in Transylvania, as well as about his career as a physics teacher. Aged 55, Iohannis is an ethnic German who spent most of his working life teaching. His career in politics started in 2000, when he became the mayor of the Transylvanian city of Sibiu, known to the Transylvanian Germans as Hermannstadt. Thanks to his managerial skills as mayor and reputation for honesty he quickly rose up the political ladder of one of the European Union’s most corrupt member states. Editors of the book hope the success of Iohannis’s tale will increase the number of people reading books in Romania.

Photo: Shutterstock

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