n autumn 1995, he had proposed changing the name of Piata Unirii (even though he had earlier changed it from Piata Libertatii) to Piata Daco-Romana. The Cluj county government rejected Funar's proposal early in January, according to the Iasi 'Monitorul' of 6 January. But there's more. According to 'Adevarul' ('The Truth': hopefully more objective than 'Pravda' was?!) of 8 January, Funar has proposed that on 20 April a statue of the Lupa Capitolina--the mythic wolf which nursed the founders of Rome--be placed on Piata Unirii, flanked by busts of Decebal (the Dacian king) and Trajan (the Roman emperor who finally defeated Decebal and the Dacians). An archeological museum is also planned for Piata Unirii, to house any artifacts found in the current excavation. Finally, the crowning glory for the Piata (although not officially proposed) is an exact copy of Trajan's column (the original is in Rome, of course), which could go nowhere else but where the equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus now stands. Mr. Funar sure loves monuments.

ll this, however, is in the near or distant future. By contrast, Funar's plan for a new plaque on the House of Matthias Corvinus (I'll stay with the Latin version of his name from here on) has just been realized. The plaque was installed on 15 January, the anniversary of Mihai Eminescu's birth (as the 'Romania Libera'/'Free Romania' newspaper noted the next day). It is the same size as the original plaque, which is only in Hungarian and was installed by order of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef last century. The new plaque is in Romanian--and also English to help the hopeless tourists like myself ;). It reads: (I include both)

otrivit traditiilor istorice, in aceasta casa s-a nascut Matei Corvin, fiul marelui ostean Iancu de Hunedoara, voievod al Transilvaniei si guvernator al Ungariei. Romanul Matei Corvin e considerat, datorita infaptuirilor din timpul domniei sale (1458-1490), cel mai mare rege al Ungariei.

ccording to historical tradition, in this house was born Matei Corvin, son of the great soldier Iancu of Hunedoara, prince of Transylvania and governor of Hungary. The Romanian Matei Corvin is considered, because of the accomplishments during his reign (1458-1490), the greatest king of Hungary.

egardless of his national label, Matthias Corvinus' acts were impressive, and it is a shame that they are tainted by ethnic rivalries. Both Romanians and Hungarians can legitimately claim him as an important historical figure, and his prestige/heroism/whatever should be shared by both. It is a telling comment on Funar's plaque that both 'Vatra Romaneasca' ('Romanian Hearth'),one of the more nationalist Romanian organizations, and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), the vocal party of the Hungarians in Transylvania, have both criticized the 'Romanian' designation of the plaque. The plaque is not a bad idea in itself, since Corvinus' home should be identified in both Romanian and Hungarian, but the claim to exclusive ethnicity is a telling mistake.

urrently, Funar's party--the Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) is in danger of losing its alliance with the ruling PDSR, and it is having difficulty finding another party to pair with for the elections this fall. Without an alliance, the PUNR may not surpass the 5% threshold needed to retain its seats in Parliament. Funar may be increasingly seen as a political liability, not just by potential allied parties, but by his own party as well.