Velimir Vladimir Maximilian and Nae Leonard House

VELIMIR VLADIMIR MAXIMILIAN AND NAE LEONARD HOUSE Actor Velimir Vladimir Maximilian was a great glory of the Romanian scene. He was born on 18th August 1882 in Buzău, as the son of the merchant Zaharia Maximilian, on Elisabeta Doamna Street, today Bulevardul Gării. He studied at Alexandru Hâjdeu High School, where he was noted for his special voice. At the urging of Basil Iorgulescu and I. L. Caragiale, he enrolled in 1900 at the Bucharest Conservatory, the dramatic art and music department. After several roles during the student period, he had his real debut in 1905 in the role of Lăcustă Vodă from Sânziana and Pepelea, an opera by the poet Vasile Alecsandri. Together with C. Grigoriu, Nicolae P. Ciucurette-Rusu (another great actor from Buzău) and Carussy, he created a famous Operetta Society. He played in over 200 operas and operettas, some in premiere in Romania. He was also an acclaimed actor, playing at the big theaters in Bucharest, together with Tony Bulandra, Ion Manolescu, I. Talianu, Tanți Căpăţână, etc. With Maria Filotti Company and the Army Theater he toured in Austria, Germany, France, England. Between 1928-1940 he played in Buzău, at Moldavia Theatre, together with Tony Bulandra, in the play “Omul care a văzut moartea” [The Man Who Saw Death], by Victor Eftimiu. On the 30th anniversary of the theater, his colleagues gave him his bronze bust, made by Oscar Spathe, a work that is, together with other objects of the great artist, in the collections of the Buzău County Museum. In 1954 he received the title of People’s Artist. He died in Bucharest on 18th August 1859. Nae (Nicolae) Leonard, the prince of Romanian operetta, was born in 1886 in Galati, but between the ages of 6 and 13 he lived in Buzau, where his father was a locomotive engineer, in a house located in the same yard with the house of Vladimir Maximilian, on the street that today bears his name. At Otescu boarding school in Bucharest, he was a colleague of Tony Bulandra. He was married to Elena Teodorescu, daughter of Teodorescu-Buzau. In 1906 he went on tour to Paris with The Merry Widow. In 1907 he took over, together with V. Maximilian, the management of the Operetta Society. He sang in operettas such as: The Prince and the Bandit, The Charm of a Waltz, The Count of Luxembourg, If I Were a King, Eva, Istanbul Flower, Countess Maritza, etc., but also in the operas Rustic Chivalry, Story of Hoffman, Pagliacci, etc. In 1926 he sang in Buzău in The Bat and Countess Maritza. In 1927-1928 he was on a tour in Paris and Marseille with Die Bajadere by Kálmán, during which he had 120 performances. Sick with phthisis, he returned to the country and died in Câmpulung Muscel, on 24th December 1928. He was buried at Sfânta Vineri cemetery in Bucharest. The house of Vladimir Maximilian and Nae Leonard is included in the list of Historical Monuments (BZ-IV-m-B-02513).