The story of Teodor Flonta's life could easily make an intriguing film script, beginning in a small Transylvanian peasant village surrounded by extended family and old men with moustaches who would fascinate him with their ghost stories.  When he was young his father declared an "enemy of the people" by the communist regime and throughout the 50s was arrested, imprisoned and tormented.  With an aptitude for languages, it seemed Teodor was destined to leave Romania and eventually did after meeting his future Italian wife, Ariella. After 7 years in Italy they moved to Australia to teach Italian in Adelaide. Teodor arrived in 1978 with no English but by the 80s was running the Italian department at the University of Tasmania.

As Teodor has had a long and eventful life, this episode is longer and divided into three chapters. Part 1  will give you a real feel of peasant life in the Romanian village, but also understand the personal impact of the communist dictatorship that ruled Romania on peoples' lives. Part 2 focuses on how his interest and aptitude for languages was the first step in a journey out of Romania, meeting his Italian wife Ariella.  The third part is how he came to Australia and then settle down in Tasmania as a lecturer in Italian.

In many ways it's a personal story of particular place and time, but it also touches on universal themes that continue to effect new arrivals to our shores fleeing repressive regimes and political or personal persecution.

Teodor also reads several passages from his book, "A Luminous Future" , which focuses on the experiences of his father in Communist Romania.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Luminous-Future-Teodor-Flonta-ebook/dp/B007DCBN7W