“Moțu” Pittiș, the perfect artist: from “It doesn’t matter how long my hair is” to Teleenciclopedia

I think there is no Romanian who hasn’t heard of Florian Pittiș, “Moțu” Pittiș, as his friends called him. He was a Romanian theatre, film, voice, radio and television actor, director, translator, folk music performer and lyricist, radio show producer. An artist in the true sense of the word.

So he dedicated his 64 years to these artistic passions, but everyone knows him as the rocker that even the party couldn’t cut. And it really didn’t matter how long his hair was, because, contrary to the times of the “late” period, Pittiș managed to become a Romanian cultural icon.

He worked at the Municipal Theatre “Lucia Sturza-Bulandra”, collaborating with renowned directors such as Liviu Ciulei, Andrei Șerban, Alexandru Tocilescu, Sanda Manu, Dan Micu. She has translated and directed plays.

On February 7, 2004, Romanian President Ion Iliescu awarded Florian Pittiș the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Commander, Category D – “Performing Arts”, “in appreciation of his entire activity and for his dedication and interpretative talent in the service of the performing arts”.

In the musical field he became known in a trio with Anda Călugăreanu and Dan Tufaru, in the TV direction of Alexandru Bocăneț, and later on he worked with the same success in Cenaclul Flacăra. In 1992, together with Mircea Baniciu, Mircea Vintilă and Vladi Cnejevici, he founded the band Pasărea Colibri, with whom he performed until 2001 and with whom he recorded four albums.

In addition to his many talents, he was one of the voices revealing incredible facts about nature, health, technology and history on the famous TVR show “Teleenciclopedia”. Pittiș was also a radio producer and the founder and editor-in-chief of Radio Romania 3 Net, the first public radio station in the world to broadcast exclusively over the internet, which today bears his name.

Florian Pittiș translated into Romanian Bob Dylan’s songs: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Death is Not the End, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Mr. Tambourine Man, Rainy Day Women, She Belongs to Me, Silvio.

“Bob Dylan’s saying, I don’t know how it is that every day I still get up today,” said “Mozzie”.

“Moțu” Pittis was a Freemason

Perhaps not many people know, but Florian Pittiș was a well-known Freemason, holding the 33rd and last degree, spokesman of the Grand National Lodge of Romania. So he was for several years the spokesman of the Grand National Lodge of Romania, the only internationally recognized structure. In fact, the great actor and musician was buried with several Masonic insignia befitting his rank.

“If he had not left us so early by choosing eternity, we would still enjoy his miracle-working presence. He was the one from whom we learned to look, without inhibitions, towards music, theatre, poetry, life. He showed us the joy of living. For everyone else, he was the great artist Florian Pittiș, and we think it is good to remember our great values from time to time. Some know it, some don’t, but Florian Pittiș was a great, valuable, faithful Mason, dedicated to universal Freemasonry, a true model of what a good Mason really means”, writes Nicu Alifantis on his website.

In 2007, he passed away quietly, as was his personality. He ended up with prostate cancer, but when he was hospitalized, he asked doctors not to reveal details about his health.

In the end, the man nicknamed “Moțu” was a complex man, unrivalled for his generosity and incredible naturalness, a voice that seemed to bring together all the mysteries and sensitivities of the world. A complete artist, such as you rarely see nowadays, Pittiș left his mark on Romanian cultural life, and his voice still echoes, even 15 years after his death, in the earphones of young people, in songs that consecrated him, such as “The rain that will come”, “Guilty without guilt” or “The end is not here”.