Minovici family descendent sues municipality over Bucharest museum misuse

Stefan Minovici, president of Minovici Medical Development and head of the Minovici family (in picture) sued the Bucharest City Hall over the development of a project that affects the National Museum of Popular Art Nicolae Minovici in the Romanian capital city. The museum, also known as the Minovici villa, a donation from the Minovici family to the Bucharest municipality in 1937, is undergoing an EU funded renovation, but Stefan Minovici says the whole project is a cover up for the destruction of the museum. The project changes the layout of the museum complex by adding new building, which contravenes the original donation contract, according to Minovici. He goes on to say construction work is ongoing on the plot near the villa for a warehouse, a conference hall and a parking lot in an area that should host the museum's garden and farm. Moreover, the Minovici heir complains about the degradation of the museum, which had 5,000 exhibits 75 years ago, but now shows only 1,200.

The use of the Minovici cultural complex in the Northern area of Bucharest for private fundraising events, as well as for advertising purposes is also among Stefan Minovici's complaints. The Minovici family is famous in Romania for having pioneered the use of modern medicine to provide forensic evidence to the legal system in the country. Mina Minovici was a coroner and pharmacist, the founder and director of the Legal Medicine Institute. He also created the first morgue in the world. His brother Stefan Minovici was a chemist, while their brother Nicolae was an artist and doctor who created the first Emergency Hospital in Romania in the 30s. Nicolae Minovici, who was elected mayor of the Baneasa village in 1934, donated his house and the surrounding plot to the Bucharest municipality in 1937.

Stefan Minovici, also the head of the 'Fratii Minovici' cultural foundation, has recently invested in a new clinic in Bucharest, the Minovici Medical Center. His company Minovici Medical Development plans to build a EUR 300 million hospital, the University Hospital – Minovici Medical City, which will be built in partnership with a US hospital in the next four years. More about the project here. Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com (photo source: Stefan Minovici & minovici.ro)