{"id":65,"date":"2007-04-22T21:43:03","date_gmt":"2007-04-22T21:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/?p=65"},"modified":"2007-04-22T21:58:49","modified_gmt":"2007-04-22T21:58:49","slug":"the-real-hero-of-virginia-tech-liviu-librescu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/2007\/04\/22\/the-real-hero-of-virginia-tech-liviu-librescu\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Hero of Virginia Tech &#8211; Liviu Librescu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Ffulgerica.com%2Fen%2F2007%2F04%2F22%2Fthe-real-hero-of-virginia-tech-liviu-librescu%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-via=\"fulgerica\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-url=\"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/2007\/04\/22\/the-real-hero-of-virginia-tech-liviu-librescu\/\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/jxrw7nS3jpg\"><\/param><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/jxrw7nS3jpg\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\nYou are surely aware of the tragic shooting that occurred at the <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong> campus. One of the victims was a Jewish professor. <strong>Liviu Librescu<\/strong>&#8211;a 75-year old Romanian-Israeli survivor of the Holocaust&#8211;used his body to block the classroom door and enable others to escape, sacrificing his life for those of his students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong> Liviu Librescu<\/strong> was among the thirty-two people who were murdered in the <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong> massacre on <strong>April 16, 2007<\/strong>. He was killed during a class in the <strong>Norris Hall Engineering Building <\/strong>by a student (<strong>Cho Seung-hui<\/strong>, 23). Librescu held the door of his classroom shut while Cho was attempting to enter it; although he was shot through the door, he was able to prevent the gunman from entering the classroom until his students had escaped through the windows.<br \/>\n<object width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/0QBhm_K-fvo\"><\/param><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/0QBhm_K-fvo\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\nA number of <strong>Librescu<\/strong>&#8216;s students have called him a Hero because of his actions, with one student, <strong>Asael Arad<\/strong>, saying that all the professor&#8217;s students &#8220;Lived Because of Him&#8221;. Librescu&#8217;s son, Joe, said he had received e-mails from several students who said he had saved their lives and regarded him as a hero whilst many newspapers also reported him as the hero of the massacre. His death came on<strong> Yom HaShoah<\/strong>, <strong>Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day<\/strong>, also known as <strong>Holocaust Memorial Day<\/strong>. <strong>Librescu<\/strong> is survived by his wife, <strong>Marilena<\/strong> (n\u00c3\u00a9e Semian), and his sons <strong>Joseph<\/strong> and <strong>Lionel<\/strong>. According to the family wishes, the body will be flown to Israel, where he will be buried.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Librescu Family Condolence Page<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chabad.edu\/templates\/articlecco.html?AID=504498\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"http:\/\/www.chabad.edu\/templates\/articlecco.html?AID=504498\" rel=\"nofollow\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yom HaShoah Website from the Israeli Knesset<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.knesset.gov.il\/shoah\/eng\/eshoah.htm\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"http:\/\/www.knesset.gov.il\/shoah\/eng\/eshoah.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs&#8217; and Heroes&#8217; Remembrance Authority<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.yadvashem.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"http:\/\/www.yadvashem.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">link<\/a><br \/>\nRest in Peace Mr Librescu!<br \/>\n<object width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/QUbmlG5VAv8\"><\/param><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/QUbmlG5VAv8\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" width=\"425\" height=\"300\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Professor Liviu&#8211;<strong>Levi ben Isidore<\/strong>&#8211;and his wife Marlina emigrated to <strong>Israel<\/strong> from <strong>Romania <\/strong>in 1978 and had been living in the U.S. for 22 years.<br \/>\n&#8220;May you be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong> Liviu Librescu<\/strong> (August 18, 1930 &#8212; April 16, 2007) was a Romanian-born Israeli professor, whose most recent position was Professor of <strong>Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech<\/strong>, <strong>Virginia<\/strong>, <strong>USA<\/strong>. His major research fields were aeroelasticity and unsteady aerodynamics. He was shot and killed in the <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong> massacre while holding off the gunman at his lecture hall entrance so his students could escape.<br \/>\n<strong> Liviu Librescu<\/strong> was born in 1930 to a Jewish family in the city of <strong>Ploie\u00c5\u0178ti<\/strong>, <strong>Romania<\/strong>. During <strong>World War II<\/strong>, his family was interned in a labor camp in <strong>Transnistria<\/strong> and then transferred to the ghetto of <strong>Foc\u00c5\u0178ani<\/strong>. He survived the <strong>Holocaus<\/strong>t to become an accomplished scientist in <strong>Romania<\/strong>.<br \/>\nLibrescu studied <strong>Aerospace Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest<\/strong>, graduating in <strong>1952<\/strong> and continuing with a master at the same university. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics in 1969 at the<strong> Academia de \u00c5\u017etiin\u00c5\u00a3e din Rom\u00c3\u00a2nia<\/strong>.<br \/>\nFrom 1953 to 1975 he worked as a researcher at <strong>Institute of Applied Mechanics, Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Constructions of Academy of Science of Romania.<\/strong><br \/>\nUnder the Romanian communist regime at the time, he was unable to move to Israel. Eventually, the government permitted him to leave, but only after a direct request was made by the <strong>Prime Minister of Israel Menachem<\/strong> Begin to President of Romania <strong>Nicolae Ceau\u00c5\u0178escu<\/strong>.<br \/>\nLibrescu emigrated to Israel in 1978. From 1979 to 1986 he was Professor of <strong>Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering at Tel-Aviv University<\/strong>.<br \/>\nFrom 1985 until his death, he served as Professor at <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong>. <strong>Librescu<\/strong> received many academic honors during his work at <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong>, serving as chair or invited as a keynote speaker of several International <strong>Congresses on Thermal Stresses<\/strong> and receiving several honorary degrees. He was elected member of the <strong>Academy of Sciences of the Shipbuilding of Ukraine and Foreign Fellow of the Academy of Engineering of Armenia<\/strong>. He served as a member on the editorial board of seven scientific journals and was invited as a guest editor of special issues of five other journals. According to his wife, no other <strong>Virginia Tech<\/strong> professor has ever published more articles than <strong>Librescu<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.yadvashem.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"http:\/\/www.yadvashem.org\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/a><span style=\"display: inline\" id=\"vidDescLess\" class=\"smallText\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Ffulgerica.com%2Fen%2F2007%2F04%2F22%2Fthe-real-hero-of-virginia-tech-liviu-librescu%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tweet You are surely aware of the tragic shooting that occurred at the Virginia Tech campus. One of the victims was a Jewish professor. Liviu Librescu&#8211;a 75-year old Romanian-Israeli survivor of the Holocaust&#8211;used his body to block the classroom door and enable others to escape, sacrificing his life for those of his students. Liviu Librescu [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fulgerica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}