Victor Eskenasy, a veteran editor with RFE/RL's Romanian Service, Radio Europa Libera, has passed away at the age of 69.
Eskenasy, who began his career with the Service in 1988, edited Radio Libera's International News program and produced musical and cultural programs, including interviews with renowned musical personalities such as Sergiu Celibidache and Yehudi Menuhin. After the closing of the Romanian Service in 2008, Eskenasy continued to work for RFE/RL as a web editor and contributor to the Moldova Service’s important weekly radio program called “Culture & Politics.” He also contributed photo-essays.
Prior to joining RFE/RL, Eskenasy worked as a medieval archaeologist and scientific researcher at Romania’s Center of Military History and Theory until 1981. He later specialized in the history of Jews in Romania, a subject he wrote about extensively in many published works. He emigrated to Switzerland in 1983, where he took on numerous jobs, working as a research assistant at the University of Lausanne, a correspondent for the Voice of America, and an editor at the BBC (1984-85). He was a graduate of the Faculty of History of the University of Bucharest.
Eskenasy will be missed by his colleagues, readers, and people who love classical music from all over the world.