Livia Diaconescu's family

This photo was taken in summertime, in a park in Bucharest, but I don't remember which one, in the 1960s. From right to left: Gabriel Diaconescu, my son, I, and Ioan Diaconescu, my husband.

I met my husband, Ioan Diaconescu, while I was in college, in the 3rd year, at the Calarasi student canteen in Bucharest. We got married in Bucharest, in the City Hall. It was a simple ceremony, with only a few members of the family attending. We didn't go to the meal they had prepared for us. We thanked them, took the train to Focsani and went to my parents'. We didn't have a religious ceremony - it would have been impossible anyway, as my husband was Christian Orthodox -, though any girl wants to be a bride.

The Jewish origin was not a criterion in choosing my husband. I chose the one I loved, the one who had charmed me at that age. My husband was a very agreeable, intelligent, and civilized man. Although he was ailing and weakened, everyone loved him for his conduct and his good heart.

Our boy was born in 1955, in Bucharest. My husband gave him the name of Gabriel and my mother named him Paul, after my grandmother Perla. In 1959, we moved back to Bucharest. I worked for a little while at the lab of the Vasile Roaita Hospital, then I applied for another job and, after passing an examination, I was employed at the Food Research Institute. I stayed there until 1979, when the Sugar section was closed and a new institute for the cultivation and processing of the sugar beet was founded. I worked for them till 1st January 1986, when I retired.

Gabriel was a good boy. He went to school in the Floreasca quarter, where we lived. Then he went to the D. Cantemir High School, which was a good high school. Though he enjoyed reading all sorts of books, he was inclined towards science. He went to the Thermal Engines Department of the Faculty of Mechanics, at the Polytechnic. After his graduation, he was employed at the National Institute of Thermal Engines. He worked there until 1987, when he emigrated to Israel.