Doru Davidovici

Doru Davidovici (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdoru daˈvidovit͡ʃʲ]; 1945–1989), was a Romanian aviator and writer. Born in a Romanian-Jewish family, Doru Davidovici became one of the most loved Romanian fiction writers in the 1980s.[1] During the communist years, his books gave an unusual sense of liberty and new horizons by describing the experience of flying, and the closeness it forged – both between pilots, and between pilots and their machines. The plane is seen by Davidovici not simply as a machine that enables one to fly but as an actual character, with its own personality and almost with its own soul.

Doru Davidovici
Doru Davidovici in flight gear
Birth name	Doru Davidovici
Born	(1945-07-06)6 July 1945 Bucharest, Romania
Died	20 April 1989(1989-04-20) (aged 43)
Allegiance	Romania
Service/branch	Romanian Air Force
Years of service	1968–1989
Rank	Lieutenant-colonel
Unit	86th Fighter Aviation Regiment
Writing career
Genre	Science fiction

His work is influenced by writers like Ray Bradbury, Radu Tudoran and Bertolt Brecht. The titles include The Horses of Voroneţ (1974), The Colour of the Sky (1981), Silver Wings (1983) and Rise and Walk (1989).

Keeping a sense of proportion, it is reasonable to draw a parallel between Davidovici and the French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint Exupéry. They both found a source of literary inspiration in their profession, and they both died, at about the same age, flying a fighter plane.

Beside his narrative work, Doru Davidovici is known for his essay on the UFOs, My colleagues from the unknown. Here Davidovici regards, once again through his pilot eyes, the UFOs and the issues raised by their presumed existence.

Doru Davidovici lost his life together with Dumitru Petra on 20 April 1989 during landing procedures while flying his MiG-21 from a training flight back home to RoAF 86th Air Base.