The Kerim House in Bucharest

In a neighborhood that today stretches towards the east of the capital Bucharest, right behind the Union Square, the old streets and houses of the  city, built on the left bank of the Dâmbovița river, are still in place. Also there was the old Jewish neighborhood with buildings whose architecture and size varied, depending on the financial situation of the members of this minority which, at one point, had accounted for 11% of Bucharest’s population. Unfortunately, following the demolitions and systematization during the communist period, the area has changed a lot. Nevertheless, historical oases have survived, such as the Perfume Street, where one of the houses with a lot of cultural charge is located. It is the Kerim House, also called Perfumery by its most famous tenant, the writer, journalist and radio personality Silvia Kerim.

Christine Leșcu, 23.03.2024, 16:11

In a neighborhood that today stretches towards the east of the capital Bucharest, right behind the Union Square, the old streets and houses of the  city, built on the left bank of the Dâmbovița river, are still in place. Also there was the old Jewish neighborhood with buildings whose architecture and size varied, depending on the financial situation of the members of this minority which, at one point, had accounted for 11% of Bucharest’s population. Unfortunately, following the demolitions and systematization during the communist period, the area has changed a lot. Nevertheless, historical oases have survived, such as the Perfume Street, where one of the houses with a lot of cultural charge is located. It is the Kerim House, also called Perfumery by its most famous tenant, the writer, journalist and radio personality Silvia Kerim.

Born in 1931, Silvia Kerim was known mainly due to her plays for children’s radio dramas and also due to her interviews with cultural personalities, from the world of theater and cinema. Her bohemian style is still visible in the house where she lived all her life, for a period of time together with her husband, film director Mircea Veroiu. One of the great directors and intellectuals of Romanian cinema, Mircea Veroiu stood out for his extremely personal style of directing famous literary works signed by Ioan Slavici, Garabet Ibrăileanu and Mateiu Caragiale. Deceased before Silvia Kerim, in 1997, Mircea Veroiu can also be rediscovered in the privacy of the Perfumery, says Doina Dogăroiu, the representative of the Hearth Cultural Association, which manages Casa Kerim today: “Silvia Kerim was born in this house where she lived all her life, with only one very short period when she did not live here. But otherwise, she lived here all her life. She even died in this house. She stayed with Mircea Veroiu only for a period of nine years, but the house got the shape it has now during that period, when Mircea Veroiu invested the money he had obtained from the few films made in the 1970s. So the house has the shape h we see nowadays also thanks to Mircea Veroiu. He left the country in 1981, and only Silvia Kerim remained in this house until 2016, when she died.”

Although the marriage between Silvia Kerim and Mircea Veroiu ended, at some point, through divorce, the director’s love for the house on the Perfume Street did not fade even after his emigration to Paris in 1981. The changes he made to the building consisted mainly in its expansion by a wing where the bedroom was later located. However, these changes did not affect the architecture of the house Doia Dogăroiu says: “We are now in the former Jewish neighborhood, which was also a merchants’ district at the same time. And yes, it is a typical house belonging to wealthy middle-class merchants from the beginning of the last century. It was the home of the Kerim family, Silvia’s father, Turkish by origin, who bought it at an auction. It had originally belonged to a lawyer and it has a story that we know from Silvia Kerim, from her books. It was a lawyer’s house. His wife played at the casino in Sinaia and lost the house. The house was sold at an auction, following this unfortunate event for the lawyer’s family. Silvia Kerim also says that the lawyer loved his wife so much that even though it was his favorite house, he did not get angry with her. Silvia Kerim’s father bought the house at that auction. Silvia was born here, and so was her brother. Their father died, unfortunately, very early, so she stayed with her mother and after that with Mircea Veroiu, with whom she had a relationship for nine years.”   Currently, the Kerim House or the Perfumery is managed by the Hearth Association which organizes various cultural projects here, such as experimental theater performances, reading evenings and film screenings.