Bucharest, Romania: Statue of Corneliu Coposu

When visitors see a statue of a person in an important historical place like Revolution Square in Bucharest, they certainly assume that it's someone worth remembering. The problem is that there frequently no explanation - or if there is one, it's in another language. 

Say hello to Corneliu Coposu, then. He is remembered next to a church in this part of town.

In 1990, Coposu was released from a sentence of more than 40 years that saw him either in prison or under police surveillance. Did that convince him to stay out of politics? No. He formed the Romanian National Peasant and Christian Democratic Party. It became the most important group that tried to keep ex-Communists out of political power in Romania. For good measure, he built bridges to the country's Hungarian and Jewish minorities. 

Coposu served in the Senate until he died in 1995. There aren't many Nelson Mandelas out there, but it sounds as if he's close to a Romanian equivalent.