Mihai Eminescu

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"Eminescu" redirects here. For other uses, see Eminescu (disambiguation).

Mihai Eminescu

Born

15 January 1850
Botoani, Moldavia

Died

15 June 1889 (aged 39)

Bucharest, Romania

Occupation

Poet, journalist

Genre

Epic, Lyric poetry

Literary
movement

Romanticism

Notable
works

"Luceafrul", "Scrisoarea III",

"Ft-Frumos din lacrim"

Mihai Eminescu (Romanian pronunciation: [mi haj emi nesku]; born Mihail
Eminovici; 15 January 1850 15 June 1889) was aRomantic poet, novelist and

journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet.
Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as
an editor for the newspaper Timpul ("The Time"), the official newspaper of
the Conservative Party (18801918).[1] His poetry was first published when he was
16 and he went to Vienna to study when he was 19. The poet's Manuscripts,
containing 46 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu
Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on
25 January 1902.[2] Notable works include Luceafrul (The Vesper/The Evening
Star/The Lucifer/The Daystar), Od n metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the
five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems he frequently used metaphysical,
mythological and historical subjects.
Contents
[hide]

1 Life
o

1.1 Family

1.2 Early years

1.3 Statue

1.4 Later life

2 Works
o

2.1 Poetry

2.2 Prose

2.3 Presence in English Language Anthologies

3 Romanian culture
o

3.1 National poet

3.2 Iconography

3.3 International legacy

4 Political views
o

4.1 Antisemitism
5 References

5.1 Footnotes

5.2 Notation

6 External links

Life[edit]
Family[edit]

Family

Mihai Eminescu statue, Copou Park

Mihai Eminescu statue, Chiinu

His father was Gheorghe Eminovici from Clineti, a Moldavian village

in Suceava county, Bucovina, which was then part of the Austrian Empire (while his
father came from Banat). He crossed the border into Moldavia, settling in Ipoteti,
near the town of Botoani. He married Raluca Iuracu, an heiress of an old
aristocratic Moldavian family. In a register of the members of Junimea, Eminescu
himself wrote down the date of his birth as 22 December 1849 and in the documents
of the Gymnasium from Cernui, where Eminescu studied, the date of 14
December 1849 is written down as his birthday. Nevertheless, Titu Maiorescu, in his
work Eminescu and His Poems (1889) quoted N. D. Giurescu's researches and
adopted his conclusion regarding the date and place of Mihai Eminescu's birth, as
being 15 January 1850, in Botoani. This date resulted from several sources,
amongst which there was a file of notes on christenings from the archives of the
Uspenia (Domneasc) Church of Botoani; inside this file, the date of birth was "15
January 1850" and the date of christening was the 21st of the same month. The date
of his birth was confirmed by the poet's elder sister, Aglae Drogli, who affirmed that
the place of birth was the village of Ipote ti. [3]

Mihai Eminescu, monument byTudor Cataraga Chisinau, Rep.of Moldova

Early years[edit]
Mihail (as he appears in baptismal records) or Mihai (the more common form that he
used) was born in Botoani, Moldavia. He spent his early childhood in Botoani and
Ipoteti, in his parents' family home. From 1858 to 1866 he attended school
in Cernui. He finished 4th grade as the 5th of 82 students, after which he attended
two years of gymnasium.
The first evidence of Eminescu as a writer is in 1866. In January of that
year Romanian teacher Aron Pumnul died and his students inCernui published a
pamphlet, Lcrmioarele nvceilor gimnaziati (The Tears of the Gymnasium
Students) in which a poem entitled La mormntul lui Aron Pumnul (At the Grave of
Aron Pumnul) appears, signed "M. Eminovici". On 25 February his poem De-a
avea (If I Had) was published in Iosif Vulcan's literary magazine Familia in Pest. This
began a steady series of published poems (and the occasional translation from
German). Also, it was Iosif Vulcan, who disliked the Slavic source suffix "-ici" of the
young poet's last name, that chose for him the more apparent Romanian "nom de
plume" Mihai Eminescu.
In 1867, he joined Iorgu Caragiale's troupe as a clerk and prompter; the next year he
transferred to Mihai Pascaly's troupe. Both of these were among the leading
Romanian theatrical troupes of their day, the latter including Matei Millo and Fanny
Tardini-Vldicescu. He soon settled in Bucharest, where at the end of November he
became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater. Throughout this period, he
continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent by translating hundreds
of pages of a book by Heinrich Theodor Rotscher, although this never resulted in a

completed work. Also at this time he began his novel Geniu pustiu (Wasted Genius),
published posthumously in 1904 in an unfinished form.
On 1 April 1869, he was one of the co-founders of the "Orient" literary circle, whose
interests included the gathering of Romanian folklore and documents relating to
Romanian literary history. On 29 June, various members of the "Orient" group were
commissioned to go to different provinces. Eminescu was assigned Moldavia. That
summer, he quite by chance ran into his brother Iorgu, a military officer, in Cimigiu
Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew ties to his family.
Still in summer 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernui and Iai. He
renewed ties to his family; his father promised him a regular allowance to pursue
studies in Vienna in the fall. As always, he continued to write and publish poetry;
notably, on the occasion of the death of the former ruler of Wallachia, Barbu Dimitrie
tirbei, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui tirbei ("On the Death of
Prince tirbei").

Statue[edit]

The University's Central Library "Mihai Eminescu", Iai

Eminescu's signature

From October 1869 to 1872 he studied in Vienna. Not fullfilling the requirements to
become a university student (as he did not have a baccalaureat exam), he attended
lectures as a so-called "extraordinary auditor" at the Faculty of Philosophy and Law.
He was active in student life, befriended Ioan Slavici, and came to know Vienna
through Veronica Micle; he became a contributor to Convorbiri literare(Literary
Conversations), edited by Junimea (The Youth). The leaders of this cultural
organisation, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti, Iacob Negruzzi and Titu
Maiorescu, exercised their political and cultural influence over Eminescu for the rest
of his life. Impressed by one of Eminescu's poems, Venere i Madon (Venus and

Madonna), Iacob Negruzzi, the editor of Convorbiri literare, traveled to Vienna to

meet him. Negruzzi would later write how he could pick Eminescu out of a crowd of
young people in a Viennese caf by his "romantic" appearance: long hair and gaze
lost in thoughts.
In 1870 Eminescu wrote three articles under the pseudonym "Varro"
in Federaiunea in Pest, on the situation of Romanians and other minorities in
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He then became a journalist for the
newspaper Albina (The Bee) in Pest. From 1872 to 1874 he continued as a student
in Berlin, thanks to a stipend offered by Junimea.
From 1874 to 1877 he worked as director of the Central Library in Iai, substitute
teacher, school inspector for the counties of Ia i andVaslui, and editor of the
newspaper Curierul de Iai (The Courier of Iai), all thanks to his friendship with Titu
Maiorescu, the leader ofJunimea and rector of the University of Iai. He continued to
publish in Convorbiri literare. He became a good friend of Ion Creang, whom he
convinced to become a writer and introduced to the Junimea literary club.
In 1877 he moved to Bucharest, where until 1883 he was first journalist, then (1880)
editor-in-chief of the newspaper Timpul (The Time). During this time he
wrote Scrisorile, Luceafrul, Od n metru antic etc. Most of his notable editorial
pieces belong to this period, whenRomania was fighting the Ottoman Empire in
the Russo-Turkish War of 18771878 and throughout the diplomatic race that
eventually brought about the international recognition of Romanian independence,
but under the condition of bestowing Romanian citizenship to all subjects of Jewish
faith. Eminescu opposed this and another clause of the Treaty of Berlin: Romania's
having to give southern Bessarabiato Russia in exchange for Northern Dobrudja, a
former Ottoman province on the Black Sea.

Later life[edit]

Last photo of Eminescu taken by Jean Bieling in 18871888

In his last years (18831889), after seeing various doctors, Mihai Eminescu was
diagnosed with differing disorders. Neghina R. and Neghina A. M. were taking into
account that Mihai Eminescu may have suffered from bipolar disorder and may have
been killed by iatrogenic mercury poisoning, erysipelas, head trauma, or
endocarditis. After reviewing medical hypotheses, they conclude that "he suffered
from bipolar disorder and died from mercury poisoning, an inadequate treatment
administered as the result of an inaccurate diagnosis (syphilis). Hospitalized in
inappropriate places and treated by incompetent physicians, he suffered not only
physical, but moral, distress and died prematurely".[4]

Works[edit]
Nicolae Iorga, the Romanian historian, considers Eminescu the godfather of the
modern Romanian language.[citation needed] He is unanimously celebrated as the greatest
and most representative Romanian poet.
Poems and Prose of Mihai Eminescu (editor: Kurt W. Treptow, publisher: The Center
for Romanian Studies, Iai, Oxford, and Portland, 2000, ISBN 973-9432-10-7)
contains a selection of English-language renditions of Eminescu's poems and prose.

Poetry[edit]
His poems span a large range of themes, from nature and love to hate and social
commentary. His childhood years were evoked in his later poetry with deep
nostalgia.
Eminescu's poems have been translated in over 60 languages. His life, work and
poetry strongly influenced the Romanian culture and his poems are widely studied in
Romanian public schools.
His most notable poems are:[5]

Doina (the name is a traditional type of Romanian song), 1884

Lacul (The Lake), 1876

Luceafrul (The Vesper), 1883

Floare albastr (Blue Flower), 1884

Dorina (Desire), 1884

Seara pe deal (Evening on the Hill), 1885

O, rmai (Oh, Linger On), 1884

Epigonii (Epigones), 1884

Scrisori (Letters or "Epistles-Satires")

i dac (And if...), 1883

Od n metru antic (Ode (in Ancient Meter), 1883

Mai am un singur dor (I Have Yet One Desire),1883

La Steaua (At Star),1886

Prose[edit]

Ft-Frumos din lacrim (The Tear Drop Prince)

Geniu pustiu (Empty Genius)

Srmanul Dionis (Wretched Dionis)

Cezara (Caesara)

Presence in English Language Anthologies[edit]

Testament - Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse - Bilingual Edition English

& Romanian - Daniel Ioni (editor and translator) with Eva Foster and Daniel
Reynaud - Minerva Publishing 2012

Romanian culture[edit]
Eminescu was only 20 when Titu Maiorescu, the top literary critic in 1870 Romania
dubbed him "a real poet", in an essay where only a handful of the Romanian poets
of the time were spared Maiorescu's harsh criticism. In the following decade,
Eminescu's notability as a poet grew continually thanks to (1) the way he managed
to enrich the literary language with words and phrases from all Romanian regions,
from old texts, and with new words that he coined from his wide philosophical
readings; (2) the use of bold metaphors, much too rare in earlier Romanian poetry;
(3) last but not least, he was arguably the first Romanian writer who published in all
Romanian provinces and was constantly interested in the problems of Romanians
everywhere. He defined himself as a Romantic, in a poem addressed To My
Critics (Criticilor mei), and this designation, his untimely death as well as his
bohemian lifestyle (he never pursued a degree, a position, a wife or fortune) had him
associated with the Romantic figure of the genius. As early as the late 1880s,
Eminescu had a group of faithful followers. His 1883 poem Luceafrul was so
notable that a new literary review took its name after it.

The most realistic psychological analysis of Eminescu was written by I. L. Caragiale,

who, after the poet's death published three short care articles on this subject: In
Nirvana,Irony and Two notes. Caragiale stated that Eminescu's characteristic
feature was the fact that "he had an excessively unique nature". [6] Eminescu's life
was a continuous oscillation between introvert and extrovert attitudes.[7]
That's how I knew him back then, and that is how he remained until his last
moments of well-being: cheerful and sad; sociable and crabbed; gentle and abrupt;
he was thankful for everything and unhappy about some things; here he was as
abstemious as a hermit, there he was ambitious to the pleasures of life; sometimes
he ran away from people and then he looked for them; he was carefree as a Stoic
and choleric as an edgy girl. Strange medley! happy for an artist, unhappy for a
man!
The portrait that Titu Maiorescu made in the study Eminescu and
poems emphasizes Eminescu's introvert dominant traits. Titu Maiorescu promoted
the image of a dreamer who was far away from reality, who did not suffer because of
the material conditions that he lived in, regardless of all the ironies and eulogies of
his neighbour, his main characteristic was "abstract serenity". [8]
In reality, just as one can discover from his poems and letters and just
as Caragiale remembered, Eminescu was seldom under the influence of
boisterous subconsciousmotivations. Eminescu's life was but an overlap of differentsized cycles, made up of sudden bursts that were nurtured by dreams and crises
due to the impact with reality. The cycles could last from a few hours or days to
weeks or months, depending on the importance of events, or could even last longer,
when they were linked to the events that significantly marked his life, as such was
his relation with Veronica, his political activity during his years as a student, or the
fact that he attended the gatherings at the Junimeasociety or the articles he
published in the newspaper Timpul. He used to have a unique manner of describing
his own crisis of jealousy.[9]
You must know, Veronica, that as much as I love you, I sometimes hate you; I hate
you without a reason, without a word, only because I imagine you laughing with
someone else, and your laughter doesn't mean to him what it means to me and I
feel I grow mad at the thought of somebody else touching you, when your body is
exclusively and without impartasion to anyone. I sometimes hate you because I
know you own all these allures that you charmed me with, I hate you when I suspect
you might give away my fortune, my only fortune. I could only be happy beside you if
we were far away from all the other people, somewhere, so that I didn't have to
show you to anybody and I could be relaxed only if I could keep you locked up in a
bird house in which only I could enter.

National poet[edit]

He was soon proclaimed Romania's national poet, not because he wrote in an age
of national revival, but rather because he was received as an author of paramount
significance by Romanians in all provinces. Even today, he is considered the
national poet of Romania, Moldova, and of the Romanians who live in
the Ukrainian occupied part ofBucovina.[citation needed]

Iconography[edit]

Former 1000 lei banknote

500 lei banknote

Eminescu is omnipresent in present-day Romania. His statues are everywhere; [citation

needed]
his face was on the 1000-leibanknote issued in 1998 and is on the 500-lei
banknote issued in 2005 as the highest-denominated Romanian banknote
(seeRomanian leu); many schools and other institutions are named after him. The
anniversaries of his birth and death are celebrated each year in many Romanian
cities, and they became national celebrations in 1989 (the centennial of his death)
and 2000 (150 years after his birth, proclaimed Eminescu's Year in Romania).
Several young Romanian writers provoked a huge scandal when they wrote
about their demystified idea of Eminescu and went so far as to reject the "official"
interpretation of his work.[10]

International legacy[edit]
A monument jointly dedicated to Eminescu and Allama Iqbal was erected
in Islamabad, Pakistan on 15 January 2004, commemorating Pakistani-Romanian
ties, as well as the dialogue between civilizations which is possible through the

cross-cultural appreciation of their poetic legacies. In 2004, the Mihai Eminescu

Statue was erected in Montral, Canada.[11]

Political views[edit]
Due to his conservative nationalistic views, Eminescu was easily adopted as an icon
by the Romanian right. As a Christian Orthodox he proficiently used Buddhist,
Christian, agnostic, and atheist themes.[citation needed]
After a decade when Eminescu's works were criticized as "mystic" and "bourgeois",
Romanian Communists ended up adopting Eminescu as the major Romanian poet.
What opened the door for this thaw was the poem mprat i proletar (Emperor
and proletarian) that Eminescu wrote under the influence of the 18701871
events in France, and which ended in a Schopenhauerian critique of human life. An
expurgated version only showed the stanzas that could present Eminescu as a poet
interested in the fate of proletarians.

Antisemitism[edit]
It has been revealed that Eminescu demanded strong anti-Jewish legislation on the
German model, saying, among others, that "the Jew does not deserve any rights
anywhere in Europe because he is not working."[12]

References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.

Jump up^ Mircea Mciu dr., Nicolae C. Nicolescu, Valeriu uteu

dr., Mic dicionar enciclopedic, Ed. Stiinific i enciclopedic, Bucureti,
1986

2.

Jump up^ Biblioteca Academiei Program de accesare digitala a

manuscriselor Mihai Eminescu

3.

Jump up^ Titu Maiorescu, Eminescu i poeziile lui (1889) (seciunea

"Not asupra zilei i locului naterii lui Eminescu")

4.

Jump up^ (Neghina R, Neghina AM., Department of Parasitology, Victor

Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania, Medical
controversies and dilemmas in discussions about the illness and death of Mihai
Eminescu (18501889) Romania's national poet.)

5.
6.

Jump up^ Mihai Eminescu

Jump up^ I.L. Caragiale, n Nirvana, n Ei l-au vzut pe Eminescu,
Antologie de texte de Cristina Crciun i Victor Crciun, Editura Dacia,
Cluj-Napoca, 1989, pag. 148

7.

Jump up^ I.L. Caragiale,n Nirvana, n Ei l-au vzut pe Eminescu,

Antologie de texte de Cristina Crciun i Victor Crciun, Editura Dacia,
Cluj-Napoca, 1989 pag. 147

8.

Jump up^ Titu Maiorescu, Critice, vol. II, Editura pentru literatur,
Bucureti, 1967, pag. 333

9.

Jump up^ Dulcea mea Doamn / Eminul meu iubit. Coresponden

inedit Mihai Eminescu Veronica Micle, Editura POLIROM, 2000 pag. 157

10.

Jump up^ "Scandalul" Eminescu G. Pruteanu

11.

Jump up^ Allama Iqbal and Mihai Eminescu: Dialogue between Civilizatioins

12.

Jump up^ Ioanid, Radu (1996). Wyman, David S., ed. The Worls Reacts to
the Holocaust. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 228.

Notation[edit]

George Clinescu, La vie d'Eminescu, Bucarest: Univers, 1989, 439 p.

Marin Bucur (ed.), Caietele Mihai Eminescu, Bucureti, Editura Eminescu,

1972

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons
has media related
to Mihai Eminescu.
Romanian Wikisource
has original text
related to this article:
Mihai Eminescu
(original works in
Romanian)
Spanish Wikisource ha
s original text related
to this article:
Mihai Eminescu
(original works in
Spanish)
Wikisource has
original works written
by or about:
Mihai Eminescu

"Mihai Eminescu". AudioCarti.eu.

Gabriel's Web Site Works both in English and Original

Translated poems by Peter Mamara

Romanian Poetry Mihai Eminescu (English)

Romanian Poetry Mihai Eminescu (Romanian)

English translations by M.-M. Khesapeake

Institute for Cultural Memory: Mihai Eminescu Poetry

Mihai Eminescu Poesii (bilingual pages English Romanian)

Mihai Eminescu poetry (with English translations of some of his poems)

MoldData Literature

Year 2000: "Mihai Eminescu Year" (includes bio, poems, critiques, etc.)

The Mihai Eminescu Trust

The Nation's Poet: A recent collection sparks debate over Romania's "national
poet" by Emilia Stere

Eminescu a political victim : An interview with Nicolae Georgescu in Jurnalul

National (in Romanian)

Mihai Eminescu: Complete works (in Romanian)

Mihai Eminescu : poezii biografie (in Romanian)

The Mihai Eminescu Poems published in Revista Familia

Authority
control

WorldCat
VIAF: 27064042
LCCN: n80057213
GND: 118684493
BNF: cb119017272 (data)
MusicBrainz: 0ef52d92-06fe-47ce-a58d-68dbed569f50
[hide]

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