Mircea Eliade

Hello dear readers, lovers of culture and quality reading!

Today I invite you to a few lines about a romanian who has an emblematic cultural activity. Mircea Eliade is one of those romanian personalities who make us great honor in the world and is recognized abroad, at least in America, maybe even better than in our country. That is why I chose today, to wash us from this shame, to dedicate this great personalities.

Mircea Eliade was born on 13 March 1907 and left in April 22, 1986. He was historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago, where he was even at the Department of Religions and honored with the title of Distinguished Service Professor. His entire work can be close in more than 80 books, including 30 volumes of scientific, literary and philosophical essays and translated into 18 languages, and over 1200 articles and reviews extremely versatile theme with a very well documented. And all this without to mention and his intimate diaries and unpublished manuscripts.

Eliade is of particular interest since childhood studies, reading with passion, despite his father who was concerned that her threatening to put so weak. He read with passion, one of his favorite authors as Honore Balzac. Also through his novels Giovanni Papini and social-anthropological studies of James George Frazer. Strikes and philosophy, studying the work of Vasile Conta, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, and history, particularly studying the work of Niolae Iorga and Hasdeu. Mircea Eliade thus learn Italian and English. In particular begins to teach Persian and Hebrew.

With such interest to study, Mircea Eliade was noticeable since 14 years, you already wrote articles on entomology. Later, in 1925 writing his first novel, autobiographical volume, entitled "Novel adolescent myopic". And four years later he finished already the second novel, which comes as a continuation of the first, "Gaudeamus", which appears Professor Nae Ionescu, who was to have a decisive influence on his career, giving him a post in newspaper "word".

Wishing to broaden their intellectual horizons beyond French culture, then dominant in Romania, Eliade learn Italian and at some travel in Italy knows them personally and Vittorio Giovanni Papini Macchioro who have publications in the history of religions. An indiscretion of the young Eliade, who publishes an interview of Macchioro, mentioning some of his bitter remarks on Mussolini's regime, had caused him trouble. In 1929 takes license with a thesis on Italian philosophy during the Renaissance.

After Italian culture, Indian philosophy is the second passion of Mircea Eliade. Obtaining a particular stock, began to study Sanskrit and Yoga with Surendranath Dasgupta in Kolkata. Returned to Bucharest, gives his doctorate in philosophy with a dissertation on yoga. In 1933 the novel Maitreyi gain popularity, based on experience in India and biographical data. Between 1932 and 1943 published several volumes of literary prose, essays and scientific papers.

Since the early '30s, Eliade ideology embraced Legionary Movement, for which he suffered, was closed for a short time, by members of the Iron Guard, authorized campaign of Charles II.

Since 1957, Mircea Eliade settles in Chicago as professor of comparative history of religions at the "Loyola". His reputation grows with every year and with each new work appeared, became illustrious member institutions, receives more honorary doctorates.

As a historian of religions, Mircea Eliade emphasized the concept of sacred space and time. Sacred space is Eliade's conception center of the universe, while rehearsal is a sacred time of the origin of the elements of the world, people think that "horizon" of a particular religious group. In this conception archaic humans were oriented in time and space, modern as disoriented. But the modern man there is a hidden dimension, subconscious governed by this deep secret of religious symbols. Department of History of Religions at the University of Chicago named after him, as proof of his vast contributions to the specialized literature in this field. In her chair Professor Wendy Doniger followed. In the last years of life, despite the serious health problems, Eliade continued to work editing the 18 volume encyclopedia of religions, collecting contributions for the final volume of the history and beliefs of his work designing a compendium of the history of religions that appear as a small dictionary. Mircea Eliade died at the age of 79, on April 22, 1986, in Chicago, was cremated the next day.

To know more about this man, I suggest you read at least some work.

God bless you!