Mihai Eminescu (Romanian pronunciation: [mi'haj emi'nesku]; born Mihail Eminovic i; January 15, 1850 June 15, 1889)

was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet.[1] Eminescu wa s an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor fo r the newspaper Timpul ("The Time"), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party (1880 1918).[2] 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 a nd approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the R omanian Academy during the meeting that was held on January 25, 1902.[3] Notable works include Luceafarul (The Vesper/The Evening Star/The Lucifer/The Daystar), Oda n metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires ). In his poems he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical sub jects. In general his work was influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schop enhauer.[citation needed] Contents 1 Life 1.1 Family 1.2 Early years 1.3 Junimea 1.4 Later life 2 Works 2.1 Poetry 2.2 Prose 3 Romanian culture 3.1 Genius 3.2 National poet 3.3 Iconography 3.4 International legacy 4 Political views 5 References 5.1 Footnotes 5.2 Notation 6 External links Life Family Family Mihai Eminescu statue, Copou Park His father was Gheorghe Eminovici from Calinesti, a Romanian village in Suceava county, Bucovina, which was then part of the Austrian Empire (while his father c ame from Banat). He crossed the border into Moldavia, settling in Ipotesti, near the town of Botosani. He married Raluca Iurascu, an heiress of an old aristocra tic Moldavian family. In a register of the members of Junimea, Eminescu himself wrote down the date of his birth as December 22, 1849 and in the documents of th e Gymnasium from Cernauti, where Eminescu studied, the date of December 14, 1849 is written down as his birthday. Nevertheless, Titu Maiorescu, in his work Emin escu and His Poems (1889) quoted N. D. Giurescu's researches and adopted his con clusion regarding the date and place of Mihai Eminescu's birth, as being January 15, 1850, in Botosani. This date resulted from several sources, amongst which t here was a file of notes on christenings from the archives of the Uspenia (Domne asca) Church of Botosani; inside this file, the date of birth was January 15, 185 0 and the date of christening was the 21st, of the same month. The date of his bi rth was confirmed by the poet's elder sister, Aglae Drogli, who affirmed that th e place of birth was the village of Ipotesti.[4] Early years Mihail (as he appears in baptismal records) or Mihai (the more common form that he used) was born in Botosani, Moldavia, Romania. He spent his early childhood i

n Botosani and Ipotesti, in his parents' family home. From 1858 to 1866 he atten ded school in Cernauti. He finished 4th grade as the 5th of 82 students, after w hich he attended two years of gymnasium. The first evidence of Eminescu as a writer is in 1866. In January of that year R omanian teacher Aron Pumnul died and his students in Cernauti published a pamphl et, Lacramioarele nvataceilor gimnaziasti (Tears of the Gymnasium Students) in wh ich a poem entitled La mormntul lui Aron Pumnul (At the Grave of Aron Pumnul) app ears, signed "M. Eminovici". On February 25 his poem De-as avea (If I were to ha ve) was published in Iosif Vulcan's literary magazine Familia in Pest. This bega n 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 th e young poet's last name, that chose for him the more apparent Romanian "nom de plume" Mihai Eminescu. In 1867 he joined the troupe of Iorgu Caragiale as clerk and prompter; the next year he transferred to the troupe of Mihai Pascaly. Both of these were among the leading Romanian theatrical troupes of their day, the latter including Matei Mi llo and Fanny Tardini-Vladicescu. He soon settled in Bucharest, where at the end of November he became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater. Through thi s period, he continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent by tran slating 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 p ustiu (Wasted Genius), published posthumously in 1904 in an unfinished form. On April 1, 1869 he was a co-founder of the "Orient" literary circle, whose inte rests included the gathering of Romanian folklore, and documents relating to Rom anian literary history. On June 29, various members of the "Orient" group were c ommissioned to go to different provinces. Eminescu was assigned Moldavia. That s ummer, he quite by chance ran into his brother Iorgu, a military officer, in Cis migiu Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew ties to h is family. Still in summer 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernauti and Iasi . 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 publi sh poetry; notably, on the occasion of the death of the former ruler of Wallachi a, Barbu Dimitrie Stirbei, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui Stirbe i. Junimea The University's Central Library "Mihai Eminescu", Iasi Eminescu's signature From October 1869 to 1872 he studied in Vienna. He was counted as an "extraordin ary 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 be came a contributor to Convorbiri literare (Literary Conversations), edited by Ju nimea (The Youth). The leaders of this cultural organisation, Petre P. Carp, Vas ile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti, Iacob Negruzzi and Titu Maiorescu, exercised their p olitical and cultural influence over Eminescu for the rest of his life. Impresse d by one of Eminescu's poems, Venere si Madona (Venus and Madonna), Iacob Negruz zi, 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 Federatiune a in Pest, on the situation of Romanians and other minorities in the Austro-Hung arian 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 Iasi, substitu te teacher, school inspector for the counties of Iasi and Vaslui, and editor of the newspaper Curierul de Iasi (The Courier of Iasi), all thanks to his friendsh ip with Titu Maiorescu, the leader of Junimea and rector of the University of Ia si. He continued to publish in Convorbiri literare. He became a good friend of I on Creanga, whom he convinced to become a writer and introduced to the Junimea l iterary club. In 1877 he moved to Bucharest, where until 1883 he was first journalist, then (1 880) editor-in-chief of the newspaper Timpul (The Time). During this time he wro te Scrisorile, Luceafarul, Oda n metru antic etc. Most of his notable editorial p ieces belong to this period, when Romania was fighting the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and throughout the diplomatic race that eventual ly brought about the international recognition of Romanian independence, but und er the condition of bestowing Romanian citizenship to all subjects of Jewish fai th. Eminescu opposed this and another clause of the Treaty of Berlin: Romania's having to give southern Bessarabia to Russia in exchange for Northern Dobrudja, a former Ottoman province on the Black Sea. In June 1883, the poet fell seriously ill, and was interned in the hospital of D r. Sutu. In December 1883, his volume Poesii appeared, with selection of poems a nd with a preface by Titu Maiorescu. Later life In his last years (1883-1889), after seeing various doctors, Mihai Eminescu was diagnosed with differing disorders. Currently proposed causes of death are syphi lis, mercury poisoning (as an inadvertent adverse effect of his treatment for su pposed syphilis), erysipelas, head injury, and endocarditis. Although the exact cause of his death is unknown, syphilis is unlikely due to his spontaneous remis sions and relatively good cognitive functioning. It is possible that he was suff ering from bipolar disorder, as well.[5] The poet died at the Caritas Sanatorium on June 15, 1889, of cardiac syncope of undetermined origin.[6] Works Nicolae Iorga, the Romanian historian, considers Eminescu the godfather of the m odern Romanian language. He is unanimously celebrated as the greatest and most r epresentative Romanian poet. Poems and Prose of Mihai Eminescu (editor: Kurt W. Treptow, publisher: The Cente r for Romanian Studies, Iasi, Oxford, and Portland, 2000, ISBN 973-9432-10-7) co ntains a selection of English-language renditions of Eminescu's poems and prose. Poetry 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 nostal gia. Eminescu was influenced by the work of Arthur Schopenhauer, and some[who?] have suggested that his most notable poem, "Luceafarul", includes elements of Vedic c osmogony. Eminescu's poems have been translated in over 60 languages. His life, work and poetry strongly influenced the Romanian culture and his poems are widel y studied in Romanian public schools. His most notable poems are:[7] Doina (the name is a traditional type of Romanian song), 1884 Lacul (The Lake), 1876

Luceafarul (The Vesper), 1883 Floare albastra (Blue Flower), 1884 Dorinta (Desire), 1884 Sara pe deal (Evening on the Hill), 1885 O, ramii (Oh, Linger On), 1884 Epigonii (Epigones), 1884 Scrisori (Letters or "Epistles-Satires") Si daca (And if...), 1883 Oda (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 Fat-Frumos din lacrima (The Tear Drop Prince) Geniu pustiu (Empty Genius) Sarmanul Dionis (Wretched Dionis) Cezara (Caesara) Romanian culture Genius Eminescu was only 20 when Titu Maiorescu, the top literary critic in 1870 Romani a dubbed him "a real poet", in an essay where only a handful of the Romanian poe ts 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 manag ed to enrich the literary language with words and phrases from all Romanian regi ons, from old texts, and with new words that he coined from his wide philosophic al readings; (2) the use of bold metaphors, much too rare in earlier Romanian po etry; (3) last but not least, he was arguably the first Romanian writer who publ ished 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 fortun e) had him associated with the Romantic figure of the genius. As early as the la te 1880s, Eminescu had a group of faithful followers. His 1883 poem Luceafarul w as so notable that a new literary review took its name after it. The most realistic psychological analysis of Eminescu was written by I.L. Caragi ale, who, after the poet's death published three short care articles on this sub ject: In Nirvana, Irony and Two notes. Caragiale stated that Eminescu's characte ristic feature was the fact that he had an excessively unique nature .[8] Eminescu' s life was a continuous oscillation between introvert and extrovert attitudes.[9 ] 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 a bstemious as a hermit, there he was ambitious to the pleasures of life; sometime s he ran away from people and then he looked for them; he was carefree as a Stoi c 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 dr eamer 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 n eighbour, his main characteristic was abstract serenity .[10] In reality, just as one can discover from his poems and letters and just as Cara

giale remembered, Eminescu was seldom under the influence of boisterous subconsc ious motivations. Eminescu's life was but an overlap of different-sized cycles, made up of sudden bursts that were nurtured by dreams and crises due to the impa ct with reality. The cycles could last from a few hours or days to weeks or mont hs, 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 re lation with Veronica, his political activity during his years as a student, or t he fact that he attended the gatherings at the Junimea society or the articles h e published in the newspaper Timpul. He used to have a unique manner of describi ng his own crisis of jealousy.[11] 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 susp ect you might give away my fortune, my only fortune. I could only be happy besid e 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 loc ked up in a bird house in which only I could enter. National poet He was soon proclaimed Romania's national poet, not because he wrote in an age o f 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 na tional poet of Romania, Moldova, and of the Romanians who live in the Ukrainian part of Bucovina. Iconography Former 1000 lei banknote 500 lei banknote Eminescu is omnipresent in present-day Romania. His statues are everywhere; his face was on the 1000-lei banknote issued in 1998 and is on the new 500-lei bankn ote issued in 2005 as the highest-denominated Romanian banknote (see Romanian le u); many schools and other institutions are named after him. The anniversaries o f 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 (15 0 years after his birth, proclaimed Eminescu's Year in Romania). Several young Romanian writers provoked a huge scandal when they wrote about the ir demystified idea of Eminescu and went so far as to reject the "official" inte rpretation of his work.[12] International legacy A monument jointly dedicated to Eminescu and Allama Iqbal was erected in Islamab ad, Pakistan on January 15th, 2004, commemorating strong Pakistani-Romanian ties , as well as the Dialogue Between Civilizations which is possible through the cr oss-cultural appreciation of their poetic legacies. In 2004, the Mihai Eminescu Statue was erected in Montreal, Canada.[13] Political views Due to his conservative nationalistic views, Eminescu was easily adopted as an i con by the Romanian right. A major obstacle to their fully embracing him was the fact he never identified himself as a Christian and his poetry rather indiscrim inately uses Buddhist, Christian, agnostic, and atheist themes. After a decade when Eminescu's works were criticized as "mystic" and "bourgeois" , Romanian Communists ended up adopting Eminescu as the major Romanian poet. Wha

t opened the door for this thaw was the poem mparat si proletar (Emperor and prol etarian) that Eminescu wrote under the influence of the 1870-1871 events in Fran ce, and which ended in a Schopenhauerian critique of human life. An expurgated v ersion only showed the stanzas that could present Eminescu as a poet interested in the fate of proletarians.