Lucian Blaga

Lucian Blaga (Moldovan postage stamp 1995)

Lucian Blaga ( pronunciation ^{? / I} ; * May 9, 1895 in Lancrăm ; † May 6, 1961 in Cluj ) was a Romanian philosopher , journalist, poet, translator, scientist and diplomat. In 1936 he was appointed a member of the Romanian Academy . The Biblioteca Centrală Universitară in Cluj-Napoca was named after him in 1990 .

childhood

Blaga grew up in Lancrăm as one of nine children of an Orthodox pastor's family. As he himself testifies, his childhood was "marked by an unreal lack of words"; the future poet - who would later say about himself in a verse "Lucian Blaga e mut ca o lebădă" (Lucian Blaga is as mute as a swan) - could not speak until he was four years old.

He spent his first school years (1902–1906) in the German primary school in Mühlbach , then he attended the Lyceum "Andrei Șaguna" in Kronstadt (1906–1914), where his relative Iosif Blaga, author of the first Romanian text on the theory of drama , taught. From this time he was occupied with the work of Friedrich Schiller .

After the death of his father, the family moved to Mühlbach in 1909.

First publication

1910 his poem appeared Pe ţărm ( "On the coast", 1910) in the newspaper Tribuna from Arad . In 1914, Românul published his study Reflecții asupra intuiției lui Bergson (Considerations on intuition in Bergson ).

In 1911 he traveled to Italy , where he spent his time looking for philosophical works in libraries and visiting archaeological sites.

Education

From 1914 to 1916 Blaga studied at the theological faculties of Sibiu and Greater Oradea . In the spring of 1916 he visited Vienna , where he came into contact with Expressionism . In 1917 he completed his studies with the title licentiate and then studied philosophy and biology at the University of Vienna until 1920 and obtained his doctorate in philosophy and biology. In Vienna he met his future wife Cornelia Brediceanu .

Works

His first drama Zamolxe appeared in the Voința newspaper in 1920 . The Romanian Academy awarded him the Adamachi Prize in 1921. The University of Cluj-Napoca also awarded the piece in 1922. In that year his first translations of poems in German appeared in the Czernowitz magazine Die Brücke . In 1924 and 1925 he lived in Lugosch and was editor of the Voința and Patria newspapers , member of the board of directors of the Cultura magazine and a permanent contributor to the Gândirea , Adevărul literar și artistic and Cuvântul magazines .

In 1937 he became a member of the Romanian Academy; He held his inaugural lecture on the subject of “Eulogy on the Romanian village” ( Elogiul satului românesc ). In 1939 he became professor of cultural philosophy at the University of Cluj-Napoca.

After the Second Vienna Arbitration (which defeated Northern Transylvania to Hungary), he accompanied the University of Cluj to its refuge in Sibiu (1940-1946). In 1946 he became a lecturer (conferențiar) of the literary and philosophical faculty (1946–1948) and had a significant influence in the Sibiu literary circle ( Cercul literar de la Sibiu ) and on Ion Desideriu Sârbu . In 1943 he was editor of the magazine Saeculum , which appeared for a year. He worked as a professor until 1948 when he lost his chair and was dismissed. Until 1960 he was no longer allowed to publish his own texts, only translations.

In 1956 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature , but the Romanian government protested against his nomination.

Blaga died in Cluj on May 6, 1961 . Three days later, on his 66th birthday, he was buried in Lancrăm.

Diplomatic activities

In 1926 Blaga entered the diplomatic service and successively held the post of cultural attaché at the Romanian representations in Warsaw , Prague , Lisbon , Bern and Vienna . 1936-1939 he was Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from 1938 to 1939 envoy with unrestricted powers to Portugal.

Charon's boat

After his removal from his chair in 1948, Blaga worked at the Cluj branch of the Academy's historical institute. From 1949 to 1951 he was a researcher at the Institute for History and Philosophy, then chief librarian (1951–1954) and assistant director (1954–1959) of the Cluj-Napoca branch of the academy library. He was no longer allowed to publish his own texts and concentrated on translations. Around this time he completed his translation of Goethe's Faust . In 1958 the first volume of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's works was published in its translation. He translated both classical and modern German texts.

The poems he wrote back then could only be published after his death. It was around this time that his novel Luntrea lui Charon ( Charons Kahn) was written with autobiographical features .

Literature prizes and awards

Blaga on the 200-lei note

• The Romanian Academy awarded him the Grand Prize C. Hamangiu in 1935 for "his dramatic and lyrical work". From 1936 he was an active member of the academy
• In 1949 the Romanian Academy entrusted him with the writing of two chapters in the history of Romanian philosophy.
• In 1956 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature by Bazil Munteanu ( France ) and Rosa Del Conte ( Italy ). However, the Communist Party of Romania sent a delegation to Sweden to prevent him from being awarded the prize.
• The University of Lucian Blaga Sibiu has been named after him since 1995.
• Banknotes: Blaga is depicted on the current 200-lei note , before that his portrait was on the 5000-lei note. Literature: Cuhaj, 14th Edition, page 778, no.107 (5000 lei).

Published works

Poems

• 1919 - Poemele luminii ,
• 1921 - Pașii profetului ,
• 1924 - În marea trecere ,
• 1929 - Lauda somnului ,
• 1933 - La cumpăna apelor ,
• 1938 - La curțile dorului ,
• 1943 - Nebănuitele steps ,

Poems published posthumously

• Vârsta de fier 1940-1944
• Cântecul focului
• Corăbii cu cenuşă
• Ce aude unicornul

Dramas

• 1921 - Zamolxe
• 1923 - Tulburarea apelor
• 1925 - Daria
• 1925 - Ivanca
• 1925 - Învierea , pantomime in four acts, and Fapta
• 1927 - Meșterul Manole
• 1930 - Cruciada copiilor
• 1934 - Avram Iancu
• 1944 - Arca lui Noe
• 1964 - Anton Pann (posthumous)

philosophy

His philosophical work is divided into three trilogies:

• 1943 - Trilogia cunoașterii (Trilogy of Knowledge) in three volumes: Eonul dogmatic , Cunoașterea luciferică , Cenzura transcendentă .
• 1944 - Trilogia culturii (trilogy of culture) in three volumes: Orizont și stil , Spațiul mioritic , Geneza metaforei și sensul culturii
• 1946 - Trilogia valorilor (Trilogy of Values), Știință și creație , Gândire magică și religie , Artă și valoare .
• A fourth work, Trilogia gnoseologică , remained in the planning stage.

Aphorisms

Lucian Blaga's aphorisms are recorded in the following volumes:

• 1919 - Pietre pentru templul meu (stones for my temple)
• 1926 - Ferestre colorate (colored windows), records and fragments
• 1945 - Discobolul , Aphorisms and Records
• 1977 - Elanul insulei , published posthumously

prose

• Hronicul și cântecul vârstelor , autobiographical, published posthumously in 1965
• Luntrea lui Charon , autobiographical novel, published posthumously in 1992

Essays and Philosophical Studies

• 1922 - Cultură și cunoștință
• 1924 - Filosofia stilului
• 1925 - Fenomenul originar
• 1925 - Fețele unui veac
• 1926 - Daimonion
• 1931 - Eonul dogmatic
• 1933 - Cunoașterea luciferică
• 1934 - Censura transcendentă
• 1934 - Orizont și style
• 1936 - Spațiul mioritic
• 1936 - Elogiul satului românesc , inaugural lecture at the Romanian Academy
• 1937 - Geneza metaforei și sensul culturii
• 1939 - Artă și valoare
• 1940 - Diferențialele divine
• 1941 - Despre gândirea magică
• 1941 - Religie și spirit
• 1942 - Știință și creatie
• 1947 - Despre conștiința filosofică
• 1948 - Aspecte antropologice

Articles published posthumously

• 1966 - Gândirea românească în Transilvania în secolul al XVIII-lea
• 1968 - Zări și etape
• 1969 - Experimentul și spiritul matematic
• 1972 - Isvoade
• 1977 - Ființa istorică

Translations

• JW Goethe, Faust, 1955
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan the Wise, 1956
• Din lirica universală, 1957
• Din lirica engleză, 1958

Letters

• Letters to Domnița Gherghinescu-Vania, published as Domnița Nebănuitelor Trepte , 1995

Web links

Commons : Lucian Blaga  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Lucian Blaga in the catalog of the German National Library
• Michael S. Jones:  Blaga, Lucian (1895-1961). In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Welcome message. Biblioteca Centrală Universitară "Lucian Blaga" Cluj-Napoca, accessed on May 4, 2017 .