Mihail Eminescu Biography

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    Mihai Eminescu BiographyMihai Eminescu a.k.a. Mihail Eminescu (January 15, 1850 - June 15, 1889), late

    Romantic poet, probably the single best-known Romanian poet. Famous worksinclude "Luceafrul" ("Evening star"), "Mai am un singur dor" ("I Have a Single

    Desire Left"), and the 5 "Scrisori" ("Epistles").

    Eminescu was active in the Junimea literary society, and was a prominent memberof the Conservative Party and a journalist at Timpul.

    A note on his name"Mihail" is a more archaic form of "Mihai". Both were in use during Eminescu's

    lifetime, and he personally made use of both forms. However, he is generallyreferred to in Romania today as Mihai Eminescu.

    His life in briefEarly years

    Born in Ipoteti, Botoani County, Romania. Eminescu was the son of tax collectorGheorghe Eminovici and his wife Raluca Eminovici (maiden name Iurscu). Hespent his early childhood in Botoani and Ipoteti, in his parents' family home.

    From 1858 to 1866 he attended school in Cernui. He finished grade 4th grade as

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    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 published a pamphlet,Lcrmioarele invceilor gimnaziti (Tears of the Gymnasium Students) in whichappears a poem entitled "La mormntul lui Aron Pumnul" ("The Grave of Aron

    Pumnul") signed "M. Eminoviciu". Shortly thereafter, he began signing as "MihaiEminescu". On February 25 his poem "De-a avea" was published in the magazineFamilia from Pest signed as "Iosif Vulcan". This began a steady series of published

    poems (and the occasional translation from German).

    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 theleading Romanian theatrical troupes of their day, the latter including Matei Milloand Fanny Tardini-Vladicescu. He soon settled in Bucharest, where at the end ofNovember he became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater. Through this

    period, he continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent bytranslating hundreds of pages of a book by Enric Theodor Rotscher, although thisnever resulted in a completed work. Also at this time he began his novel Geniu

    pustiu ("Wasted Genius").

    On April 1 1869 he was a co-founder of the "Orient" literary circle, whose interests

    included the gathering of fairy tales, popular poetry, and documents relating toRomanian literary history. On June 29, various members of the "Orient" group

    were commissioned to go to different provinces. Eminescu was assigned Moldova.That summer, he randomly ran into his brother Iorgu, a military officer, in

    Cimigiu Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew ties tohis family.

    Still in summer 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernui and Iai. Herenewed 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 Muntenia, Barbu

    Dimitrie tirbey, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui tirbey.

    JunimeaFrom October 1869 to 1872 he studied in Vienna. He was counted as an

    "extraordinary auditor" at the Faculty of Philosophy and Law. He was active instudent life, befriended Ioan Slavici, and came to know Vienna through VeronicaMicle; he became a contributor to Convorbiri literare (Literary Talk), edited by

    Junimea (from Romanian june -"young"). The leaders of this cultural organisation,Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Teodor Rosetti, Iacob Negruzzi and Titu Maiorescu,exercised their political and cultural influence over Eminescu, for the rest of his

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    life.

    He became a journalist at the newspaper Albina in Pest. From 1872 to 1874 hecontinued as a student in Berlin.

    From 1874 to 1877 he worked as director of the Central Library in Iai, substituteteacher, school inspector for the counties of Iai and Vaslui, and editor of thenewspaper Curierul de Iai (The Courier of Iai). He continued to publish inConvorbiri literare. He became a good friend of Ion Creang, whom he convincedto become a writer and introduced him to the Junimea literary club.

    In 1877 he moved to Bucharest, where until 1883 he was first editor, then (1880)editor-in-chief of the newspaper Timpul (Time). During this time he wrote most of

    his poems Scrisorile, Luceafrul etc.) However, his overwork during this periodwas very bad for his health.

    In June 1883, the poet fell seriously ill, and was interned in the hospital of Dr.uu. In December 1883, his volume Poezii appeared, with selection of poems andwith a preface by Titu Maiorescu.

    Ilness yearsIn his last years, he suffered from manic-depressive psychosis. In 1883, in

    Romania, he was diagnosed with syphilis and G. Calinescu wrote in the poet'sbiography that he had the illness since he was 20; however, a separate diagnosisdone in Vienna, also from 1883, mentioned his depression but did not mentionsyphilis. In 1884, he returned to Romania and appeared generally healthy. Startingin 1886, he received a few injections with mercury, which was at that time theusual treatment for syphilis.

    Eminescu died in hospital June 15, 1889. His autopsy was poorly conducted, so thematter of his precise cause of death is unlikely to be definitively settled. He is

    buried in Bucharest at Bellu Cemetery.

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    WorksPoems and Prose of Mihai Eminescu (editor: Kurt W. Treptow, publisher: The

    Center for Romanian Studies, Iai, Oxford, and Portland, 2000, ISBN 9739432107)

    contains a selection of English-language renditions Eminescu's poems and prose,including "Doina" (the name is a traditional type of Romanian song), "Lacul"("The Lake"), "Si dac" ("Whenever"), "Luceafrul" (variously translated as"Lucifer" or "The Morning Star"), "Od (n metru antic)" ("Ode (in Ancient

    Meter)"), "Mai am un singur dor" ("I Have Yet One Desire"), among others. It also

    includes translations of four important prose writings: "Ft-Frumos din lacrimi"("Prince Charming, The Tear-Begotten"), "Srmanul Dionis" {"Poor Dionis"),

    "Geniu pustiu" ("Wasted Genius"), and "Cezara" ("Caesara").