Mihail Sebastian (Romanian pronunciation: [mihaˈil sebastiˈan]; born
Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 â€" May 29, 1945) was a
Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.Sebastian was
born to a Jewish family in Brăila. After finishing his secondary
studies, Sebastian went on to study law in Bucharest, but was soon
attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new
generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary
group Criterion which included such luminaries as Emil Cioran, Mircea
Eliade and Eugène Ionesco. Sebastian published several novels,
including Accidentul ("The Accident") and Oraşul cu salcâmi ("The
Town with Acacia Trees"), heavily influenced by French novelists such
as Marcel Proust and Jules Renard.Although initially an apolitical
movement, Criterion came under the increasing influence of Nae
Ionescu's own brand of philosophy, called Trăirism, which mixed
jingoistic nationalism, existentialism and Christian mysticism, as
well as that of the fascist and anti-Semitic paramilitary organization
known as the Iron Guard.As a Jew, Sebastian came to be regarded as an
outsider within the group, even by his friends. In 1934 he published
another novel, De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years), about
what it meant to be a Jew in Romania, and asked Nae Ionescu, who at
the time was still friendly with Sebastian, to write the preface.
Ionescu agreed, generating uproar by inserting paragraphs both
antisemitic and against the very nature of the book they
introduced.[1]
Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 â€" May 29, 1945) was a
Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.Sebastian was
born to a Jewish family in Brăila. After finishing his secondary
studies, Sebastian went on to study law in Bucharest, but was soon
attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new
generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary
group Criterion which included such luminaries as Emil Cioran, Mircea
Eliade and Eugène Ionesco. Sebastian published several novels,
including Accidentul ("The Accident") and Oraşul cu salcâmi ("The
Town with Acacia Trees"), heavily influenced by French novelists such
as Marcel Proust and Jules Renard.Although initially an apolitical
movement, Criterion came under the increasing influence of Nae
Ionescu's own brand of philosophy, called Trăirism, which mixed
jingoistic nationalism, existentialism and Christian mysticism, as
well as that of the fascist and anti-Semitic paramilitary organization
known as the Iron Guard.As a Jew, Sebastian came to be regarded as an
outsider within the group, even by his friends. In 1934 he published
another novel, De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years), about
what it meant to be a Jew in Romania, and asked Nae Ionescu, who at
the time was still friendly with Sebastian, to write the preface.
Ionescu agreed, generating uproar by inserting paragraphs both
antisemitic and against the very nature of the book they
introduced.[1]
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