Ioan P. Culianu
Encyclopedia
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romania
n historian of religion, culture
, and ideas
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
.
An expert in gnosticism
and Renaissance
magic
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
, Eros
, magic, physics
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romania
n historian of religion, culture
, and ideas
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
.
An expert in gnosticism
and Renaissance
magic
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
, Eros
, magic, physics
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romania
n historian of religion, culture
, and ideas
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
.
An expert in gnosticism
and Renaissance
magic
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
, Eros
, magic, physics
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.Eros, magic, & the murder of Professor Culianu Ted Anton page 23 Some elements of the Romanian political right openly celebrated his murder. The Romanian Securitate
, which he once lambasted as a force "of epochal stupidity", has also been suspected of involvement and of using puppet fronts on the right as cover.
. He studied at the University of Bucharest
, then traveled to Italy
where he was granted political asylum while attending lectures in Perugia
in July 1972. He later graduated from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
in Milan
. He lived briefly in France
and the Netherlands
, before leaving Europe for Chicago
, in the United States
. There, after a stint as visiting professor, he became a professor at the University of Chicago
. He took a Ph.D.
at the University of Paris IV
in January 1987, with the thesis Recherches sur les dualismes d'Occident. Analyse de leurs principaux mythes ("Research into Western Dualism
s. An Analysis of their Major Myths"), coordinated by Michel Meslin
.
Having completed three doctorates and being proficient in six languages, Culianu specialized in Renaissance
magic
and mysticism
. He became a friend, and later the literary executor
, of Mircea Eliade
, the famous historian of religions. He also wrote fiction and political articles.
Culianu had divorced his first wife, and at the time of his death was engaged to Hillary Wiesner, a 27-year woman of Jewish origin, also a graduate divinity student at Harvard University
.
, at noon on a day when the building was teeming with visitors to a book sale, Culianu was murdered in the bathroom of the divinity school
, Swift Hall, of the University of Chicago. He was shot once in the back of the head. The identity of the killer and the motive are still unknown.
Speculation arose that he had been killed by former Securitate
agents, due to political articles in which he attacked the Communist regime
. The murder occurred a year and a half after the Romanian Revolution
and Nicolae Ceauşescu
's death.
Before being killed, he had published a number of articles and interviews that heavily criticized the Ion Iliescu
post-Revolution regime, making Culianu one of the government's most vocal adversaries. Several theories link his murder with Romanian Intelligence
, which is widely perceived as the successor of the Securitate; several pages of Culianu's Securitate files are inexplicably missing. Some reports suggest that Culianu had been threatened by anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his killing.
Ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist involvement, as part of an Iron Guard
revival in connection on the nationalist discourse of the late years of Ceauşescu's rule and the rise of the Vatra Românească and România Mare
parties, was not itself excluded from the scenario;Antohi; Savin; Tismăneanu, "Cei pe care..." according to Vladimir Tismăneanu
: "[Culianu] gave the most devastating indictment of the new union of far left
and far right
in Romania".Tismăneanu, in Anton As part of his criticism of the Iron Guard, Culianu had come to expose Mircea Eliade
's connections with the latter movement during the interwar years (because of this, relations between the two academics had soured for the final years of Eliade's life).
The FBI also investigated the possibility of an occult
group having been involved in the killing, owing to Culianu's work in that field.
(ed.), Religion, Fiction, and History. Essays in Memory of Ioan Petru Culianu, Volumes I-II, Bucharest, Nemira, 2001; Sorin Antohi (coordinator), Ioan Petru Culianu. Omul şi opera, Iaşi, Polirom, 2003; Matei Calinescu, Despre Ioan Petru Culianu si Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, lecturi, reflectii, Iasi, Polirom, 2002, 2005(2); and Andrei Oişteanu
, Religie, politică şi mit. Texte despre Mircea Eliade şi Ioan Petru Culianu, Polirom, Iaşi, 2007; Marcello De Martino, Mircea Eliade esoterico. Ioan Petru Culianu e i "non detti", Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008; Olga Gorshunova, Terra Incognita of Ioan Culianu, in Ètnografičeskoe obozrenie, 2008, n° 6, pp. 94-110, .
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n historian of religion, culture
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
, and ideas
Intellectual history
Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
.
An expert in gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, Eros
Eros (love)
Eros is one of the four words in Ancient Greek which can be rendered into English as “love”. The other three are storge, philia and agape...
, magic, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n historian of religion, culture
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
, and ideas
Intellectual history
Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
.
An expert in gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, Eros
Eros (love)
Eros is one of the four words in Ancient Greek which can be rendered into English as “love”. The other three are storge, philia and agape...
, magic, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n historian of religion, culture
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
, and ideas
Intellectual history
Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He long served as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and also taught the history of Romanian culture at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
.
An expert in gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, Eros
Eros (love)
Eros is one of the four words in Ancient Greek which can be rendered into English as “love”. The other three are storge, philia and agape...
, magic, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and history.
Culianu was murdered in 1991. His murder has often been suggested to be the result of his critical view of Romanian national politics.Eros, magic, & the murder of Professor Culianu Ted Anton page 23 Some elements of the Romanian political right openly celebrated his murder. The Romanian Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
, which he once lambasted as a force "of epochal stupidity", has also been suspected of involvement and of using puppet fronts on the right as cover.
Career
Culianu was born in IaşiIasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
. He studied at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, then traveled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he was granted political asylum while attending lectures in Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
in July 1972. He later graduated from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is a privately-owned Catholic university founded in 1921 by Agostino Gemelli. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy with satellite campuses in Brescia, Piacenza, Cremona, Rome, and Campobasso...
in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. He lived briefly in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, before leaving Europe for Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. There, after a stint as visiting professor, he became a professor at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He took a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at the University of Paris IV
University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne
Paris-Sorbonne University is a public research university in Paris, France. The 1968 cultural revolution, commonly known as the French May, resulted in the division of the world's second oldest academic institution, the University of Paris, into thirteen autonomous universities...
in January 1987, with the thesis Recherches sur les dualismes d'Occident. Analyse de leurs principaux mythes ("Research into Western Dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
s. An Analysis of their Major Myths"), coordinated by Michel Meslin
Michel Meslin
Michel Meslin was an emeritus professor and former president of the Université de Paris-Sorbonne .He established the Institut de Recherche pour l'Etude des Religions ....
.
Having completed three doctorates and being proficient in six languages, Culianu specialized in Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
. He became a friend, and later the literary executor
Literary executor
A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate. According to Wills, Administration and Taxation: a practical guide "A will may appoint different executors to deal with different parts of the estate...
, of Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, the famous historian of religions. He also wrote fiction and political articles.
Culianu had divorced his first wife, and at the time of his death was engaged to Hillary Wiesner, a 27-year woman of Jewish origin, also a graduate divinity student at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Death
Minutes after concluding a conversation with his doctoral student, Alexander ArguellesAlexander Arguelles
Alexander Arguelles is an American scholar of foreign languages. He is notable not only for his achievements as a polyglot, but also for the advice and information about autodidactic language study that he provides to language learners on web forums.-Background:Professor Arguelles holds a BA from...
, at noon on a day when the building was teeming with visitors to a book sale, Culianu was murdered in the bathroom of the divinity school
Divinity School
Divinity School may refer to:* The common noun, divinity school* When used as a proper noun, may be an abbreviated reference to one of the following:** Beeson Divinity School** Berkeley Divinity School** Brite Divinity School...
, Swift Hall, of the University of Chicago. He was shot once in the back of the head. The identity of the killer and the motive are still unknown.
Speculation arose that he had been killed by former Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
agents, due to political articles in which he attacked the Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
. The murder occurred a year and a half after the Romanian Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
and Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
's death.
Before being killed, he had published a number of articles and interviews that heavily criticized the Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....
post-Revolution regime, making Culianu one of the government's most vocal adversaries. Several theories link his murder with Romanian Intelligence
Serviciul Român de Informatii
The Romanian Intelligence Service is the Romanian domestic intelligence service. It is considered the descendant of the former Departamentul Securităţii Statului , of the Socialist Republic of Romania. The official decree The Romanian Intelligence Service (', SRI) is the Romanian domestic...
, which is widely perceived as the successor of the Securitate; several pages of Culianu's Securitate files are inexplicably missing. Some reports suggest that Culianu had been threatened by anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his killing.
Ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist involvement, as part of an Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
revival in connection on the nationalist discourse of the late years of Ceauşescu's rule and the rise of the Vatra Românească and România Mare
Greater Romania Party
The Greater Romania Party is a Romanian radical right-wing, ultra-nationalist political party, led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party....
parties, was not itself excluded from the scenario;Antohi; Savin; Tismăneanu, "Cei pe care..." according to Vladimir Tismăneanu
Vladimir Tismaneanu
Vladimir Tismăneanu is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park...
: "[Culianu] gave the most devastating indictment of the new union of far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
and far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
in Romania".Tismăneanu, in Anton As part of his criticism of the Iron Guard, Culianu had come to expose Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
's connections with the latter movement during the interwar years (because of this, relations between the two academics had soured for the final years of Eliade's life).
The FBI also investigated the possibility of an occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
group having been involved in the killing, owing to Culianu's work in that field.
Scholarly works
- Mircea Eliade, Assisi, Cittadella Editrice, 1978; Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008(2); Mircea Eliade, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1995, 1998(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2004(3)
- Iter in Silvis: Saggi scelti sulla gnosi e altri studi, Gnosis, no. 2, Messina, EDAS, 1981
- Religione e accrescimento del potere, in G. Romanato, M. Lombardo, I.P. Culianu, Religione e potere, Torino, Marietti, 1981
- Psychanodia: A Survey of the Evidence Concerning the Ascension of the Soul and Its Relevance, Leiden, Brill, 1983
- Eros et magie a la Renaissance. 1484, Paris, Flammarion, 1984
- Expériences de l'extase: Extase, ascension et récit visionnaire de l'hellénisme au Moyen Age, Paris, Payot, 1984; Experienze dell'estasi dall'Ellenismo al Medioevo, Bari, Laterza, 1986
- Gnosticismo e pensiero moderno: Hans Jonas, Roma, L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1985
- Éros et Magie à la Renaissance. 1484, Paris, Flammarion, 1984; Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, Chicago, University of Chicago PressUniversity of Chicago PressThe University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, 1987; Eros e magia nel Rinascimento: La congiunzione astrologica del 1484, Milano, Il Saggiatore - A. Mondadori, 1987; Eros şi magie în Renaştere. 1484, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1994, 1999(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2003(3); Eros y magia en el Renacimiento. 1484, Madrid, Ediciones Siruela, 1999 - Recherches sur les dualismes d'Occident: Analyse de leurs principaux mythes, Lille, Lille-Thèses, 1986; I miti dei dualismi occidentali, Milano, Jaca Book, 1989
- Les Gnoses dualistes d'Occident: Histoire et mythes, Paris, Plon, 1990; The Tree of Gnosis, New York, HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, 1992; Gnozele dualiste ale Occidentului. Istorie si mituri, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1995; Iaşi, Polirom, 2002(2) - Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein, Boston, Shambhala, 1991; Mas alla de este mundo, Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1993; Călătorii in lumea de dincolo, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1994, 1999(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2003(3); Jenseits dieser Welt, Munchen, Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1995
- I viaggi dell'anima, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1991
- The Tree of Gnosis : Gnostic Mythology from Early Christianity to Modern Nihilism, San Francisco, HarperCollins, 1992; Arborele gnozei. Mitologia gnostică de la creştinismul timpuriu la nihilismul modern, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1999
- Experiences del extasis, Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1994; Experienţe ale extazului, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1997; Iaşi, Polirom, 2004(2)
- Religie şi putere, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1996
- Psihanodia, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1997
- Păcatul împotriva spiritului. Scrieri politice, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1999
- Studii româneşti I. Fantasmele nihilismului. Secretul Doctorului Eliade, Bucureşti, Nemira, 2000
- Jocurile minţii. Istoria ideilor, teoria culturii, epistemologie, Iaşi, Polirom, 2002
- Iocari serio. Ştiinţa şi arta în gîndirea Renaşterii, Iaşi, Polirom, 2003
- Cult, magie, erezii. Articole din enciclopedii ale religiilor, Iaşi, Polirom, 2003
Co-author
- With Mircea Eliade and H.S. Wiesner: Dictionnaire des Religions, Avec la collaboration de H.S. Wiesner. Paris, Plon, 1990, 1992(2); The Eliade Guide to World Religions, Harper, San Francisco, 1991 ; Handbuch der Religionen, Zürich und München, Artemis-Winkler-Verlag, 1991; Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch, 1995; Diccionario de las religiones Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1993; Dicţionarul religiilor, Bucureşti, Humanitas, 1993, 1996(2)
- The Encyclopedia of Religion, Collier Macmillan, New York, 1987
- The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religions, Harper, San Francisco, 2000
Fiction
- La collezione di smeraldi. Racconti, Milano, Jaca Book, 1989
- Hesperus, Bucureşti, Univers, 1992; Bucureşti, Nemira, 1998(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2003(3)
- Pergamentul diafan. Povestiri, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1994
- Pergamentul diafan. Ultimele povestiri, Bucureşti, Nemira, 1996(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2002(3)
- Arta fugii. Povestiri, Iaşi, Polirom, 2002
- Jocul de smarald, Iaşi, Polirom, 2005
Other
- Dialoguri întrerupte. Corespondenţa Mircea Eliade - Ioan Petru Culianu, Iaşi, Polirom, 2004
Works about Culianu
A biography and an analysis of his death was published by Ted Anton under the title Eros, Magic, and the Death of Professor Culianu (alluding to Culianu's most influential work, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance). See also: Elemire Zolla, Ioan Petru Culianu, Alberto Tallone Editore, 1994; Umberto Eco, Murder in Chicago, in The New York Review of Books, April 10, 1997; Sorin AntohiSorin Antohi
-Biography:Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iaşi and a DEA from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He taught history at the University of Michigan, at the University of Bucharest and at the Central-European...
(ed.), Religion, Fiction, and History. Essays in Memory of Ioan Petru Culianu, Volumes I-II, Bucharest, Nemira, 2001; Sorin Antohi (coordinator), Ioan Petru Culianu. Omul şi opera, Iaşi, Polirom, 2003; Matei Calinescu, Despre Ioan Petru Culianu si Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, lecturi, reflectii, Iasi, Polirom, 2002, 2005(2); and Andrei Oişteanu
Andrei Oisteanu
Andrei Oişteanu is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for his investigation of rituals and magic and his work in Jewish studies and the...
, Religie, politică şi mit. Texte despre Mircea Eliade şi Ioan Petru Culianu, Polirom, Iaşi, 2007; Marcello De Martino, Mircea Eliade esoterico. Ioan Petru Culianu e i "non detti", Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008; Olga Gorshunova, Terra Incognita of Ioan Culianu, in Ètnografičeskoe obozrenie, 2008, n° 6, pp. 94-110, .
External links
- David Levi Strauss, "Magic & Images/Images & Magic", in The Brooklyn RailThe Brooklyn RailThe Brooklyn Rail is a political, artistic and literary magazine based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Coverage includes political andliterary essays, art criticism, interviews, original fiction and poetry, and reviews....