Octavian Goga (April 1, 1881,
RăşinariRăşinari is a village and commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 5,645 inhabitants .Răşinari is connected to Sibiu by a roughly 8-km tram line through the Dumbrava Forest...
—May 7, 1938,
CiuceaCiucea is a commune of Cluj County, Romania, situated between Valea Dăaganului and Negreni.The Octavian Goga Memorial House is located in Ciucea.-References:...
) was a
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n politician,
poetPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
,
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
, journalist, and translator.
Born in
RăşinariRăşinari is a village and commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 5,645 inhabitants .Răşinari is connected to Sibiu by a roughly 8-km tram line through the Dumbrava Forest...
, nearby
SibiuSibiu or Hermannstadt is an important city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. It straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt. It is the capital of Sibiu County and is located some 282 km NW of Bucharest...
, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in
TransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and of its leading group, the
Romanian National PartyThe Romanian National Party , initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat , was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Transleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, and especially to those in...
(PNR) in
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
. Before
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, Goga was arrested by the Hungarian authorities. At different intervals, until the union of Romania and Transylvania in 1918, Goga took refuge in Romania, becoming active in literary and political circles.
Octavian Goga (April 1, 1881,
RăşinariRăşinari is a village and commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 5,645 inhabitants .Răşinari is connected to Sibiu by a roughly 8-km tram line through the Dumbrava Forest...
—May 7, 1938,
CiuceaCiucea is a commune of Cluj County, Romania, situated between Valea Dăaganului and Negreni.The Octavian Goga Memorial House is located in Ciucea.-References:...
) was a
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n politician,
poetPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
,
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
, journalist, and translator.
Life
Born in
RăşinariRăşinari is a village and commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 5,645 inhabitants .Răşinari is connected to Sibiu by a roughly 8-km tram line through the Dumbrava Forest...
, nearby
SibiuSibiu or Hermannstadt is an important city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. It straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt. It is the capital of Sibiu County and is located some 282 km NW of Bucharest...
, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in
TransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and of its leading group, the
Romanian National PartyThe Romanian National Party , initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat , was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Transleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, and especially to those in...
(PNR) in
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
. Before
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, Goga was arrested by the Hungarian authorities. At different intervals, until the union of Romania and Transylvania in 1918, Goga took refuge in Romania, becoming active in literary and political circles. He left the PNR to join General
Alexandru AverescuAlexandru Averescu was a Romanian marshal and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets...
's People's Party (PP), a
populistPopulism is a political discourse that juxtaposes "the people" with "the elites." Populism may comprise an ideology urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style deployed by members of political or social movements...
movement created upon the war's end.
Goga clashed with Averescu over the latter's conflict with
KingKing of the Romanians rather than King of Romania was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947 when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol IICarol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand I, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
. A founder of the minor PP splinter-group naming itself the National Agrarian Party, he led it into an alliance with
A. C. CuzaA. C. Cuza was a Romanian far right politician and theorist.-Early life:Born in Iaşi, after attending secondary school in his native city and in Dresden, Cuza studied law at the University of Paris, the Universität unter den Linden, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles...
's
National-Christian Defense LeagueThe National-Christian Defense League was a virulently anti-Semitic political party of Romania formed by A. C. Cuza.The group had its roots in the National Christian Union, formed in 1922 by Cuza and the famed physiologist Nicolae Paulescu. This group, which used the swastika as its emblem,...
, forming the
National Christian PartyThe National Christian Party was a Romanian political party, the product of a union between Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League; a prominent member of the party was the philosopher Nichifor Crainic...
.
Octavian Goga in a New York Times interview, 1938
He became Prime Minister of Romania and served December 28, 1937 to February 10, 1938. He had been appointed by king Carol, in his attempt to enforce his own personal dictatorship. During his short period in government, Goga was mostly known for the first anti-Semitic laws which were passed. On January 12, 1938 his government stripped Romanian
JewsThe history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
of their citizenship. Besides being an anti-Semite himself, Goga attempted to outflank the
Iron GuardThe 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...
's popular support.
The regime instituted by Goga and Cuza gave itself a
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
wing of
FascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
character, the
LăncieriThe Lăncieri or 'Lance-bearers' were a Romanian fascist paramilitary movement who adopted a blue shirted uniform and contributed to the country's political street battles in the 1920s and 1930s....
("Lance-bearers"). They borrowed heavily from the Iron Guard, and started competing with it for public attention. Mainly, they were involved in violence against the Jews.
After his resignation, Goga withdrew to his estate in Transylvania, where he suffered a
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
on May 5, 1938. He died two days later. His body lay in state in
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
's Palace Atheneum, with a floral tribute from
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
leader
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
adorning the glass-topped casket.
Poetry
- Cărbunii ("The Pieces of Coal")
- Rugăciune ("A Prayer")
- Plugarii ("The Ploughmen")
- Oltul ("The Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
")
- Din larg ("From the High Seas")
- Profetul ("The Prophet")
- Ceahlăul ("The Ceahlău")
- O ramură întârziată ("A Tardy Branch")
- Trecutul ("The Past")
- Apus ("Sunset")
- Mare eternă ("The Eternal Sea")
- În mine câteodată ("At Times within Me")
Other
In addition, Goga is known as the translator of works by
Sándor PetőfiSándor Petőfi , Hungarian poet and revolutionary, was the author of the Nemzeti dal, the poem said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, in which he played a key role. He is Hungary's national poet....
,
Endre AdyEndre Ady was a Hungarian poet. He was one of the most important poets not only in the corpus of Hungarian literature but also in world literature.-Biography:...
, and
Imre MadáchImre Madách de Sztregova et de Kelecsény was a Hungarian writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is The Tragedy of Man . It is a dramatic poem approximately 4000 lines long, which elaborates on ideas comparable to Goethe's Faust...
.