Titu Maiorescu
Encyclopedia
Titu Liviu Maiorescu (ˈtitu majoˈresku; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romania
n literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea
Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture
in the second half of the 19th century.
A member of the Conservative Party
, he was Foreign Minister between 1910 and 1914 and Prime Minister of Romania from 1913 to 1914. He represented Romania at the Peace Conference
in Bucharest that ended the Second Balkan War
. In politics as in culture he favoured Germany
over France
. He opposed Romania's entry in World War I
against Germany, but he nevertheless refused to collaborate with the German army after it had occupied Bucharest.
, on 15 February 1840. Maiorescu's mother, born Maria Popazu, was the sister of the bookman bishop of Caransebeş, Ioan Popazu. The family Popazu came from Vălenii de Munte
and it had Aromanian origins. His father, Ioan Maiorescu, was the son of a Transylvanian peasant from Bucerdea Grânoasă and his name was actually Trifu, but he adopted the name Maiorescu in order to emphasize his kindred with Petru Maior
. Being a theologian by trade (having studied in Blaj, Budapest, Vienna), Ioan Maiorescu proved to be a free thinker. He worked at a teacher in Cernăuţi, Craiova, Iaşi, Bucharest and he remained a bright personality of that epoch of formation for the Romanian modern educational system. Ioan Maiorescu became an inspector for the schools of Oltenia
, then he worked as a teacher at the Central School of Craiova. During the Revolution of 1848 he strengthened the link between the Walachian and Transylvanian revolutionaries and he activated as an agent of the Interim Govern, near the German Dieta from Frankfurt
. Meanwhile, his family, consisting of his wife, Maria, born Popasu and his two children, Emilia and Titu, travelled to Bucharest
, Braşov
, Sibiu
and Blaj
, staying in Braşov
for a long while and there, the future critic attended grade fifth at the Romanian gymnasium. Settling in Vienna
, Ioan Maiorescu wrote articles in the Austrian newspapers concerning Romanian and Romanians. Returning to Romania after the Union, he became president of the Obşteasca Epitropie (The Public Trusteeship), then he worked as director of the Central Commission of the United Principalities, then he worked as a teacher at the Saint Sava National College, as director of Public Instruction Eforie
and then as a teacher at the Superior School of Letters in Bucharest
.
, Ioan Maiorescu was sent on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, while Maria Maiorescu and their children travelled to Bucharest, Braşov and Sibiu. In December 1848, under the leadership of Avram Iancu
, Ioan Maiorescu's family arrived in Blaj
and then in Braşov. Titu Maiorescu continued primary school between 1848 and 1850 at Protodeacon Iosif Barac's School.
Between 1850 and 1851, after finishing primary school, Titu Maiorescu was enlisted at the Romanian Gymnasium from Schei-Braşov, a gymnasium founded in 1850 through his uncle Ioan Popazu's endeavour. He attended grade fifth at the Romanian gymnazium from Braşov
and met Anton Pann
, who left him an ineffaceable impression.
, where his father was working within the Ministry of Justice. Later in October Titu Maiorescu attended the first grade at the Academic Gymnazium, which was an addendum of the Theresianum Academy for foreigners. A month later, they equated his results from the gymnasiu from Braşov and he passed to the next grade.
While attending the academy in Vienna, Maiorescu a began to write his Însemnărilor zilnice (Daily Journal) (which he kept until July 1917, in 42 notebooks that belong today to the fund of manuscripts from the Romanian Academy Library) and he will continue writing his journal until the end of his life. His notes will be a good source of knowing Maiorescu's personality. His success from 1858, when he graduated first in his class at the Theresianum Academy, was a guerdon of all his efforts and strong will.
he obtained his PhD at Giessen with „magna cum laude“, then after an year, he got his licence at the Philology and Philosophy University of Sorbona and one year later, after he studied at the University of Paris
, he took his licence in Law), but his eagerness did not affect his demureness in his studies; the foundations of Maiorescu's extremely solid culture were established during that period of time.
On 3 January 1857, he sent an essay signed with the name Aureliu to the Transylvania Gazette in order to publish some of his translations from Jean Paul
's works. In the following number he intended to publish the translation of a short story written by Jean Paul
and entitled "New Year's Eve Night". Although the translation was not published at that date, the letter that Aurel A. Mureşianu edited later in the Gazette of books, no 1, in 1934 is still considered „the first publishing attempt“ of T. Maiorescu and it was republished under the same title. In 1858, beside his academic activitity, he worked as a teacher of Psychology
in private boarding schools and as a French
teacher in the house of Kremnitz
.
As a preparatory for French language for the Kremnitz family, Titu Maiorescu taught the four children of the family: Klara (his future wife), Helene, Wilhelm (future Dr. W. Kremnitz, Mite Kremnitz
's husband, born Bardeleben) and Hermann. Titu Maiorescu got his PhD in Philosophy at Giessen with magna cum laude. The Giessen University considered in ordered to allow him to get a PhD, that the last two years at Theresianum were University studies. When he returned to Romania, he published the article „The Measure of Height through a Barometer” in the review Isis or Nature.
due to the acknowledgment of his doctorate from Giessen. The following year, he published his Philosophy essay entitled Einiges Philosophische in gemeinfasslicher Form („Philosophical Considerations for Everybody's Understanding”) in Berlin
, obviously under the influence of Herbart's and Feuerbach
's ideas.
On 17 December after they considered the value of the essay Einiges Philosophische in gemeinfasslicher Form (Some Philosophy at Everybody's Understanding) and after „a verbal defense in front of the academic committee, brilliantly held for original opinions“, the Sorbonne committee „granted him the title of licencé ès lettres“ (Philology Licenced). Afterwards, Titu Maiorescu prepared his doctorate on the tesis: „La relation. Essai d’un nouveau fondement de la philosophie” (The Relation. Essay on a new foundation of philosophy), until the end of the year 1861, when he left France
.
In 1863 he was assigned to teach a University course of history
, on the subject „About the History of the Roman Republic from the Introduction of Plebeian Tribunes until the Death of Julius Caesar Especially Regarding the Economical and Political Progress”. From February until September he was the Dean of the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Iaşi. On September 18, 1863 he was elected as rector of the University of Iaşi for a perioad of four years. In October he was assigned as principal of the School „Vasile Lupu“ from Iaşi
. He taught Pedagogy, Romanian Grammar, Psychology and Composition there. For the first time in Romania, he initiated the Pedagogic Practice for pupils and one of these pupils was Ion Creangă
.
In 1863 Titu Maiorescu published in Iaşi
the "Yearbook of the Gymnasium and the Boarding School from Iaşi for the School Year 1862–1863"; the yearbook was preceded by his thesis: „Why Should the Latin Language be Studied in Gymnasium as Part of the Foundation of Moral Education?” On 28 March Titu Maiorescu's daughter, Livia, was born. She later married Dymsza; she died in 1946. On 8 October Titu Maiorescu is elected to lead the Institute Vasilian from Iaşi
, which needed to be „fundamentally reorganized“. In order to complete this mission, commissioned by the Minister of Public Directions from back then, Alexandru Odobescu
, he travelled on a documentary journey to Berlin
and later he returned to Iaşi
on 4 January 1864.
Between 1863–1864 Titu Maiorescu taught Philosophy at the Philology University of Iaşi
.
's Music”) in Berlin
for the benefit of the monument of Lessing
from Kamenz, which he repeated on 12 April in Paris
, at the „Cercle des sociétés savantes“ (Circle of Academic Societies) and later renewed in the form of a communication, on 27 April in Berlin, at the Philosophy Society.
On 28 November he obtained his Law Licence in Paris, on the thesis "Du régime dotal" ("On Dowery Law"). On December 10 he began his lecture cycle on „Education Within the Family”. Afterwards he went back to Romania and settled in Bucharest in December.
When he returned to Romania, at the end of 1861, Titu Maiorescu was eager to contribute to the progress of the recently formed state, after the Union of 1859, of the cultural and political life, of a European level. At that time, when the Union was done and personalities of fresh energies and cultured people were needed, people who were educated in Western Universities, Titu Maiorescu had an early ascent, from his youth, as he was a University professor at 22 years old (in Iaşi
), a dean at 23 and a rector at the same age, then he became an academician (member of the Romanian Academic Society
) at 27, a deputy at 30, then a minister at age 34. But this ascent was not always smooth or without hardships, as he was once sued because of all the calumnies that his political opponents promoted and he was suspended from all his functions in 1864, but the verdict of discharge from the following year proved the baselessness of all the accusation against him.
Society took place. He founded il alongside his friends I. Negruzzi, Petre P. Carp
, V. Pogor
and Th.Rosetti. He started his work as a lawyer, then he was elected principal of the School „Vasile Lupu“ from Iaşi
, and then he founded the a review Literary Discussins (Convorbiri literare) in 1867.
Although the period that followed after the Union of 1859 represented an epoch of completion of the ideals of the generation of 1848, a few accents still had changed, the conditions were different from the romantic youth of Heliade Rădulescu
, Alecsandri
or Bălcescu
. Maiorescu was representing the new generation, the junimist generation, which had a new conception on social and Romanian cultural life. On the political ideology plan, Maiorescu was a retentionist, an advocate of a natural, organic and well prepared evolution and an adversary of the „forms without root“, whose indictment he made in his article from 1868, Against nowadays direction in Romanian culture, in which he criticized the implementation of certain institutions which were imitated after the Western ones and to which no appropriate root corresponded in the mentalitaty, creation and cultural legacy of the Romanian people.
to address enthusiastic appeals for Romanian literary works, the seventh decade of the 19th century was marked by a large number of poets and prosemen, who had very limited artistical devices, but high ideals and pretences. It was a time when the selection of true values was needed, on the basis of certain aesthetic criteria and Maiorescu agreed to accomplish that task. The adversaries of his ideas depreciatively called his action „a judicial criticism“, because his studies and articles did not analyse in detail the literary work that they had discussed and they contain many apothegms on it. These are based on an ample culture, a determined artistic taste and on impressive intuitions. The mentor of Junimea society considered this type of criticism (neatly affirmative or negative) necessary only to that epoch of clutter of values, as its modalities of execution would gradate later, in the literary life, when the great writers would elevate the artistic level and implicitly would have the public's exigency augmented.
This work as a tutor, as fighter for the assertion of values, will be led by Maiorescu throughout his entire life and will be divided between his political activity (he will become prime minister, but he will lose a friend from his youth, P.P. Carp
), his University activity (as a professor he had and he promoted disciples of great value, like C. Rădulescu-Motru
, P.P. Negulescu, Pompiliu Eliade and others), his lawyer activity and his literary critic activity. Maiorescu was seldom reproached for not having spent enough time on writing literary works but his work as a literary critic profoundly marks one of the most lusty epochs in the history of Romanian literature: the perioad of the great classics. The role of Junimea society and of Maiorescu himself is linked to the creation and the assertion in the public's conscience of writers like Eminescu
, Creangă
, Caragiale
, Slavici
, Duiliu Zamfirescu
and others.
Concerning his conduct, the manner that people reproached Maiorescu for his coldness, his lack of passion, his Olympian attitude, that he seemed to hide a dry soul; for exemplifying this statement, the famous appraisal made by the igneous N. Iorga
: „Nobody was warm or cold beside him“. The help that Maiorescu gave to the writers from the circle of Junimea
and to his disciples and even to his adversary, Dobrogeanu-Gherea
, in an important moment of his life, unfolded a man of great and at the same time discreet generosity. The lines that Maiorescu wrote to Eminescu
when Eminescu was ill and was worried about the fees for his boarding at the sanatorium from Ober-Döbling prove that Maiorescu was endowed with an admirable gentleness of heart:
„Do you want to know where the means to pay your fees come from for now? Well, mister Eminescu, are we such strangers to each other? Don't you know the love (if you allow me to use this exact word, although it is stronger than other words), the often enthusiastic admiration that I and our entire literary circle feels for you, for your poems, for your whole literary and political work? But it was a real explosion of love that we, all your friends (and only these), contributed to support the few material needs that your situation require. And you would have done the same in using the large or small sum you had when any of your friends would have needed, so we cannot forget a friend of your great value“.
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 literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea
Junimea
Junimea was a Romanian literary society founded in Iaşi in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi...
Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture
Culture of Romania
Romania has a unique culture, which is the product of its geography and of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them...
in the second half of the 19th century.
A member of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)
The Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the Liberal Party...
, he was Foreign Minister between 1910 and 1914 and Prime Minister of Romania from 1913 to 1914. He represented Romania at the Peace Conference
Treaty of Bucharest, 1913
The Treaty of Bucharest was concluded on 10 August 1913, by the delegates of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece.As Bulgaria had been completely isolated in the Second Balkan War , and as it was closely invested on its northern boundary by Romania and on its western frontier by the...
in Bucharest that ended the Second Balkan War
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
. In politics as in culture he favoured Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
over 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...
. He opposed Romania's entry in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
against Germany, but he nevertheless refused to collaborate with the German army after it had occupied Bucharest.
Biography
Titu Liviu Maiorescu was born in CraiovaCraiova
Craiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
, on 15 February 1840. Maiorescu's mother, born Maria Popazu, was the sister of the bookman bishop of Caransebeş, Ioan Popazu. The family Popazu came from Vălenii de Munte
Valenii de Munte
Vălenii de Munte is a town in Prahova County, southern Romania , with a population of about 13,309. It lies on the Teleajen River valley, 28 km north of the county seat of Ploieşti....
and it had Aromanian origins. His father, Ioan Maiorescu, was the son of a Transylvanian peasant from Bucerdea Grânoasă and his name was actually Trifu, but he adopted the name Maiorescu in order to emphasize his kindred with Petru Maior
Petru Maior
Petru Maior was a Romanian writer who is considered one of the most influential personalities of the Age of Enlightenment in Transylvania...
. Being a theologian by trade (having studied in Blaj, Budapest, Vienna), Ioan Maiorescu proved to be a free thinker. He worked at a teacher in Cernăuţi, Craiova, Iaşi, Bucharest and he remained a bright personality of that epoch of formation for the Romanian modern educational system. Ioan Maiorescu became an inspector for the schools of Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
, then he worked as a teacher at the Central School of Craiova. During the Revolution of 1848 he strengthened the link between the Walachian and Transylvanian revolutionaries and he activated as an agent of the Interim Govern, near the German Dieta from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. Meanwhile, his family, consisting of his wife, Maria, born Popasu and his two children, Emilia and Titu, travelled to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, 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 Dâmbovița River....
, Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
, Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
and Blaj
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
, staying in Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
for a long while and there, the future critic attended grade fifth at the Romanian gymnasium. Settling in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Ioan Maiorescu wrote articles in the Austrian newspapers concerning Romanian and Romanians. Returning to Romania after the Union, he became president of the Obşteasca Epitropie (The Public Trusteeship), then he worked as director of the Central Commission of the United Principalities, then he worked as a teacher at the Saint Sava National College, as director of Public Instruction Eforie
Eforie
Eforie : Băile Movilă, Carmen-Sylva, Vasile Roaită) is a town and a holiday resort on the Black Sea shore, in Constanţa County, Romania. It is located about 14 kilometers south of Constanţa...
and then as a teacher at the Superior School of Letters in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, 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 Dâmbovița River....
.
Childhood
Between 1846 and 1848 Titu Maiorescu attended the primary school in Craiova. During the days of the revolutionWallachian Revolution of 1848
The Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the Principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in the Principality of Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by...
, Ioan Maiorescu was sent on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, while Maria Maiorescu and their children travelled to Bucharest, Braşov and Sibiu. In December 1848, under the leadership of Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especially active in the Ţara Moţilor region and the Apuseni Mountains...
, Ioan Maiorescu's family arrived in Blaj
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
and then in Braşov. Titu Maiorescu continued primary school between 1848 and 1850 at Protodeacon Iosif Barac's School.
Between 1850 and 1851, after finishing primary school, Titu Maiorescu was enlisted at the Romanian Gymnasium from Schei-Braşov, a gymnasium founded in 1850 through his uncle Ioan Popazu's endeavour. He attended grade fifth at the Romanian gymnazium from Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
and met Anton Pann
Anton Pann
Anton Pann , was an Ottoman-born Wallachian composer, musicologist, and Romanian-language poet, also noted for his activities as a printer, translator, and schoolteacher...
, who left him an ineffaceable impression.
At Theresianum Academy
In September 1851 the Maiorescu family settles in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where his father was working within the Ministry of Justice. Later in October Titu Maiorescu attended the first grade at the Academic Gymnazium, which was an addendum of the Theresianum Academy for foreigners. A month later, they equated his results from the gymnasiu from Braşov and he passed to the next grade.
While attending the academy in Vienna, Maiorescu a began to write his Însemnărilor zilnice (Daily Journal) (which he kept until July 1917, in 42 notebooks that belong today to the fund of manuscripts from the Romanian Academy Library) and he will continue writing his journal until the end of his life. His notes will be a good source of knowing Maiorescu's personality. His success from 1858, when he graduated first in his class at the Theresianum Academy, was a guerdon of all his efforts and strong will.
University Studies
He was very eager to obtain his university (after only one year of studies in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
he obtained his PhD at Giessen with „magna cum laude“, then after an year, he got his licence at the Philology and Philosophy University of Sorbona and one year later, after he studied at the University of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, he took his licence in Law), but his eagerness did not affect his demureness in his studies; the foundations of Maiorescu's extremely solid culture were established during that period of time.
On 3 January 1857, he sent an essay signed with the name Aureliu to the Transylvania Gazette in order to publish some of his translations from Jean Paul
Jean Paul
Jean Paul , born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.-Life and work:...
's works. In the following number he intended to publish the translation of a short story written by Jean Paul
Jean Paul
Jean Paul , born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.-Life and work:...
and entitled "New Year's Eve Night". Although the translation was not published at that date, the letter that Aurel A. Mureşianu edited later in the Gazette of books, no 1, in 1934 is still considered „the first publishing attempt“ of T. Maiorescu and it was republished under the same title. In 1858, beside his academic activitity, he worked as a teacher of Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
in private boarding schools and as a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
teacher in the house of Kremnitz
Kremnitz
Kremnitz:* German name of Slovak town Kremnica* Ernst Kremnitz , German entrepreneur* Georg Kremnitz* Mite Kremnitz, née Marie von Bardeleben , a German-Romanian writer* Mordechai Kremnitzer, an Israeli professor...
.
As a preparatory for French language for the Kremnitz family, Titu Maiorescu taught the four children of the family: Klara (his future wife), Helene, Wilhelm (future Dr. W. Kremnitz, Mite Kremnitz
Mite Kremnitz
Mite Kremnitz , born Marie von Bardeleben , was a German writer.-Biography:...
's husband, born Bardeleben) and Hermann. Titu Maiorescu got his PhD in Philosophy at Giessen with magna cum laude. The Giessen University considered in ordered to allow him to get a PhD, that the last two years at Theresianum were University studies. When he returned to Romania, he published the article „The Measure of Height through a Barometer” in the review Isis or Nature.
PhD
In December 1860 he got his licence in Philology and Philosophy at SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
due to the acknowledgment of his doctorate from Giessen. The following year, he published his Philosophy essay entitled Einiges Philosophische in gemeinfasslicher Form („Philosophical Considerations for Everybody's Understanding”) in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, obviously under the influence of Herbart's and Feuerbach
Feuerbach
Feuerbach may refer to:a surname* Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach , German legal scholar* Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach , German mathematician* Ludwig Feuerbach , German philosopher and anthropologist...
's ideas.
On 17 December after they considered the value of the essay Einiges Philosophische in gemeinfasslicher Form (Some Philosophy at Everybody's Understanding) and after „a verbal defense in front of the academic committee, brilliantly held for original opinions“, the Sorbonne committee „granted him the title of licencé ès lettres“ (Philology Licenced). Afterwards, Titu Maiorescu prepared his doctorate on the tesis: „La relation. Essai d’un nouveau fondement de la philosophie” (The Relation. Essay on a new foundation of philosophy), until the end of the year 1861, when he left 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...
.
Career as a university teacher
In the summer of 1862 he was assigned as a substitute lawyer at the Law Court, then he became an attorney. He married his pupil, Clara Kremnitz. In November/December, he became a teacher at the University of Iaşi and principal of the Central Gymnasium from the same town.In 1863 he was assigned to teach a University course of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, on the subject „About the History of the Roman Republic from the Introduction of Plebeian Tribunes until the Death of Julius Caesar Especially Regarding the Economical and Political Progress”. From February until September he was the Dean of the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Iaşi. On September 18, 1863 he was elected as rector of the University of Iaşi for a perioad of four years. In October he was assigned as principal of the School „Vasile Lupu“ from Iaşi
Iasi
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 taught Pedagogy, Romanian Grammar, Psychology and Composition there. For the first time in Romania, he initiated the Pedagogic Practice for pupils and one of these pupils was Ion Creangă
Ion Creanga
Ion Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, and his many anecdotes...
.
In 1863 Titu Maiorescu published in Iaşi
Iasi
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...
the "Yearbook of the Gymnasium and the Boarding School from Iaşi for the School Year 1862–1863"; the yearbook was preceded by his thesis: „Why Should the Latin Language be Studied in Gymnasium as Part of the Foundation of Moral Education?” On 28 March Titu Maiorescu's daughter, Livia, was born. She later married Dymsza; she died in 1946. On 8 October Titu Maiorescu is elected to lead the Institute Vasilian from Iaşi
Iasi
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...
, which needed to be „fundamentally reorganized“. In order to complete this mission, commissioned by the Minister of Public Directions from back then, Alexandru Odobescu
Alexandru Odobescu
Alexandru Ioan Odobescu was a Romanian author, archaeologist and politician.-Biography:He was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. After attending Saint Sava College and, from 1850, a Paris lycée, he took the baccalauréat in 1853 and studied...
, he travelled on a documentary journey to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and later he returned to Iaşi
Iasi
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...
on 4 January 1864.
Between 1863–1864 Titu Maiorescu taught Philosophy at the Philology University of Iaşi
Iasi
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...
.
Involvement in social life
On 10 March 1861, Titu Maiorescu held a lecture (Die alte französische Tragödie und die Wagnersche Musik — „The Old French Tragedy and WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Music”) in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
for the benefit of the monument of Lessing
Lessing
Lessing - German family of writers and artists*Johann Gottfried Lessing pastor primarus in Kamenz, well respected, published theologian, translator and father of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Karl Gotthelf Lessing...
from Kamenz, which he repeated on 12 April in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, at the „Cercle des sociétés savantes“ (Circle of Academic Societies) and later renewed in the form of a communication, on 27 April in Berlin, at the Philosophy Society.
On 28 November he obtained his Law Licence in Paris, on the thesis "Du régime dotal" ("On Dowery Law"). On December 10 he began his lecture cycle on „Education Within the Family”. Afterwards he went back to Romania and settled in Bucharest in December.
When he returned to Romania, at the end of 1861, Titu Maiorescu was eager to contribute to the progress of the recently formed state, after the Union of 1859, of the cultural and political life, of a European level. At that time, when the Union was done and personalities of fresh energies and cultured people were needed, people who were educated in Western Universities, Titu Maiorescu had an early ascent, from his youth, as he was a University professor at 22 years old (in Iaşi
Iasi
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...
), a dean at 23 and a rector at the same age, then he became an academician (member of the Romanian Academic Society
Romanian Academic Society
The Romanian Academic Society is a Bucharest-based think tank and NGO founded in 1996. It is considered close to the right wing of politics.SAR seeks to...
) at 27, a deputy at 30, then a minister at age 34. But this ascent was not always smooth or without hardships, as he was once sued because of all the calumnies that his political opponents promoted and he was suspended from all his functions in 1864, but the verdict of discharge from the following year proved the baselessness of all the accusation against him.
Foundation of the Junimea Society
The years 1860 were for Maiorescu the period of „popular prelections“ (lectures on various problemes addressed to a quite large audience) and also the period when the foundation of the JunimeaJunimea
Junimea was a Romanian literary society founded in Iaşi in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi...
Society took place. He founded il alongside his friends I. Negruzzi, Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp , commonly rendered as P. P. Carp, was a Romanian conservative politician and literary critic who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms...
, V. Pogor
Vasile Pogor
Vasile Pogor , was a Romanian poet, translator, politician, and founding member of the Junimea literary society....
and Th.Rosetti. He started his work as a lawyer, then he was elected principal of the School „Vasile Lupu“ from Iaşi
Iasi
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...
, and then he founded the a review Literary Discussins (Convorbiri literare) in 1867.
Although the period that followed after the Union of 1859 represented an epoch of completion of the ideals of the generation of 1848, a few accents still had changed, the conditions were different from the romantic youth of Heliade Rădulescu
Ion Heliade Radulescu
Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade was a Wallachian-born Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician...
, Alecsandri
Vasile Alecsandri
Vasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia....
or Bălcescu
Nicolae Balcescu
Nicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
. Maiorescu was representing the new generation, the junimist generation, which had a new conception on social and Romanian cultural life. On the political ideology plan, Maiorescu was a retentionist, an advocate of a natural, organic and well prepared evolution and an adversary of the „forms without root“, whose indictment he made in his article from 1868, Against nowadays direction in Romanian culture, in which he criticized the implementation of certain institutions which were imitated after the Western ones and to which no appropriate root corresponded in the mentalitaty, creation and cultural legacy of the Romanian people.
Work as a literary critic
The beginnings of Maiorescu's literary critic activity stand apart from the previous generation. Unlike the previous years of the revolution from 1848, when an intense need of original literature determined Heliade RădulescuIon Heliade Radulescu
Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade was a Wallachian-born Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician...
to address enthusiastic appeals for Romanian literary works, the seventh decade of the 19th century was marked by a large number of poets and prosemen, who had very limited artistical devices, but high ideals and pretences. It was a time when the selection of true values was needed, on the basis of certain aesthetic criteria and Maiorescu agreed to accomplish that task. The adversaries of his ideas depreciatively called his action „a judicial criticism“, because his studies and articles did not analyse in detail the literary work that they had discussed and they contain many apothegms on it. These are based on an ample culture, a determined artistic taste and on impressive intuitions. The mentor of Junimea society considered this type of criticism (neatly affirmative or negative) necessary only to that epoch of clutter of values, as its modalities of execution would gradate later, in the literary life, when the great writers would elevate the artistic level and implicitly would have the public's exigency augmented.
This work as a tutor, as fighter for the assertion of values, will be led by Maiorescu throughout his entire life and will be divided between his political activity (he will become prime minister, but he will lose a friend from his youth, P.P. Carp
Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp , commonly rendered as P. P. Carp, was a Romanian conservative politician and literary critic who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms...
), his University activity (as a professor he had and he promoted disciples of great value, like C. Rădulescu-Motru
Constantin Radulescu-Motru
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru was a Romanian philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, logician, academic, dramatist, as well as centre-left nationalist politician with a noted anti-fascist discourse...
, P.P. Negulescu, Pompiliu Eliade and others), his lawyer activity and his literary critic activity. Maiorescu was seldom reproached for not having spent enough time on writing literary works but his work as a literary critic profoundly marks one of the most lusty epochs in the history of Romanian literature: the perioad of the great classics. The role of Junimea society and of Maiorescu himself is linked to the creation and the assertion in the public's conscience of writers like Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
, Creangă
Ion Creanga
Ion Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, and his many anecdotes...
, Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...
, Slavici
Ioan Slavici
Ioan Slavici was a Transylvanian-born Romanian writer and journalist. He made his debut in Convorbiri literare , with the comedy Fata de birău...
, Duiliu Zamfirescu
Duiliu Zamfirescu
Duiliu Zamfirescu was a Romanian novelist, poet, short story writer, lawyer, nationalist politician, journalist, diplomat and memoirist. In 1909, he was elected a member of the Romanian Academy, and, for a while in 1920, he was Foreign Minister of Romania...
and others.
Concerning his conduct, the manner that people reproached Maiorescu for his coldness, his lack of passion, his Olympian attitude, that he seemed to hide a dry soul; for exemplifying this statement, the famous appraisal made by the igneous N. Iorga
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...
: „Nobody was warm or cold beside him“. The help that Maiorescu gave to the writers from the circle of Junimea
Junimea
Junimea was a Romanian literary society founded in Iaşi in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi...
and to his disciples and even to his adversary, Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist....
, in an important moment of his life, unfolded a man of great and at the same time discreet generosity. The lines that Maiorescu wrote to Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
when Eminescu was ill and was worried about the fees for his boarding at the sanatorium from Ober-Döbling prove that Maiorescu was endowed with an admirable gentleness of heart:
„Do you want to know where the means to pay your fees come from for now? Well, mister Eminescu, are we such strangers to each other? Don't you know the love (if you allow me to use this exact word, although it is stronger than other words), the often enthusiastic admiration that I and our entire literary circle feels for you, for your poems, for your whole literary and political work? But it was a real explosion of love that we, all your friends (and only these), contributed to support the few material needs that your situation require. And you would have done the same in using the large or small sum you had when any of your friends would have needed, so we cannot forget a friend of your great value“.