Mihai Beniuc

Mihai Beniuc
Born(1907-11-20)November 20, 1907
Sebiș, Arad County, Austria-Hungary
DiedJune 24, 1988(1988-06-24) (aged 80)
Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania
Resting placeEvangelical Lutheran Cemetery
Occupationpoet, dramatist, novelist
Alma materUniversity of Cluj

Mihai Beniuc (Romanian pronunciation: [miˈhaj beˈnjuk]; 20 November 1907 – 24 June 1988) was a Romanian socialist realist poet, dramatist, and novelist.

Biography

He was born in 1907 in Sebiș, Arad County (at the time in Austria-Hungary), the son of Athanasie and Vaseline Beniuc. He attended the Moise Nicoară High School in Arad, where he had Al. T. Stamatiad as literature teacher, and where he made his debut in the school's magazine, Laboremus. In 1931, he graduated from the University of Cluj, majoring in psychology, philosophy and sociology.[1] He then enrolled as a masters student at the University of Hamburg, where he studied animal behaviour with Jakob Johann von Uexküll.[1][2] His training was reflected in his writing, particularly in his novels. He joined the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Cluj, and moved to Sibiu after Northern Transylvania was annexed by Hungary in 1940, in the wake of the Second Vienna Award. During that time, he wrote several poetry volumes (Cântece de pierzanie (1938), Cântece noi (1940), Orașul pierdut (1943)), the latter one a poetic reverie after the city he had left, Cluj.[1]

At the end of World War II, Beniuc went to Moscow as cultural adviser, where he published in 1946 the volume Un om așteaptă răsăritul. After two years he returned to Romania and settled in Bucharest.[1] His 1951 volume, Cântec pentru tovarășul Gheorghiu-Dej (Song for Comrade Gheorghiu-Dej), had a great contribution to manufacturing a genuine cult of personality around Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the leader of the Romanian Workers’ Party.[3] Beniuc was the President of the Writers' Union of Romania and, from 1955, a titular member of the Romanian Academy. After 1965, he became a professor at the University of Bucharest.

Mihai Beniuc's grave in Bucharest

He was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic,[4] and in 1978, the August 23 Order [ro], 1st class.[5] He died in 1988 in Bucharest, and is buried at the city's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery.

Selected works

Plays

  • Cântece de pierzanie, 1938
  • Cântece noi, 1943
  • Orașul pierdut, 1943
  • Un om așteaptă răsăritul, 1946
  • Mărul de lângă drum, 1954
  • Steaguri, 1951
  • Cântec pentru tovarășul Gheorghiu-Dej, 1951
  • Partidul m-a învățat, 1954
  • Trăinicie, 1956
  • Azimă, 1956
  • Inima bătrînului Vezuv, 1957
  • Cu un ceas mai devreme, 1959

Novels

  • Pe muche de cuțit, 1959
  • Dispariția unui om de rând, 1963
  • Explozie înăbușită, 1971

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Lecția de istorie – Mihai Beniuc, scriitorul născut în Sebiș". Glasul Aradului (in Romanian). November 20, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  2. ^ Beniuc, Mihai (2019), "Mediu, prejmă, vatră: principii de psihologie animală (1934/1937)", NOEMA (1): 45–73
  3. ^ Toader, Alexandra (2013), "Cântec pentru tovarășul Gh. Gheorghiu-Dej". Mihai Beniuc și realismul socialist", Analele Științifice ale Universității "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" din Iași. Istorie (59): 291–301
  4. ^ Vasile, Cristian (2013). Politicile culturale comuniste in timpul regimului Gheorghiu-Dej. Bucharest: Editura Humanitas. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-973-50-4222-6.
  5. ^ "Decretul nr. 7/1978 privind conferirea de ordine ale Republicii Socialiste România". lege5.ro (in Romanian). Buletinul Oficial. January 27, 1978. Retrieved September 28, 2024.


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