NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Emil Cioran

Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911 – June 20, 1995) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist. Image File history File links ECioran. ... Image File history File links ECioran. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ...

Early life

Emil Cioran was born in Răşinari, Romania (Sibiu County which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time). His father, Emilian Cioran, was a Romanian Orthodox priest, while his mother, Elvira Cioran (born Comaniciu), was originally from Veneţia de Jos, a commune near Făgăraş. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 237 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Casa din RÄƒÅŸinari, Sibiu unde s-a nÄƒscut Emil Cioran The house of RÄƒÅŸinari where Emil Cioran was borne File links The following... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 237 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Casa din RÄƒÅŸinari, Sibiu unde s-a nÄƒscut Emil Cioran The house of RÄƒÅŸinari where Emil Cioran was borne File links The following... The new church in RÄƒÅŸinari as of January 2005 RÄƒÅŸinari (German: StÃ¤dterdorf, Hungarian: ResinÃ¡r) is a village in the Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. ... The new church in RÄƒÅŸinari as of January 2005 RÄƒÅŸinari (German: StÃ¤dterdorf, Hungarian: ResinÃ¡r) is a village in the Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. ... Sibiu (IPA: ; Hungarian: Szeben) is a county (judeÅ£) in the center of Romania, in Transylvania region, with the capital city Sibiu (population: 170,038). ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... The Romanian Orthodox Church (Biserica OrtodoxÄƒ RomÃ¢nÄƒ in Romanian) is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. ... County BraÅŸov County Status Municipality Mayor Ioan Barbuti, Social Democratic Party, since 2004 Population (2002) 40,126 Geographical coordinates , Web site http://www. ...

After studying humanities at the Gheorghe Lazăr High School in Sibiu, Cioran, aged 17, started to study philosophy at the University of Bucharest. Upon his entrance into the University, he met Eugène Ionesco and Mircea Eliade, the three of them becoming lifelong friends. Future Romanian philosopher Constantin Noica and future Romanian thinker Petre Ţuţea, became his closest colleagues for they all had Tudor Vianu and Nae Ionescu as their professors. Cioran, Eliade, and Ţuţea became supporters of the ideas that their philosophy professor, Nae Ionescu, had become a fervent advocate of – a tendency deemed Trăirism, which fused Existentialism with ideas common in various forms of Fascism. Gheorghe LazÄƒr, 5 June 1779 - 17 September 1821 was a romanian scholar, the founder of the first romanian speaking school in Bucharest in 1818. ... County Sibiu County Status County capital Mayor Klaus Johannis, from the Democratic Forum of Germans of Romania, since 2000 Area 121 kmÂ² Population (2002) 171,535 Density 1,417 inh/kmÂ² Geographical coordinates Web site http://www. ... University of Bucharest University of Bucharest is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest. ... EugÃ¨ne Ionesco EugÃ¨ne Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu, (November 26, 1909 â€“ March 29, 1994) was a French-Romanian playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Constantin Noica Constantin Noica (July 12/25 1909, Vităneşti - December 4, 1987, Păltiniş) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist. ... Tudor Vianu was born on January 8, 1898 in Giurgiu, Romania. ... Nae Ionescu (born Nicolae C. Ionescu; June 16 (June 4 O. S.) 1890, BrÄƒilaâ€”March 15, 1940) was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement in which individual human beings are understood as having full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. ... Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural, or racial attributes. ...

Having a good command of German, his first studies revolved around Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, and especially Friedrich Nietzsche. He became an agnostic, taking as an axiom "the inconvenience of existence". During his studies at the University he was also influenced by the works of Georg Simmel, Ludwig Klages and Martin Heidegger, but also by the Russian philosopher Lev Shestov, who added the belief that life is arbitrary to Cioran’s central system of thought. He then graduated with a thesis on Henri Bergson (however, Cioran later rejected Bergson, claiming the latter did not comprehend the tragedy of life). Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 â€“ 12 February 1804), was a German philosopher from KÃ¶nigsberg in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). ... Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 â€“ September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 â€“ August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a German philosopher. ... Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning without, and Gnosticism or gnosis, meaning knowledge) means unknowable, and is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claimsâ€”particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deitiesâ€”is unknown or, depending on the form of... Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (March 1, 1858 â€“ September 28, 1918, Berlin, Germany) was one of the first generation of German sociologists. ... Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages (born December 10, 1872 in Hannover; died July 29, 1956 in Kilchberg, Zurich) was a German philosopher, psychologist and one of the founders of the graphology. ... Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 â€“ May 26, 1976) (pronounced ) was a highly influential German philosopher. ... Lev Isaakovich Shestov (Russian: ), born Yehuda Leyb Schwarzmann (Russian: )) was a Russian - Jewish existentialist philosopher. ... Henri-Louis Bergson (October 18, 1859â€“January 4, 1941) was a major French philosopher, influential in the first half of the 20th century. ...

Career in Romania

In 1933, he obtained a scholarship to the University of Berlin, where he came into contact with Klages and Nicolai Hartmann. While in Berlin, he became interested in measures taken by the Nazi regime, contributed a column to Vremea dealing with the topic (in which Cioran confessed that "there is no present-day politician that I see as more sympathetic and admirable than Hitler",^[1] while expressing his approval for the Night of the Long Knives — "what has humanity lost if the lives of a few imbeciles were taken"),^[2] and, in a letter written to Petru Comarnescu, described himself as "a Hitlerist".^[3] He held similar views about Italian fascism, welcoming victories in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, arguing that: "Fascism is a shock, without which Italy is a compromise comparable to today's Romania".^[4] There is no institution called the University of Berlin, but there are four universities in Berlin, Germany: Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin) Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der... Nicolai Hartmann (February 20, 1882 â€“ October 9, 1950) was a German philosopher. ... Location of Berlin within Germany / EU Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE3 City subdivisions 12 boroughs Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit (SPD) Governing parties SPD / Left. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Hitler redirects here. ... The Night of the Long Knives (Saturday June 30 and Sunday July 1, 1934) (German, Nacht der langen Messer), also known as Reichsmordwoche, Operation Hummingbird or the Blood Purge, was a lethal purge of Adolf Hitlers potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA; also known as storm troopers or... National Socialism redirects here. ... Italian fascism (in Italian, fascismo) was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Cioran’s first book, On the Heights of Despair (more accurately translated: "On the Summits of Despair"), was published in Romania in 1934. It was awarded the Commission’s Prize and the Young Writers Prize for one of the best books written by an unedited young writer. Successively, The Book of Delusions (1935), The Transfiguration of Romania (1936), and Tears and Saints (1937), were also published in Romania (the first two have yet to be translated into English).

Although Cioran was never a member of the group, it was during this time in Romania that he began taking an interest in the ideas put forth by the Iron Guard - a far right organization whose nationalist ideology he supported until the early years of World War II, despite allegedly disapproving of their violent methods. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into far right. ... EugÃ¨ne Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Cioran censored The Transfiguration of Romania in its second edition released in the 1990s; he eliminated numerous passages considered extremist or "pretentious and stupid". The volume expressed sympathy for totalitarianism,^[5] a view which was also present in various articles Cioran wrote at the time,^[6] and which aimed to establish "urbanization and industrialization" as "the two obsessions of a rising people".^[7] Marta Petreu's An Infamous Past: E.M. Cioran and the Rise of Fascism in Romania, published in English in 2005, gives an in-depth analysis of The Transfiguration. This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Totalitarianism is a term employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

His early call for modernization was, however, hard to reconcile with the traditionalism of the Iron Guard.^[8] In 1934, he wrote: "I find that in Romania the sole fertile, creative, and invigorating nationalism can only be one which does not just dismiss tradition, but also denies and defeats it".^[9] Disapproval of what he viewed as specifically Romanian traits had been present in his works ("In any maxim, in any proverb, in any reflection, our people expresses the same shyness in front of life, the same hesitation and resignation... [...] Everyday Romanian [truisms] are dumbfounding."),^[10] which led to criticism from the far right Gândirea (its editor, Nichifor Crainic, had called The Transfiguration of Romania "a bloody, merciless, massacre of today's Romania, without even [the fear] of matricide and sacrilege"),^[11] as well as from various Iron Guard papers.^[12] Modernization is closely linked to classical liberalism. ... Cover of GÃ¢ndirea, 1938 GÃ¢ndirea (The Thinking; known during its early years as GÃ¢ndirea LiterarÄƒ - ArtisticÄƒ - SocialÄƒ, The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking) was a Romanian literary magazine, established in Cluj by Cezar Petrescu and D. I. Cucu as a modernist and expressionist-influenced journal (May 1, 1921... Nichifor Crainic Nichifor Crainic (December 22, 1889, Bulbucata, Giurgiu Countyâ€”August 20, 1972) was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian. ... Matricide is the act of killing ones mother. ... Sacrilege is in general the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. ...

After coming back from Berlin (1936), Cioran taught philosophy at the "Andrei Şaguna" high school in Braşov for a year. In 1937, he left for Paris with a scholarship from the French Institute of Bucharest, which was then prolonged until 1944. After a short stay in his home country (November 1940-February 1941), Cioran never returned again. This last period in Romania was the one in which he exhibited a closer relationship with the Iron Guard, which had, by then, taken power (see National Legionary State) — on November 28, he recorded a speech for the state-owned Romanian Radio, one centered on the portrait of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, former leader of the movement, who had been killed two years before (praising him and the Guard for, among other things, "having given Romanians a purpose").^[13] Andrei Åžaguna (1809, Miskolc, Hungaryâ€”1873, Sibiu) was a Metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania, and one of the Romanian community political leaders in the Habsburg Monarchy, especially active during the 1848 Revolution. ... County BraÅŸov County Status County capital Mayor George Scripcaru, Democratic Party, since 2004 Area 267. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du TrocadÃ©ro. ... Status Capital of Romania Mayor Adriean Videanu, since 2005 Area 238 kmÂ² Population (2005) 1,924,959[1] Density 8,088 inh/kmÂ² Geographical coordinates Web site http://www. ... The National Legionary State (Romanian: Statul NaÅ£ional Legionar) was the Romanian government of September 6, 1940â€”January 23, 1941. ... // The first radio transmission was broadcast on November 1, 1928. ... Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (born Corneliu Zelinski; September 13, 1899 â€“ November 30, 1938) was the charismatic leader of the Romanian ultra-Nationalist and strongly anti-Semitic movement in the interwar period, the Iron Guard (Garda de Fier) or The Legion of the Archangel Michael (also known as the...

He later renounced not only his support for the Iron Guard, but also their nationalist ideas, and frequently expressed regret and repentance for his emotional implication in it. For example, in a 1972 interview, he condemned it as "a complex of movements; more than this, a demented sect and a party", and avowed: "I found out then [...] what it means to be carried by the wave without the faintest trace of conviction. [...] I am now immune to it".^[14]

In 1940, he started writing The Passionate Handbook, and finished it by 1945. It was to be the last book that he would write in Romanian, although not the last to deal with delicate and lyrical aphorisms demented by infinite pessimism.

Career in France

1937 witnessed Cioran’s departure for France with a scholarship from the French Institute of Bucharest. From the moment of his departure, Cioran only published books in French (all were appreciated not only because of their content, but also because of their style which was full of lyricism and fine use of the language). In fact, he refused to ever write in Romanian again, exaggerating his detachment from Romania to such an extent that even the letters he sent to his parents were written in French. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 422 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo prise au CimetiÃ¨re Montparnasse. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 422 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo prise au CimetiÃ¨re Montparnasse. ...

In 1949 his first French book, A Short History of Decay, was published by Gallimard – the publishing company which came to publish the majority of his books later on – and was awarded the Rivarol Prize in 1950. Later on, Cioran refused every literary prizes with which he was presented. Éditions Gallimard is the second most important French publisher, and probably the most respected. ...

The Latin Quarter of Paris became Cioran’s permanent residence. He lived most of his life in isolation, avoiding the public. Yet, he still maintained numerous friends with which he conversed often such as Mircea Eliade, Eugène Ionesco, Paul Celan, Samuel Beckett, and Henri Michaux. The Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) is an area in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France, around the Sorbonne University. ... This article is becoming very long. ... EugÃ¨ne Ionesco EugÃ¨ne Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu, (November 26, 1909 â€“ March 29, 1994) was a French-Romanian playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. ... Paul Celan Paul Celan (November 23, 1920 â€“ approximately April 20, 1970) was the most frequently used pseudonym of Paul Antschel, one of the major poets of the post-World War II era. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 â€“ 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... Henri Michaux (May 24, 1899 - October 18, 1984) was a highly individualistic Belgian poet, writer and painter who wrote in the French language. ...

He is buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery. Zoom on Montparnasse cemetery as seen from top of Montparnasse tower (Paris, France). ...

Major themes and style

Exhausting his interest for conservative philosophy early in his youth, Cioran denounced systematic thought and abstract speculation in favor of indulgence in personal reflection and passionate lyricism. "I’ve invented nothing; I’ve simply been the secretary of my sensations", he later claimed.

Pessimism characterizes all of his works, which many critics trace back to events of his childhood (in 1935 his mother is reputed to have told him that if she had known he was going to be so unhappy she would have aborted him). However, Cioran's pessimism (in fact, his skepticism, even nihilism) remains both inexhaustible and, in its own particular manner, joyful; it is not the sort of pessimism which can be traced back to simple origins, single origins themselves being questionable. When Cioran's mother spoke to him of abortion, he confessed that it did not disturb him, but made an extraordinary impression which led to an insight about the nature of existence ("I'm simply an accident. Why take it all so seriously?" is what he later said in reference to the incident). Pessimists see the world as uninviting and cruel. ... An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. ...

His works often depict an atmosphere of torment and torture, states that Cioran experienced, and came to be dominated by lyricism often prone to expressing violent feelings. The books he wrote in Romanian are best identified with this characteristic. Preoccupied with the problem of death and suffering, he was attracted to the idea of suicide, believing it to be and idea that could help one go on living, an idea which he fully explored in On the Heights of Despair. The theme of human alienation, the most prominent existentialist theme, presented by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, is thus formulated, in 1932, by young Cioran: "Is it possible that existence is our exile and nothingness our home?" Suicide (Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally taking ones own life. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement in which individual human beings are understood as having full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. ... Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 â€“ April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... Albert Camus (pronounced ) (November 7, 1913 â€“ January 4, 1960) was an Algerian-French author and philosopher. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...

Cioran’s works encompass many other themes as well: original sin, the tragic sense of history, the end of civilization, the refusal of consolidation through faith, the obsession with the absolute, life as an expression of man's metaphysical exile, etc. He was a thinker passionate about history; widely reading the writers that were associated with the period of "decadent". One of these writers was Oswald Spengler whom influenced Cioran's political philosophy in that he offered Gnostic reflections on the destiny of man and civilization. According to Cioran: "as long as man has kept in touch with his origins and hasn't cut himself off from himself, he has resisted decadence. Today, he is on his way to his own destruction through self-objectification, impeccable production and reproduction, excess of self-analysis and transparency, and artificial triumph". According to Christian tradition, original sin is the general condition of sinfulness (lack of holiness) into which human beings are born (Psalm 51:5). ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... Decadence generally refers to the alleged decline of a society because of moral weakness. ... Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (Blankenburg am Harz May 29, 1880 â€“ May 8, 1936, Munich) was a German historian and philosopher, although his studies ranged throughout mathematics, science, philosophy, history, and art. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Regarding God, Cioran has noted that "without Bach, God would be complete second rate figure" and that "Bach's music is the only argument proving the creation of the Universe can not be regarded a complete failure".^[15] This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Bach in a 1748 portrait by Haussmann Places in which Bach resided throughout his life Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. â€“ 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the...

William H. Gass called Cioran's work "a philosophical romance on the modern themes of alienation, absurdity, boredom, futility, decay, the tyranny of history, the vulgarities of change, awareness as agony, reason as disease". William H. Gass (born July 30, 1924) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic and former philosophy professor. ... A romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. ...

Rather ironically, Cioran became famous while writing in French, a language with which he had struggled since youth. His use of the adopted language was rarely as harsh as his use of Romanian, while the latter offered resources of originality in tone.

Manuscripts

After the death of Simone Boué, Cioran’s companion for most of his life, a series of manuscripts (over 30 notebooks) written by Cioran were found in their apartment by a manager who tried, in 2005, to auction them.

However, a decision made by the Court of Appeal of Paris stopped their commercialization; the trial is still taking place in France. Amid the manuscripts, which were mainly drafts of works that had already been published, an unedited journal was found which encompassed his life after 1972 (the year in which his Notebooks end). The document is of major interest to readers and editors, and is probably Cioran’s last unpublished work. Court of Appeals is the title of certain appellate courts in various jurisdictions. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Major works

Romanian

French

Éditions Gallimard is the second most important French publisher, and probably the most respected. ... The Demiurge, The Craftsman or Creator, in some belief systems, is the deity responsible for the creation of the physical universe. ...

Notes

The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...

References

External links

Categories: 1911 births | 1995 deaths | 20th century philosophers | Existentialists | Aphorists | People from Transylvania | Romanian Austro-Hungarians | Romanian philosophers | Romanian essayists | Romanian fascists | Romanian-French people | Romanian schoolteachers | Romanian writers in French | University of Bucharest alumni Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... Spike Magazine [1] is an internet cultural journal which began in 1996, the creation of editor Chris Mitchell in Brighton, England. ...

Contents

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