| Library / Biographies |
Mircea Eliade Biography
March 9, 1907 - Mircea Eliade is born in Bucharest. His brother Nicolae ("Nicu") was born a year earlier and four years later, his sister Cornelia (“Corina”) is born. The father, an army officer, born Ieremia, changed his name to Eliade, it seems out of admiration for the writer Eliade-Rădulescu. His mother was Jeana Eliade (Vasilescu).
Mircea Eliade
1912 - The father moves with the garrison to Cernavodă. In the autumn Mircea walks by himself to the kindergarten wearing "with pride" the gray uniform. He had already learned the alphabet, though he didn't know what could be used for. But later he discovers his brother's primary reader and after the first page he is fascinated, as if he had discovered a new game. For many years the father does not allow him to read novels, which he considers "immoral". The only books allowed are those of fairytales.
In the first grade the teacher observes that Mircea does not see well, and his father forbids him to read during leisure time, which for Mircea Eliade was a catastrophe.
1914 - The family moves to Bucharest, soon after the beginning of the war.
1917 - He is admitted to the prestigious high school Spiru Haret. He feels that something very important has happened and that he is at the beginning of a new life. Stimulated by a passion for natural sciences, he discovers that there are secrets that can be understood.
Due to his rebellious temperament, at the end of the first year he fails the Romanian, French and German classes. Discerns that it is impossible to him to learn anything "on request" and always feels attracted to topics and authors not taught in school. He discovers that if he is "inspired" he can write with the same ease with which years before he was able to visualize imaginary events with a special delight.
1921 - He publishes his first articles in “Ziarul Științelor Populare” (Popular Science Magazine), entitled “Dușmanul viermelui de mătase” (Enemy of the Silkworm) and “Musca albastră a cadavrelor” (The blue fly of the corpses). In the same year wins a contest organized by the same publication, with a short story entitled “Cum am găsit piatra filozofală” (How I found the philosopher's stone). He abandons entomology two years later. In the fifth year of high school he chooses the math section convinced that he will follow exact sciences in college. In the last years of high school, following the conflicts with the mathematics teacher, he moves to the "Modern" profile.
1923 - Starts keeping a diary, a habit he will pursue all his life. He experiences unexpected moments of inexplicable melancholy, feelings of irreparable loss of something essential, irreplaceable, feelings of no purpose in life. Discovers that his inexplicable sadness came from unsuspected sources like the feeling of “the past,” that things have been are no more, such as his childhood or his father youth.
Starts writing “Romanul adolescentului miop” (The Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent), a book intended to be more than an autobiographical novel, and which later will be published in various periodicals. He begins to lose interest in the sciences of nature and is increasingly fascinated by literature and philosophy, Oriental studies and the history of religions.
1925 - Enrolls at the University of Bucharest, College of Philosophy and Letters. Meets Professor Nae Ionescu, who teaches Logic and to whom he becomes a disciple and friend. Reads Ghilgameș's epic and writes some articles on this topic.
1926 - Writes articles on mysteries, Orpheus and "orphic initiation," magic and metapsychology, Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, Mahābhārata, Bhāgavata Purāṇa. His interest in Taoism is aroused.
1927 - Publishes over one hundred articles on various topics in the newspaper Cuvântul. Although a great admirer of the savant professor Nicolae Iorga, he publishes an article in the “Revista Universitară“ (University Magazine) criticizing professor’s work called "Essai de synthèse de l'Histoire de l'Humanité". His article creates a small scandal. Eliade considers this episode a tragic paradox through the violent criticism and alienation of the teacher whom he greatly admired, whose life and work had played an almost "magical" role in his life. Eliade withdraws from the management of the magazine, which subsequently ceases to appear.
He contributes weekly leaflets to Cuvântul and receives a salary of 4000 lei per month. “When I received the first check, I understood what it means to be rich. Now I can invite Rica to the restaurant, and I can order books from Italy and England.”
1928 - Travels to Italy to do research for his thesis "Contributions to the philosophy of rebirth," which he successfully defends and graduates with the title "Magna cum laude." He meets Giovanni Papini and collaborates with Giuseppe Tucci.
Finds out from the preface of the book written by Surendranath Dasgupta, "A History of Indian Philosopy," that the Kassimbazar Maharajah, Mahindra Chandra Nandry, sponsored Dasgupta’s work and with great emotion writes a letter to the Maharajah stating his interest in Indian philosophy and a desire to study two years in Calcutta with Dasgupta.
Three months later he receives the answer in which he is offered a scholarship, not for two, but for five years. Dasgupta also writes that he will be happy to supervise his studies and doctoral thesis in yoga. The visa for British India could be obtained with difficulty only with the recommendation of Sir John Woodroffe (aka Arthur Avalon), famous for introducing Tantrism in the West.
Fortunately, Romania is invited at that time to send a representative to the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) Congress held in India, near Madras. Eliade is appointed delegate to the congress and on November 20th he embarks to India, with short stays in Egypt and Ceylon.
Maharaja Sir Manindra Chandra Nandy de KassimbazarHe is captivated by the atmosphere of Ceylon, the jungle with its strong aromas and the "unrestrained vegetable cruelty." Spends the first night in India at a Brahman's home. Feels deep emotions when seeing the great temple of Rāmeswaram; the wild, non-human glory overwhelms him.
He stays at the boarding house of an Anglo-Indian family paying 90 rupees a month. He dedicates to the study of Sanskrit language and Indian philosophy from morning till evening and after almost four months becomes familiar with the grammar of Sanskrit. Of the thirteen students, he is the only European in Dasgupta's class, for which reason he teaches English. Dasgupta used to recite from memory a passage from a Vedānta or Sāṃkhya text, then translate it, comment it, and ask each student individually if he understood. Eliade always replied that he understood.
He has his first meeting with his sponsor, the Maharajah of Kassimbazar, a modest old man who had spent almost his entire fortune on donations and grants for various cultural and charitable institutions, regardless of religious orientation. Eliade learns that the scholarship stipend will be 90 rupees per month, exactly the monthly rent.
1929 - Receives salary from Romania and travels to Central India: Allahabad, Benares, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Ajmer. He is particularly impressed by Benares and its ghats. Returns to Calcutta loaded with impressions and travel notes but writes little because he realizes he knows so little about India that he fears he will write like a tourist who spends a few days in Benares and believes to know all his secrets.
He spends over twelve hours a day learning the roots of Sanskrit verbs, translating from Kālidāsa. It becomes obvious that the interests of Eliade and Dasgupta do not coincide. Eliade wants to study Tantra and practice yoga, but Dasgupta does not agree.
In the summer he spends a few weeks in Darjeeling, visits Buddhist monasteries and attends a Lamaistic funeral. In September, he and Dasgupta meet Rabindranath Tagore, an experience he finds fascinating.
Dasgupta had promised Eliade that he would be introduced to yoga, but when they spend time together, he prefers to discuss the technical vocabulary of Sāṃkhya-Yoga, the history of yoga doctrines or the relationships between classical Yoga, Vedānta and Buddhism. Instead, Eliade is attracted to Tantrism and the various popular forms of yoga, as described in epic poetry, legends and Indian folklore.
Surendranath Dasgupta
1930 - From January 2nd Eliade is invited to live in Dasgupta's house. Only then does Eliade feel that he has "really" arrived in India. In the morning he studies Sanskrit with Dasgupta for one hour, then studies alone and goes to classes in the teacher's car. At first Mrs. Dasgupta tried to serve the evening meal in a European style, but soon the cutlery disappeared and Eliade feels that he begins to be part of the family when he starts eating with his fingers, just like the others.
He travels again for a few weeks to northern India, and now he no longer feels like a "visitor," considering that this is due to his fortune to live in the home of the most illustrious historian of Indian philosophy, to become acquainted with the Indian lifestyle and language, Bengali. He feels at home; he likes everything: the landscape, the climate, the people, their language and their beliefs, their way of life, how they dress and what they eat.
Due to the disturbances created by the civil revolution triggered by Mahatma Gandhi and the student protests, the University of Calcutta is closed for an indefinite period, during which time Eliade helps to prepare the index for Dasgupta's work "A History of Indian Philosophy." Translates under the supervision of the teacher the comment of Vācaspati Miśra at Vedānta Sūtra Bhāṣya.
When he begins to work on the index of his teacher's book, aided by his daughter, Maitreyī, Eliade realizes that he is in love and he imagines that the family wants the two of them to be together. But in September Maitreyī tells him that the family has learned about their idyll. Immediately he is asked to leave the residence (September 18). Three days later, he is on his way to Hardwār and Rishikesh, depressed, having the feeling that along with Dasgupta’s family, he has lost India too.
On the first day in Rishikesh he meets Swami Śivānanda and receives permission to live in the Svarga Ashram provided he dresses in the local tradition and becomes a vegetarian. He is shown the kutiar where he was to live: a small hut with a wooden bed and an oil lamp. He could spend whole days in solitude, but he especially liked to talk to Swami Śivānanda and other hermits.
Swami ShivanadaLatest happenings in Bhawanipore now seemed like a long wandering in a maze. The meditation yoga techniques described in the classical texts he had studied with Dasgupta and which he now applies under the guidance of Śivānanda convince him once again that they are the result of an extraordinary knowledge of the human condition.
He is convinced of the "camouflaged optimism" of Indian spirituality: the belief that the more you feel "lost," the closer you are to liberation. Some of these experiences he will later evoke in his novel "The Secret of Doctor Honigberger," in a way "that would not have been possible in a strictly scientific description."
Śivānanda is amazed by Eliade's progress in mastering basic yoga techniques. He predicts that Eliade will become a second Swami Vivekananda, destined to bring the western world back to the origins of spirituality.
Unknown until then to anyone in Romania or India about his whereabouts, he writes to his landlord in Calcutta to send his correspondence to the ashram. Soon he is flooded with letters, newspapers and magazines from home. At night he works for hours on the “Lumina ce se stinge” (The Light That Fails) but cannot sleep before returning to the Indian "springs", translating Bhagavad-Gita passages and Tagore poems into the most poetic language that he is capable.
In December, a Johannesburg female cellist arrives at the ashram in search of the "Absolute." Together they listen to Swami Śivānanda's explanations of Vedānta philosophy. Soon, without the guidance or approval of the teacher the two engage in certain tantric practices, which do not go unnoticed by others. When lectured by one of the ascetics about the dangers of such practices, Eliade understands that for the second time in a single year he was deceived by his own imagination. In terms of the philosophy that he studied, he was deceived by the illusions created by māyā. He had failed "adoption" by Dasgupta, thus losing "historical" India. Now he was losing the chance to integrate into "eternal" India.
1931 - Immediately, after only six months, he leaves the Svarga Ashram for Calcutta where he plunges into work for his doctoral thesis.
He intends to compose a comparative history of yoga techniques, but realizes that Sanskrit, Bengali and Pali were not enough. Encouraged by Van Maanen, librarian at the Asiatic Society, he tries to learn Tibetan, but in the absence of an exclusive dedication, as he used to study a language, postpones and focuses on East Asian ethnology. He befriends Van Mannen, librarian of the Asiatic Society, and Lucian Bogdanov, a Russian Orientalist who had settled in Calcutta after four years in Afghanistan. At the Asiatic Society he meets Tibetanist Jaques Bacot and other intellectuals.
In August he makes several trips to the Gange’s delta. In September through an Indian friend meets a guru, relatively young, married, with children, who speaks perfect English. He is impressed by his lucidity and originality. Without confessing to him what happened, he guesses all the troubles that Eliade had gone through and their consequences. He helps Eliade retrieve much of what he had learned from the Himalayan experience and seemed to be the teacher who could help him better and more than everyone else.
One Sunday morning he receives a letter from his father requesting him to return home as soon as possible for military service. In December leaves India against his wish, only because he had promised himself to return in a year or two, after satisfying the military service and to avoid being declared a deserter, which would have been a great shame for his father, a career officer.
The time spent in India seems fabulous: naivety and ignorance, broken English and complete misunderstanding of the Hindustani language, when he could hardly spell the Sanskrit words, when dragging the two suitcases in overcrowded third class train cars, something that no European probably had dared such an adventure. Arriving on Christmas Eve at home, in Melodiei Street, he felt to be struggling powerless to wake up from a dream.
1932 – Starts military service at an anti-aircraft unit, but due to myopia he is assigned to auxiliary services. The memories of the Svarga Ashram and the fabulous solitude on the Gange’s banks help him to regain his former serenity.
"In a monastery in the Himalayas" appears at Cartea Românească publishing house.
He is invited to read twice month on radio topics about India, for which he is paid 800 lei per reading. The lectures increase his popularity and he is invited to speak at the Foundation of King Carol I about Tagore.
1933 - April, Maitreyī novel appears at the National Culture Publishing House, followed by numerous laudatory reviews. He is famous. Ten thousand copies are sold by the end of the year. Liviu Rebreanu bought a large number of copies that he gives to his friends and acquaintances. He defends the doctoral thesis on Yoga and is awarded the diploma with the title magna cum laude. At the end of June, he is a Doctor of Philosophy and becomes the assistant of Nae Ionescu. Paradoxically, he feels disoriented, frustrated and unhappy.
He is in love with Sorana Țopa, an actress at the National Theater in Bucharest, "an interesting and exasperating woman at the same time," and with Nina Mareș, a post office employee.
1934 - To the deep disappointment of his family and the other lover, he marries Nina in January. His friends consider that he made a fatal mistake for his career, marrying an older woman, poor and not belonging to the artistic or intellectual environment.
He moves with his new wife and her daughter to an apartment on Dinicu Golescu Boulevard. The financial situation is precarious. Signs a new contract for the novel “Întoarcerea din Rai“ (The Return from Heaven), for which he receives an advance of 50,000 lei, but being insufficient, makes translations, corrects and edits texts and works of classic writers, writes two columns a week for Cuvântul and Vremea journals.
In November he starts teaching at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. In the first course "The problem of evil in the history of religions" he is amazed by the crowd that fully fills the amphitheater. He is followed by supporters who question about Maitreyī, ask for autographs and bibliographic recommendations. On the way to the house, on the tram, he wonders how many of the elegant, perfumed and rich ladies would have thought he was in a hurry to get home to write an article before 11:00 pm for 500 lei, otherwise he will have no food money for the family.
1934 – “India” appears at Editura Cugetarea publishing house; “Întoarcerea din rai” (The Return from Heaven) at Editura Națională; “Lumina ce se stinge” (Light that fails) at Editura Cartea Românească, “Alchimia Asiatică” (Asian Alchemy) and “Oceanografie” (Oceanography) at Editura Cultura Poporului.
He meets Liviu Rebreanu and stops seeing Camil Petrescu after he publishes an article in the newspaper Șantier, which he calls Eliade "a little mystic, a little secret agent."
1935 - Editura Cugetarea publishes “Șantier” (Work in Progress), and Editura Națională, “Huliganii” (The Hooligans).
1936 – Editura Cultura Națională publishes fantastic novel “Domnișoara Christina” (Miss Christina).
1937 - Seven years after the starting the first chapter of “Yoga, Immortality and Freedom,” the book is published at the Fundațiile Regale and at Librarie Orientaliste Paul Guethner, Paris. Despite some omissions and imperfections, all the great Orientalists of the time, Jean Przyuluski, Jean de la Vallée Poussin, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Heinrich Zimmer, V. Papesso, Giuseppe Tucci, agree with Eliade's interpretations. Eliade dedicates the work to the memory of Maharaja Mahindra Chandra Nandy, to his former guru, Surendranath Dasgupta and to his mentor, Nae Ionescu.
Editura Vremea publishes “Cosmologie și alchimie babiloniană” (Cosmology and Babylonian Alchemy); and Editura Națională the novel “Șarpele” (The Snake).
The Ministry of Public Instruction, with reference to the novel “Domnișoara Christina,” draws the attention of the rector of the Bucharest University on the fact that Eliade is the author of some "pornographic" writings. This only increases Eliade's popularity among students and colleagues.
1938 - Nae Ionescu, considered the ideologue of the legionary movement, was arrested in April and dismissed from the University. Eliade, considered a friend and contributor to his newspaper, is arrested in July and spends almost three weeks in the Secret Police headquarters. Unlike other detainees, he is allowed to receive home food, books and manuscripts. During this time, he writes „Magie, metalurgie și alchimie” (Magic, Metallurgy and Alchemy). He is asked to sign a declaration of dissociation from the Legionary Movement as a condition for his release but refuses because he had not been registered in any political party. Consequently, he is sent to the detention camp at Miercurea Ciuc. In October he shows symptoms of tuberculosis and is sent for treatment to the Moroeni sanatorium, where he is diagnosed with pleurisy.
During his detention he works on the novel “Nuntă in cer” (Wedding in Heaven), which appears in December at the Editura Cugetarea.
On November 12, 1938, he is released from detention.
1939 - The first volume of “Zalmoxis” appears in the Revue des études religieuses, Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
General Nicolae Condeescu, director of the Fundațiile Regale (Royal Foundations), the most important protector of Eliade, dies from a heart attack.
The volume of essays Fragmentarium appears at Editura Vremea. At the end of autumn writes “Iphigenia,” his first play, which is accepted at the National Theater, but he never sees it enacted. Delivers for printing the second volume of “Zalmoxis.”
1940 - Writes the fantastic novel " Secretul doctorului Honigberger “ (The Secret of Dr. Honigberger) in which he wishes to use some historical truths (Honigberger's existence and his personal experience gained at Rishikesh) that he can camouflage in a fantastic story so that only the seasoned reader can distinguish the fantasy from the truth. The story appears in the Revista Fundațiilor Regale (Journal of Royal Foundations). He is suggested to write another novel in the same genre to be published together. He writes "Nopti la Serampore” (Nights at Serampore) featuring real characters Van Maanen and Lucian Bogdanov.
His mentor, Nae Ionescu dies from a heart attack.
In April he is designated cultural attaché to London embassy where he lives the terror of German bombings. He does not feel that the work done here is useful and he is glad when transferred to the Lisbon embassy shortly before the break of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Romania.
He continues to write in the cycle entitled “Viață Nouă” (New Life), but he is dissatisfied, considering that the result is something outdated and devoid of psychological interest.
1941 – For months focuses exclusively on writing " Salazar și revoluția în Portugalia” (Salazar and the Revolution in Portugal). For relaxation he sometimes writes about Camões and Eminescu, in Acção magazine.
1942 - July, he has an audience at President Salazar with whom he discusses the studies done in India and the Portuguese experience. He is advised to be "as cautious as possible" because it is being pursued by Gestapo agents.
He travels for two weeks to Romania, where he is received by Marshal Antonescu, to whom he conveys some advice from President Salazar. He leaves Romania at the beginning of August without suspecting that he will never return.
1943 - Travels to Spain and France, continues publishing cultural articles, has interviews, receptions and meetings with journalists and Portuguese writers.
1944 – His wife's health deteriorates significantly. After August 23, almost all the staff of the embassy is recalled to Romania, but since there are no means of transport, they must survive with a third of the salary.
Nina Eliade dies in November due to cancer.
Depressed, for a while Eliade can read nothing but the Bible, and a few authors: Kierkegaard, Leon Chestov, Dilthey, Heidegger. Writings are limited to additions to the journal.
1945 - After the end of the war he decides not to return to Romania. In September, he arrives in Paris where he estimates that the savings will suffice for a few months of a modest lifestyle. Meets important Indianists such as Louis Renou, Jean Filiozat, Paul Masson-Oursel. He is elected a member of the Société Asiatique.
1946 - At the Institute of Indian Civilization he gives a presentation on the vocabulary of yoga and two lectures on yoga techniques. Notes the growing interest in yoga, but at the same time observes that the subject becomes a kind of hobby; so, he tries to present the yoga philosophy and practices in the most scientific way and at the same time in the broader perspective of the history of religions.
Georges Dumézil invites him to present a series of lectures in the context of his comparative mythology course at L´École des Hautes Études.
October is financially difficult and becomes necessary to sell some of the clothes brought from Portugal.
1947 – Eliade decides to try his luck in the United States and writes to Ananda Coomaraswamy asking him to find something to do in the United States. Initially the answer was that all the positions of Indian studies and the history of religions in universities and colleges have been occupied for a long time; but later, in August, he finds a job with teaching in French for a salary of $ 2800 annually. But in October Coomaraswamy dies.
In October, applies for a research position at the Centre de la Recherce Scientifique, with letters of recommendation from Louis Renou, George Dumézil and Paul Masson-Oursel. But according to the French law, the approval of the Romanian government had to be obtained; but the Romanian ambassador to Paris refuses to give his consent.
"Prolégomènes à l'histoire des religions" becomes at the proposal of Gustave Payot "Traité dhistoire des religions" and he offers 60,000 francs on delivery of the manuscript. But due to the unacceptable financial conditions imposed by the printing company, Payot withdraws the manuscript.
After the abdication of King Mihai, Romanians from abroad are required to repatriate within six months, or their citizenship will be automatically withdrawn. Eliade decides to stay in France.
1948 - He has a few lectures at the École des Hautes Études with a summary of his favorite work, “Le mythe de l 'etternel retour.”
In May, “Techniques du Yoga” appeares at Gallimard Publishing House.
He meets sisters Cotescu, Sibylle, Christinel (aka Georgette) and Lisette (wife of orchestra conductor Ionel Perlea). Eliade is enchanted by Christinel.
Together with several friends they establish the cultural association “Mihail Eminescu” and “Luceafărul” (Morning Star) magazine. The first issue appears with a poem called "Adio libertate" (Goodbye Freedom), written and signed under pseudonym by Vasile Voiculescu who was living in Romania and sent secretly from there.
He gets a well-paid job as UNESCO official.
In August, his adoptive daughter, Giza Eliade, like many Romanians in France, emigrates to Argentina.
1949 - January 9, Eliade and Christinel get engaged.
January 15 - holds a lecture on Tantrism at the Guimed Museum. The reviews of "Traité d 'histoire des religions" are exceptionally favorable. Georges Dumézil is enthusiastic and many scholars send letters of appreciation. The first edition is quickly sold out and then reprinted.
At the end of May "Le mythe de l 'etternel retour" appears, probably the most discussed work by philosophers, and in the United States by theologians.
At the end of May appears "Le mythe de l 'etternel retour", probably the most discussed work by philosophers, and in the United States by theologians.
He works 12-14 hours a day at the first chapters of “Le Chamanisme,” encouraged by positive comments from Georges Dumézil and delighted by the important meanings he discovered in what he called "the archaic techniques of ecstasy."
In June he starts writing the “Night of Sânziene” (Forbidden Forest).
In July, he spends several weeks with Christinel and others on Capri Island. Euphoric, he feels that he is finding the true dimension of his existence as he perceived in his adolescence: to decipher through a careful analysis the meanings of religious phenomena.
He thinks he owes his presence in the West to his relationship with Nae Ionescu, who, had he not so radically opposed King Carol, would have make him remain in Romania as a professor at the University until 1946-47. Then he would have shared the fate of so many others of his generation.
In September gives a speech at the Conference of Religious Psychology, called "Religious images - natural images."
He is delighted by the invitation to the Eranos Conference next year, a multidisciplinary symposium honored by the presence of renowned scholars.
By the end of October, the apartment is so cold that he has to warm his hands with a bottle of hot water and with great effort he manages to finish the correction of the “Forbidden Forest” novel.
Christinel learns to use the typewriter and transcribes chapters in “Le chamanisme” (Shamanism).
1950 - January 9, Eliade and Christinel marry and have a religious ceremony in the same evening.
January - gives a talk at the Collège Philosophique about "Le structure des mythes" and "Le mythe dans le monde moderne". The following day he gives the inaugural address at the Center Roumaine de Recherches, where Prince Nicolae is present as patron and supporter of the center.
In February he works twelve hours a day at “Le chamanisme,” and Christinel types the finished chapters.
The financial situation worsens after General Rădescu’s government suspends the financial aid given to students and certain Romanian intellectuals in Paris. Apart from the fees received for articles published in Critique, there are no other sources of income than the 20,000 francs sent monthly by Lisette, Christinel’s sister, who lives in New York, where Ionel Perlea, affiliated with the Metropolitan Opera, enjoys great success.
In March he stops working again at “Le chamanisme” to write two dissertations to be held in Rome: at the university, invited by Pettazzoni, on "Le chamanisme," and at the Institute for Oriental Studies (ISMEO), invited by Giuseppe Tucci , about "Le Tantrisme and le shamanisme." Pays a visit to Tucci at his home, who shows him his vast library. Tucci proposes to publish “Zalmoxis” again, but under the auspices of ISMEO. Eliade declined the offer due to the effort required by the unfinished books.
In May he leaves for Venice to participate in the constituent assembly of the European Society for Culture.
In June he works with great difficulty and effort, without enthusiasm. His health is in decline, feeling the return of a crisis of vagotonia. The bad news keeps coming. The publication of the novel “La nuit Bengali” is postponed for several months. Ionel Perlea breaks the three-year contract with the Metropolitan Opera and accepts other offers that later prove less brilliant than he had hoped. At the end of June, the United States intervenes in Korea and the third world war seems imminent.
He spends several weeks in Briançon with Christinel and his family, where he relives the times when he was hiking Bucegi mountains.
In August he participates in the Eranos Conference in Switzerland, which he will regularly do until 1962. He talks with John Barrett of the Bollingen Foundation, who promises to plead with the foundation's directors to grant Eliade a scholarship.
In September he participates in the International Congress on the History of Religions in Amsterdam. As he has no money for the hotel, he lives in a private house, with a campaign bed, no writing table and no shower. Some of his colleagues, under the pretext that they discovered a special restaurant, invite him to dinner several times.
In September appears “La nuit Bengali” at Gallimard publishing house. But it does not have the expected success. Gustav Payot seems dissatisfied that less than two years after the publication of “Traité d'histoire des religions,” Eliade publishes a novel, considering that Eliade's name evokes in the readers' mind an orientalist and a historian of religions, and they should not be confused. Eliade agrees that he was wrong in choosing “Maitreyī” for his literary debut in France.
The financial situation is becoming more and more precarious which compels him to borrow money from friends and relatives.
In December he receives a letter from the Bollingen Foundation, which notifies him of being awarded a scholarship of $200 per month for three years. After a few days, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique informs him that he was named "attached researcher" with a salary of 35,000 francs a month. However, as he could not benefit from both scholarships, he chose the Bollingen scholarship that he could receive in any country.
He becomes friends with Monica Lovinescu and Virgil Ierunca.
1951 - March, delivers “Le chamanisme” (700 pages) to Payot publishing house. He receives a considerable amount on the spot, which allows them to spend a month in Italy. The book appears in September, is well received and soon reprinted and translated into several languages.
Work on the paper on tantrism (Le tantrisme) is postponed when he learns that Giuseppe Tucci was going to publish Chandrakirti's commentary on Guhyasamāja Tantra, along with the gloss of Tsong-kha-pa, as he did not dare to write a "little monograph" before having read these texts.
Now is the time to review “Forbidden Forest.” He is unhappy that the subject seems to be wandering like in a maze. Rewrites 150 pages and is finally satisfied.
In August he lectures at the Eranos conference.
In October, he is preparing the volume “Images et Symboles,” a book he had planned since summer.
In November he receives a letter from his sister, learning that his father has died. He feels he has lost another part of his past. In recent years, he had managed to control his longing for home, but it sometimes was coming back in his dreams. Now he is overwhelmed again.
In December he finished working on “Images et Symboles.”
1952 - Prepares dissertations to be held at the University of Lund at the end of April.
Prepares a speech on "Langages secrets et technique mystiques" which he holds at the beginning of May at the Oriental Institute.
He wants to see Papini, his teenage idol. He writes to him and he responds immediately. Papini's health is seriously degraded.
Eliade and Christinel spend the month of June in Switzerland, on the shore of Lake Maggiore, hosted by Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn (the organizer of the Eranos conferences). Here he finds the ideal medium for writing. Olga invites them to come back for a month every year.
In August he returns to Ascona for a new speech: "Puissance et sacralité dans l 'histoire des religions". He meets C.G. Jung who is enthusiastic about “Le chamanisme.”
In the autumn, he is preparing new corrected and added editions for “Le mythe de l’éternel retour” and "Traité d'histoire des religions" for publication in German, English and Spanish.
In a few days he writes " Douăsprezece mii de capete de vită” (Twelve thousand heads of cattle), a short story.
1953 - After three months of intense work on ”Forbidden Forest,” he stops working at the novel to prepare a new edition for “Yoga.” But he realizes that this is a matter of complete transformation of the previous text.
In April he gives five two-hour speeches at the Jung-Institut, Zürich.
Writes the inaugural speech for "Romanian Week" to be held in Madrid. In the era of wild Stalinism, Romanian culture is completely absent in the West. For which he believes he cannot refuse the opportunity to speak at such an event.
He is defending himself from fatigue and discouragement by saying again and again that all this unexpected agitation and wandering could be a new series of initiatic attempts. He considers that all delays and postponements in completing the “Forbidden Forest” novel have meaning and that the novel means more to him than a new book. It was the boundary between the past and the future.
Beginning in November, he lives exclusively in the world of Indian spirituality and resumed work on the “Yoga” monograph, excited by the new version.
1954 - April, he completes the writing of “Yoga.”
Maitreyī Devī is in Paris and sends him a letter saying that she really wants to see him again. Eliade had believed for many years that Maitreyī was no longer alive. He considers it fortunate that “La nuit Bengali” had not been translated into English.
May - Sends the text from “Le Yoga: Immortalité et Liberté” to Payot publishing house. With Christinel spends two months in Ascona where he devotes himself to the work on “Forbidden Forest.” A few days later he writes in the journal: "Today at 11:35 I finished writing and transcribed the last page. The novel is complete!”
He begins writing “Forgerons et alchimistes” which he finishes in December. The book appears a few months later.
Intends to write “Mythologies de la mort” (Mythologies of death) but rereading and reclassifying the documentation realizes that at least three or four years of work would be required. He decides to write “Mort et Initiation,” a more modest book of general interest, a topic about which he writes: "Until now I had seen it from 'outside,' as a work of scholarship and philosophy. I was wrong; I didn't understand the essential. Initiation is a death, and any death, intelligently assumed, can amount to an initiation. "
1955 - In April he participates in the seventh international congress on the history of religions, where he presents "Le vol magique." He is presented with the idea of teaching at the University of Chicago.
He writes “Fata căpitanului,” (Captain's Daughter), a short story.
In August he begins to write the novel „Pe strada Mântuleasa” (On Mântuleasa Street) but which he finishes only twelve years later.
“Forbidden Forest” appears in September. Although Eliade is not disappointed by the modest success, considering that the success with the first novels in his youth was sufficient, he decides that from now on he will only write for Christinel, himself, and some Romanian friends. He would not suspect at this time that the possession of this book in his country would be considered illegal by the communist regime and some Romanians (like Sergiu Al-George) will go to jail for just having it.
1956 - The University of Chicago informs him that he will obtain the visa following his appointment as visiting professor for the academic year 1956 - 1957. The courses he chooses are "The Philosophy and Techniques of Yoga" and "Shamanism in Asia and America."
September 17 - embarks on the L'Ile de France for New York and arrives in Chicago on October 1st, at an almost deserted train station. Here, without friends, relatives or acquaintances they are a little anxious, but comforted by the idea that in a few months they will return to Paris. In fact, they'll stay here until the very end.
He teaches six lectures attended by colleagues and professors from other departments. Eliade's accent, besides the difficulty of the subjects, represents an additional obstacle in communication. He is troubled by the variety and complexity of the accents in this "melting pot" that is America.
He is offered a full professor position for an initial term of ten years. Eliade agrees with four years, motivating the work in progress.
During the winter trimester he teaches a class on “Yoga.” The book had just been translated from French. All the seats in the class are occupied. The course on shamanism, however, enjoys a small audience.
In July they travel to Europe to attend the Eranos conference, the Orientalist congress in Munich and for lectures at the University of Uppsala.
1958 - They return to the United States in January. For the topics of the courses of that year he chooses "The Structure of Religious Symbolism" and "Aspects of Myth." Encourage students to read fundamental texts from Rig Veda to Qur'an. In the spring he composed the text for Eranos, "Méphistophélès et l'androgyne au le mystère de totalité."
Attends the International Congress of the History of Religions Association, Tokyo. Everything impresses him in Japan: the landscapes, the culture, the people and their artistic genius. He visits several cities including Nagasaki and the place where the atomic bomb exploded thirteen years before.
The four weeks he spent in Japan allow him to discover another Eastern civilization, very different but at the same time in unison with the Indian and Asian spiritual creations in general.
Appears “Yoga: Immortality and Freedom,” published by Bollingen / Pantheon, New York. Prepares a considerably revised new edition of “Le Chamanisme.” Both works are translated into English by Willard Trask.
He writes an article "Les Daces et les loups," which is the first part of the book “De Zalmoxis à Gengis-Khan.” He perceives that the periodic return to the study of Romanian spiritual traditions was a way of preserving his identity in the midst of American diversity.
1959 - In May they are back in Paris for the Eranos conference and a speech at the Jung Institut in Zurich. Talks to Jung for the last time. Jung dies two years later.
In June he starts writing the novel “La țigănci” (With the Gypsy Girls). He works eight - nine hours a day and completes it a month later.
In Chicago, he starts together with Joseph Kitagawa and Charles H. Long, the journal “History of Religions,” published by the University of Chicago Press.
1960 - Writes articles for History of Religions and revises English translations for “Images et symbols” and “Mythes, rêves et mystères.” Collects documentation that will later form the volume “From Primitives to Zen.”
Master's theses and doctoral dissertations on Eliade's thinking begin to appear, both in Europe and in the USA.
Gustave Payot dies, to whom Eliade owes the publication in just five years of three of his books: “Traité,” “Le Chamanisme” and “Le Yoga,” which contributed to his success in becoming known as a historian of religions.
His health is degraded due to arthritis, but he receives letters that encourage him, in which he is praised for the lucidity of the exposition, the amazing erudition and the consistency in synthesizing ideas and concepts.
In April, he participates in the "Myth Today" symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he does a dissertation entitled "Myths of the Beginning and Myths of the End."
1961 - He begins to feel America in a different way. His visa allows him to stay in U.S. until the summer of 1961. But university officials intervene with the State Department and Eliade obtains the immigrant visa in May 1961, on the basis that Eliade is “indispensable to the security and welfare of the United States” due to “the kind of humanistic matters that the United States desperately needed for its security.”
1962 – Eliade is named "Sewell L. Avery Distinguished Service Professor."
1965 - Teaches at the universities of Mexico, Princeton, California Santa Barbara, S.A.
1966 – Eliade receives the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of Yale University.
1970 - Becomes Honorary Doctor of Loyola University, Chicago. Mircea and Christinel Eliade obtain US citizenship.
Eliade meets actress Sorana Țopa in Paris.
1971 – Eliade suffers a pericardial attack and spends most of his time in hospital. One of the most ambitious personal projects begins, to write a chronological history of religious beliefs and ideas. Initially it is designed in two volumes, then three and finally four. But he will not live to complete the project.
1973 - Maitreyī Devī travels to the United States and visits him unexpectedly.
1976 - The University of Sorbonne awards him the title Doctor Honoris Causa.
1977 - Eliade is invited by the Romanian Academy to visit Romania, but he refuses.
1978 - Receives the French National Order of the “Légion d'honneur.”
1980 - The University of Lyon proposes him for the Nobel prize for literature.
1981 - Eliade's Autobiography appears in the United States, translated from Romanian by M.L. Ricketts.
1983 – Eliade retires after more than 25 years of teaching.
1984 - December, the American Academy of Religion (AAR) celebrates its 75th anniversary. Celebrations are held in Eliade's honor. For the first time AAR confers a sculpture entitled "Eliade," created and presented by Isamu Noguci, for "the most illustrious" specialist in the study of religions.
In June he receives the Dante Alighieri prize, and in September the Elba-Brighetti prize for the novel “Wedding in Heaven” translated into Italian.
1985 - The university administration, in honor of its distinguished career, takes the unusual decision to establish a position financed by private funds bearing the name of Eliade.
George Washington University awards him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.
December 19 - He learns that his university office is on fire. He never recovers from the shock of the event. He is most sad about the loss of books he had published and made numerous annotations on them. He feels that the years of continuous growth have been erased, that "the immortality he had been looking for in printed pages was subject to material destruction, just like the immortality he had long sought in yoga practices."
In moments of reflection, he recalls moments in his life and wonders if he will be able to finish the autobiography. Due to fatigue, arthritis and colloidal gold injections, he can barely hold a pencil. The ankle tendinitis compels him to walk with a cane. He realizes that much of their life in Chicago over the past twenty-seven years has been spent on a perimeter of less than 100 square meters.
April 22, 1986 - Mircea Eliade dies at Bernard Mitchell Hospital of the University of Chicago following a cerebral blood clot, while reading a new book written by Emil Cioran. At the hospital it was discovered that he also suffered from lung cancer. According to his wish, he is cremated the day after his death.
April 28 - Over a thousand people attend the memorial service. Ioan Culianu reads in Romanian from “Noaptea de Sânziene,” others from “Le mythe de l 'etternel retour,” and “Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.”
A few weeks before his death, a reporter asked him if he believes in destiny. Eliade replies: "Yes, in the sense that I think there is something that cannot be explained - I can’t call it Providence - but certainly there is something that cannot be explained ... [In my own life] it has worked in such a way as to keep me prisoner in a career at the University of Bucharest, which would have ended after the Russian occupation of Romania. Destiny arranged that I be in London, and then in Portugal during World War Two, then in Paris, keeping me free all the time to do what I wanted to do. I didn't accept a job at a European university because I knew that being a teacher there you are bound. But I accepted a job in an American university because, at least in my case, they gave me the freedom to do what I wanted to do.” (Delia O'Hara, Chicago Interview, June 1986).
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
