Nae Ionescu
Encyclopedia
Nae Ionescu (ˈna.e joˈnesku, born Nicolae C. Ionescu; – March 15, 1940) was a Romanian
philosopher, logician, mathematician
, professor
, and journalist
. Near the end of his career, he became known for his antisemitism and devotion to far right
politics, in the years leading up to World War II
.
, Ionescu studied Letters at the University of Bucharest
until 1912. Upon graduation, he was appointed teacher at the Matei Basarab High School in Bucharest
. When World War I
began, he traveled to Germany
for additional studies at the University of Göttingen. Romania's entry into the war on the Entente side
side prevented him from returning, but he was awarded a doctorate
in philosophy in 1919 from the University of Munich
. His thesis was entitled Die Logistik als Versuch einer neuen Begründung der Mathematik ("Formal logic as an attempt at a new foundation of mathematics").
Back in Romania, after another brief stint teaching, Ionescu was appointed assistant to Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
at the University of Bucharest
's department of Logic and Theory of Knowledge.
His life's work had a profound effect on a generation of Romanian thinkers, first for his studies on comparative religion
, philosophy, and mysticism
, but later for his nationalist and far right sentiment. Some of the figures he influenced include Constantin Noica
, Mircea Eliade
, Emil Cioran
, Haig Acterian
, Jeni Acterian, Mihail Sebastian
, Mircea Vulcănescu
, and Petre Ţuţea
. The existentialist
and partly mystical
school of thought Ionescu introduced bore the name Trăirism. Trăirism intersected at several points with the ideology of the Iron Guard
; the connection became even more direct when many of its adherents also publicly associated with the latter.
Ionescu himself was more reserved in his dealings with the Guard. He was the editor of the highly influential newspaper Cuvântul
, which had long backed King
Carol II
- the major rival of the Guard. However, Ionescu moved away from the monarchy due to Carol's inner circle. Ionescu's antisemitism was a decisive factor in his switching of allegiances: Jewish writer Mihail Sebastian
's Journal depicts the interval during which Ionescu's virulence grew, as well as the reasons that were animating his large following.
recalls the incident in his autobiography:
Eliade notes that this incident marked a profound departure for Ionescu, who in the late 1920s had suggested to Eliade, who was then his student, that he had been tempted "to give up both journalism and politics and devote myself entirely to Hebraic studies". Sebastian, though dejected by the incident, opted to keep Ionescu's introduction in the book.
. The experience took a toll on his fragile health, and he died soon thereafter. Some close sources indicated that he was assassinated by poisoning due to his involvement with the Iron Guard.
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
philosopher, logician, mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. Near the end of his career, he became known for his antisemitism and devotion to far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
politics, in the years leading up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Life
Born in BrăilaBraila
Brăila is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County, in the close vicinity of Galaţi.According to the 2002 Romanian census there were 216,292 people living within the city of Brăila, making it the 10th most populous city in Romania.-History:A...
, Ionescu studied Letters at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
until 1912. Upon graduation, he was appointed teacher at the Matei Basarab High School 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....
. When 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...
began, he traveled to 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...
for additional studies at the University of Göttingen. Romania's entry into the war on the Entente side
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
side prevented him from returning, but he was awarded a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in philosophy in 1919 from the University of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , commonly known as the University of Munich or LMU, is a university in Munich, Germany...
. His thesis was entitled Die Logistik als Versuch einer neuen Begründung der Mathematik ("Formal logic as an attempt at a new foundation of mathematics").
Back in Romania, after another brief stint teaching, Ionescu was appointed assistant to Constantin 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...
at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
's department of Logic and Theory of Knowledge.
His life's work had a profound effect on a generation of Romanian thinkers, first for his studies on comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
, philosophy, and mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, but later for his nationalist and far right sentiment. Some of the figures he influenced include Constantin Noica
Constantin Noica
Constantin Noica was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to...
, Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, Emil Cioran
Emil Cioran
-Early life:Emil M. Cioran was born in Răşinari, 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 , was originally from Veneţia de Jos, a commune near Făgăraş.After studying humanities at the...
, Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian was a Romanian film and theater director, critic, dramatist, poet, journalist, and fascist political activist...
, Jeni Acterian, Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
-Life:Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila. After finishing his secondary studies, Sebastian went on to study law in Bucharest, but was soon attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary group...
, Mircea Vulcănescu
Mircea Vulcanescu
Mircea Vulcănescu was a prominent Romanian philosopher, economist, ethics teacher and sociologist.-Biography:He studied philosophy and law at the University of Bucharest, graduating in 1925...
, and Petre Ţuţea
Petre Tutea
- Early years: from Marxism to the Legionary Movement :Petre Ţuţea was born in the village of Boteni, Muscel region . His father, Petre Bădescu, was a Romanian Orthodox priest and his mother, Ana Ţuţea, was of peasant stock. After the First World War, Ţuţea left his village to finish high school in...
. The existentialist
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
and partly mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
school of thought Ionescu introduced bore the name Trăirism. Trăirism intersected at several points with the ideology of the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
; the connection became even more direct when many of its adherents also publicly associated with the latter.
Ionescu himself was more reserved in his dealings with the Guard. He was the editor of the highly influential newspaper Cuvântul
Cuvântul
Cuvântul is a newspaper from Rezina, the Republic of Moldova, founded in 1995 by Tudor Iaşcenco.- External links :*...
, which had long backed King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
- the major rival of the Guard. However, Ionescu moved away from the monarchy due to Carol's inner circle. Ionescu's antisemitism was a decisive factor in his switching of allegiances: Jewish writer Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
-Life:Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila. After finishing his secondary studies, Sebastian went on to study law in Bucharest, but was soon attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary group...
's Journal depicts the interval during which Ionescu's virulence grew, as well as the reasons that were animating his large following.
Mihail Sebastian incident
During the period when Sebastian and Ionescu were still on speaking terms, the latter had agreed to write the preface of Sebastian's book De două mii de ani... ("It's been two thousand years..."). Ionescu's introduction shocked Sebastian, who "loved and admired Ionescu", as it included several overtly antisemitic statements. Mircea EliadeMircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
recalls the incident in his autobiography:
"Judah suffers because it must suffer," Nae had written. And he explained why: the Jews had refused to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah. This suffering in history reflected, in a certain sense, the destiny of the Hebrew people who, precisely because they had rejected Christianity, could not be saved. Extra Ecclesiae nulla salus.
Eliade notes that this incident marked a profound departure for Ionescu, who in the late 1920s had suggested to Eliade, who was then his student, that he had been tempted "to give up both journalism and politics and devote myself entirely to Hebraic studies". Sebastian, though dejected by the incident, opted to keep Ionescu's introduction in the book.
Later life
After Carol's crackdown on the Iron Guard, Nae Ionescu and his disciples were rounded up and imprisoned at a makeshift camp in Miercurea-CiucMiercurea-Ciuc
Miercurea-Ciuc is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River valley.The city administers three villages:* Ciba / Csiba...
. The experience took a toll on his fragile health, and he died soon thereafter. Some close sources indicated that he was assassinated by poisoning due to his involvement with the Iron Guard.