Paul Goma
Encyclopedia
Paul Goma (ˈpa.ul ˈɡoma; born October 2, 1935) is a Romania
n writer, also known for his activities as a dissident
and leading opponent of the communist regime
before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refugee and currently resides in France
as a stateless person. After 2000, Goma has raised much controversy for the opinions he expressed on World War II
, the Holocaust in Romania and the Jews, claims which have led to widespread criticism for antisemitism.
village, Orhei County
, which at that time was a part of the Kingdom of Romania
, nowadays part of Republic of Moldova
. His parents, Eufimie Goma (1909–1967) and Maria Goma (née Popescu; 1909–1974), were schoolteachers in Mana. His brother Petre was born in 1933, but died before his first birthday.
After the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, Paul Goma's father was taken away by the Soviet
authorities and deported to Siberia
. In October 1943, Eufimie Goma was found by his family, as a prisoner of war
, in "Camp No. 1 for Soviet Prisoners", in Slobozia
, Ialomiţa County
, Romania.
In March 1944, the Goma family took refuge in Sibiu
, Transylvania
. In August 1944, finding themselves in danger of involuntary "repatriation
" to the Soviet Union, they fled to the village of Buia
, by the Târnava Mare River
. From October to December 1944, the Goma family hid in the forests around Buia. On January 13, 1945 they were captured by Romanian shepherds and turned over to the Gendarmerie
in Sighişoara
, where they were interned at the "Centrul de Repatriere" ("Repatriation Center"). There, Eufimie Goma managed to forge documents for his family; however, Maria Goma's brother, who didn't have forged papers, was promptly "repatriated to Siberia". In June 1945, taking advantage of the forged documents, they returned to Buia. Later on, Paul Goma would describe his family's refugee saga in the novels Arta refugii ("The Art of Refuge", a wordplay on the Romanian words for "refuge" and "taking flight"), Soldatul câinelui ("Dog's Soldier"), and Gardă inversă ("Reverse Guard").
In May 1952, Goma, while a student in 10th grade, was detained for eight days by the Securitate
for speaking out in the classroom about Romanian anti-communist partisans
and for keeping a code
d personal journal. In September–October of the same year he was barred from all the schools in Romania. After some unsuccessful attempts at re-admission he was finally allowed to attend Negru Vodă high school in Făgăraş
.
In 1954 he was admitted to the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest
. In November 1956, he was one of the organizers of the Bucharest student movement
, in support of the Hungarian Revolution. As a result, he was arrested by the Communist authorities
, incarcerated for two years in Jilava
and Gherla
prisons, and then put under house arrest in Lăteşti (a village in the Bărăgan Plain
) until 1963.
In September 1965, he was re-admitted as a first-year student at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest. In the fall of 1967, under pressure from the Securitate, he was forced to give up his studies at the University. On August 7, 1968, Paul Goma married Ana Maria Năvodaru. Their son Filip-Ieronim was born in 1975.
At the end of August 1968, Paul Goma became a member of the Romanian Communist Party
, in an act of solidarity with the Romanian position during the Warsaw Pact
Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania did not take part, indeed condemning the invasion).
In 1971 it was proposed that Paul Goma be excluded from the Communist Party because he published his novel "Ostinato" in West Germany
after the Communist censors refused to allow him to publish the book in Romania. Paul Goma refused to give up his Party membership by his own will.
In 1977, Paul Goma's public letter calling for respect for human rights
in Romania and for Romanians to sign Charter 77
was read on Radio Free Europe
. As a result, he was excluded from the Writers' Union of Romania
and was repeatedly followed, arrested, and tortured by the Securitate. On November 20, 1977, Paul Goma and his family left Romania and went into exile
in France
.
.
On 3 February 1981, Paul Goma and Nicolae Penescu (former Interior Minister) received parcels in their post. Penescu opened his parcel to find a book and when he lifted its cover an explosion wounded him. Goma, who had received two death threats since his arrival in France, called the police. Both packages had been sent on instructions by Carlos the Jackal
.
In 1982, the Securitate planned to assassinate Goma. Matei Haiducu
, the secret agent
sent by the Securitate to carry out the plan, turned to French counter-intelligence
(DST). With the help of the DST, Haiducu simulated an attempt on Goma's life, by poisoning his drink at a restaurant; the drink was then spilled by a French agent, pretending to be a "clumsy guest".
Although Goma's numerous works (both fiction and non-fiction) were translated worldwide, his books, except the first one, were published in Romania only after the 1989 Revolution
. He now lives in Paris as a stateless political refugee, his Romanian citizenship having been revoked after 1978 by the communist government. He turned down an offer of citizenship from the French Republic
, extended simultaneously to him and to the Czech
writer Milan Kundera
. In September 2006, a petition in favor of restoring his Romanian citizenship did not result in any progress on the issue.
s against his accusers. He asserts that his wife is Jewish and states that similar arguments were used against him by the Securitate
in the 1980s. On January 30, 2007, Goma was awarded the "Citizen of Honor" distinction by the Municipal Council of Timişoara
. In February 2007, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania and the Israel
i Embassy protested against the distinction, arguing that Paul Goma is the author of multiple antisemitic articles.
On April 5, 2006 he was invited to become a member of the Tismăneanu Commission
, a body charged with researching the crimes of the communist dictatorship in Romania. Nine days later he was dismissed by the Commission's president, Vladimir Tismăneanu
, who explained the exclusion based on Goma's questioning the moral and scientific credibility of the president of the Commission, and disclosing of their private correspondence.
In its totality, Goma's literary work comprises a "persuasive and grimly fascinating exposure of totalitarian inhumanity" from which, in his own case, even foreign exile was no guarantee of safe haven. In such later novels as Bonifacia and My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest, the biographical element dominates as he focuses on his childhood and adolescence in Bessarabia. Several sets of diaries, all published in Romania in 1997 and 1998, shed light on Goma's later life and career: Alte Jurnale ("Other Journals"), which covers his stay in the United States in autumn 1978 but concentrates primarily on 1994-96; Jurnal I: Jurnal pe sărite ("Journal I: By Leaps and Bounds", 1997); Jurnal II: Jurnal de căldură mare ("Journal II: Journal of Great Heat", 1997), covering June and July 1989; Jurnal III: Jurnal de noapte lungă ("Journal of the Long Night", 1997), covering September to December 1993; and Jurnalul unui jurnal 1997 ("The Journal of a Journal, 1997"), focusing just on that year.
, 1968. Ostinato, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, 1971. ISBN 3518066382
} La Cellule des libérables, Éditions Gallimard
, Paris
, 1971. ISBN 2070280969
} Ostinato, Bruna & Zoon, Utrecht
, 1974.
} Ostinato, Editura Univers, 1992. ISBN 973340215X Die Tür, 1972.
} Elles étaient quatre, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1974.
} Uşa noastrǎ cea de toate zilele, Editura Cartea Româneascǎ, Bucharest, 1992. Gherla, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1976.
} Gherla, 1978.
} Gherla, Humanitas
, Bucharest, 1990. ISBN 9732801697 Dossier Paul Goma. L'écrivain face au socialisme du silence., Paris, 1977 Dans le cercle, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1977. ISBN 2070297098
} In cerc, 1995. Garde inverse, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1979.
} Gardă inversă, Univers, 1997. ISBN 973-34-0409-8 Le Tremblement des Hommes: peut-on vivre en Roumanie aujourd'hui?, Éditions du Seuil
, Paris, 1979. ISBN 202005101X.
} 1980.
} Culorile curcubeului '77, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990. ISBN 973-28-0174-3
} Culoarea curcubeului ’77. Cod „Bǎrbosul”, Polirom, 2005. ISBN 973-681-833-0 Les chiens de mort, ou, La passion selon Piteşti, Hachette
, Paris, 1981. ISBN 2010083091
} Het vierkante ei, Elsevier Manteau, Antwerp, 1983.
} Die rote Messe, Thule, Köln
, 1984.
} Patimile dupǎ Piteşti, 1990.
} Patimile dupǎ Piteşti, Dacia, 1999. ISBN 973-35-0845-4 Chassé-croise, Hachette, Paris, 1983.
} Soldatul câinelui, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1991. ISBN 973-28-0235-9 Le calidor, Albin Michel, 1987.
} Din calidor, 1989.
} My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest, Readers International, July 1990. ISBN 0-930523-74-1
} Din calidor: O copilǎrie basarabeanǎ, Polirom, 2004. ISBN 973-681-732-6 L'art de la fugue, Julliard, 1990. ISBN 2260006353
} Arta refugii, Editura Dacia, Cluj
, 1991. ISBN 973-35-0225-1
} Arta refugii, Editura Basarabian, Chişinau
, 1995. Sabina, 1991.
} Sabina, 1993.
} Sabina, Universal Dalsi, Bucharest, 2005. ISBN 973-691-031-8 Astra, 1992.
} Astra, Editura Dacia, 1992. Bonifacia, 1993. Bonifacia, Albin Michel 1998. ISBN 2226025898
} Bonifacia, Anamarol, 2006. ISBN 973-8931-18-5 Adameva, Loreley, Iaşi
, 1995. (not distributed) Amnezia la români, Litera, 1995. Scrisori întredeschise - singur impotriva lor, Multiprint "Familia", Oradea
, 1995. Justa Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1995. Jurnal pe sărite, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997 Jurnal de cǎldura mare, Edutura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997 Altina - grǎdina scufundata, Editura Cartier, Chişinau, 1998. Scrisuri. 1972-1998, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1999. ISBN 973-569-377-1 Roman intim, Editura Allfa, 1999. ISBN 9739477062 Jurnal de Noapte Lungă, Dacia, Bucharest, 2000. Jurnal unui jurnal, Dacia, Cluj, 2000. Jurnal de Apocrif, Dacia, Cluj, 2000. Profil bas, Des Syrtes, 2001. ISBN 2845450389 Săptămîna Roşie. 28 Iunie–3 Iulie 1940 sau Basarabia şi evreii, Museum, Chişinău, 2003. ISBN 978-9975-906-77-7 Jurnal, Criterion, Bucharest, 2004. ISBN 978-973-86850-8-6 Alfabecedar, Editura Victor Frunză, 2005.
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 writer, also known for his activities as a dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
and leading opponent of the communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refugee and currently resides in 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...
as a stateless person. After 2000, Goma has raised much controversy for the opinions he expressed on 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...
, the Holocaust in Romania and the Jews, claims which have led to widespread criticism for antisemitism.
Life in Romania
Goma was born to a Romanian family in ManaSelişte, Orhei
Selişte is a commune in Orhei district, Moldova. It is composed of three villages: Selişte, Lucăşeuca and Mana....
village, Orhei County
Raionul Orhei
Orhei is a district in the central part of Moldova, with the administrative center at Orhei.As of 1 January 2011, its population was 125,900.-History:...
, which at that time was a part of the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
, nowadays part of Republic of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. His parents, Eufimie Goma (1909–1967) and Maria Goma (née Popescu; 1909–1974), were schoolteachers in Mana. His brother Petre was born in 1933, but died before his first birthday.
After the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, Paul Goma's father was taken away by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
authorities and deported to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. In October 1943, Eufimie Goma was found by his family, as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, in "Camp No. 1 for Soviet Prisoners", in Slobozia
Slobozia
Slobozia is the capital city of Ialomiţa County, Romania, with a population of 52,710 in 2002.-Geography:Slobozia lies roughly in the middle of the county, on the banks of Ialomita River, at ca. east of Bucharest and west of Constanţa, important port at the Black Sea...
, Ialomiţa County
Ialomita County
Ialomița is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 296,572 and the population density was 67/km²....
, Romania.
In March 1944, the Goma family took refuge in 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...
, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. In August 1944, finding themselves in danger of involuntary "repatriation
Repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
" to the Soviet Union, they fled to the village of Buia
Seica Mare
Şeica Mare is a commune located in Sibiu County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Boarta, Buia, Mighindoala, Petiş, Şeica Mare and Ştenea...
, by the Târnava Mare River
Târnava Mare River
The Târnava Mare River is a river in Romania. Its source is in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the sources of the Mureş and Olt in Harghita County. It flows through the Romanian counties of Harghita, Mureş, Sibiu, and Alba. The cities of Odorheiu Secuiesc, Sighişoara, and Mediaş lie on the...
. From October to December 1944, the Goma family hid in the forests around Buia. On January 13, 1945 they were captured by Romanian shepherds and turned over to the Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
in Sighişoara
Sighisoara
Sighişoara is a city and municipality on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş County, Romania. Located in the historic region Transylvania, Sighişoara has a population of 27,706 ....
, where they were interned at the "Centrul de Repatriere" ("Repatriation Center"). There, Eufimie Goma managed to forge documents for his family; however, Maria Goma's brother, who didn't have forged papers, was promptly "repatriated to Siberia". In June 1945, taking advantage of the forged documents, they returned to Buia. Later on, Paul Goma would describe his family's refugee saga in the novels Arta refugii ("The Art of Refuge", a wordplay on the Romanian words for "refuge" and "taking flight"), Soldatul câinelui ("Dog's Soldier"), and Gardă inversă ("Reverse Guard").
In May 1952, Goma, while a student in 10th grade, was detained for eight days by the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
for speaking out in the classroom about Romanian anti-communist partisans
Romanian anti-communist resistance movement
An armed resistance movement against the communist regime in Romania was active from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, with isolated individual fighters remaining at large until the early 1960s. Armed resistance was the first and most structured form of resistance against the communist regime...
and for keeping a code
Code
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....
d personal journal. In September–October of the same year he was barred from all the schools in Romania. After some unsuccessful attempts at re-admission he was finally allowed to attend Negru Vodă high school in Făgăraş
Fagaras
Făgăraș is a city in central Romania, located in Braşov County . Another source of the name is alleged to derive from the Hungarian language word for "partridge" . A more plausible explanation is that the name is given by Fogaras river coming from the Pecheneg "Fagar šu", which means ash water...
.
In 1954 he was admitted to the Faculty of Letters of 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:...
. In November 1956, he was one of the organizers of the Bucharest student movement
Bucharest student movement of 1956
The events in Poland which led to the elimination of that country's Stalinist leadership and the rise to power of Władysław Gomułka on 19 October 1956 provoked unrest among university students in Eastern bloc countries. The state of unrest in Poland began to spread into Hungary...
, in support of the Hungarian Revolution. As a result, he was arrested by the Communist authorities
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, incarcerated for two years in Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
and Gherla
Gherla
Gherla is a city in Cluj County, Romania . It is located 45 km from Cluj-Napoca on the Someşul Mic River, and has a population of 24,083....
prisons, and then put under house arrest in Lăteşti (a village in the Bărăgan Plain
Baragan Plain
The Bărăgan Plain is a steppe plain in south-eastern Romania. It makes up much of the eastern part of the Wallachian Plain. The region is known for its black soil and a rich humus, and is mostly a cereal-growing area....
) until 1963.
In September 1965, he was re-admitted as a first-year student at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest. In the fall of 1967, under pressure from the Securitate, he was forced to give up his studies at the University. On August 7, 1968, Paul Goma married Ana Maria Năvodaru. Their son Filip-Ieronim was born in 1975.
At the end of August 1968, Paul Goma became a member of the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
, in an act of solidarity with the Romanian position during the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania did not take part, indeed condemning the invasion).
In 1971 it was proposed that Paul Goma be excluded from the Communist Party because he published his novel "Ostinato" in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
after the Communist censors refused to allow him to publish the book in Romania. Paul Goma refused to give up his Party membership by his own will.
In 1977, Paul Goma's public letter calling for respect for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in Romania and for Romanians to sign Charter 77
Charter 77
Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...
was read on Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. As a result, he was excluded from the Writers' Union of Romania
Writers' Union of Romania
The Writers' Union of Romania , founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova...
and was repeatedly followed, arrested, and tortured by the Securitate. On November 20, 1977, Paul Goma and his family left Romania and went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in 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...
.
Life in France
In 1979, Paul Goma was active in the creation of the Free Workers' SyndicateSLOMR
SLOMR was a Romanian free trade union founded, without prior preparation, in February 1979, as a means to oppose the control exercised by the ruling Communist Party during the country's communist period...
.
On 3 February 1981, Paul Goma and Nicolae Penescu (former Interior Minister) received parcels in their post. Penescu opened his parcel to find a book and when he lifted its cover an explosion wounded him. Goma, who had received two death threats since his arrival in France, called the police. Both packages had been sent on instructions by Carlos the Jackal
Carlos the Jackal
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez , better known as Carlos the Jackal, is a Venezuelan pro-Palestinian currently serving a life sentence in France for shooting to death two French secret agents and a Lebanese informer in 1975....
.
In 1982, the Securitate planned to assassinate Goma. Matei Haiducu
Matei Pavel Haiducu
Matei Pavel Haiducu was a Romanian secret agent who defected to France in 1981. He belonged to the "Direcţia Informaţii Externe" of the Securitate.He was born in Bucharest as Matei Pavel Hirsch...
, the secret agent
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
sent by the Securitate to carry out the plan, turned to French counter-intelligence
Direction de la surveillance du territoire
The Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
(DST). With the help of the DST, Haiducu simulated an attempt on Goma's life, by poisoning his drink at a restaurant; the drink was then spilled by a French agent, pretending to be a "clumsy guest".
Although Goma's numerous works (both fiction and non-fiction) were translated worldwide, his books, except the first one, were published in Romania only after the 1989 Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
. He now lives in Paris as a stateless political refugee, his Romanian citizenship having been revoked after 1978 by the communist government. He turned down an offer of citizenship from the French Republic
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...
, extended simultaneously to him and to the Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
writer Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
. In September 2006, a petition in favor of restoring his Romanian citizenship did not result in any progress on the issue.
Controversies
Some of Goma's post-2005 articles and essays have been criticised due to their allegedly antisemitic nature. Goma rejects these allegations and has filed several libel lawsuitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s against his accusers. He asserts that his wife is Jewish and states that similar arguments were used against him by the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
in the 1980s. On January 30, 2007, Goma was awarded the "Citizen of Honor" distinction by the Municipal Council of Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
. In February 2007, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania and the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Embassy protested against the distinction, arguing that Paul Goma is the author of multiple antisemitic articles.
On April 5, 2006 he was invited to become a member of the Tismăneanu Commission
Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania
The Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania , also known as the Tismăneanu Commission , is a commission instituted in Romania by President Traian Băsescu to investigate the Communist regime and provide a comprehensive report allowing for the condemnation of...
, a body charged with researching the crimes of the communist dictatorship in Romania. Nine days later he was dismissed by the Commission's president, Vladimir Tismăneanu
Vladimir Tismaneanu
Vladimir Tismăneanu is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park...
, who explained the exclusion based on Goma's questioning the moral and scientific credibility of the president of the Commission, and disclosing of their private correspondence.
Literary contributions
Goma's literary debut came in 1966 with a short story published in the review Luceafǎrul with which he collaborated as well as with Gazeta literarǎ, Viaţa românească and Ateneu. In 1968 he published his first volume of stories, Camera de alături ("The Room Next Door"). After Ostinato and its West German publication in 1971 came Uşa ("Die Tür" or "The Door") in 1972, also in Germany. After his forced emigration in 1977 and until his books could again be published in Romania after the 1989 revolution, all his books appeared in France and in French. (His novel Gherla had in fact been published in 1976 first in French by Gallimard of Paris before he left Romania.) There followed such novels as Dans le cercle ("Within the Circle", 1977); Garde inverse ("Reverse Guard", 1979); Le Tremblement des Hommes ("The Trembling of People", 1979); Chassée-croisé ("Intersection", 1983); Les Chiens de la mort ("The Dogs of Death", 1981), which details his prison experiences in Piteşti in the 1950s; and Bonifacia (1986). The autobiographical Le Calidor appeared in French in 1987 and was subsequently published in Romanian as Din Calidor: O copilărie basarabeană ("In Calidor: A Bessarabian Childhood", 1989, 1990; translated as My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest) in the Romanian émigré journal Dialog, edited by Ion Solacolu.In its totality, Goma's literary work comprises a "persuasive and grimly fascinating exposure of totalitarian inhumanity" from which, in his own case, even foreign exile was no guarantee of safe haven. In such later novels as Bonifacia and My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest, the biographical element dominates as he focuses on his childhood and adolescence in Bessarabia. Several sets of diaries, all published in Romania in 1997 and 1998, shed light on Goma's later life and career: Alte Jurnale ("Other Journals"), which covers his stay in the United States in autumn 1978 but concentrates primarily on 1994-96; Jurnal I: Jurnal pe sărite ("Journal I: By Leaps and Bounds", 1997); Jurnal II: Jurnal de căldură mare ("Journal II: Journal of Great Heat", 1997), covering June and July 1989; Jurnal III: Jurnal de noapte lungă ("Journal of the Long Night", 1997), covering September to December 1993; and Jurnalul unui jurnal 1997 ("The Journal of a Journal, 1997"), focusing just on that year.
Published works
Camera de alǎturi, BucharestBucharest
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....
, 1968. Ostinato, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, 1971. ISBN 3518066382
} La Cellule des libérables, Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard is one of the leading French publishers of books. The Guardian has described it as having "the best backlist in the world". In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1418 titles....
, 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...
, 1971. ISBN 2070280969
} Ostinato, Bruna & Zoon, Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, 1974.
} Ostinato, Editura Univers, 1992. ISBN 973340215X Die Tür, 1972.
} Elles étaient quatre, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1974.
} Uşa noastrǎ cea de toate zilele, Editura Cartea Româneascǎ, Bucharest, 1992. Gherla, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1976.
} Gherla, 1978.
} Gherla, Humanitas
Humanitas publishing house
Humanitas is an independent Romanian publishing house, founded on February 1, 1990 in Bucharest by the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu...
, Bucharest, 1990. ISBN 9732801697 Dossier Paul Goma. L'écrivain face au socialisme du silence., Paris, 1977 Dans le cercle, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1977. ISBN 2070297098
} In cerc, 1995. Garde inverse, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1979.
} Gardă inversă, Univers, 1997. ISBN 973-34-0409-8 Le Tremblement des Hommes: peut-on vivre en Roumanie aujourd'hui?, Éditions du Seuil
Éditions du Seuil
Éditions du Seuil is a French publishing house created in 1935, currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The seuil is the whole excitement of parting and arriving...
, Paris, 1979. ISBN 202005101X.
} 1980.
} Culorile curcubeului '77, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990. ISBN 973-28-0174-3
} Culoarea curcubeului ’77. Cod „Bǎrbosul”, Polirom, 2005. ISBN 973-681-833-0 Les chiens de mort, ou, La passion selon Piteşti, Hachette
Hachette Livre
-France:*Calmann-Lévy*Deux Coqs d'Or*Disney Hachette Edition*EDICEF*Editions 1*Editions du Chêne**E.P.A*Éditions Dunod*Editions Foucher*Editions Stock*Fayard**Editions Mille et Une Nuits**Editions Mazarine**Pauvert*Gautier-Languereau*Grasset...
, Paris, 1981. ISBN 2010083091
} Het vierkante ei, Elsevier Manteau, Antwerp, 1983.
} Die rote Messe, Thule, Köln
KOLN
KOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials...
, 1984.
} Patimile dupǎ Piteşti, 1990.
} Patimile dupǎ Piteşti, Dacia, 1999. ISBN 973-35-0845-4 Chassé-croise, Hachette, Paris, 1983.
} Soldatul câinelui, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1991. ISBN 973-28-0235-9 Le calidor, Albin Michel, 1987.
} Din calidor, 1989.
} My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest, Readers International, July 1990. ISBN 0-930523-74-1
} Din calidor: O copilǎrie basarabeanǎ, Polirom, 2004. ISBN 973-681-732-6 L'art de la fugue, Julliard, 1990. ISBN 2260006353
} Arta refugii, Editura Dacia, Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, 1991. ISBN 973-35-0225-1
} Arta refugii, Editura Basarabian, Chişinau
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
, 1995. Sabina, 1991.
} Sabina, 1993.
} Sabina, Universal Dalsi, Bucharest, 2005. ISBN 973-691-031-8 Astra, 1992.
} Astra, Editura Dacia, 1992. Bonifacia, 1993. Bonifacia, Albin Michel 1998. ISBN 2226025898
} Bonifacia, Anamarol, 2006. ISBN 973-8931-18-5 Adameva, Loreley, 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...
, 1995. (not distributed) Amnezia la români, Litera, 1995. Scrisori întredeschise - singur impotriva lor, Multiprint "Familia", Oradea
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
, 1995. Justa Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1995. Jurnal pe sărite, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997 Jurnal de cǎldura mare, Edutura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997 Altina - grǎdina scufundata, Editura Cartier, Chişinau, 1998. Scrisuri. 1972-1998, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1999. ISBN 973-569-377-1 Roman intim, Editura Allfa, 1999. ISBN 9739477062 Jurnal de Noapte Lungă, Dacia, Bucharest, 2000. Jurnal unui jurnal, Dacia, Cluj, 2000. Jurnal de Apocrif, Dacia, Cluj, 2000. Profil bas, Des Syrtes, 2001. ISBN 2845450389 Săptămîna Roşie. 28 Iunie–3 Iulie 1940 sau Basarabia şi evreii, Museum, Chişinău, 2003. ISBN 978-9975-906-77-7 Jurnal, Criterion, Bucharest, 2004. ISBN 978-973-86850-8-6 Alfabecedar, Editura Victor Frunză, 2005.
Honours
- "Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (France), 1986
- Writers' Union of Moldova's Prize for Prose, March, 1992.
- Writers' Union of RomaniaWriters' Union of RomaniaThe Writers' Union of Romania , founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova...
's Prize for Prose, May 25, 1992. - "Honorary Citizen" by the Municipal Council of TimişoaraTimisoaraTimișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
, January 30, 2007.