Mihai Eminescu | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Mihai Eminescu. Photograph taken by Jan Tomas in Prague, 1869. | |
| Born | Mihail Eminovici 15 January 1850 Botoșani, Principality of Moldavia |
| Died | 15 June 1889 (aged 39) Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania |
| Resting place | Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest |
| Occupation | |
| Language | Romanian |
| Citizenship | |
| Education | |
| Genres | Poetry, short story |
| Subjects | Condition of genius, death, love, history, nature |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Years active | 1866–1889 |
| Notable works | Luceafărul, Scrisoarea I |
| Partner | Veronica Micle |
| Relatives | Gheorghe Eminovici (father) Raluca Iurașcu (mother)[1] Six brothers
Four sisters
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| Signature | |
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Mihai Eminescu (Romanian pronunciation: [miˈhaj emiˈnesku] ; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul ("The Time"), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party (1880–1918).[2] His poetry was first published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna, Austria to study when he was 19. The poet's manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on 25 January 1902.[3] Notable works include Luceafărul (The Vesper/The Evening Star/The Lucifer/The Daystar), Odă în metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems, he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects.
His father was Gheorghe Eminovici, an aristocrat from Bukovina, which was then part of the Austrian Empire (while his grandfather came from Banat). He crossed the border into Moldavia, settling in Ipotești, near the town of Botoșani. He married Raluca Iurașcu, an heiress of an old noble family. In a Junimea register, Eminescu wrote down his birth date as 22 December 1849, while in the documents of Cernăuți Gymnasium, where Eminescu studied, his birth date is 15 January 1850. Nevertheless, Titu Maiorescu, in his work Eminescu and His Poems (1889), quoted N. D. Giurescu's research and adopted his conclusion regarding the date and place of Mihai Eminescu's birth, as being 15 January 1850, in Botoșani. This date resulted from several sources, among which there was a file of notes on christenings from the archives of the Uspenia (Princely) Church of Botoșani; inside this file, the date of birth was "15 January 1850" and the date of christening was the 21st of the same month. The date of his birth was confirmed by the poet's elder sister, Aglae Drogli, who affirmed that the place of birth was the village of Ipotești, Botoșani County.[4]
- ^ "Părinții, frații, surorile lui Mihai Eminescu". Tribuna (in Romanian). 15 January 2013.
- ^ Mircea Mâciu dr., Nicolae C. Nicolescu, Valeriu Șuteu dr., Mic dicționar enciclopedic, Ed. Stiinţifică şi enciclopedică, București, 1986
- ^ Biblioteca Academiei – Program de accesare digitala a manuscriselor Archived 21 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Mihai Eminescu
- ^ Titu Maiorescu, Eminescu şi poeziile lui (1889) (secţiunea "Notă asupra zilei şi locului naşterii lui Eminescu")