Neagu Djuvara

Neagu Bunea Djuvara (Template:IPA; 18 August 1916 – 25 January 2018) was a Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biography

Early life

A native of Bucharest, he was descended from an aristocratic Aromanian family.<ref name="Nicolai">Template:In lang Bogdan Nicolai, "Regret că numele Djuvara va dispărea odată cu mine" ("I Regret that the Name of Djuvara Will Be Extinguished with Me") Template:Webarchive, interview with Neagu Djuvara, in Evenimentul Zilei, January 22, 2006 (hosted by www.presa-zilei.ro), retrieved June 13, 2007</ref><ref name="Roman">Template:In lang Toma Roman Jr, "Politicește, Ion Antonescu habar n-avea ce face" ("Politically, Ion Antonescu Had No Idea of What He Was Doing") Template:Webarchive, interview with Neagu Djuvara, in Plai cu Boi, No. 11, retrieved June 13, 2007</ref> His father, Marcel, a graduate of the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universität Berlin) and a captain in the Romanian Royal Army's Engineer Corps, died of the Spanish flu in 1918;<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/> his mother, Tinca, was the last descendant of the Grădișteanu family of boyar origins (according to Djuvara, she was related to all boyar families in Wallachia).<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/> Djuvara's uncles Trandafir and Alexandru Djuvara were notable public figures.<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/> Djuvara was born during World War I; as an infant, he was taken by his family into refuge in Iași after the occupation of southern Romania by the Central Powers, and then, through Imperial Russia, into Belgium, where Trandafir Djuvara was Minister Plenipotentiary.<ref name="Roman" />

He attended lycée in Nice, France, and graduated in Letters (1937) and Law (1940) from the University of Paris (his Law thesis dealt with the antisemitic legislation passed by the governments of King Carol II in Romania).<ref name="Roman"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Djuvara later stated that, at the time, his political sympathies veered towards the far right: he became a supporter of the Romanian fascist movement, the Iron Guard, and took part in the February 1934 riot against the French Radical-Socialist government of Édouard Daladier.<ref name="Roman"/>

During World War II, he returned to Romania, where he married and fathered a daughter.<ref name="Roman"/><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> He joined the Romanian Armed Forces and was stationed in Ploiești under the Iron Guard's National Legionary government.<ref name="Roman"/>

Following the establishment of Ion Antonescu's dictatorship and the start of Operation Barbarossa (see Romania during World War II), as an officer cadet, he fought on the Eastern Front, saw action in Bassarabia and Transnistria, before being wounded in the arm during the Battle of Odessa (1941).<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/><ref name="Giju">Template:In lang Dan Giju, "Neagu Djuvara – Curierul de Stockholm" ("Neagu Djuvara -the Stockholm Courier") Template:Webarchive, interview with Djuvara at the Romanian Defense Ministry site, retrieved June 13, 2007</ref> He stated that he gave up his interest in the far right after a 1943 dialog with fellow diplomat Victor Rădulescu-Pogoneanu, who convinced Djuvara to become "a supporter of parliamentary democracy".<ref name="Roman"/>

Diplomat

Subsequently, Djuvara decided to apply for office in the diplomatic corps, won the competition, and was sent by Foreign Minister Mihai Antonescu as a diplomatic courier to Sweden, on the very day Ion Antonescu was toppled by a coup d'état and Romania pulled out of the Axis powers to join the Allies (23 August 1944).<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/><ref name="Deletant">Dennis Deletant, Communist Terror in Romania: Gheorghiu-Dej and the Police State, 1948–1965, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, London, 1999 Template:ISBN</ref> In this capacity, he was instructed to communicate to the Romanian Ambassador in Stockholm, Frederic Nanu, that he was to ask the Soviet representative Alexandra Kollontai whether earlier terms advanced by Joseph Stalin in regard to peace with Romania were still valid (Nanu was also told not to inform the Western Allies of these talks).<ref name="Deletant"/>

Speaking in retrospect, he argued against claims made by Nanu, according to which Ion Antonescu had thus indicated his willingness to step down and hand leadership of Romania to King Mihai I.<ref name="Deletant"/> According to Djuvara, the last Soviet offer for Antonescu made only minor concessions – the entire country was to be occupied by the Red Army, with the exception of a random western county (to function as a provisional administrative center), and 15 days were given to the Romanian government to reach an armistice with Nazi Germany<ref name="Roman"/> (Djuvara considered this latter expectation particularly unrealistic, as it involved Germany consciously abandoning Romanian territory to its enemy).<ref name="Roman"/> Furthermore, Djuvara indicated, "Neither I nor Nanu were mandated to sign any document, to launch into any peace process".<ref name="Roman"/>

Appointed Legation Secretary in Stockholm by the Constantin Sănătescu executive, Djuvara was dismissed by the new Romanian Communist Party officials upon Ana Pauker's appointment as Foreign Minister (1947).<ref name="Roman"/><ref name="Giju"/>

Exile

Having been implicated in absentia in the series of show trials inaugurated in the wake of Communist Romania by the Tămădău Affair, accused of being a spy,<ref name="Roman"/> he decided to remain abroad.<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Roman"/> He left for Paris and was subsequently involved in advocacy of anti-communist political causes and the rallying of exiled intellectuals.<ref name="Roman"/> Briefly employed by the International Refugee Organization, Djuvara became involved with the body of Romanian exiles, the Romanian National Committee, and helped organise American-assisted drops of voluntary paratroopers in support of the Romanian anti-communist resistance (most of whom were captured by the Securitate).<ref name="Roman"/> He renounced his position by 1951,<ref name="Roman"/> and subsequently worked for the exile magazine Casa Românească.<ref name="Nicolai" />

In 1961, he settled in Niger, serving as an adviser for the country's Foreign Ministry (extending a two-year contract until 1984),<ref name="Nicolai"/> and was a professor of International Law and Economic History at the University of Niamey. Djuvara was an acquaintance of President Hamani Diori, and notably accompanied him on official duty to Addis Ababa, attending the opening session of the Organisation of African Unity (1963).<ref name="Nicolai"/> Having already begun to further his studies of philosophy in Paris, he received a Sorbonne doctorat d'État in the Philosophy of history (with the thesis Civilisations et lois historiques, guided by Raymond Aron).<ref name="Giju"/><ref name="Longre"/> He was later awarded a diploma in Philology from INALCO.

After 1984, he returned to Europe, resuming his activities with Casa Românească and other Romanian cultural institutions in exile.<ref name="Nicolai"/> Djuvara was an active contributor to Radio Free Europe,<ref name="Longre">Template:In lang Jean-Pierre Longre, "Les tribulations d'un Roumain dans le monde" ("The Tribulations of a Romanian throughout the World") Template:Webarchive, at Sitartmag, retrieved June 13, 2007</ref> and divided his time between Paris and Munich (occasionally traveling to Canada and the United States).<ref name="Longre"/>

Post-1989

Djuvara returned to his native country soon after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Between 1991 and 1998, he was an associate professor at the University of Bucharest. During the early 1990s, he was a noted critic of Romanian political developments, and especially of the Mineriad and the National Salvation Front government.<ref name="Nicolai"/><ref name="Longre"/>

He later joined the National Liberal Party,<ref name="Şimonca">Template:In lang Ovidiu Șimonca, "Neagu Djuvara: Sînt foarte îngrijorat de viitorul Europei unite" ("Neagu Djuvara: I Am Very Worried over the Future of United Europe"), interview with Neagu Djuvara at LiterNet, retrieved June 13, 2007</ref> and expressed his concern that President Traian Băsescu was unable to complete planned reforms in the wake of Romania's accession to the European Union, as well as his belief that the former Securitate was still in a position of power.<ref name="Şimonca"/> He also took a conservative stance on European affairs, being a vocal critic of Europe's multiculturalism.<ref name="Şimonca"/> In August 2016, Djuvara turned 100, and upon the occasion was made a knight of the Order of the Star of Romania.<ref name="Steaua">Template:In lang "Istoricul Neagu Djuvara și filosoful Mihai Șora, decorați de Iohannis cu Ordinul 'Steaua României'"Template:Dead link, in Gândul, retrieved August 18, 2016</ref> His last public appearance was on 5 December 2017, when in an interview, he expressed his grief over the demise of King Michael.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He died from pneumonia in Bucharest on 25 January 2018, at the age of 101 years and 147 days,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was buried at Bellu Cemetery.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Djuvara was survived by his daughter, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters.<ref name=":0" /> Most of his works in Romanian were published by Humanitas.Template:Citation needed

Work as a historian

Most of Djuvara's work concerns the history of Romania and that of the Romanian people, although he published significant works pertaining to the philosophy of history, particularly questioning the existence of what he called "truthful history".<ref name="TruthfulHistory">Există istorie adevarată? ("Is There a Truthful History?"), Humanitas, 2004</ref>

Regarding Romanian history, Djuvara advocated continued and extensive research into what he believed was still unexplored territory. His views were often seen as undermining a Romanian national identity, mainly because of his expressing doubts on the scientific accuracy of most historic research done in Romania since the unification of 1918, and putting forward controversial hypotheses concerning the origin of the Romanians, such as advancing the theory that the vast majority of the nobility in the medieval states that made up the territory of modern-day Romania was of Cuman origin.<ref name="BlackCumans">Template:In lang Eugen Istodor, "Revoluția lui Djuvara: „Românii erau numiți cumanii negri" ", interview with Neagu Djuvara in Cotidianul, retrieved June 19, 2007</ref><ref name="RTV">Template:In lang Robert Turcescu, "Neagu Djuvara invited at 100% talk-show with Robert Turcescu on Realitatea TV" Template:Webarchive</ref>

He also published extensively regarding the relationship between his native Romania and Europe, placing the country politically and culturally "between East and West",<ref name="EastAndWest1">Les pays roumains entre Orient et Occident. Les Principautés danubiennes au début du XIXe siecle ("The Romanian Lands between Orient and Occident. The Danubian Principalities at the Beginning of the 19th Century"), Publications Orientalistes de France, 1989</ref><ref name="EastAndWest2">Între Orient și Occident. Țările române la începutul epocii moderne ("Between East and West. The Romanian Lands at the Beginning of the Modern Era"), Humanitas, 1995</ref><ref name="PoporulRoman">Cum s-a născut poporul român? ("How Was the Romanian People Born?"), Humanitas, 2001</ref> citing it as the "last to enter what is commonly called the European concert",<ref name="RTV" /> referring not to Romania's 2007 accession to the European Union, but to the country's change of orientation towards adopting a Western political and cultural model. He has voiced his concern regarding multiculturalism in Europe, a policy which he views as detrimental to stability within the EU.<ref name="Şimonca" />

He was a critic of what he perceived to be an excessively pro-Western attitude in Romanian politics, suggesting that Romanian society and culture could not be classified as Western, citing Orthodoxy as the predominant religion, the presence of many non-Latin elements in the modern Romanian language and the country's history in the past centuries as arguments.<ref name="RTV" />

He also wrote about what he called the "American hegemony" and its premises, analysing the influence which the United States and its foreign policy have had on the world and, more specifically, on Europe. He characterised the efforts of the United States to establish what resembles a hegemony in Europe and other parts of the world as a "Seventy-Seven Years' War" waged throughout most of the 20th century.<ref name="Hegemony">Războiul de șaptezeci și șapte de ani (1914–1991) şi premisele hegemoniei americane ("The Seventy-Seven Years' War (1914–1991) and the Premises of the American Hegemony", Humanitas, 2009</ref>

Djuvara can be seen as a populariser and "de-mystifier" of history, having published books aimed a younger audience as well as books seeking to explain the historical basis for mythical figures such as Dracula or Negru Vodă. He also published memories from his exile, recounting his life and work in Paris, France, and Niamey, Niger.<ref name="BucharestParisNiamey">Bucarest-Paris-Niamey et retour ou Souvenirs de 42 ans d'exil (1948–1990) ("Bucharest-Paris-Niamey and Back or Recollections from 42 Years of Exile (1948–1990)"), L'Harmattan, 2004</ref>

Djuvara has claimed that Romanian marshal Ion Antonescu, who ruled Romania during World War II, was in fact an Albanian of Romania or, as he called him, an Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Romanian historian Ion Teodorescu agrees with this view.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:In lang Page at the Humanitas site