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Dimitrie Gusti

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Dimitrie Gusti
Gusti in 1938
Born(1880-02-13)February 13, 1880
Iași,Kingdom of Romania
DiedOctober 30, 1955(1955-10-30)(aged 75)
Bucharest,Romanian People's Republic
Resting placeEternitatea Cemetery,Iași
OccupationAcademic
Known forDimitrie Gusti National Village Museum
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Iași
Humboldt University of Berlin
University of Leipzig
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
InstitutionsUniversity of Iași
University of Bucharest
Doctoral studentsPetre Andrei
Notable studentsMircea Vulcănescu
Miron Constantinescu
Henri H. Stahl
Lena Constante
Minister of Public Instruction, Religious Affairs and the Arts
In office
9 June 1932 – 13 November 1933
Prime MinisterAlexandru Vaida-Voevod
Iuliu Maniu
Preceded byIon Lugoșianu
Succeeded byConstantin Angelescu

Dimitrie Gusti(Romanian pronunciation:[diˈmitri.eˈɡusti];13 February 1880 – 30 October 1955) was aRomaniansociologist,ethnologist,historian, andvoluntaristphilosopher;a professor at theUniversity of Iașiand theUniversity of Bucharest,he served as Romania's Minister of Education in 1932–1933. Gusti was elected amember of the Romanian Academyin 1919, and was its president between 1944 and 1946. He was the main contributor to the creation of a new Romanian school of sociology.

He was a prominent member of thePeasants' Party,and later of theNational Peasants' Partyinto which the former had merged.

Biography

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Born inIași,he began studying Letters at theUniversity of Iașibefore moving on to theUniversität unter den LindeninBerlinand theUniversity of Leipzig,where he studied and completed adoctoratein Philosophy (1904). In 1905, he began the study of Sociology, Law, andPolitical economyat the Universität unter den Linden.

Gusti was appointed to the Department of Ancient History, Ethics, and Sociology of the University of Iași in 1910, and was one of the main contributors to the creation of a new Romanian school of sociology. He moved toBucharestin 1920, and began work as a professor at theUniversity of Bucharest,in the Department of Sociology, Ethics, Politics, and Aesthetics of the latter's Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. His lectures became a center of interest inside the academic community, and he attracted students with diverse backgrounds and political convictions, such as thefar rightMircea Vulcănescu,thecommunistMiron Constantinescu,theAustromarxistHenri H. Stahl,and the left-wing artistLena Constante.

Creator of the Bucharest School of Sociology and several Institutes, he also led, between 1925 and 1948, the intense research of Romanian villages and the publishing of its results as detailed monographs, a work in which he was notably assisted byGheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasaand Stahl. In 1936, together with Stahl andVictor Ion Popa,Gusti created theVillage MuseuminBucharest,which now bears his name.

Iuliu Maniu(center) with Gusti (next on the left), in the 1930s

From 9 June 1932 to 13 November 1933 he was Minister of Public Instruction, Religious Affairs and the Arts in the cabinets ofAlexandru Vaida-VoevodandIuliu Maniu.He left the National Peasants' Party after 1938, disagreeing with its decision to oppose theauthoritarianregime ofKingCarol II,and collaborated with the newly createdNational Renaissance Front.[1]Consequently, he was threatened by the rise of thefascistIron Guard(with the late 1940 establishment of theNational Legionary State); following theLegionary Rebellionand the Guard's defeat, he sent a congratulatory telegram toConducătorIon Antonescu.[2]

After the end ofWorld War II,Gusti was approached by the newCommunist governmentwith offers of collaboration. He was invited to attend official ceremonies inside theSoviet Union,and was a member of theRomanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union[ro].[3][4]

He died in Bucharest in 1955, and was buried atEternitatea CemeteryinIași.[5]

Theory

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Gusti defined his view on society as dependent on a set of principles:

  • Society is composed of "social units",as groups of humans linked by a voluntary organizing activity and interconnected spiritually.
  • The essence of life is "social will".
  • "Social will" is expressed in economics and spirituality, both of which are regulated by law and politics.
  • "Social will" is conditioned by factors which are included in four fundamental and parallel categories:cosmical,biological,psychological,and historical.
  • The changes engineered by the factors are known as "social processes".
  • The premises of development one can observe in present society, and thus can predict with some accuracy, are known as "social trends".

A creator of the sociologicalmonographic method(as still used by his Bucharest School), Gusti favored and theorised first-hand intensive observation of social units and phenomena, as well asinterdisciplinarity,with the research work being carried out through intensive collaboration within the field ofsocial sciences,but also with doctors,agronomists,schoolteachers, etc.

Main works

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Gusti on a 2018 stamp sheet of Romania
  • Egoismus und Altruismus,1904
  • Die soziologischen Betrehungen in der neuen Ethik,1908
  • Cosmologia elenă,1929
  • Sociologia militans,vol. 1, 1935; vols. 2–3, 1946
  • Enciclopedia României,vols. I–IV, Bucharest, 1938, 1943
  • Cunoaștere și acțiune în serviciul națiunii,2 vols., 1939
  • Problema sociologiei,1940
  • La science de la réalité sociale,1941

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Bozgan, p. 333
  2. ^Scurtu, p. 11
  3. ^Bozgan, p. 329
  4. ^Cioroianu, p. 24
  5. ^"Cimitirul Eternitatea".www.spiasi.ro(in Romanian). Servicii Publice Iași.Retrieved19 January2021.

Cited sources

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  • Lucian Boia,ed. (1998)Miturile comunismului românesc(The Myths of Romanian Communism),Editura Nemira,Bucharest.
    • Ovidiu Bozgan, "Traiectorii universitare: de la stânga interbelică la comunism" ( "University Trajectories: from Interwar Left to Communism" ), pp. 309–335
    • Adrian Cioroianu,"Lumina vine de la Răsărit." Noua imagine "a Uniunii Sovietice în România postbelică, 1944–1947" ( "The Light Arises in the East. The Soviet Union's" New Image "of Postwar Romania, 1944–1947" ), p. 21–68
  • (in Romanian)Mircea Vulcănescu,Școala sociologică a lui Dimitrie Gusti( "Dimitrie Gusti's Sociological School" )Archived9 May 2007 at theWayback Machine
  • Ioan Scurtu, "PNL și PNȚ: Rezerve, nemulțumiri, proteste. Partidele istorice sub guvernarea antonesciano-legionară" ( "PNL and PNȚ: Reserves, Dissatisfactions, Protests, Historical Parties under the Antonescu-Legionary Government" ), inDosarele Istoriei,9/2000
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