Jump to content

Paul Bujor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Bujor

Paul Bujor(bornPavel Bujor;[1]August 2, 1862 – May 17, 1952) was aRomanianzoologist, physiologist andmarine biologist,also noted as a socialist writer and politician. Hailing from ruralCovurlui County,he studied biology inFranceandSwitzerland,where he was attracted by left-wing ideas; hisevolutionary biology,informed by the work ofCarl Vogt,veered intoMarxismandirreligion.Returning to theKingdom of Romania,he was a junior member of theRomanian Social Democratic Workers' Party,active on its moderate wing. He earned the critics' attention in the 1890s as a short story writer with a socialist and pacifist message, but only returned to fiction writing briefly, in the 1930s. An award-winningichthyologist,Bujor was hired by theUniversity of Iași,where he taught for 41 years, and throughout the period worked on documenting theBlack Seafauna, and made discoveries concerning the environment ofTechirghiol Lake.He inaugurated the Romanian study ofanimal morphology,while also contributing tohistology,embryology,andparasitology,and gave popular lectures on evolution andphysical culture.

Bujor rallied with thePoporanistmovement, infiltrating theNational Liberal Partyfrom the left. He was among the founders of the leading Poporanist review,Viața Românească,but expelled after expressing disagreement with its refusal to criticize the National Liberal mainstream. As an independent left-winger, constantly pushing forland reformanduniversal suffrage,Bujor had publicized and sometimes violent conflicts with his far-right colleague at university,A. C. Cuza.Elected toSenateas a university representative, and serving throughout thesocial upheaval of World War I,Bujor clashed with the National LiberalPrime MinisterIon I. C. Brătianu,whom he accused of bringing disaster upon the country. In 1919, he was one of the founders and leaders ofPeasants' Party,which became part of a successful electoral coalition, representing groups throughoutGreater Romania;Bujor was selected as Greater Romania's firstpresident of the Senate.

The Peasantist attempts at constitutional reform, and Bujor's own signs of approval for far-left concepts, eventually led to a backlash in 1920. Deposed byKingFerdinand Iin 1920, Bujor expressed hopes for a revolution against "the oligarchy", but he was gradually marginalized. After 1926, with discipleIoan Borcea,he represented the dissident left within the consolidatedNational Peasants' Party,openly criticizing his party's leadership while serving as representative in theAssembly of Deputies.Bujor, still a rival of Cuza, professedanti-fascismthroughout the 1930s, but withdrew from the public eye during World War II. He returned to prominence under thecommunist regime,when, at age 86, he was inducted into theRomanian Academy.

Biography

[edit]

Origins and education

[edit]

Bujor was born inBerești,Covurlui County(nowGalați County), on August 2 (Old Style:July 20), 1862.[1]Some sources suggest that his father Gavril was a modest farmer or laborer,[2][3]but he actually worked as a clerk; his mother, Nastasia, was a housewife.[1]According to philologist Livia Ciupercă, Bujor made efforts to conceal his true origins, and, for this reason, eventually broke all contact with his relatives.[4]Hosted by his grandfather Varlaam, then by an aunt,[1]Pavel attended primary school inBârlad,followed by the town'sGheorghe Roșca Codreanu National College.As he recalled, during his early years there he received a school inspection from poetVasile Alecsandri.[5]While living there, he was also roommates withAlexandru Vlahuță,with whom he shared an enthusiasm forMihai Eminescu's poetry.[2]Vlahuță reportedly wrote his celebrated poemDormi iubito!( "Sleep, My Love!" ), inspired by the sudden death of a Bârlad belle, while recovering in Bujor's room at theboarding school.[6]Bujor remained close friends with the slightly older writer, and stayed over in his house "sometimes for days on end".[7]He later described his meetings, through Vlahuță, with two other major Romanian writers,Bogdan Petriceicu HasdeuandBarbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea,claiming that he and Vlahuță also helped "recluse" painterNicolae Grigorescuorganize his first-ever retrospective exhibit.[5]

Bujor took hisBaccalaureateatIași(1880), then performed his six-months service in theRomanian Land Forces,at a cavalry regiment, and ultimately enrolled at the Natural Sciences department,University of Bucharest,while working as a copyist in theMinistry of Internal Affairs.[8]At the time, he came to be influenced byGrigore Cobălcescu'smaterialism,which informed his worldview and attracted him to left-wing ideas.[9]Eventually, sponsored by his brother-in-law, he was able to fulfill his dream of studying biology at theUniversity of Paris,underHenri de Lacaze-Duthiers.[10]According to other reports, he also received a Romanian state scholarship.[11]

In the French capital, he came into contact with international socialism, meetingJules GuesdeandPaul Lafargue.[12]Alongside his biologist colleaguesIoan Cantacuzino,Dimitrie VoinovandEmil Racoviță,[10]he joined the students' socialist circle, presided upon byIoan Nădejde.[5]He also had friends outside the socialist movement, includingIon I. C. Brătianu—future leader of theNational Liberal Party(PNL)—, his brotherDinu,playwrightIon Peretz,and landownerIuniu Lecca.[5]He also visited Alecsandri andIon Luca Caragiale,the celebrated playwright and humorist, at his exile homes in Paris and Berlin. He would later recall that Caragiale was impressed by the "socialist education" of German proletarians.[5]However, it is known that Caragiale mocked Bujor in at least one letter he sent toMihail Dragomirescu.[13]

Having done independent research inmarine biologyatVillefranche-sur-Mer,[14]Bujor moved to Geneva for specialized courses in animal morphology, under the guidance ofCarl Vogt.He had been impressed by Vogt's work andtransformistoutlook, and was enthusiastic about taking courses underErnst Haeckel;but he also found life in Paris hardly affordable.[10]Bujor was well-liked by Vogt, who made him part of his research team, and then also worked under Professor Wiederschein at theUniversity of Fribourg;withGrigore Antipa,he began work on a vast project to study theBlack Seafauna, stocking up on specialized instruments.[14]He also continued his engagement with socialism, and attended lectures byGeorgi Plekhanov.[2][12]He received a doctorate in natural sciences from theUniversity of Genevain 1891; the work described the larval stages of development in thebrook lamprey.It was one of the first Romanian contributions to dynamic morphology,[15]and also won Bujor theRousseau Institute's Davey Prize.[16]

PSDMR

[edit]

Upon his return, Bujor had a stint on the University of Bucharest teaching staff, and was an assistant in the physiology laboratory, underAlexandru M. Vitzu.[2][17]Originally, he had wanted to fulfill his socialist vocation and resign to a schoolteacher's position. He was dissuaded from this by the Marxist philosopherConstantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea,who noted that he could do much more as an academic.[16]This was also the time of Bujor's literary debut, which was also overseen by Dobrogeanu-Gherea—in the 1930s, Bujor described himself as one of the writers "belonging to the generation and literary school shaped by Gherea."[5]

Although sometimes credited as a writer of theContemporanulcircle, Bujor was never actually part of that team, although he may have been in contact with it.[18]Instead, by 1894, he was a noted contributor toGarabet Ibrăileanu'sEvenimentul Literarof Iași,[19]and also wrote for Gherea's own review,Literatură și Știință—which hosted various of his "countryside sketches",[20]including theanti-war,didacticMi-a cântat cucu-n față( "A Cuckoo Sang to My Face" ).[5][21]Written atMédan,it depicted the tragedy of Dinu, a Romanian peasant drafted into the local militia, where he is driven to drink, then to murderous insanity.[12]According to literary historianGeorge Călinescu,"the bourgeois state" is the antagonist.[12]Other critics note that it was the first of several Bujor stories in which urban civilization is a factor for ethical dissolution, a theme "idyllic and ideological",[22]repeated to the point of "obsession".[23]

AfterLiteratură și Știință,Bujor was also a contributor toLumea Nouă,organ of theRomanian Social Democratic Workers' Party(PSDMR)—although, according to fellow socialist I. C. Atanasiu, he did not involve himself in militant politics, being a regular party member.[24]The same Atanasiu notes that, onLabor Day1894, Bujor acted as a courier for the PSDMR moderate mainstream, warning the party cell inGalaținot to invite in, nor respond to, police violence.[25]In the late 1890s, he and folkloristGheorghe T. Kirileanureviewed for print the debut short story of another intellectual from Gherea's circle, namelyPaul Zarifopol.[26]

Bujor was eventually hired as a professor in the animal morphology department of theUniversity of Iașiin 1895 or 1896[27](tenured 1899).[12]In 1898–1899, together withDeodat Țăranu,he was also curator of the Medical and Naturalist Society, criticized by researcher N. A. Bogdan for their inconsistent, "haphazard" work at the numismatics collection.[28]Nevertheless, in 1901 Bujor became the Society's secretary general, serving until 1905 or 1906.[29]His research took him outside the country: with Voinov and Racoviță, he worked as a marine biologist atBanyuls-sur-Merand at theStazione ZoologicaofNaples,[30]returning with a rich collection of biological samples, which he donated to his faculty.[31]In 1903, withAlexandru PopoviciandLeon Cosmovici,he held a pioneering extracurricular course onparasitology.[32]He then followed up with other such courses, inembryologyandhistology.[31]From 1904, his articles promotingphysical cultureamong the peasantry were hosted byCultura Română,the popular pedagogy magazine,[33]with Bujor serving as president of the Iași Society for Gymnastics, Sport and Music.[34]His efforts in that field led to the establishment of multi-sport venues inCopou Park,and the first ever chalet onCeahlău Massif.[35]

A dean in 1906, Bujor published an overview of his faculty's organization and funding.[36]Bujor then laid the foundation for Iași's animal morphology collections; conducted research in descriptive and comparative morphology, as well as in hydrobiology and experimental zoology; and also organized the department's laboratory and museum.[31]He authored scientific articles in Romanian and in French,[2][37]conducting research into living organisms found insalt lakes.Bujor notably established the biological process whereby black mud is formed inLake Techirghiol.[31]One of his generation's leadingevolutionists,Darwinists,andevolutionary biologists,[38]in January 1907 he gave popular lectures introducing the public to the work ofCharles Darwin.[39]

Viața Româneascăand dissidence

[edit]

By 1898, with the PSDMR in the process of disintegration, Bujor had been drawn into the post-socialist agrarian current known asPoporanism,having already been its literary precursor, according to critic Alexandru Hanță.[23]Together with Poporanist leaders Ibrăileanu,Constantin Stere,andSpiridon Popescu,he entered the PNL in 1899, situating himself firmly on the left wing of the organization.[40]In later years, he continued to express his feelings of regret that the PSDMR had fallen apart, and that the movement had blended into a "bourgeois party".[41]As he noted in 1923, his friends' desertion from the PSDMR had made it possible for Brătianu to be elected PNL chairman, meaning that they had been used by him.[42]

This period also brought his sparse literary contributions to Vlahuță andNicolae Iorga's traditionalist review,Sămănătorul—by 1900, Bujor had met and befriended both Iorga and his associate inIași,professorA. C. Cuza,who espoused radicalRomanian nationalism.[43]Bujor was also one of the few pose writers to contribute in its first edition of 1902.[44]However, by 1905, the split between Poporanism andSămănătorulwas irreconcilable, as Stere, Ibrăileanu and Bujor alike declared that agrarianism could only be progressive, whereas Vlahuță and Iorga defended cultural conservatism.[45]In October 1906, the press reported a "lively conflict" at university, between Cuza and Bujor, "occasioned by the opening ceremony of the academic year."[46]

Together with Stere, Bujor became co-director of the newly launched Poporanist magazineViața Româneascăin March 1906, and was also one of the first contributors there.[47]During this period, he published in its pages the sketchesSuflete chinuite( "Tormented Souls" ) andMăcar o lacrimă( "If Only a Tear" ),[2]as well as introductions to marine biology. As noted with amusement by Dobrogeanu-Gherea, these were identical to pieces that Bujor had sent to be published inHenric Sanielevici'sCurentul Nou.[48]AcademicA. D. Xenopolliked the works overall, remarking their "beautiful scientific language". However, he also objected to Bujor's reliance on neologisms.[49]

Bujor remained on the editorial staff until April 1907, when Stere objected to his ideological vacillation—a dispute between them was aired in the dailyOpinia,andIoan Cantacuzinotook his place.[50]For his part, Bujor, who now shunned the PNL, depictedViața Româneascăas a National Liberal mouthpiece.[51]Thepeasants' revolt of March 1907had seen him and his friends Voinov take firm stands against the repressive government ofDimitrie Sturdza.[52]

By then, Bujor also contributed to several other literary magazines, includingArta,Lupta,Noua Revistă Română,andRevista Literară și Științifică(where he was editing secretary),[2]and also to newspapers such asOpiniaandTribuna Conservatoare.[11]His short stories were collected asMi-a cântat cucu-n față(1910).[2][53]In 1911, Bujor published the essayFoamea și iubirea în lupta pentru existență( "Hunger and Love in the Fight for Existence" ),[36]and, with Cantacuzino,Gheorghe Marinescu,andFrancisc Rainer,founded the international journalAnnales de Biologie.[54]This activity was followed in 1913 by a piece advocating democratization andland reform(Reforma electorală și agrară).[55]At the time, Bujor warned the establishment that the peasants' revolt would repeat itself unless land would be divided among the landless.[56]

Those years accentuated his conflict with Cuza: in October 1909, when he planned to speak at university about the execution ofFrancisco Ferrerby theSpanish restoration government,his address was violently interrupted by far-right students.[57]In 1911, he reportedly refused to be granted theBene-Merentimedal byKingCarol I,because Cuza, suspected of plagiarism, was also a recipient;[58]however, he later was created Grand Officer of theOrder of the Crown,being received into it at the same time as Cuza, who was appointed Commander.[59]

While marginalized by the Poporanist mainstream, Bujor found a disciple in his junior colleague at university,Ioan Borcea.[60]He also cooperated with biologistNicolae Leon,sharing his commitment toirreligion,and criticizing theMoldavian Orthodox Bishopricfor itsconsecration ceremoniesat university.[61]On his own, Bujor founded a Darwinian Studies Circle, whose students reacted against professors who favored mysticism.[62]His Darwinian studies, carried byRevista Științifică V. Adamachi,discussed issues such asparthenogenesis,and commented onPeter Kropotkin'sMutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution.[63]His other friends in Iași includedOctav Băncilă,Eugen HeroveanuandMihai Pastia,with whom he founded a bakers' cooperative, in early 1912.[64]

World War I and Senate eminence

[edit]

Bujor represented his university in theSenatefrom 1914,[2]the only independent in that chamber.[65]In July 1914, just after theSarajevo assassinationand during thedrive to war,he was selected onToma Stelian's senatorial panel, which proposed reforms to the1866 constitution.[66]The period coincided with Romania's neutrality in World War I, with Bujor, by then a contributor toPetre P. Carp'sMoldovanewspaper,[11]involving himself in passionate debates at the university. Alongside his former Poporanist mentor, Stere, he supported Romania's collaboration with theCentral Powers,and preferred war against theRussian Empire.[67]While sometimes credited as the author of anti-war Marxist brochures,[2]these were actually written by a namesake,Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor.[68]

At the Senate rostrum, Bujor suggested that no military operation was possible before sorting out "social inequities", as Romania's strength depended on peasant recruits. He debated the issue with thePrime Minister,his old friend Brătianu, who responded that the proposed social reforms were inopportune.[69]In 1916, Romania, under Brătianu's PNL government,entered the waragainst the Central Powers; by 1917, its territory had been invaded, with onlyWestern Moldaviastill under control. The cabinet and both chambers ofParliamentrelocated to Iași. By April–May 1917, senator Bujor was an ally of the oppositionLabor Partyand of breakawayConservative Democrats,calling for more progressive policies than the National Liberals offered. During those months, he joined a parliamentary commission on land reform—although, as PNL manIon G. Ducanotes, these were dominated "by the great landowners, since Brătianu's goal was to get those most affected by the reforms to support them as well."[70]On May 30, he signed up to a list of demands formulated by the Conservative Democrat dissidentsIon C. GrădișteanuandConstantin Argetoianu,which argued that the PNL's plan to enact reforms was "political diversion", one meant to cover Brătianu's contribution to the "national disaster".[71]Duca found this oratory "of no interest at all", simply dismissing Bujor as the "untalented and irrelevant" version ofMatei B. Cantacuzino.[72]In the end, Bujor was not among the five senators who voted against reforms as proposed by Brătianu.[73]

The country appeared beaten by early 1918, when she signed anarmistice with Germany.Bujor emerged from the Laborer Party (Partidul Muncitor), which he helped establish, from the remnants of Labor Party chapters, in November 1918—just asthe world war was ending.The group included other academics (Borcea andConstantin Ion Parhon), and producedcollectivistprograms, some of which were signed by Bujor himself.[74]In parallel, Bujor and Băncilă adhered to the Brotherhood of Unified Moldavia, a regionalist organization which also regrouped some of his right-wing rivals—including both Cuza and Iorga.[75]In February 1919, the Laborites fused with thePeasants' Party(PȚ), a Poporanist successor and rival of the PNL.[76][77]Subsequently, Bujor was elected to a seat on the initial central committee of the enlarged organization,[78]which now represented agrarianists throughoutGreater Romania.As noted at the time by sociologistDimitrie Drăghicescu,he was one of many former National Liberals in the PȚ, confirming claims that the Peasantists were only the "impatiently democratic" side of the PNL mainstream.[79]The Bujor faction immediately claimed a degree of autonomy inside the larger movement, forming tactical alliances with parties that the PȚ as a whole disavowed.[80]

In theelection of November 1919,which testeduniversal male suffrageand brought a relative victory for theRomanian National Party(PNR), Bujor returned as senator for his university. He also ran on the PȚ list for theAssembly of Deputiesin Iași, and won, but renounced his seat in favor the senatorial mandate; Neculai Costăchescu also renounced, and the seat ultimately went to Gheorghe Ciobanu.[81]Bujor regarded this moment as a great victory for his cause, publishing a thank-you note to his voters, congratulating them for thus "ridding the country of its internal enemy".[82]He accompanied party leaderIon Mihalacheduring talks with the PNR and other parties, establishing a solidified government coalition. These discussions also involvedIuliu Maniuof the PNR,Ion Inculețof theBessarabian Peasants' Party,and both Cuza and Iorga as rival leaders of theDemocratic Nationalist Party(PND).[83]As reported by Iorga, Bujor expressed his opposition to the centrist platform adopted by the emerging "Democratic Bloc", declaring himself a man "of the far-left", until Mihalache threatened to expel him from the party.[84]

On November 25, Bujor was officially designated as the coalition candidate forpresident of the Senate(Greater Romania's first-ever); he was formally elected on November 28.[85]In his speech thanking senators for casting their vote, Bujor again voiced his radicalism, asserting that "dawn shows itself from the East", a discreet allusion to theOctober Revolution.[4][76][86]This generated outrage among opposition members, particularly PNL-ists andProgressive Conservativeswho accused him of pro-Bolsheviksympathies.[86]Bujor also had debates with the nationalist senator Ilie Roșoagă, when the latter proposed a vote to recognize Romanian-inhabited portions of theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republicas irrendenta. Bujor advocated a détente "between us and our neighbors", and insisted thatRomanian Ukrainianswould not be forgotten for that.[87]Overall, Bujor endured as a "timidly democratic socialist" (according to Călinescu),[88]a "progressive idealist" (according to the communistPetre Constantinescu-Iași),[89]or, as seen by Drăghicescu, a "likable [and] incorrigible idealist".[3]As argued by historian Radu Filipescu: "Paul Bujor was seen by his contemporaries as a sentimental socialist, a peaceful social dreamer."[76]

By December, Bujor and his colleagues were also trying to obtain support fromAlexandru Averescuand hisPeople's Party.Reportedly, they convinced Averescu to accept a reform of the 1866 constitution; in the end, Averescu withdrew from the talks, and embarked on a rapprochement with the PNL.[90]During those weeks, in his many meetings with King Ferdinand, Bujor declared himself a constitutionalist, which the king reportedly found a constructive approach; to Iorga, he stated his intention to work "for democracy".[91]He was despondent when Vaida would not assignprefecturesto PȚ men, declaring that the opportunity for a regime change had been lost.[92]Renewing his support for land reform, Bujor was again a noted critic of the antisemitic Cuza, whom he accused of wanting to destroy the university with his mystical rhetoric and his violent actions.[93]He was also reportedly upset that Cuza was the government's key man in Iași.[94]

1920 marginalization

[edit]

During the early months of 1920, Bujor reverted to a more uncompromising stance, voting to put pressure on the king and thus force into law Mihalache's land reform proposal. On March 12–13, the king informed him and Iorga that he expected Democratic Bloc ministers to resign, with Bujor protesting, in vain, that the regime being revoked was "good for the country".[95]When Averescu took over as prime minister, Bujor, waiting to be deposed from his Senate chairmanship, was one of several calling Bloc leaders still calling for resistance.[96]The Democratic Bloc fell apart on March 18, and Bujor was one of those supporting the divorce, with hopes of renegotiating alliances; two days later, he also streamlined an alliance with Iorga's half of the PND.[97]Bujor was one of the PȚ delegates on the bureau of the resulting Federation of National Social Democracy (FDNS). Other leading members were Vaida, Maniu, Mihalache,Nicolae L. Lupu,Ion Nistor,Virgil Madgearu,andIon Inculeț.[98]As Iorga notes, during the banquet marking this alliance, Bujor perplexed those in the audience by again mentioning his revolutionary credentials and, obliquely, hisproletarian internationalism.[99]

During July, Bujor in the Senate and Mihalache in the Assembly reintroduced for debate their radical version of land reform. Both proposals were ignored, and parliament only debated a more conservative project, advanced by Averescu'sAgriculture Minister,Constantin Garoflid;this incensed the FDNS to address the peasants directly, with leaflets condemning the lawmaking-landowners.[100]Alongside Iorga, Bujor also proposed thenationalizationof underground resources, against Garoflid, who wanted the subsoil placed under a mixed property regime.[101]As the Democratic Nationalists split, with Cuza backing Averescu, Bujor openly celebrated Iorga as the more progressive nationalist, one "in the spirit of the times".[102]

During 1921, Bujor joined a parliamentary board of inquiry into the Romanian administration ofBessarabia,presided upon byNicolae Constantin Batzaria.AlongsideVasile Săcarăand others, he inspectedCahul County,where he recorded various cases of official misconduct, including theft of property and beatings.[103]During the constitutional debates, he supported the (ultimately defeated)women's suffragemotion presented byGeorge Meitani,arguing that the graduation of women into politics was "a necessity imposed on us by the social conditions". Women, he noted, had proven themselves competent workers and managers during the war years.[104]

Ahead of the1922 elections,with Brătianu again returning in power, Bujor declared an all-out fight with the "oligarchy" for the "holy rights of liberty and justice." He optimistically argued that the "three-headed dragon" would be defeated by the "fire-sword archangel" of democracy, claiming that the fall of the Vaida cabinet was just a symptom of the PNL's losing struggle.[105]During those weeks, he andIon Răducanuwere the two PȚ envoys negotiating an alliance with the PNR, the Conservative Democrats, and the Progressive Conservatives.[106]He himself was returned to the Senate, when he defended himself against renewed accusations, voiced by the PNL'sVictor Iamandi,that he had "really done it" with his "dawn in the East" statement. Bujor dismissed this, arguing that Iamandi and his National Liberals were picking up on any detail that might help them silence the opposition.[76]However, following the establishment and immediate repression of theRomanian Communist Party,Bujor appeared as a defense witness in theDealul Spirii Trial,where he spoke favorably of communists such asTimotei Marin.[107]

Bujor unsuccessfully fought against the1923 constitution,proposed by a PNL-dominated Assembly. In his editorial forAdevărulin March 1923, he declared the PNL to be a party of the far-right, penetrated not just by oligarchy, but also by the "obscurantism" of extremist movements. He also accused the formerly progressive Brătianu of "cowardice" for having gone back on promises forproportional representation.[42]With the BessarabianVasile Stroescu,and with many other activists and socialists, he founded in August the League for Human Rights.[108]In October 1924, speaking both in parliament and at university, Bujor condemned Cuza's disciple,Corneliu Zelea Codreanu,for the assassination ofConstantin Manciu—described by him as an "odious" deed, one ultimately inspired by Cuza and theNational-Christian Defense League.[109]

Later years

[edit]
Bujor in old age

In theJune 1926 election,Bujor won an Assembly seat forIași County,as one of two deputies not affiliated with the People's Party; the other was Cuza for the Defense League.[110]Eventually, Bujor followed the Peasantists into merger with the PNR, thus joining the consolidatedNational Peasants' Party(PNȚ). He was head of its Iași chapter until June 1928, when he resigned without renouncing his membership. Responding to rumors that he was going to rejoin the PNL, Bujor announced that the only two parties he supported were the PNȚ and theSocial Democrats.[111]

Although the PNȚ carried theelections of December 1928,both Bujor and Borcea remained on the group's far-left, criticizing perceived fascist tendencies on the right, and were, overall, largely inactive members.[112]Such internal opposition was expressed in October 1930, when Bujor wrote anotherAdevăruleditorial asking for the inclusion of Social Democratic ministers. He also denounced the PNȚ "oligarchy", portrayingIuliu Maniuas a dictator and exposing Vaida as a "reactionary antisemite", guilty of having "massacred innocent workers at Lupeni".[113]In parallel interviews forAdevărul,he and the former socialist Atanasiu were debating whether the PSDMR had any chance of surviving the 1898 split: while Bujor suggested that it did, Atanasiu insisted that Romania was not ripe for socialism.[41]Bujor's other political involvement was with the Action Committee of the League Against War, where he was colleagues with another Iași academic,Iorgu Iordan.[114]

Among his last academic assignments was touring Greater Romania on an examination commission, testing the Romanian-language aptitudes of the teaching staff inherited fromAustria-Hungary.His irreligion interfered with this project: he decided to examineJewishprofessors fromOradeaon August 11, 1934, which was aShabbat.[115]After 40 years of teaching, Bujor retired from his university chair in 1936.[2][116]By then, his pupil Borcea had died, leaving him to deplore the loss of a "dutiful professor and citizen", "my kind and beloved colleague". His death, Bujor claimed, was attributable to "great sorrow" over the rise of Romanian fascism.[117]In January 1937, a speaker at a PNȚ youth rally which doubled as an anti-fascist demonstration, Bujor honored the "precursor and martyr of peasantism",Constantin Dobrescu-Argeș.[118]By April, again formally affiliated with theViața Româneascăwriters and their anti-fascist platform, Bujor expressed publicly his support for the novelistMihail Sadoveanu,who was being targeted by the far-right press.[119]

Bujor lived all his remaining years in Bucharest, occupying a home at theNatural History Museum,[35]an institution which he expanded and modernized.[120]His final works in literature where the 1938 short story collectionÎndurare!( "Forgiveness!" ), titled after a piece in which the protagonist, a peasant, exacts cruel revenge on his oppressor; and a 1939 memoir,Amintiri de A. Vlahuță și I. L. Caragiale( "Recollections about A. Vlahuță and I. L. Caragiale" ).[121]The latter work, scholar Dan Jumară, remains "convincing" as a literary contribution, although it is "written in the sociological manner."[120]

Following World War II, Bujor returned to public life as an associate of the newcommunist regime—Livia Ciupercă describes him as a "firebrand propagandist of the socialist-communist doctrine."[4]In 1948, when government revamped theRomanian Academy,he was elected an honorary member, his candidature personally endorsed byTraian Săvulescu.[35]Decorated withOrdinul Muncii,1st Class, he also received a seat on theGrivițapeople's council in the1950 local elections.[35]His selected prose appeared in 1951 asScrieri alese.[120]As Bujor himself explained in articles for the official newspaperScînteia,he was also co-opted by theWorld Peace Council,holding political meetings with Grivița workers to condemn the "imperialist governments of the West." He also noted: "I deeply regret that my advanced age will not permit me to be as active in this as I would like."[122]

Nevertheless, in his last years, Bujor was plagued by financial uncertainty, and resorted to petitioning the state for an increase of his income.[4]He died at his museum home in Bucharest on May 17, 1952,[4][35]and was incinerated atCenușacrematoriumthat same day. The ceremony was attended by a delegation from Iași university, headed byTeofil Vescan,and by academiciansȘtefan VencovandNicolae Sălăgeanu.[123]His ashes were then deposited near the mausoleum inCarol Park.[124]Among his papers was a short story, preserved by theMuseum of Romanian Literatureand only published in 2014 byDacia Literară.TitledBărbuță Lăutarul,it has for an eponymous protagonist aRomanyviolinist, orlăutar,marginalized and left to starve by thephonograph.[125]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^abcdMărghitan & Mancaș, p. 43
  2. ^abcdefghijkLivia Grămadă, "Bujor Paul", in Aurel Sasu (ed.),Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române,Vol. I, pp. 231–232. Pitești:Editura Paralela 45,2004.ISBN973-697-758-7
  3. ^abDrăghicescu, p. 99
  4. ^abcdeLivia Ciupercă, "Cărți de cronici.Capcanele istoriei",inRevista Dunărea de Jos,Nr. 120 (February 2012), pp. 16–18
  5. ^abcdefgC. Săteanu, "O convorbire cu d. prof. Paul Bujor. Vechea mișcare socialistă.—La Paris.—Amintiri despre Carmen Sylva, pictorul Grigorescu, Vlahuță, Caragiale, Delavrancea, Hașdeu", inAdevărul,December 24, 1933, p. 4
  6. ^Pete I. Teodorescu, "Dări de seamă.A. Vlahuțăde I. Gr. Oprișan ", inȚara Bârsei,Nr. 4–5/1937, pp. 465–466
  7. ^Ion Roman, "Al. Vlahuță", inȘerban Cioculescu,Ovidiu Papadima,Alexandru Piru(eds.),Istoria literaturii române. III: Epoca marilor clasici,p. 744. Bucharest:Editura Academiei,1973
  8. ^Mărghitan & Mancaș, pp. 43–44
  9. ^Mîrza, pp. l, liv
  10. ^abcMărghitan & Mancaș, p. 44
  11. ^abcJumară, p. 6
  12. ^abcdeCălinescu, p. 565
  13. ^Șerban Cioculescu,"Din corespondența inedită a lui Caragiale cu Mihail Dragomirescu", inRevista Fundațiilor Regale,Nr. 7/1946, p. 675
  14. ^abMărghitan & Mancaș, pp. 44–45
  15. ^Necrasov, p. 354
  16. ^abMărghitan & Mancaș, p. 45
  17. ^Călinescu, p. 565; Mărghitan & Mancaș, pp. 45–46
  18. ^Hanță, p. 581
  19. ^Cornelia Ștefănescu, "Evenimentul Literar(1893—1894) ", inȘerban Cioculescu,Ovidiu Papadima,Alexandru Piru(eds.),Istoria literaturii române. III: Epoca marilor clasici,p. 637. Bucharest:Editura Academiei,1973
  20. ^Iorga (1934), p. 5
  21. ^Călinescu, p. 565; Petrescu, p. 81
  22. ^Jumară, pp. 6–7
  23. ^abHanță, p. 583
  24. ^Atanasiu,Pagini din istoria...,pp. 66, 392
  25. ^Atanasiu,Pagini din istoria...,pp. 121–122
  26. ^Cristina Bădară, "G. T. Kirileanu în colecțiile Bibliotecii Centrale Universitare Carol I", inRevista Bibliotecii Naționale a României,Nr. 2/2006, pp. 46, 50
  27. ^Jumară, p. 6; Mărghitan & Mancaș, p. 46
  28. ^Bogdan, pp. 136–141
  29. ^Bogdan, p. 160
  30. ^Constantin N. Velichi, "Dezvoltarea Universității din București de la înființarea ei si pînă la primul război mondial (1864—1918)", inStudii. Revistă de Istorie,Nr. 6/1964, p. 1294
  31. ^abcdMărghitan & Mancaș, p. 46
  32. ^"Ultime informațiunĭ", inAdevărul,November 19, 1903, p. 5
  33. ^D. A. Teodoru, "Bibliografia învățământului în România. 1905 Ianuarie—Septembrie", inRevista Generală a Învățământului,Nr. 5/1905, p. 341
  34. ^G. T., "Societatea de gimnastică, sport și muzică din Iași. Dare de seamă 1902—1905", inAlbina. Revistă Populară,Nr. 12/1905, p. 336
  35. ^abcdeMărghitan & Mancaș, p. 47
  36. ^abCălinescu, p. 1006
  37. ^Călinescu, pp. 1006–1007
  38. ^Mîrza, pp. xlvi, xlvix, l, liv–lvi, lxxii–lxxiii; Riga & Călin, pp. 24–25
  39. ^"Informațiuni", inAlbina. Revistă Populară,Nr. 15–17/1907, p. 419
  40. ^Drăghicescu, pp. 94–96;Z. Ornea,Țărănismul: studiu sociologic,p. 137. Bucharest:Editura Politică,1969
  41. ^abI. C. Atanasiu, "Trecerea «generoșilor» la liberali. Discuție între d-nii prof. Paul Bujor și I. C. Atanasiu", inAdevărul,March 30, 1934, p. 5
  42. ^abPaul Bujor, "O revizie de conștiință. Spre știința d-lui Ionel Brătianu", inAdevărul,March 25, 1923, p. 1
  43. ^Lucian Nastasă,Intimitatea amfiteatrelor. Ipostaze din viața privată a universitarilor "literari" (1864–1948),pp. 167–168. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Limes, 2010.ISBN978-973-726-469-5
  44. ^Ornea (1998), p. 49
  45. ^Ornea (1998), pp. 333–334
  46. ^Ion Luca Caragiale(ed.Șerban Cioculescu),Opere, Volumul 7. Corespondență,p. 53. Bucharest:Editura Fundației pentru Literatură și Artă,1942.OCLC924411514
  47. ^Piru, p. 93
  48. ^Călinescu, p. 553
  49. ^A. D. Xenopol,"Dărĭ de seamă.Viața Romănească(I, 3), în ceĭa ce privește limba în care e scrisă ", inArhiva. Organul Societățiĭ Științifice și Literare din Iașĭ,Nr. 6/1906, p. 285
  50. ^Piru, pp. 95, 179. See also Iorga (1934), p. 151
  51. ^Sorin Radu, "Liberalii și problema reformei electorale în România (1866 — 1914) (II)", inAnnales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica,Nr. 6/I, 2002, p. 137
  52. ^Mîrza, p. lvi
  53. ^Călinescu, p. 1006; Hanță, p. 583; Jumară, p. 7
  54. ^Riga & Călin, p. 35. See also Mărghitan & Mancaș, p. 46
  55. ^Călinescu, pp. 1006–1007; Iosa, p. 222
  56. ^Iosa, p. 222
  57. ^Nicolae Leon,"Cestiuni sociale. Fluxul și refluxul mentalităței omenești", inNoua Revistă Română,Nr. 2/1909, pp. 24–25
  58. ^Z. Z., "Însemnări. Consacrările oficiale", inNoua Revistă Română,Nr. 7/1911, p. 110
  59. ^"Cronica. Profesori universitari decorați", inRevista Generală a Învățământului,Nr. 5/1911, pp. 306–307
  60. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), pp. 364–365; Mărghitan & Mancaș, p. 46; Necrasov, pp. 357–358
  61. ^N. Em. Teohari, "Cestiuni sociale. Universitatea noastră și religia", inNoua Revistă Română,Nr. 7/1910, pp. 230–233
  62. ^Mîrza, pp. lxxii–lxxiii
  63. ^Mîrza, pp. lxxvii–lxxviii
  64. ^"Cronica săptămânii (25 Ianuarie—1 Fevruarie). Brutărie cooperativă la Iași", inAlbina. Revistă Enciclopedică Populară,Nr. 19/1912, p. 785
  65. ^"Membrii senatului român", inRomânul (Arad),Nr. 43/1914, p. 4
  66. ^"Comisiunile de studii ale Constituantei", inGazeta Ilustrată,Nr. 30/1914, p. 4
  67. ^Boia (2010), pp. 117–118
  68. ^Boia (2010), pp. 335–336
  69. ^Iosa, pp. 226–227
  70. ^Duca, p. 189
  71. ^Gheorghe Florescu, "Preliminariile constituirii Uniunii Parlamentare (1917)", inStudii și Comunicări,Vol. II, 1979, p. 107
  72. ^Duca, pp. 202–203
  73. ^Duca, p. 202
  74. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), pp. 366–367; Murgescuet al.,pp. 223, 303
  75. ^Marius Chelcu, "Un memoriu al ieșenilor la sfârșitul Marelui Război. Îngrijorările și speranțele unui nou început", inAnalele Științifice ale Universității Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iași. Istorie,Vol. LXIV, Special Issue: "Marea Unire a românilor (1918)—Istorie și actualitate", 2018, pp. 576–577
  76. ^abcdRadu Filipescu, "Partidele parlamentare și problema comunismului (1919–1924)", inAnnales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica,Vol. 10, Issue I, 2006, p. 71
  77. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), p. 367; Murgescuet al.,pp. 223, 303; Scurtu, pp. 33–34
  78. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), p. 368; Scurtu, p. 34
  79. ^Drăghicescu, pp. 94–95
  80. ^Murgescuet al.,p. 303
  81. ^Murgescuet al.,pp. 305, 396
  82. ^Murgescuet al.,p. 306
  83. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 271, 273, 280. See also Agrigoroaiei (1981), p. 206
  84. ^Iorga (1930), p. 273
  85. ^Murgescuet al.,p. 374
  86. ^abScurtu, p. 50
  87. ^Radu Filipescu, "Românii transnistreni în dezbaterile Parlamentului României (1919–1937)", inActa Moldaviae Septentrionalis,Vol. X, 2011, p. 221
  88. ^Călinescu, p. 565; Mărghitan & Mancaș, p. 47
  89. ^Petre Constantinescu-Iași,Pagini de luptă din trecut,p. 151. Bucharest:Editura Politică,1972.OCLC490649093
  90. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 286–292
  91. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 283, 286, 341–342
  92. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 298–299
  93. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), pp. 368, 369–370, 371
  94. ^Iorga (1930), p. 303
  95. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 355–356, 360–365. See also Murgescuet al.,p. 382
  96. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 365–366, 374
  97. ^Iorga (1930), pp. 369–371
  98. ^Agrigoroaiei (1981), pp. 206, 208
  99. ^Iorga (1930), p. 371
  100. ^Agrigoroaiei (1981), pp. 207–208
  101. ^Agrigoroaiei (1981), p. 208
  102. ^Agrigoroaiei (1981), p. 210
  103. ^Bațaria Nicolae,Raportul comisiunii parlamentare asupra anchetei făcută în Basarabia.Bucharest: Imprimeria Statului, 1921
  104. ^Georgeta Tudoran, "Din lupta socialistă pentru afirmarea politică a femeii în anii premergători făuririi Partidului Comunist Român (III)", inRevista de Istorie,Nr. 5/1987, p. 510
  105. ^Al. Alecsiu, "Luptă pe viață și pe moarte. Convorbire cu d. Paul Bujor", inAdevărul,January 24, 1922, p. 1
  106. ^Mariu Theodorian-Carada,Efemeridele. Însemnări & amintiri: 1908–1928,p. 116. Săbăoani: Serafica, 1937
  107. ^Gh. Chiriță, "Însemnări; istoria României. M. C. Stănescu,«Depun mărturie în fața istoriei»: Timotei Marin, militant și publicist comunist (1897—1937)",inRevista de Istorie,Nr. 7/1978, p. 1303
  108. ^Petrescu, pp. 382–386
  109. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), p. 371
  110. ^"Noua cameră", inRomânia Nouă,June 9, 1926, p. 2; "Numele și nuanța politică a noilor deputați", inAdevărul,June 5, 1926, p. 4
  111. ^"Atitudinea politică a d-lui Paul Bujor", inAdevărul,June 27, 1928, p. 3
  112. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), pp. 367, 368–369
  113. ^Paul Bujor, "Discuții:...Atunci ce-i de făcut?", inAdevărul,October 7, 1930, pp. 1–2
  114. ^"Adesiuni la Liga impotriva răsboiului", inVrerea,Nr. 14–19/1932, p. 2
  115. ^"TelefonulUnirii.D. București ", inUnirea. Foaie Bisericească-Politică,Nr. 33/1934, p. 4
  116. ^Jumară, p. 6; Mărghitan & Mancaș, pp. 46, 47
  117. ^Agrigoroaiei (1979), pp. 373–374
  118. ^Dr. P., "Studențimea, sub flamura lui Dobrescu-Argeș...", inAdevărul,January 31, 1937, p. 1
  119. ^Lucian Boia,Capcanele istoriei. Elita intelectuală românească între 1930 și 1950,p. 79. Bucharest:Humanitas,2012.ISBN978-973-50-3533-4
  120. ^abcJumară, p. 7
  121. ^Călinescu, pp. 565, 1007. See also Jumară, pp. 6–7
  122. ^Paul Bujor, "Toate descoperirile științifice pentru viața și pacea poporului muncitor", inScînteia,December 12, 1950, p. 1
  123. ^"Funeraliile acad. Paul Bujor", inScînteia,May 18, 1952, p. 3
  124. ^Marius Rotar,History of Modern Cremation in Romania,p. 313. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.ISBN978-1-4438-4542-7
  125. ^Jumară, pp. 7–9

References

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Bujor&oldid=1259272890"