Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

historian of

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, and

ideas In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being. ...

, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He served as professor of the history of religions at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

from 1988 to his death, and had previously taught the history of

Romanian culture The culture of Romania is an umbrella term used to encapsulate the ideas, customs and social behaviours of the people of Romania that developed due to the country's distinct geopolitical history and evolution. It is theorized and speculated that ...

at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

. An expert in

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

and

Renaissance magic Renaissance magic was a resurgence in Hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of the magical arts which arose along with Renaissance humanism in the 15th and 16th centuries CE. These magical arts (called '' artes magicae'') were divided into sev ...

, he was encouraged and befriended by

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...

, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor. Culianu published seminal work on the interrelation of the occult,

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

, magic,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, and history. Culianu was murdered in 1991. It has been much speculated his murder was in consequence of his critical view of Romanian national politics. Some factions of the Romanian political right openly celebrated his murder. The Romanian ''

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

'', which he once lambasted as a force "of epochal stupidity", has also been suspected of involvement and of using puppet fronts on the right as cover.

Biography

Education and career

Culianu was born in Iași, the son of Elena Bogdan (1907–2000), a chemistry professor at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University ( Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia M ...

, and Sergiu-Andrei Culianu (1904–1964), a lawyer and a teacher. His maternal grandfather was Petru Bogdan, a chemistry professor and a Mayor of Iași, while one of his paternal grand-grandfathers was

Nicolae Culianu Nicolae Culianu (August 28, 1832 – November 28, 1915) was a Moldavian, later Romanian mathematician and astronomer. A native of Iași, he enrolled in the University of Paris after graduating from ''Academia Mihăileană'' in 1855, and earned h ...

, a professor of mathematics and astronomy. He studied at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, graduating in May 1972 with a major in Italian language and literature. He then traveled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where he was granted

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

while attending lectures in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

in July 1972. He graduated in November 1975 from the

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (English: ''Catholic University of the Sacred Heart'', colloquially the ''Catholic University of Milan''), known as UCSC or UNICATT or simply Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with a doctorate in the history of religion; his thesis, ''Gnosticismo e pensiero contemporaneo: Hans Jonas'', was written under the direction of . Culianu lived briefly in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and from 1976 to 1985 he taught at the

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He left Europe for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1986, becoming a

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...

in January 1991. After a stint as

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

, he became a professor there; he was due to receive a permanent appointment in July 1991. He took a second PhD at the University of Paris IV in January 1987, with the thesis ''Recherches sur les dualismes d'Occident. Analyse de leurs principaux mythes'' ("Research into Western Dualisms. An Analysis of their Major Myths"), coordinated by Michel Meslin. Having completed three doctorates and being proficient in six languages, Culianu specialized in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

. He became a friend, and later the

literary executor The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed w ...

, of

, the famous historian of religions. He also wrote fiction and political articles. Culianu had divorced his first wife, and at the time of his death was engaged to Hillary Wiesner, a 27-year-old graduate student at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Death

On Tuesday, May 21, 1991, at noon, just minutes after concluding a conversation with his doctoral student, Alexander Argüelles, on a day when the building was teeming with visitors to a book sale, Culianu was murdered in the bathroom of Swift Hall, of the

University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...

. He was shot once in the back of the head with a

.25 caliber .25 caliber may refer to the following firearms cartridges: Pistol cartridges .25 in (6.5 mm) See also * 6 mm caliber References {{Set index article Pistol and rifle cartridges ...

automatic weapon. The identity of the killer and the motive are still unknown. Speculation arose that he had been killed by former

agents, due to political articles in which he attacked the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

. The murder occurred a year and a half after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...

of December 1989 and

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

's death. Before being killed, he had published a number of articles and interviews that heavily criticized the

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

post-Revolution regime, making Culianu one of the government's most vocal adversaries. Several theories link his murder with the

Romanian Intelligence Service The Romanian Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul Român de Informații, abbreviated SRI) is Romania's main domestic intelligence service. Its role is to gather information relevant to national security and hand it over to relevant institutions, ...

, which was widely perceived as the successor of the Securitate; several pages of Culianu's Securitate files are inexplicably missing. Some reports suggest that Culianu had been threatened by anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his killing. Ultra-

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

involvement, as part of an Iron Guard revival in connection with the nationalist discourse of the late years of Ceauşescu's rule and the rise of the Vatra Românească and România Mare parties, was not itself excluded from the scenario; according to

Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...

: " ulianugave the most devastating indictment of the new union of far left and far right in Romania".Tismăneanu, in Anton As part of his criticism of the Iron Guard, Culianu had come to expose

's connections with the latter movement during the

interwar years In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

(because of this, relations between the two academics had soured for the final years of Eliade's life). Culianu was buried at

Eternitatea Cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

in Iași.

Works

Scholarly works

* ''Mircea Eliade'', Assisi, Cittadella Editrice, 1978; Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008(2); ''Mircea Eliade'', București, Nemira, 1995, 1998(2); Iași,

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and a ...

, 2004(3) * ''Iter in Silvis: Saggi scelti sulla gnosi e altri studi'', Gnosis, no. 2, Messina, EDAS, 1981 * ''Religione e accrescimento del potere'', in G. Romanato, M. Lombardo, I.P. Culianu, ''Religione e potere'', Torino, Marietti, 1981 * ''Psychanodia: A Survey of the Evidence Concerning the Ascension of the Soul and Its Relevance'', Leiden, Brill, 1983 * ''Eros et magie a la Renaissance. 1484'', Paris, Flammarion, 1984 * ''Expériences de l'extase: Extase, ascension et récit visionnaire de l'hellénisme au Moyen Age'', Paris, Payot, 1984; ''Experienze dell'estasi dall'Ellenismo al Medioevo'', Bari, Laterza, 1986 * ''Gnosticismo e pensiero moderno: Hans Jonas'', Roma, L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1985 * ''Éros et Magie à la Renaissance. 1484'', Paris, Flammarion, 1984; ''Eros and Magic in the Renaissance'', Chicago,

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, 1987; ''Eros e magia nel Rinascimento: La congiunzione astrologica del 1484'', Milano, Il Saggiatore – A. Mondadori, 1987; ''Eros şi magie în Renaştere. 1484'', București, Nemira, 1994, 1999(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2003(3), 2011, 2015; ''Eros y magia en el Renacimiento. 1484'', Madrid, Ediciones Siruela, 1999 * ''Recherches sur les dualismes d'Occident: Analyse de leurs principaux mythes'', Lille, Lille-Thèses, 1986; ''I miti dei dualismi occidentali'', Milano, Jaca Book, 1989 * ''Les Gnoses dualistes d'Occident: Histoire et mythes'', Paris, Plon, 1990; '' The Tree of Gnosis'', New York,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, 1992; ''Gnozele dualiste ale Occidentului. Istorie si mituri'', București, Nemira, 1995; Iaşi, Polirom, 2002(2), 2013 * ''Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein'', Boston, Shambhala, 1991; ''Mas alla de este mundo'', Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1993; ''Călătorii in lumea de dincolo'', București, Nemira, 1994, 1999(2); Iași, Polirom, 2003(3), 2007, 2015; ''Jenseits dieser Welt'', Munchen, Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1995 * ''I viaggi dell'anima'', Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1991 * ''The Tree of Gnosis : Gnostic Mythology from Early Christianity to Modern Nihilism'', San Francisco,

, 1992; ''Arborele gnozei. Mitologia gnostică de la creştinismul timpuriu la nihilismul modern'', București, Nemira, 1999; Iasi, Polirom, 2005, 2015 * ''Experiences del extasis'', Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1994; ''Experienţe ale extazului'', București, Nemira, 1997; Iași, Polirom, 2004(2) * ''Religie şi putere'', București, Nemira, 1996; Iași, Polirom, 2005 * ''Psihanodia'', București, Nemira, 1997, Iași, Polirom, 2006 * ''Păcatul împotriva spiritului. Scrieri politice'', București, Nemira, 1999; Iași, Polirom, 2005, 2013 * ''Studii româneşti I. Fantasmele nihilismului. Secretul Doctorului Eliade'', București, Nemira, 2000; Iași, Polirom, 2006 * "Studii românești II. Soarele și Luna. Otrăvurile admirației", Iași, Polirom, 2009 * "Iter in silvis I. Eseuri despre gnoză și alte studii", Iași, Polirom, 2012 * "Iter in silvis II. Gnoză și magie", Iași, Polirom, 2013 * ''Jocurile minţii. Istoria ideilor, teoria culturii, epistemologie'', Iaşi, Polirom, 2002 * ''Iocari serio. Ştiinţa şi arta în gîndirea Renaşterii'', Iaşi, Polirom, 2003 * ''Cult, magie, erezii. Articole din enciclopedii ale religiilor'', Iaşi, Polirom, 2003 * ``Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) si problemele platonismului in Renastere, Iasi, Polirom, 2015 * ``, 2004, 2013 (2)

Co-author

* With Mircea Eliade and H.S. Wiesner: ''Dictionnaire des Religions'', Avec la collaboration de H.S. Wiesner. Paris, Plon, 1990, 1992(2); ''The Eliade Guide to World Religions'', Harper, San Francisco, 1991 ; ''Handbuch der Religionen'', Zürich und München, Artemis-Winkler-Verlag, 1991; Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch, 1995; ''Diccionario de las religiones'' Barcelona, Paidos Orientalia, 1993; ''Dicţionarul religiilor'', București,

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

, 1993, 1996(2); Iași, Polirom, 2007 *''The Encyclopedia of Religion'', Collier Macmillan, New York, 1987 *''The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religions'', Harper, San Francisco, 2000

Fiction

* ''La collezione di smeraldi. Racconti'', Milano, Jaca Book, 1989 * ''Hesperus'', București, Univers, 1992; București, Nemira, 1998(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2003(3) * ''Pergamentul diafan. Povestiri'', București, Nemira, 1994 * ''Pergamentul diafan. Ultimele povestiri'', București, Nemira, 1996(2); Iaşi, Polirom, 2002(3) * ''Arta fugii. Povestiri'', Iași, Polirom, 2002 * ''Jocul de smarald'', Iași, Polirom, 2005, 2011(2) * "Tozgrec'', Iași, Polirom, 2010

Other

* ''Dialoguri întrerupte. Corespondența Mircea Eliade – Ioan Petru Culianu'', Iași, Polirom, 2004

Works about Culianu

*A biography and an analysis of his death was published by Ted Anton under the title ''Eros, Magic, and the Death of Professor Culianu'' (alluding to Culianu's most influential work, ''Eros and Magic in the Renaissance''). *Elemire Zolla, ''Ioan Petru Culianu'', Alberto Tallone Editore, 1994. *

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

, ''Murder in Chicago'', in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', April 10, 1997 *

Sorin Antohi Sorin Antohi (born 20 August 1957) is a Romanian historian, essayist, and journalist. Biography Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iași and a DEA fro ...

(ed.), ''Religion, Fiction, and History. Essays in Memory of Ioan Petru Culianu'', Volumes I-II, Bucharest, Nemira, 2001. *Sorin Antohi (coordinator), ''Ioan Petru Culianu. Omul și opera'', Iași, Polirom, 2003 * Matei Călinescu, ''Despre Ioan Petru Culianu și Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, lecturi, reflecții'', Iași, Polirom, 2002, 2005(2). *

Andrei Oișteanu Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for h ...

, ''Religie, politică şi mit. Texte despre Mircea Eliade și Ioan Petru Culianu'', Polirom, Iași, 2007 (ediția a doua, revăzuta, adăugita și ilustrată, Polirom, Iași, 2014) *Marcello De Martino, ''Mircea Eliade esoterico. Ioan Petru Culianu e i "non detti"'', Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008. *Olga Gorshunova
''Terra Incognita of Ioan Culianu''
in '' Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie'', 2008 № 6:94-110.

Notes

References

* * *

"Exploring the Legacy of Ioan Petru Culianu"
in the ''Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen Post'', Spring 2001 * Olga Gorshunov
'' Ioan Culianu: v chetvjortom izmerenii''
(''Ioan Culianu: In The Fourth Dimension''), in ''Etnoragraficheskoe Obozrenie Online'', September, 2008. *Umberto Eco, "Murder in Chicago" (review of Ted Anton's ''Eros, Magic, and the Murder of Professor Culianu''), in
The New York Review of Books
', Apr. 10, 1997 issue

External links

David Levi Strauss David Levi Strauss (born March 10, 1953 in Junction City, Kansas) is an American poet, essayist, art and cultural critic, and educator. He is the author of a book of poetry, four books of essays, and numerous monographs and catalogues on artists ...

"Magic & Images/Images & Magic"
in ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

''
Guide to the Ioan P. Culianu Papers 1883-1991
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culianu, Ioan Petru 1950 births 1991 deaths 1991 murders in the United States 20th-century Romanian historians 20th-century short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Romanian philosophers Anti-Gnosticism Romanian historians of religion Writers from Iași Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian defectors Romanian essayists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian writers in French Romanian people murdered abroad Academic staff of the University of Groningen People murdered in Illinois Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Illinois Burials at Eternitatea cemetery Romanian expatriates in France Historians of Gnosticism University of Bucharest alumni University of Chicago faculty University of Paris alumni Unsolved murders in the United States