Cilibi Moise or Cilibi Moisi (born Froim Moise; 1812 – January 31, 1870) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

n-born

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

n and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used f ...

, humorist, aphorist, and raconteur. He is best known for the

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by t ...

s and

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s attributed to him, which, although recorded in Romanian, represent an important segment of the local secular Jewish culture and

Jewish humor The tradition of humor in Judaism dates back to the Torah and the Midrash from the ancient Middle East, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal and often anecdotal humor of Ashkenazi Jews which took root in the United States o ...

in the 19th century. Moise relied on others to record his own creations, and these often refer to him using the third person, which made him a stock character.

Biography

Born into the

Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

in Focşani, Moise lived much of his life in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

, where his family moved when he was a child.''Cilibi Moise-Vestitul din Ţara Românească''
a
Jew-focsani.com
retrieved August 26, 2007 In time, he became one of the ''boccegii'' (peddlers who carried their merchandise in bundles). His

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

''Cilibi'' originated with the

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed exten ...

word ''çelebi'', meaning "courteous". Ionel Săviţescu
"Memoriile şi corespondenţa unui cărturar"
in ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' (Romanian: ''Literary Talks'') is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by Ti ...

''; retrieved August 26, 2007 Moise traveled throughout the

Danubian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...

, and his experience in assessing people's characters, as well as his interest in memorizing

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recogni ...

s, contributed to his literary career. Part of his musings originated in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. Unable to spell in anything but the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewis ...

, he dictated his sayings to literate Romanians and handed them down to be printed. In all, 13 or 14

brochure A brochure is originally an informative paper document (often also used for advertising) that can be folded into a template, pamphlet, or leaflet. A brochure can also be a set of related unfolded papers put into a pocket folder or packet or can ...

s were published in this way. Moise was a member of the Jewish congregation in Bucharest, and was close to its ''

Hakham ''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He ...

'', Moses Gaster – Gaster was to recall their meetings in his writings. Moise died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

at the age of 58, and was buried at the Filantropia Cemetery (in the Jewish section).

Work and influence

Some of his most remembered one-line jokes include:

At all times, Cilibi Moise has two houses near Saint George Church and two houses near Saint Demetrius Church; in one of each he lives, and in the others he would like to move, but has no means to pay the rent. George Călinescu, ''Istoria literaturii române. Compendiu'',
Editura Minerva Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books. The company was founded in Bucharest in ...
, Bucharest, 1983, p. 95

Cilibi Moise suffered a great shame – his house was visited by robbers who found nothing to steal.

For a few years now, Cilibi Moise has been begging Poverty to leave his house, at the very least for as long as it takes him to get dressed.

Moise was regarded by many as an important contributor to both Romanian and Jewish-Romanian literature. Influential dramatist and short story author Ion Luca Caragiale admired his work, and especially the cohesion of his ideas. Ştefan Cazimir, ''Caragiale: universul comic'', Editura pentru Literatură, Bucharest, 1967, pp. 62–63. Caragiale confessed that he grew up reading Moise, and, during the 1890s, promoted his works in the journal ''

Epoca Epoca may refer to: Media * ''Epoca'' (magazine), Italian news magazine published, 1950–1997 * ''Época'' (Brazilian magazine), Brazilian news magazine established in 1998 * ''Época'' (Spanish magazine), Spanish weekly news magazine, 1985– ...

'' (of which he was coeditor). Literary historians George Călinescu and

Tudor Vianu Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Romanian literature and art. He was ...

, ''Scriitori români'', Vol. I,

Editura Minerva Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books. The company was founded in Bucharest in ...

, Bucharest, 1970, p. 17. both cited Moise as a parallel to the Ottoman-born Wallachian writer Anton Pann. Călinescu referred to his style as "good old healthy humor", while Vianu likened him to

Diogenes Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea c ...

. Moise's sayings were first collected and studied by

Moses Schwarzfeld Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

in 1883: Schwartzfeld's book was printed in

Craiova ) , official_name = Craiova , image_skyline = , image_caption = From left: Dolj County Prefecture • Constantin Mihail Palace • Bibescu Manor House • Carol I National College • Museum of Oltenia • University of Craiova , i ...

as ''Practica şi apropourile lui Cilibi Moise Vestitul din Ţara Românească'' ("The Practice and Themes of Wallachia's Cilibi Moise the Famous").

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an American encyclopedist and editor of '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in Weisskirchen, ...

, "Moses Schwarzfeld", in the ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...

'', 1901–1906 Samples of Moise's work formed the first part of a 1996 anthology, which listed Romanian-language Jewish literature from him to Paul Celan; the work, published by Editura Hasefer, was edited by Ţicu Goldstein (''De la Cilibi Moise la Paul Celan. Antologie din operele scriitorilor evrei de limba română'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moise, Cilibi Aphorists Jewish humorists Romanian humorists Romanian folklorists Jewish Romanian writers Romanian memoirists People from Focșani Storytellers Deaths from typhus Infectious disease deaths in Romania 1812 births 1870 deaths 19th-century memoirists