Ion Biberi (21 July 1904 27 September 1990) was a Romanian psychiatrist and anthropologist, also active as an essayist, fiction writer, dramatist, translator and critic. Born into a mixed Romanian–French–German family, he spent most of his life in the
Oltenia
Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...
n city of
Turnu Severin
Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...
, and was rather cut off from the center of culture in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. Young Biberi was interested in philosophy, literature, and
popular science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
, including
amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the Naked eye, unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astr ...
and
human genetics
Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in Human, human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, populatio ...
; his worldview was shaped by the works of
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...
,
Hippolyte Taine
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitione ...
,
Erwin Baur
Erwin Baur (16 April 1875, in Ichenheim, Grand Duchy of Baden – 2 December 1933) was a German geneticist and botanist. Baur worked primarily on plant genetics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research (then in Mü ...
, and later
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...
. He was also a
child soldier
Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...
in World War I, and his early experience of human disaster informed a lasting interest in
thanatology
Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the postmortem period, as well as wider psycho ...
. His first works were articles on scientific subjects published when he was still a teenager. At around that time, he also crossed paths with the younger author
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...
, who later became an additional influence on his work, and a generational leader.
Debuting with essays in the late 1920s, and with novels in the mid-1930s, Biberi sparked controversy for his commitment to
experimental literature
Experimental literature is a genre of literature that is generally "difficult to define with any sort of precision." It experiments with the conventions of literature, including boundaries of genres and styles; for example, it can be written in ...
—bridging his work in psychiatry and his appreciation of
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
. He was welcomed by Eliade as an exponent of the ''
Trăirists'', who cultivated authenticity and investigated liminal states; later critics, as well as Biberi himself, noted that his role within that movement was somewhat marginal. His regular contribution was as a literary columnist for the Francophone daily ''
Le Moment'', wherein he introduced
Romanian literature
Romanian literature () is the entirety of literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language or by any authors native to Romania.
Early Romanian literature inc ...
to foreign readers; he defended
artistic freedom
Artistic freedom (or freedom of artistic expression) can be defined as "the freedom to imagine, create and distribute diverse cultural expressions free of governmental censorship, political interference or the pressures of non-state actors." Gener ...
s against threats of censorship from the far-right, and as a result forged strong bonds with a few likeminded critics, including
Șerban Cioculescu
Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist who was born in Drobeta-Turnu Severin and died in Bucharest. He held teaching positions in Literature of Romania, Romanian ...
and
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.
Life
Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter (née We ...
. As a social scientist, he aspired to bridge Bergson's theories with the products of
structuralism
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...
. Biberi's
interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
, which evolved into a personal claim to multiple expertise, was appreciated in some circles, but always derided in others.
Inactive during most of World War II, Biberi reemerged on the literary scene after the
August 1944 coup, as one of the intellectuals who collaborated with the
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
. Though he openly rejected
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
, he was inducted into the communist-aligned
Union of Patriots, joined a council for the supervision of theaters, and contributed in the generic left-wing press. His works of that time include a book of interviews with various peers in the literary world, noted in retrospect for its vain hope that the coming regime would be an enhanced democracy. The proclamation of a
communized republic saw him marginalized and braving starvation. Biberi was recovered only around 1965, when the regime had entered its
national-communist stage. He could return as a social scientist, but also as a biographer, theater columnist, debuting dramatist,
art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
, textbook author, anthologist, and researcher of
poetics
Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...
. As an interviewer, Biberi contributed directly to the regime's propaganda. His final and synthetical works were celebrated investigations into
fantasy trope
A fantasy trope is a specific type of literary trope (recurring theme) that occurs in fantasy fiction. Worldbuilding, plot, and characterization have many common conventions, many of them having ultimately originated in myth and folklore. J. ...
s. He died at the age of 86, shortly after the
end of communism, leaving a large corpus of works in manuscript.
Biography
Early life and debut
Born in Turnu Severin on the
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, Ion Biberi's parents were Constantin Biberi, a captain in the
Romanian Naval Forces
The Romanian Naval Forces () is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860.
History
The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flotilla on ...
, and his wife Elise (''née'' Gayraud).
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I, p. 163. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ][ Mihaela Albu]
"Ion Biberi – 110 ani de la naștere: Repere de biografie spirituală"
in ''România Literară
''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...
'', Issue 34/2014 It is known that the couple had another son.
Ion's paternal grandfather was a physician who studied at
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
.
Elise's father, Pierre Gayraud, was a native of
Narbonne
Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
who arrived in Romania in 1870, and worked as an architect, designing a marketplace in
Craiova
Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia.
It i ...
. He married Iulia Servatius, a Romanian of
Transylvanian Saxon
The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...
origin who came from
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County.
According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
; the couple had ten children.
Due to his multiethnic background and the cultural environment of Turnu Severin, the writer grew up trilingual—he was proficient in Romanian, German, and, to a lesser degree, French.
Biberi began his education with a stint at Turnu Severin's Catholic German School.
For a short while, he was sent to a faraway school, located in either
Dorohoi
Dorohoi () is a city in Botoșani County, Romania, on the right bank of the river Jijia, which broadens into a lake on the north. The city administers three villages: Dealu Mare, Loturi Enescu, and Progresul.
History
Dorohoi used to be a market ...
or
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
.
Upon returning to his hometown, he enlisted at the No 3 School, where he completed all remaining three grades of his primary schooling. In Craiova between 1914 and 1921, he attended gymnasium, and then, upon his father's command, the military high school.
In a 1985 interview, Biberi confided that he had never gotten along with his strict father, and that he was deeply affected at age five, when his mother, a woman of "perfect artistic culture", died unexpectedly. Feeling encouraged by Elise's example, he followed training in music, and was passionate about
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
;
it "provided me with a new outlook on the spectacle of life." He was also deeply familiarized with
German art
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, from being shown paintings by
Moritz von Schwind
image:Moritz von Schwind 2.jpg, 200px, Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860.
Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and t ...
and
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...
to discovering
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
and
Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer ( – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Da ...
.
The boy's humanistic education was for a while shaped by the philosopher
Ștefan Bârsănescu
Ștefan Bârsănescu (28 March 1895 – 5 November 1984) was a Romanian academician and educator who gained renown as an essayist and philosopher.
Born in the village of Viperești in Buzău County, a part of the historical region of Muntenia, Ș ...
and by the Latinist Ion Ionescu-Bujor, who were his schoolteachers. Around the age of twelve, Biberi began reading the major authors of
German Romanticism
German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...
, including
E. T. A. Hoffmann
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist.Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...
and
Novalis
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...
, before becoming enthusiastic about
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
and
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...
's
fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fan ...
(he later recounted that he had learned Eminescu's short novel, ''
Poor Dionis'', "almost by heart").
Following the example of another schoolteacher, Marin Demetrescu, Biberi was also introduced to
popular science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
—his scientific interests first led him into
amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the Naked eye, unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astr ...
; he was equally interested in philosophy, becoming an avid reader of
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
and
Ludwig Büchner
Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner (; ; 29 March 1824 – 30 April 1899) was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th-century scientific materialism.
Biography
Büchner was born at Darmstadt ...
. His preoccupations centered on psychiatry and
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
, after going through topical essays by
Théodule-Armand Ribot
Théodule-Armand Ribot (18 December 18399 December 1916) was a French psychologist. He was born at Guingamp, and was educated at the Lycée de St Brieuc. He is known as the founder of scientific psychology in France, and gave his name to Ribot's ...
,
Hippolyte Taine
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitione ...
,
Philippe Tissié
Philippe Auguste Tissié (1852–1935) was one of the first neuropsychiatrists in France. Together with Pierre de Coubertin and Paschal Grousset, he was the founder of French physical education, developing the schooling system to include sports a ...
, and
Nicolae Vaschide.
Of these, Taine remained a particularly strong influence—seen by critic
Henri Zalis
Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include:
People French nobles
* Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France
* H ...
as Biberi's "spiritual patron", who also fixated the stylistic coordinates of his later essays. Another formative experience came as he witnessed first-hand the
Romanian debacle in World War I: a member of a
Scouting troupe, he assisted the
Romanian Land Forces
The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces.
The Romanian Land Force ...
just behind the front line. As he recalled in 1985, he was surrounded by death, especially after the arrival of
epidemic typhus
Epidemic typhus, also known as louse-borne typhus, is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters where civil life is disrupted. Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact wit ...
, which killed three of his Scouting colleagues; this period informed his interest in
thanatology
Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the postmortem period, as well as wider psycho ...
.
Biberi made his published debut shortly after the war. In 1919,
A. A. Luca's ''Orizontul'' magazine hosted his presentation of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
(''Un gigant al imperiului solar: Iupiter'').
By his own account, in December 1921 one of his articles was taken up by ''
Ziarul Științelor și al Călătoriilor'', the result of a young authors' competition. This was his first encounter with the three-years-younger
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...
, who was also a runner-up, and who came to exercise a profound influence on him in later decades; they only met physically in 1924 or 1925, when they were both frequenting the antiquarian Iancu Eskenazy.
[Mircea Handoca, Ion Biberi, "Cu Ion Biberi despre Mircea Eliade", in ''Cronica'', Vol. XIX, Issue 36, September 1984, p. 5] Biberi's first literary work was short prose that appeared in 1928
in ''
Bilete de Papagal ''Bilete de Papagal'' was a Romanian left-wing publication edited by Tudor Arghezi, begun as a daily newspaper and soon after issued as a weekly satirical and literary magazine. It was published at three different intervals: 1928–1930, 1937–1938 ...
'', and drew praise from editor
Tudor Arghezi
Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature.
Biography
Early life
He graduated from Sai ...
.
Other magazines that ran his work include ''Revista Română'', ''
Kalende'', and ''
Viața Românească
''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues.
...
''.
Biberi went on to study at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
's medical faculty, and was also enrolled in the literature and philosophy faculty. His professors included
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru (; born Constantin Rădulescu, he added the surname ''Motru'' in 1892; February 15, 1868 – March 6, 1957) was a Romanian philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, logician, academic, dramatist, as well as Left-win ...
, who introduced his students to the debate on
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
; Biberi adopted a
structuralist
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns tha ...
approach in his subsequent work as an essayist, also arguing in favor in
interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
as a study of structures.
He was additionally a
Darwinist
''Darwinism'' is a Term (argumentation), term used to describe a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of org ...
along the lines advocated by
Erwin Baur
Erwin Baur (16 April 1875, in Ichenheim, Grand Duchy of Baden – 2 December 1933) was a German geneticist and botanist. Baur worked primarily on plant genetics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research (then in Mü ...
, which led him toward the informal study of
human genetics
Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in Human, human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, populatio ...
.
''Trăirist'' generation
Earning a doctorate in medicine and surgery (and also undergoing some further training at the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
),
Biberi was a primary-care psychiatrist. He lived a total of 38 years in his native city, including as chief physician at the shipyard's clinic, and many of his works use the city for their setting.
A French-language columnist for ''
Le Moment'' daily in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
,
Șerban Cioculescu
Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist who was born in Drobeta-Turnu Severin and died in Bucharest. He held teaching positions in Literature of Romania, Romanian ...
, "Ion Biberi — 75", in ''România Literară
''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...
'', Issue 30/1979, p. 7 Biberi won the Techirghiol-Eforie Prize (1935), the
Fundațiile Regale Prize for the essay (1936), and the
Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society () was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the early Communist Romania, communist re ...
Prize (1938).
His fiction was written from the perspective of a scientist interested in the psychological motivation of human experiences and the abysses of the subconscious.
His first book as an essayist on psychological matters was ''Thanatos''—published in 1936, when, as critic Mihai Stoian argues, his premonition of death and disaster was nearly validated.
[Mihai Stoian, "Un scriitor uitat. Ion Biberi", in '']România Literară
''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...
'', Issue 49/2002, p. 19 With this text, Biberi confessed to having pushed himself into a
near-death experience
A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are, such experiences may encompa ...
; this episode was derided by the literary critic
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the most important Romani ...
, sparking a wider public debate.
Biberi, who recalls being defended in writing by Eliade, also responded to Călinescu in the newspaper ''Credința'' and in ''Floarea de Foc'' magazine.
Biberi's interwar output in creative prose included the modernist novel ''Proces'' ("Trial"), followed by a novella, ''Oameni în ceață'' ("People in the Fog"). These appeared in 1935 and 1937, respectively,
with ''Oameni în ceață'' being issued as part of the "
Oltenia
Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...
n writers" collection (itself an editorial imprint of ''
Ramuri
''Ramuri'' ("Twigs" or "Branches") is a Romanian literary magazine put out from Craiova, the regional center of Oltenia region. Its first edition appeared from December 1905, and was closely tied to Nicolae Iorga's ''Sămănătorul'', published i ...
'' magazine in Craiova). Such contributions are seen by Cioculescu as paralleling
Camil Petrescu
Camil Petrescu (; 9/21 April 1894 – 14 May 1957) was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. He was a member of the Sbur ...
's own brand of
experimental literature
Experimental literature is a genre of literature that is generally "difficult to define with any sort of precision." It experiments with the conventions of literature, including boundaries of genres and styles; for example, it can be written in ...
,
whereas literary historian
Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu
Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu (born Moise Cahn or Cohn; 16 August 1921, in GalaÈ›i, Romania – 27 April or 28 April 2000, in Berlin, Germany) was a Romanian literary critic and science fiction writer.
Biography
After graduating from high school i ...
prioritizes their descent from Eminescu's fantasy writings. In ''Proces'', which depicts a single, tragic, day in the life of a landowner accused of murder, all relevant details of the crime are omitted. The result, as described by literary critic
Eugen Simion
Eugen Simion (25 May 1933 – 18 October 2022) was a Romanian literary critic and historian, editor, essayist and academic.
Born in Chiojdeanca, Prahova County, the son of two farmers, Simion completed his secondary education at the Saints Pe ...
, is a "buildup of fragmented images, affixed to an immense board by one's burning, distorting intelligence." The "indisputably superior" ''Oameni în ceață'' samples "dramas of the pathological, the terrifying, the moral realm", such as in depicting a nightmarish city whose inhabitants are prevented from ever communicating with each other. Several scholars evidence Biberi's debt to
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's brand of modernism—as with philologist Bianca Burța-Cernat, who sees ''Proces'' as a simplified and localized version of Joyce's novels. Biberi himself acknowledged that he had purposefully borrowed the
stream of consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...
technique, noting that Eliade had once done the same.
Simion includes Biberi among the followers of Joyce and
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
, with ''Proces'' mirroring the "aesthetic program" outlined by ''
Ulysses
Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey.
Ulysses may also refer ...
''. He also proposes that Biberi relied heavily on influences from outside the realm of literature, in that he closely adhered to
Salvador DalÃ
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalà i Domènech, Marquess of Dalà of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalà ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
's command—namely, that intellectuals should tap into "irrational knowledge".
Biberi's achievements were recognized in May 1936 by Eliade, who included him on a list of literary luminaries of the new generation—alongside
Dan Botta
Dan Botta (; September 26, 1907 – January 13, 1958) was a Romanian poet and essayist.
Life
Born in Adjud, his parents were the physician Theodor Botta and his wife Aglaia (''née'' de Franceschi), an orphanage director; his brother was po ...
,
Ion Călugăru
Ion Călugăru (; born Ștrul Leiba Croitoru, Ion Călugăru, Ioan Lăcustă''"Uzina care încearcă să gonească morții". Note nepublicate (1948)'' at thMemoria Digital Library retrieved February 17, 2010 also known as Buium sin Strul-Leiba Cro ...
,
Sergiu Dan
Sergiu Dan (; born Isidor Rotman or Rottman; December 29, 1903 – March 13, 1976) was a Romanian novelist, journalist, Holocaust survivor and political prisoner of the communist regime. Dan, the friend and collaborator of Romulus Dianu, was n ...
,
Lucia Demetrius
Lucia Aurora Demetrius (February 16, 1910–July 29, 1992) was a Romanian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.
Life
Born in Bucharest, her parents were the writer Vasile Demetrius and his wife Antigona (''née'' Rabinovici). Her father ...
,
Anton Holban
Anton Holban (; 10 February 1902, in HuÅŸi – 15 January 1937, in Bucharest) was a Romanian novelist. He was the nephew of Eugen Lovinescu.
The son of Gheorghe Holban (whom had from his father’s side Germanic ancestry) and Antoaneta Lovi ...
,
Dan Petrașincu
Dan Petrașincu (; born Angelo Moretta, ; 2 June 1910 – 1997) was an Italian-Romanian anthropologist, writer and translator.
He was born in Odessa from an Italian father and a Romanian mother. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, when h ...
and
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.
Life
Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter (née We ...
. A competing perspective, provided in 2011 by Burța-Cernat, argues that Biberi, like Demetrius and Petrașincu, was a "marginal" presence in 1930s "authenticist" (or ''
Trăirist'') literature, and as such inferior to the likes of Eliade and Sebastian. Also in 1936, Eliade highlighted the issue of the intellectuals' high rate of unemployment, describing himself, Holban and Biberi as among the few in that cohort who had managed to draw a salary. Biberi acknowledged that, because of his residing in the provinces, he could never join the Eliade-led "nucleus of writers", though he still responded to Eliade's own "personal radiance".
He occasionally networked with writers in other regions, and, in October 1936, helped form the Group of Literary Critics. Formed around
Perpessicius
Perpessicius (; pen name of Dumitru S. Panaitescu, also known as Panait Șt. Dumitru, D. P. Perpessicius and Panaitescu-Perpessicius; October 22, 1891 – March 29, 1971) was a Romanian literary historian and critic, poet, essayist and fiction wr ...
and
Pompiliu Constantinescu
Pompiliu Constantinescu (May 17, 1901 – May 9, 1946) was a Romanian literary critic.
Biography
He was born on May 17, 1901, in Bucharest, "''in a place where he saw the light of day for the first time, on Sabines Street no. 109, the son of J ...
, it was designed as a bulwark of artistic freedom against the threat of censorship from the emergent far-right. Its other members were Sebastian,
Șerban Cioculescu
Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist who was born in Drobeta-Turnu Severin and died in Bucharest. He held teaching positions in Literature of Romania, Romanian ...
,
Vladimir Streinu
Nicolae Iordache (May 23, 1902 in Teiu, Argeș – November 26, 1970 in Bucharest), known by his pseudonym Vladimir Streinu, was a Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern a ...
, and
Octav Șuluțiu.
Biberi was once described by Cioculescu as a writer of "humanistic formation", "a connoisseur, by virtue of his profession, of the labile human structures and behaviors".
Sixty-six articles in ''Le Moment'' were grouped together as ''Études sur la littérature roumaine contemporaine'', which appeared in 1937 at Corymbe publishers of Paris. In retrospect, Cioculescu noted: "Had he only ever published this as his one book, Ion Biberi would have justified in full his presence as a sober witness to, and serene judge of, Romanian letters."
Zalis was impressed by the book's biographies (or, as he calls them, "silhouettes"), in particular for their recourse to self-interrogation and
intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody, Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref ...
. He draws parallels with two other interwar essayists,
Mihai Ralea
Mihai Dumitru Ralea (also known as Mihail Ralea, Michel Raléa, or Mihai Rale;Straje, p. 586 May 1, 1896 – August 17, 1964) was a Romanian social scientist, cultural journalist, and political figure. He debuted as an affiliate of Poporanism, th ...
and
Paul Zarifopol, who also employed their experience in various fields of art and science to construct their own essay forms; Biberi called this approach "cosmological", and explained that his model was
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
(viewing ''
The Magic Mountain
''The Magic Mountain'' (, ) is a novel by Thomas Mann. It was first published in Germany in November 1924. Since then, it has gone through numerous editions and been translated into many languages. It is widely considered a seminal work of 20t ...
'' as an essay in the form of a novel). He notes that, though the ''Études'' were largely introductory and without critical depth, Biberi had occasional insights which remained culturally important—such as when discussing Arghezi's poetic virulence,
Ion Vinea
Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the Modernist literature, modernist scene during hi ...
's aversion toward "academic tics", or
Urmuz
Urmuz (, pen name of Demetru Dem. Demetrescu-Buzău, also known as Hurmuz or Ciriviș, born Dimitrie Dim. Ionescu-Buzeu; March 17, 1883 – November 23, 1923) was a Romanian writer, lawyer and civil servant, who became a cult hero in Romania's av ...
's resemblance to
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...
. A chapter exalted Eliade as a writer "solidly planted in Romanian life", but of a "universalist tendency", and as "the most authentic literary personality of our generation".
Meanwhile, Biberi's professional investigations of the subconscious and the creative process appeared as ''Funcțiunile creatoare ale subconștientului'' (1938). In his overall thesis, he was attempting to reconcile
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...
's explanation of mental patterns with the structuralists' core approach. This book was followed by an early contribution to art criticism. Dedicated to
Pieter Bruegel as ''Bruegel ciudatul'' ("Bruegel the Odd", 1940),
it was based on Biberi's dedicated research in Belgium and
Federal Austria, where, by his own account, he had grown familiar with the entirety of Bruegel's output.
In a 1969 piece, Simion proposed that Biberi belonged to a particular category that had populated the 19th century: as a "man of letters", he defined specialization; "his competence (or availability) extends from the creative functions of the subconscious mind to the issues of alcoholism." This trait was noted in the 1930s by culture critic
Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the ...
, who, Simion observes, treated Biberi with a note of contempt and undeserved "cruel wit".
World War II and communist overtures
During the early stages of World War II, when Romania was still neutral, Biberi had established an informal literary club for Turnu Severin youths, acting as their guide in the profession. He discovered the future literary historian Emil Manu, inviting him to attend his conference "on writers and the provinces", held in Craiova in May 1940; others, including
Constantin Fântâneru
Constantin Fântâneru (January 1, 1907–March 21, 1975) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and literary critic.
Born in Budișteni, Argeș County, his parents were Costache Fântâneru and Zoe (''née'' Cârstoiu), peasants. After attending ...
and Al. Raicu, were also present.
[Matei Alexandrescu, Emil Manu, "Convorbire cu Emil Manu", in '']Ramuri
''Ramuri'' ("Twigs" or "Branches") is a Romanian literary magazine put out from Craiova, the regional center of Oltenia region. Its first edition appeared from December 1905, and was closely tied to Nicolae Iorga's ''Sămănătorul'', published i ...
'', Vol. VIII, Issue 7, July 1971, p. 15 From late 1940, Romania was governed as a dictatorship by
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...
, and aligned with the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
. By early 1942, Biberi had interrupted his activities and had been drafted into the Land Forces as a
military physician.
At this stage,
Romanian Jews
The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...
such as Sebastian were made to perform menial labor and threatened with deportation into
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...
. In such conditions, Sebastian focused his attention on writing a new play and in touch with Biberi, who lend him an astronomy book; the effort produced Sebastian's ''
The Star Without a Name''.
Both Biberi and Sebastian reemerged on the literary scene during the war's final stages—specifically, after the
August 1944 coup and the start of a
Soviet occupation
During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...
. Biberi greeted the regime change with an article in ''
Timpul
''Timpul'' (Romanian for "The Time") is a literary magazine published in Romania. Originally a political newspaper, it was the official platform of the Conservative Party between 1876 and 1914.
The publication is still active (2018) and publish ...
'' on Christmas Day 1944, opining that: "there is a need to repair and rebuild, on the concrete, material field, but also to enrich mankind spiritually". As he saw it, the time had come for "optimistic literature, stripped of devices, of formal graces, or of useless preciousness, but opening itself to spiritual truth, to a writer's living substance". He and Sebastian were especially close until the latter's accidental death in January 1945. In ''Victoria'' newspaper, Biberi left notes on what were supposedly Sebastian's final literary projects, and also delivered his eulogy in front of the Free Democratic University. On 8 February 1945, Biberi was tasked by the
Romanian State Radio with delivering a salute of the "Romanian democratic writers" to their colleagues in
liberated France.
On 16 March 1945, Biberi and
Petru Comarnescu
__NOTOC__
Petru Comarnescu (23 November 1905 – 27 November 1970) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator.
Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop , he studied law at the University of Bucharest (degr ...
were guest speakers at the
National Theater Bucharest
The National Theatre Bucharest () is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest.
Founding
It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director ...
, where they introduced the debuting author
Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__
Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator.
Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...
—with the
expressionistic
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...
play ''Asta-i ciudat''. By June, Biberi had joined the leftist
Union of Patriots (later "National Popular Party"), and was being announced as a speaker at its Bucharest meetings. One such rally had him as a speaker for the "democratic newspapermen", calling for "fascist journalists, who are the moral authors of all horrors committed by the war criminals," to be punished by the
Romanian People's Tribunals The two Romanian People's Tribunals (), the Bucharest People's Tribunal and the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in Cluj) were set up by the post-World War II government of Romania, overseen by the Allied Control Commission to try ...
. In October 1945, he appeared at the UP's committee in
Ilfov County
Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...
to introduce a lecture by painter
M. H. Maxy
Max Hermann Maxy (also known as M. H. Maxy, born Max Herman; October 26, 1895 – July 19, 1971) was a Romanian painter, art professor, scenographer, and professor of German-Jewish descent.
Early life and education
Maxy was born in Brăila ...
.
Biberi himself authored twenty-two interviews with other intellectuals—as noted by historian
Adrian Cioroianu
Adrian Mihai Cioroianu (born January 5, 1967, in Craiova, Romania) is a Romanian historian, politician, journalist, and essayist. A lecturer for the History Department at the University of Bucharest, he is the author of several books dealing with ...
, the selection was somewhat biased, reflecting Biberi's standing as a "rather left-wing man", willing to collaborate with the increasingly powerful
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
(PCR) (at least some of the interviewees were his personal friends).
These were featured from October 1944 by
Anton Dumitriu's newspaper ''Democrația'', which spoke for leftist factions of the
National Liberal Party. Biberi's texts therein were collected in 1945 as a bound book, ''Lumea de mâine'' ("World of Tomorrow"). Simion praises the result as the "document of an epoch", useful to "those wishing to gauge the moral temperature of that particular generation".
Virgil Ierunca
Virgil Ierunca (; born Virgil Untaru ; August 16, 1920, Lădești, Vâlcea County – September 28, 2006, Paris) was a Romanian literary critic, journalist, and poet. He was married to Monica Lovinescu.
Both Ierunca and Lovinescu worked for sev ...
, at the time a columnist for the PCR's ''
România Liberă
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea t ...
'', argued that Biberi's contribution "has the merit of being digestible even by his professional detractors, namely those who see his prodigious activity the signs of an ambiguous and external spending." According to Ierunca, Biberi found use for his psychological training in obtaining "self-examinations" from his guests.
As read by historian
Lucian Boia
Lucian Boia (born 1 February 1944) is a Romanian historian. He is mostly known for his debunking of historical myths about Romania, for purging mainstream Romanian history of deformations arising from ideological propaganda, and as a fighter ag ...
, ''Lumea de mâine'' is a "glaring" historical record: though it refrains from openly criticizing either the PCR or the Soviet occupiers (and allows interviewees such as
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; 5 November 1880 – 19 October 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting President of Romania, head of st ...
to praise both), it still features an advocacy of intellectual freedom and liberal democracy, as expressed by Arghezi, George Enescu, and Grigore T. Popa. One noted twin interview is that with the Communist doctrinaire Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (who, Cioroianu writes, was picked out by Biberi for his genuine popularity) and his sociologist brother-in-law, Petre Pandrea; herein, Pătrășcanu traces his intellectual autobiography. Literary historian Eugen Negrici highlights the book primarily as a sample of "naivete" on the part of those interviewees who "announced that Romania was entering the auspicious sign of democracy."
Biberi's other work for 1945 was an 1,600-page sociological tract called ''Individualitate și destin'' ("Individuality and Destiny"), which illustrated man's existence as a self-contradictory being, "unequally divided between need and liberty, between fixation into the relative and an aspiration for the absolute".
Also that year, he collected his essays on French literature as ''Profiluri literare franceze'' ("French Literary Profiles"), covering the span between François Villon and Georges Simenon. A special section of the work was dedicated to the spread of German-invented "oneiric literature" in France.
However, by August of the following year Biberi was being congratulated in the PCR's press for having discarded his own "oneiric cult" in favor of "the essay which encompasses a social environment." Also in 1946, he contributed an autofictional novel, ''Un om își trăiește viața'' ("A Man Living His Life"), with detail which Cioculescu recognized as being intimately connected to interwar Turnu Severin and its "politicking cancer".
At Fundațiile Regale, he published the textbook ''Introducere în studiul eredității'' ("An Introduction to the Study of Heredity"), which received a positive review in ''România Liberă''. On 15 November 1946, just short of 1946 Romanian general election, that year's legislative election, he spoke on behalf of Romanian writers at congress of intellectuals at Savoy Hall, Bucharest, engaging in a dialogue with PCR General Secretary, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. On that day, the communist magazine ''Contemporanul'' featured his essay on "the ravages of mysticism among Romanian intellectuals". On 8 December of that year, Biberi also spoke at a festivity organized by the Ministry of Culture (Romania), Ministry of Arts at Casa Capșa in celebration of the returning avant-garde writer and promoter Tristan Tzara.
In early 1947, Biberi and Mihail Calmâc completed a translation of Leo Tolstoy's ''Hadji Murat (novella), Hadji Murat'', taken up for publishing by Editura Cartea Rusă. In June, Biberi announced that he was preparing another installment of his studies in literary criticism. During August 1947, he was assigned to the Superior Council on Drama and Music, an organization established with support from the PCR, wherein he served as Director of Letters and Art Festivals. Before the end of the year, Cartea Rusă put out Biberi's monograph on Tolstoy. It was welcomed as an "honest biography" by literary columnist Nicolae Steinhardt, since it fully uncovered Tolstoy's "Bipolar disorder, bipolar structure". On 3 May, Biberi was scheduled to speak at the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union, discussing Mikhail Sholokhov as an exponent of the "ethical novel". In November, he was conferencing at the Romanian–Soviet Institute of Studies on Alexander Pushkin as "the founder of Russian realism". Though he reportedly received a commission for a Pushkin monograph, it was never published. In early 1948, his "clean and elegant" translation of Voltaire's ''Candide'' was issued as a pocket edition by Editura de Stat pentru Literatură și Artă, Editura de Stat.
Censorship and national-communist recovery
The Socialist Republic of Romania, communist regime, which was inaugurated in 1947–1948, reportedly had Biberi on its side. According to Cioculescu, he was himself a "theoretical artisan of the new man", seeing humankind as in need of "more equity and the more authentic human values."
Communist writer Paul Georgescu provides a conflicting assessment: in his meetings with Biberi, the latter asserted that he could not confirm to either the surrounding People's democracy (Marxism–Leninism), people's democracy or to
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
in general, and therefore that he would refrain from writing and also reduce his food consumption (since "the Japanese have determined that man eats 20 times more than what he needs"). This account was backed by another period witness, Marcel Marcian, who reports that the "non-Marxist" Biberi had a close connection to the liberal Marxist Felix Aderca, with both of them refusing to comply ideologically—while quietly accepting handouts of food from the Romanian Writers' Union (USR). On 1 July 1948, Biberi was stripped of his position at the Superior Council (then called Steering Council for the People's Theater), inaugurating his marginalization. An April 1957 article by the Marxist critic Ion Vitner revisited ''Proces'' as a "two-bit pastiche from ''Ulysses''", and a sample of "false originality" in art. Initially assigned to the USR's translators' section, Biberi was purged in November 1959, after Zaharia Stancu heard reports that he was a political suspect, who had paused his literary activity in expectation of an Vin americanii!, American-organized regime change. He had tried to contest Stancu's decision, indicating that he was no longer writing not because he was a dissident, but because of a nervous illness; he was defended by Georgescu, who suggested that his political stance was essentially inoffensive: "[Biberi is] an honest man, who spells out his beliefs".
In a 1981 overview, writer Gheorghe Grigurcu spoke of Biberi and his generation colleagues as victims of Socialist realism in Romania, Socialist Realism ("the devastating Proletkult") and its Censorship in Communist Romania, censorship apparatus. The interwar writers' cultural recovery, Grigurcu notes, was only possible in the mid-1960s, when there was a "gradual restoration of democratic conditions", coupled with a return to "our national tradition." The De-Stalinization in Romania, liberalizing and National communism in Romania, national-communist drift was heralded by ''Luceafărul (magazine), Luceafărul'' magazine: as reported in 1983 by columnist Gheorghe Suciu, he and his colleagues took the initiative in recovering "some of our great contemporaries, who were being avoided or indexed [by the censors]". The category, as defined by Suciu, includes Biberi, Pandrea, Perpessicius and Streinu, as well as Alexandru Dima, Emil Giurgiuca, Edgar Papu, Ovidiu Papadima and Tudor Vianu. In a 1984 article, Dan Culcer similarly spoke of the "democratization of public life" as a determinant for the rediscovery and republishing of interwar essayists—including Biberi, Eliade and Sebastian, but also Pătrășcanu,
Dan Botta
Dan Botta (; September 26, 1907 – January 13, 1958) was a Romanian poet and essayist.
Life
Born in Adjud, his parents were the physician Theodor Botta and his wife Aglaia (''née'' de Franceschi), an orphanage director; his brother was po ...
, Ionel Gherea,
Mihai Ralea
Mihai Dumitru Ralea (also known as Mihail Ralea, Michel Raléa, or Mihai Rale;Straje, p. 586 May 1, 1896 – August 17, 1964) was a Romanian social scientist, cultural journalist, and political figure. He debuted as an affiliate of Poporanism, th ...
, and D. I. Suchianu.
In November 1964, the USR's ''Gazeta Literară'' featured Biberi's article on Joyce. By 1966, that magazine was hosting his "micro-essays" of theater criticism, in which he expressed his concerns about the artistic purity of various productions. It also hosted his return as an interviewer, including a late 1966 debate with sociologist Henri H. Stahl. It was poorly reviewed by ''Cronica'' magazine, which argued that Biberi had been excessively encomiastic toward his guest, and had failed to even probe Stahl regarding the work of other sociologists. In April 1966, the PCR's organ ''Scînteia'' hosted some of Biberi's thoughts on human development in a "socialist society [which emphasizes] social progress and the development of human personality alike". As he noted therein, he had prepared a monograph on alcoholism for Editura Medicală, which also featured his instructions on achieving "mental hygiene"; overall, he proposed the "rationalization of corporeal existence". Biberi's interwar prose was being reissued and reassessed, with Simion noting that it could be recovered as a template by the younger "Onirism, Onirist" writers. In 1967, Biberi illustrated his aesthetic principles with a psychological drama centered on the historical character Hannibal; it bridges into pantomime, displaying Hannibal next to a silent character playing out his emotional states.
It was panned by fellow critic N. Irimescu, in particular for the dialogue, which was closely based on passages from ''Ab urbe condita (Livy), Ab urbe condita''. Irimescu asks: "What is the point of all this? A work of drama just to highlight an encyclopedist's facile 'erudition'?" In early 1973, the state broadcasting company produced a radio play, ''Sărmanul Dionis'', adapted by Biberi from Poor Dionis, Eminescu's 1872 novella.
Biberi could now publish books, including a biography of Vianu (1966), essays (''Poezia, mod de existență'', 1968; ''Argonauții viitorului'', 1971; ''Essai sur la condition humaine'', 1973; ''Eros'', 1974), works on literary aesthetics, dialogues, another book of interviews (''Orizonturi spirituale'', 1968), and anthologies (''Nuvela romantică germană'', 1968).
His comeback as a biographer was controversial: fellow research Ion Panait observed that his work on Vianu, taking the form of Textual criticism, "genetic" textualism, was hurriedly written. According to Panait, Biberi had refused to go over essential texts by Vianu, and had mistakenly labeled drafts of published lectures as undiscovered manuscripts. The volume was praised by philologist Ioana Lipovanu in ''Scînteia'', in particular for Biberi's biographical skill in tracing Vianu's transition from idealism to dialectical materialism, but also in using photographic documents for uncovering his subject's "inner world". Biberi's next and final monograph came in 1974,
and was dedicated to the graphical works of a theatrical director, Ion Sava. Published by Editura Meridiane, its nucleus was Sava's exhibition catalogue, also penned by Biberi; journalist Aurel Leon expressed his partial disappointment, describing it as "rather tiny", "seemingly part of a larger whole that is yet to come."

In December 1969, the TVR 1, national television channel had Biberi appear on one of its talk shows—where he discussed on the topic on "art and cybernetics" with engineer Edmond Nicolau and actor-poet Emil Botta. Biberi was also publishing numerous scientific articles, some grouped in 1970 as ''Visul și structurile subconștientului'' ("Dream and the Structures of the Subconscious"). Part of it was built on his own activity as a folklorist in Mehedinți County (around Turnu Severin), where he had uncovered samples of dream interpretation.
One of his specialized fields was art criticism, and specifically its branching into the realm of fantasy; he authored introductions to Surrealism (appearing in 1973, and seen by Cioculescu as "remarkable"),
and to the work of Hieronymus Bosch.
In addition to his applied textualism, the scholar was interested in psycholinguistics. This topic formed a separate chapter of his 1972 instructional manual on rhetoric, ''Arta de a scrie și de a vorbi in public''. Biberi's ''Poezia, mod de existență'' was welcomed by fellow scholar Nicolae Balotă as a "rigorously scientific" contribution to
poetics
Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...
, which Biberi analyzed within their anthropological, psychological, or ethnic context (though without embracing phenomenalism). Biberi's hypothesis (reviewed by Balotă with some skepticism) was that poetic language had emerged from the veneration of the dead, with its original function being ritualistic and mnemonic; beyond this, he commented on the origin of language, speculating that humans had differentiated early on between regular and incantational speech, with the latter surviving into poetry. On this basis, he differentiated between two eternal currents in poetry—one which focused on the ability of poetic language to depict "incandescent states of mind", and the other centered on the "search for authenticity " and "immediacy" in expressing the self.
Final years
On a more generic level, Biberi contributed a textbook of psychological anthropology, issued at Editura didactică și pedagogică in 1971. He also wrote the 1973 self-help manual for young readers, ''Arta de a trăi'' ("Art of Living"), which, as noted at the time by columnist Ion Cristoiu, was condescending, and mainly based on his lifelong experience. Cristoiu found his advice questionable and mundane, particularly since Biberi took pride in "always walk[ing] with my eyes firmly on the ground, so as not to step on some insect." In 1969–1979, Biberi proceeded with a companion to ''Lumea de mâine'', titled ''Lumea de azi'' ("World of Today")—and originating as a set of interviews over national radio. While most interviewees were intellectual personalities, one was an industrial boilermaker, Gheorghe Burcică. As noted in 2002 by political scientist Ioan Stanomir, this volume unwittingly documents a decline of national communism, from the promise of a limited liberalization to the reinforcement of "obedience"; the interviewer emphasized this transition by subscribing to the process of Social engineering (political science), social engineering, emphasizing the emergence of intellectuals from among the workers, and entirely loyal to the working class. Through dialogues with Grigore Moisil and other leading scientists, ''Lumea de azi'' revealed that the regime was lifting censorship on various fields of scientific inquiry, notably genetics and cybernetics, with Biberi expressing confidence that Romania was joining the world's scientific elite. The conversations also sample the author's own musings about urban sociology and the "nervous balance" of modern workers—as Stanomir notes, he effectively endorsed the policy of Systematization (Romania), systematization.
Biberi was a recipient of the USR Special Prize (1979);
in 1981, he returned with the extended essay ''Permanențele clepsidrei'' ("Perennials of the Water clock, Clepsydra"), which, though nominally put out by a company called Editura Litera, was in fact self-published.
Here, Biberi explained his and his generation's transition from Eliade's discovery of myth as a noumenon, through a limited rediscovery of positivism, and finally through a confrontation with the limitations of scientific knowledge. As the author put it, his Eliadesque generation had been forced to reconsider the universe upon the discovery of the uncertainty principle and the scholarly acceptance of indeterminism. He postulated that man's nature lacked a "cosmological perspective" unless elevated through culture, and proposed that the study of astronomy was a helpful step in culture-building. Biberi, who recalled that the notion of "cosmic man" had been used independently by Eliade, only met the latter, who had settled abroad, "one more time, in Paris, at some point in 1972–1974. [...] The meeting was kept short. We exchanged some pleasantries. We gifted each other some of the books we published. A third-party stepped in, preventing us from forming an atmosphere of somber, meditating, intimacy, as would have befitted our years of separation".
Another book of Biberi's collected essays (''Eseuri filosofice și artistice'') appeared in 1982.
It was praised by literary historian Jenő Farkas for its interdisciplinary competence in uncovering the mechanisms of individual creativity, sometimes intertwined with discussion of a writer's pathology—the essays focused on individual cases, from Hoffman, Poe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe and William Blake to Fyodor Dostoevsky and August Strindberg. Farkas, who noted that Biberi's take on Hoffman's High-functioning alcoholic, productive alcoholism was particularly "brilliant", also expressed admiration for his interest in the "archetypes of fantasy as thought", which set him apart from sociological investigators of fantasy tropes (examples of the latter include Marcel Brion, Roger Caillois, Pierre Castex, and Tzvetan Todorov).
Biberi completed what he saw a literary cycle with the 1985 collection, ''Ultime eseuri'' ("Final Essays"). Interviewed by George Chirilă upon its publication, he spoke of his sadness at having lost his lifelong partner, Antoinette Langet, crediting her as one of the major reasons for his own success "as a man and as an intellectual." As reported by Stoian, his was a "discreet fading-away"; he spent his days on park benches, in "bewildering silence", sometimes alongside his publisher and fellow novelist, Radu Albala.
He died on 27 September 1990,
almost one year after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Romanian Revolution had toppled communism.
Legacy
According to Cioculescu, by 1979 Biberi had published over thirty books, including translations from other authors.
Stoian counts fifty-one titles, and suggests that they only represented 10% of Biberi's literary output. Unpublished manuscripts he left include another novel, centered on the circumstances of World War I, a Dalà monograph, and a book of memoirs.
Among those who revisited his work in the following decades, Zalis noted that he was only rarely remembered as an essayist. He added: "I hold the conviction that the refusal to even mention his name these past years is owed to his failure at practicing criticism with enough perseverance." In 2002, Stoian called Biberi "unduly forgotten".
Two years later, the author's centennial was celebrated at Sfânta Ana Monastery in Orșova, as part of the ''Sensul Iubirii'' festival in Mehedinți.
[V. G., "Pe scurt. Literatură. Festivalul Național 'Sensul Iubirii'", in ''Cotidinaul'', 4 July 2004, p. 9]
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biberi, Ion
1904 births
1990 deaths
20th-century psychologists
20th-century Romanian physicians
Romanian psychiatrists
20th-century Romanian anthropologists
Psychological anthropologists
Romanian sociologists
Urban sociologists
Positivists
Structuralists
Psychoanalysts
Thanatologists
Oneirologists
Psycholinguists
Romanian humanists
20th-century Romanian male writers
20th-century Romanian essayists
Romanian art critics
Romanian literary critics
Romanian theatre critics
Romanian columnists
20th-century Romanian biographers
20th-century Romanian memoirists
20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Romanian novelists
Romanian historical novelists
Romanian male short story writers
Romanian anthologists
Romanian science writers
Romanian textbook writers
Romanian self-help writers
Romanian radio people
Romanian propagandists
Romanian folklorists
20th-century Romanian translators
French–Romanian translators
Russian–Romanian translators
Romanian writers in French
People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin
Romanian people of French descent
Romanian people of German descent
Amateur astronomers
Romanian astronomers
Romanian people of World War I
Child soldiers in World War I
Scouting and Guiding in Romania
University of Bucharest alumni
Romanian military personnel of World War II
Romanian Land Forces personnel
Romanian military doctors
20th-century Romanian civil servants
Romanian socialists
Romanian dissidents
Censorship in Romania