Mihai Pop (November 18, 1907 – October 8, 2000) was a Romanian ethnologist. He won the

Herder Prize The Herder Prize (german: Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Sou ...

in 1967. Notable works include ''Obiceiuri tradiţionale româneşti'' (1978) and ''Folclor românesc'' (1998). He was a member of the Romanian Academy.

Biography

Pop was born in Glod village in what is now the commune of

Strâmtura Strâmtura ( hu, Szurdok, yi, סטרימטערע or ''Strimtere'') is a commune in Maramureș County, Maramureș, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Glod (''Glód''), Slătioara (''Izasópatak'') and Strâmtura. Natives *Mihai Pop Miha ...

Maramureș County Maramureș County () is a county (județ) in Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare. Name In Hungarian it is known as ''Máramaros megye'', in Ukrainian as Мараморо́щина, in German as ''Kreis Marmarosc ...

in northern Romania (then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

), the son of a Greek-Catholic priest. He pursued studies in a Hungarian high school in

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; german: Marmaroschsiget or ''Siget''; hu, Máramarossziget, ; uk, Сигіт, Syhit; yi, סיגעט, Siget), until 1960 Sighet, is a city (municipality) in Maramureș County near the ...

led by

Piarist The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

monks. After the First World War, he came to Bucharest. There, he pursued studies in literature and philosophy (1925–1929), followed by Slavonic studies (1929–1934) in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

, and obtained a Ph.D. in

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

from the University of

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

. He later taught philological sciences 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 Princ ...

, being assistant professor (1936–1939) in the Romanian Literature Department led by Dumitru Caracostea. He was a member of the Sociological Research Group and of the

Romanian Social Institute 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, traditio ...

(ISR), led by

Dimitrie Gusti Dimitrie Gusti (; 13 February 1880 – 30 October 1955) was a Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and voluntarist philosopher; a professor at the University of Iaşi and the University of Bucharest, he served as Romania's Minister o ...

(1929–1936). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Pop was appointed to the Romanian Embassy in

between 1941 and 1944. From 1949, he joined the Folklore Institute of Bucharest, becoming its first coordinator of scientific activity (1949–1954), then as deputy director (1954–1965) and later as director (1965–1974). He returned to the University of Bucharest in 1957, and was professor (1957–1962) and then professor of folklore (1962–1975) in its Faculty of Romanian language and literature. He was head of the department of old Romanian literature and folklore there (1968–1972). Pop was a recipient of the

in 1967, also given to that year to Polish composer

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyma ...

, and Slovak sculptor

Vladimír Kompánek Vladimír Kompánek (28 October 1927 in Rajec Rajec ( hu, Rajec; german: Rajetz) is a town in the Žilina District, Žilina Region in northern Slovakia. Etymology Rajec, Rajčianka, Rajčanka are derived from Proto-Slavic appelative ''*rajь ...

. In 1975 he retired on pension, leaving his position as Consultant Professor at the Department of Ethnology and Folklore, University of Bucharest. He held the offices as President of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (1971), as well as other numerous foreign scientific societies. He was visiting professor at major universities in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

, Germany, Berkeley and

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

(United States) and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, France. He died 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 ...

on October 8, 2000.

Bibliography

* Dicţionarul etnologilor români, vol. II, Iordan Datcu, Ed. Saeculum IO, București, 1998, pag. 161. 1907 births 2000 deaths People from Maramureș County People from the Kingdom of Hungary Romanian Austro-Hungarians Romanian ethnologists Romanian folklorists Romance philologists 20th-century philologists Slavists Romanian philologists Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Herder Prize recipients {{Romania-bio-stub