HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alexandru I. Philippide (; May 1, 1859 – August 12, 1933) was a Romanian linguist and philologist. Educated in
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
and
Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...
, he taught high school for several years until 1893, when he secured a professorship 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 Mih ...
that he would hold until his death forty years later. He began publishing books on the
Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...
around the time he graduated from university, but it was not until he became a professor that he drew wider attention, thanks to a study of the language's history. Although not particularly ideological, he penned sharp, witty polemics directed at various intellectual figures, both at home and, in one noted case, in Germany. In 1898, Philippide began work on a Romanian dictionary; by 1906, he and his team had completed the first four letters of the alphabet before others took over the task. His major work, which appeared in two hefty volumes in 1925 and 1928, brings together a wide range of ancient sources and linguistic evidence to analyze the
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...
of the
Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
and the development of their language. Although attacked for parochialism by one set of academics, the students he trained carried forth his ideas by forming the core of an Iași-based linguistic school.


Biography


Origins and early career

Born in
Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret, the other skirting th ...
in the
Tutova County Tutova County is one of the historic counties of Moldavia, Romania with the city of Bârlad as capital. Geography Tutova County covered 2,498 km2 and was located in the central-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the south-eastern part of Mol ...
of
Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the Pr ...
region,Arvinte, p. 13 his father Iancu was deputy
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...
of a ''
plasă ''Plasă'' (, plural ''plăși'' ) was a territorial division unit of Romania, ranking below county ('' județ'') and above commune. It was headed by a '' Pretor'', appointed by the county Prefect. The institution headed by the Pretor was called ...
'' during the reign of
Alexandru Ion Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Janu ...
, and owned land at
Cerțești Cerțești is a commune in Galați County, Western Moldavia, Romania with a population of 2,209 people. It is composed of three villages: Cârlomănești, Cerțești, and Cotoroaia. Natives * George Ivașcu George Ivașcu (most common rendition ...
, a village to the south. Philippide was of
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
origin on his father's side, the family originating in
Milies Milies ( el, Μηλιές) is a village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Pelion, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area o ...
, a village at the foot of
Mount Pelion Pelion or Pelium (Modern el, Πήλιο, ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the ...
in
Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
. His great-grandfather's brother
Daniel Philippidis Daniel Philippidis ( el, Δανιήλ Φιλιππίδης; ro, Dimitrie Daniil Philippide; c. 1750 – 1832) was a Greek scholar, figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment and member of the patriotic organization Filiki Etaireia. He was one of the ...
, a historian and geographer, settled in
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
at the turn of the 19th century. Gabriela Ursachi
"Aprilie"
, ''România Literară'', nr.16/2005
His family origins were a source of pride, even in old age: asked by
Nicolae Bănescu Nicolae P. Bănescu (December 16, 1878 – September 11, 1971) was a Romanian historian, elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1936. He was born in Călărași, the third of 14 children of Petre Bănescu, a lawyer, and his wife Ecate ...
if he was of Aromanian background, the linguist replied, "no, no, we're entirely Greek!" Alexandru attended primary school (1866–1870) and Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu High School (1870–1877), both in his native city."Un who's who bârlădean"
, pp. 8–9, at the Bârlad City Hall site
Subsequently, he enrolled in 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 Mih ...
, earning his degree in 1881. Pursuing specialized study at the
University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
from 1888 to 1890, he took courses in classical and modern philology, archaeology and the history of Greek philosophy."Alexandru Philippide"
at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University site
While there, he met
Eduard Sievers Eduard Sievers (; 25 November 1850, Lippoldsberg – 30 March 1932, Leipzig) was a philologist of the classical and Germanic languages. Sievers was one of the ''Junggrammatiker'' of the so-called "Leipzig School". He was one of the most influent ...
,
Heinrich Keil Theodor Heinrich Gottfried Keil (25 May 1822, Gressow – 27 August 1894, Friedrichroda) was a German classical philologist. He was a son-in-law to educator Friedrich August Eckstein (1810–1885). He studied classical philology at the Universi ...
and
Hermann Suchier Hermann Suchier (11 December 1848, in Carlshafen – 3 July 1914, in Halle an der Saale) was a German Romance philologist of Huguenot ancestry. He is known for his studies on the history of the French language and the literary history of the M ...
, becoming close friends with the latter. A librarian at the
Central University Library of Iași The Mihai Eminescu Central University Library of Iași ( ro, Biblioteca Centrală Universitară "Mihai Eminescu" Iași) is a library that serves the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and the entire university and academic community in Iași, Romania ...
from 1881 to 1884, he subsequently taught at the city's National College. He was hired there to fill a vacancy caused by the death of an admired teacher,
Alexandru Lambrior Alexandru Lambrior (January 12, 1845 – September 20, 1883) was a Romanian philologist and folklorist. A native of Fălticeni in Moldavia, he studied at Iași University and, after beginning a career as a teacher, in Paris. He resumed teaching i ...
. Returning to teach high school after his German stint, he became a professor at the literature faculty in Iași in 1893, retaining the post until his death. He was initially a substitute professor in the newly created department, rising to full professor in 1896. A
Neogrammarian The Neogrammarians (German: ''Junggrammatiker'', 'young grammarians') were a German school of linguists, originally at the University of Leipzig, in the late 19th century who proposed the Neogrammarian hypothesis of the regularity of sound change ...
, he taught courses on the history of the Romanian language, general linguistics,
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
, the physiology of the
human voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...
and the origin of the Romanians. The initiator of an original theory of linguistics, this was developed and augmented by his student
Gheorghe Ivănescu Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu * Gheorghe Albu * Gheorghe Alexandrescu * Gheorghe Andriev * Gheorghe Apostol * ...
. His books, studies and articles total some 4000 pages, while his course materials number another 1500.Pamfil 1992, p. 297 The latter, in which he traced the history of the Romanian language, complemented his published work. It was where he tested new ideas and drafted outlines for the full-length ''Originea românilor''.


1880s–1890s writings

An early work was the 1881 ''Încercare asupra stării sociale a poporului românesc în trecut'' ("Investigation into the Social Status of the Romanian People in the Past"), which attempted to trace the origins of Romanian culture. In 1892, he undertook a thorough linguistic analysis to demonstrate that the ''
Chronicle of Huru The ''Chronicle of Huru'' ( ro, Cronica lui Huru) was a forged narrative, first published in 1856–1857; it claimed to be an official chronicle of the medieval Moldavian court and to shed light on Romanian presence in Moldavia from Roman Dacia a ...
'', a purported 13th-century document, was in fact a modern forgery. He published ("Introduction to the History of Romanian Language and Literature") in 1888 and ''Gramatică elementară a limbii române'' ("Elementary Grammar of the Romanian Language") in 1897; this was at a time when domestic scientifically composed textbooks were in scarce supply. The first work, after presenting the author's ideas on literary history, goes on to provide biographical sketches of Romanian literary figures from the 16th-century
Coresi Coresi (also known as diaconul coresi)d. 1583, Brașov) was a Romanian printer of the sixteenth century. He was the editor of some of the earliest printed books in the Romanian language. Biography Coresi first became active at Târgoviște, but th ...
through 1821. Philippide believed that a satisfactory history of Romanian literature did not exist, and set out to correct this deficiency. Beginning here,Dragomir, p. 19 he grappled with the issue of the
literary language A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken langu ...
, which he termed the "common language". Observing that Romanian had not yet developed a firm standard, he both suggested a theory of language evolution and steps to be taken toward standardization. However, he rejected wholesale attempts to create a new variant, which he accused
Heimann Hariton Tiktin Heimann Hariton Tiktin (August 9, 1850 – March 13, 1936), born Heimann Tiktin, was a Silesian-born Romanian linguist and academic, one of the founders of modern Romanian linguistics. Biography Born in Breslau (part of Prussia at the time), ...
of doing prematurely. He ascribed overarching importance in the creation and evolution of literary languages to popular writers. The second work, targeted at a specialist audience,Brâncuș, p. 25 was not intended as a textbook but as a means to show Romanian grammar as it existed in reality; this was in contrast with Tiktin's 1891 teaching manual. Philippide discussed words selected from the dictionary by Alexandru Cihac, the only one he found respectable; and from writers, Moldavians especially:
Ion Creangă Ion Creangă (; also known as Nică al lui Ștefan a Petrei, Ion Torcălău and Ioan Ștefănescu; March 1, 1837 – December 31, 1889) was a Moldavian, later Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th-century Romania ...
foremost, but also
Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...
,
Alexandru Odobescu Alexandru Ioan Odobescu (; 23 June 1834 – 10 November 1895) was a Romanian author, archaeologist and politician. Biography He was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. After attending Saint Sava ...
,
Costache Negruzzi Constantin Negruzzi (; first name often Costache ; 1808–24 August 1868) was a Romanian poet, novelist, translator, playwright, and politician. Born in Trifeștii Vechi, Moldavia, he studied at home with a Greek teacher. He admitted in a later ...
,
Petre Ispirescu Petre Ispirescu (; January 1830 – 21 November 1887) was a Romanian editor, folklorist, printer, and publicist. He is best known for his work as a gatherer of Romanian folk tales, recounting them with a remarkable talent. Career Petre Ispiresc ...
,
Costache Conachi Costache Conachi (; 1777, Țigănești – 1849, Iași)Copoul poetului Costache ...
and
Vasile Alecsandri Vasile Alecsandri (; 21 July 182122 August 1890) was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia. He fought for the unification of the Romani ...
; and from the Moldavian chronicles, as well as a bit of
Anton Pann Anton Pann (; born Antonie Pantoleon-Petroveanu , and also mentioned as ''Anton Pantoleon'' or ''Petrovici''; 1790s—2 November 1854) was an Ottoman-born Wallachian composer, musicologist, and Romanian-language poet, also noted for his act ...
. The book features many examples of the spoken language, some of them in the
Moldavian subdialect The Moldavian dialect (''subdialectul / graiul moldovean / moldovenesc'') is one of several dialects of the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian). It is spoken across the approximate area of the historical region of Moldavia, now split between the Re ...
. He believed the examples would help illustrate the development of the language's inflection and syntax; this methodology is unique in the annals of Romanian grammar works. Here, he introduced the (debated) notion that the Romanian literary language was not based on a particular
subdialect Subdialect (from Latin , "under", and Ancient Greek , "discourse") is a linguistic term designating a dialectological category between the levels of dialect and idiolect. Subdialects are basic subdivisions of a dialect. Subdialects can be divided ...
, but resulted from each one's contributions. While the Wallachian form was previously dominant, the increasing output of Moldavian writers meant that, by the end of the 19th century, the written language had become a compromise between the two. It was an 1894 history of the language that put him on the academic map. Although modeled on
Hermann Paul Hermann Otto Theodor Paul (August 7, 1846, Salbke – December 29, 1921, Munich) was a German philologist, linguist and lexicographer. Biography He studied at Berlin and Leipzig, and in 1874 became professor of German language and literature in t ...
's ''Principles of the History of Language'', it was original in scope, discussing the distinction between literary and spoken language, the causes of linguistic change, the processes that lead to literary language formation and the relation between language and orthography. In his writing, he insisted on
phonetic spelling A phonemic orthography is an orthography (system for writing a language) in which the graphemes (written symbols) correspond to the phonemes (significant spoken sounds) of the language. Natural languages rarely have perfectly phonemic orthographi ...
, a principle that arose not only out of his linguistic theory, but also from his study of anthropology, which led him to believe that "naturalness" should lie at the heart of language, as well as morality, society and art.Patraș, p. 84 However, he made one significant exception to the phonetic rule: his own surname. When asked on this point, he joked that he wished to show he had the same name as
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, "who was himself Alexandru Philippide, that is, Alexander, son of
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
."


Family life

Philippide married twice. As a bachelor, he sought a German bride, having become convinced during his Halle days that a German woman would be ideal for him. His first wife, Johanna Minckwitz, had a doctorate in
Romance philology Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...
and was the daughter of a Zürich professor. The marriage took place in a civil ceremony at
Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...
on
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
in early October 1895. Although initially delighted with his new wife, the relationship soured due to the presence of Philippide's mother-in-law in his house. During one heated argument, he handled an axe and Johanna took her mother's side. Eventually, the two women returned to Switzerland and the marriage ended in divorce. Johanna continued to be interested in Romanian literature, and put out her own study of Eminescu's poetry. She and Philippide reportedly had a child, although details have not survived. In 1897, Philippide married a Romanian woman.Nastasă, p. 90 This was Lucreția Nemțeanu, a young novice at Agapia Monastery, where her sister was a nun. Her father, the former mayor of
Vânători-Neamț Vânători-Neamț is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Lunca, Mânăstirea Neamț, Nemțișor, and Vânători-Neamț. The commune lies on the banks of the river Nemțișor. It is located in ...
, was the administrator of the mental hospital in
Târgu Neamț Târgu Neamț (; german: Niamtz, hu, Németvásár, he, נאמץ טרגו, la, Ante Castrum Nempch) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered ...
.
Dinu Pillat Dinu Pillat (born Constantin I. Pillat; November 19, 1921–December 5, 1975) was a Romanian literary critic and prose writer. Born in Bucharest, his parents were poet Ion Pillat and his wife Maria (''née'' Procopie Dumitrescu), a painter kno ...
, ''Itinerarii istorico-literare'', p. 261. Editura Minerva, 1978
Nastasă, p. 102 He first learned of Lucreția when he saw her photograph in the hands of her brother, a student of his, and asked to meet her; a month and a half later, the two were married. This time, both a civil and a religious (
Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...
) service were held, probably at the insistence of his new in-laws. Although remarking on her "rotten poverty", he admired Lucreția's youth, beauty and kindness, considering her the opposite of Johanna. Their son, born in 1900, was the future poet
Alexandru A. Philippide Alexandru A. Philippide (; April 1, 1900 – February 8, 1979) was a Romanian poet. The son of linguist Alexandru Philippide, he was born in Iași. He studied law, literature, philosophy and political economy at the University of Iași, of ...
. The latter would recall the Spartan education received from his father, involving a strict program of
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
ic verse in the original Greek. The elder Philippide drew a sharp distinction between science, which he regarded as the province of manly, knowledge-seeking personalities; and literature, particularly poetry, which for him was an unserious activity for sensitive small minds. Although he had flirted with poetry as a young man, he was saddened to see his son adopt it as a profession.Patraș, p. 80


''Junimea'' and philosophical orientation

Philippide entered ''
Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...
'' society in the early 1890s, during its gradual relocation to
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 of ...
, the national capital. He then remained in contact with the young intellectuals who still met in Iași, where ''Junimea'' maintained a nominal presence—with N. Volenti and
Teohari Antonescu Teohari is a Romanian name that may refer to: Surname * Claudiu Teohari (born 1981), Romanian stand up-comedian, writer, and actor * Maria Teohari (1885–1975), Romanian astronomer Given name * (1866–1910), archaeologist * Teohari Georgescu ( ...
as mainstays. Philippide was disgusted by the provincial airs of Iași ''Junimism''. In December 1898, he wrote a letter to ''Junimea'' founder
Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...
, telling him that his creation had "degenerated" beyond recognition: "joke has turned to buffoonery, sally to insanity, liberty to anarchy." His time at ''Junimea'' did not leave a significant impact on his thinking: it was for him primarily a means of access to high society and developing useful connections with prominent figures capable of helping him advance. Later, once he was secure in his professorship, he distanced himself from ''Junimism'', particularly its political manifestation.Patraș, p. 83 Philippide did retain something of the conservative
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
promoted by Maiorescu, with which his tastes and sensibilities naturally fit in. Like Maiorescu himself, he derided
didacticism Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
, "social ideals" in art, and the
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
school of
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 1855, village of Slavyanka near Yekaterinoslav (modern Dnipro), then in Imperial Russia – 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and jour ...
. He detailed this hostility in his essay ''Idealuri'' ("Ideals"), serialized by the ''Junimea'' magazine, ''
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 ...
'', in 1892 and 1893: Philippide thought it absurd that Dobrogeanu-Gherea equated
cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
with socialist culture, and was infuriated by the Marxist claim that ''Junimea'' would not survive at all in cultural memory. Writing from a ''Junimist'' standpoint, he opined that a writer must take literary tradition into account, and that his writing should be devoid of moralizing. According to literary historian
Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, ''Idealuri'' is "dense, confused, and rather outside the scope of the polemic", as well as "passionately violent" in tone. From 1900, Philippide joined the 26-man team of editors at ''Convorbiri Literare'' (a step in its ongoing transition from literary polemics to scientific publishing). In 1902, at
Constantin Stere Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea (Romanian; russian: Константин Егорович Стере, ''Konstantin Yegorovich Stere'' or Константин Георгиевич Стере, ''Konstantin Georgiyevich Stere''; also known u ...
's urging, Philippide joined the anti-''Junimist'' National Liberal Party, but retained amiable or even friendly ties to ''Junimea'' figures, particularly Maiorescu.Patraș, p. 83 In line with the latter's pronouncements, he was a critic of modern, bourgeois-created Romanian society. Although nearly as vehement in this regard as Eminescu, he approached the matter not from a political angle but based on the classical morality espoused in the ''
Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
''. An independent thinker and committed individualist, characterized by moral intransigence, a lucid critic of his era and of his country's negative aspects, Philippide refused to be pigeonholed into a single ideological current, thus occupying a rare position for the time. His original thought combined tendencies normally thought of as contradictory: to his ''Junimist'' foundations were added small portions of socialist-tinted humanitarianism and Sămănătorist- Poporanist nationalism, as well as a hefty dose of German notions. Nevertheless, in the view of literary critic Antonio Patraș, they managed to form a coherent and compelling whole, lending scientific but also moral authority to his writings.Patraș, p. 81


Dictionary project

Elected a corresponding member of the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...
in 1898 and upgraded to titular member in 1900, he took part in its sessions twice, in 1910 and 1918. Philippide pursued two major tasks: the composition of a Romanian dictionary and the writing of the language's history from its origins to his day. Between 1898 and 1906, under the Academy's aegis, he worked on ''Dicționarul limbii române'' ("Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), together with several students. The project was sponsored by Maiorescu, who, like Philippide, deplored the excessive tendency to ascribe Latin etymologies. He managed to write definitions for letters A through D before having to interrupt his work; the manuscript covers 11,744
folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
pages. He put together a bibliography and plan for the whole dictionary and collected over 600,000 files.
Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France and Germany, he was ...
, ''Limba română: Privire generală'', p. x. Editura Minerva, 1976
Inherited from
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu ( 26 February 1838 – ) was a Romanian writer and philologist, who pioneered many branches of Romanian philology and history. Life He was born Tadeu Hâjdeu in Cristineștii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi ...
, who offered to pass him notes, the project subsequently passed into the hands of
Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France and Germany, he was ...
. The proximate cause for the end of Philippide's involvement was that the contract had expired; however, disagreements had arisen over the years as well. The Academy and
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Carol wanted a normal, functional, barebones dictionary, while Philippide preferred an exhaustive compilation of the
lexis Lexis may refer to: * Lexis (linguistics), the total bank of words and phrases of a particular language, the artifact of which is known as a lexicon *Lexis (Aristotle), a complete group of words in a language *LexisNexis, part of the LexisNexis onl ...
, "a Littré for the Romanians" (although he eventually dropped entries on proper nouns). One of his collaborators on the project was
Garabet Ibrăileanu Garabet Ibrăileanu (; May 23, 1871 – March 11, 1936) was a Romanian-Armenians in Romania, Armenian Literary criticism, literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, University of Iași professor ...
, whom he had helped set up ''Viața Românească''. The two shared a conservative temperament but not a similar political outlook, and Philippide took aim at the other's purported deficiencies as a philologist, seeing him as primarily a philosopher.


Renewed public debates

Alongside Stere, Philippide was a founding member and mentor of ''
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. Th ...
'' magazine, which, according to his own linguistic norms, was written in conscious contrast to the official spelling directives from the Academy. In his essays, which appeared in ''Viața Românească'' and in ''Convorbiri Literare'', Philippide tried to create a model portrait of the Romanian intellectual. His writings were polemical, sharply attacking the leading figures of his time. He derided a certain type of "specialist", and insisted that intellectuals needed to focus above all on enrichment through learning. His intellectual models had both made their mark prior to
Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Januar ...
's being deposed in 1866:
Timotei Cipariu Timotei Cipariu (; February 21, 1805, Pánád, Kis-Küküllő County–September 3, 1887, Balázsfalva, Alsó-Fehér County) was a Romanian Greek Catholic cleric and academic. He was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy The R ...
and
Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on October 11, 1863, ...
. Considering he lived in a darker age, the only later scholar he admired was Lambrior, while the quintessential "specialist" for him was Hasdeu. Uninterested in adopting others' opinions, with a penchant for discipline and thoroughness acquired in Germany, he became an adept of
Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
, which accounts for his emphasis on ethical values, above all honesty. His devotion to honesty sometimes caused problems in social settings. Analyzing his style, particularly as found in his correspondence, philologist Cristina Florescu categorizes Philippide as a late Romantic, displaying "impetuosity, idealism, a longing for a vanished time, imprudent and abrupt gestures", his flourishes meshing with his "elevated consciousness of Romanian realities". She suggests that his spirit, in order to face a society he often shunned, took refuge in humor. His primary weapon was irony: "whether acidic or gently sentimental, frequently hilarious but even more often stinging". His blend of satire, humor and irony made for a highly specific writing style. However, as argued by his friend Gheorghe T. Kirileanu, his speeches were uplifting, "stirring up inside you, in the deepest parts of your soul, the pleasure to work and live." According to Kirileanu, Philippide was cheerful only "because he wants to make others happy"; his scatological jokes, however, were perfectly suited to annoy "the delicate aristocrats",
Simion Mehedinți Simion Mehedinți (; October 19, 1868 – December 14, 1962) was a Romanian geographer, the founding father of modern Romanian geography, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. A figure of importance in the ''Junimea'' literary club, ...
and
Matei B. Cantacuzino Matei B. Cantacuzino (July 10, 1855 – August 10, 1925) was a Romanian jurist and politician. A scion of the Cantacuzino family, his parents were Basile Cantacuzino and Pulcheria Rosetti-Bălănescu; he had four sisters (one of whom died in ...
. Collections of his essays appeared as ''Specialistul român. Contribuție la istoria culturii românești din secolul XIX'' ("The Romanian Specialist. Contribution to the History of Romanian Culture in the 20th Century", 1906–1907), and as ("How the Romanian Specialist Defends Himself", 1908). However, he also attacked German linguist
Gustav Weigand Gustav Weigand (1 February 1860 – 8 July 1930), was a German linguist and specialist in Balkan languages, especially Romanian and Aromanian. He is known for his seminal contributions to the dialectology of the Romance languages of the Balkans ...
in a series of articles that appeared in 1909–1910 in ''Viața Românească'', published in 1910 in a single volume as ''Un specialist român la Lipsca'' ("A Romanian Specialist at Leipzig"). He began by defending his student Giorge Pascu, the target of a number of attacks by Weigand. Broadening the scope of his polemic, he questioned Weigand's competence as a scholar of Romanian, as well as that of other contemporary linguists. He passionately underscored what he considered Weigand's shortcomings as a person, accusing him of lacking objectivity and even of intrigue, claiming he sent letters to magazines in order to stop publication of articles by professional rivals. Philippide made a trip to Western Europe in 1914, after which he remained in Iași for the rest of his days. Like many educated Moldavians, he expressed distaste for Bucharest, considering it the root of all evil. He derided the
Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bu ...
as a gathering of "wretched undertakers", and railed against the Romanian Academy, which he saw as a hastily improvised imitation of prestigious Western academies, rife with imposture and improvisation, its members concerned with getting rich quickly rather than finding comfort in the rewards of philosophy.Patraș, p. 82 Philippide, in common with other ''Junimists'', deplored the French influence on Romania, believing the country needed a Germanic touch for its betterment. He was proud to live far from the hustle and bustle of Bucharest, hoping to revive the ''Junimea''-era glories of the country's former cultural capital that he inhabited. To this end, he helped bring a superior class of students, professors, writers and artists to Iași. Philippide, together with many other ''Junimists'' and Iași academics such as Stere, favored the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
for the first two years of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, during which interval Romania remained neutral. His cooperation with Stere deepened: in early 1916, he supported Stere's bid to return as Rector of Iași University, and ran on the same list as him. Although Philippide gathered most votes, the list overall lost as a result of government opposition and intrigue. The "
Germanophile A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German citizen. The love of the ''Ge ...
" party lost, as, in 1916, Romania joined the
Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...
; after the German counteroffensive, Bucharest was occupied and Iași became the provisional capital of a rump Romanian state. Between October 1916 and spring 1919, Iași University virtually ceased functioning due to the hardships of war. Its buildings were requisitioned by the War Ministry and most of the faculty were not in town. However, a few professors, including Philippide as well as Ibrăileanu and
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 of ...
, were able to teach part of their course schedule inside their private homes, which were not entirely taken over by the army. In October 1918, after Romania made peace with Germany, Philippide proposed Stere, Ibrăileanu, and Ilie Bărbulescu for membership of the Academy—they lost, owing to Stere's uncompromising Germanophilia.


''Originea românilor''

He spent the better part of his career on his second principal endeavor, a history of the language and an exploration of how it arose. Called ''Originea românilor'' ("The Origin of the Romanians"), its first, 889-page volume appeared in 1925, with the second 829-page one being published in 1928. Volume I, ''Ce spun izvoarele istorice'' ("What Historical Sources Say"), deals with the Romanians'
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...
(''see
origin of the Romanians Several theories address the issue of the origin of the Romanians. The Romanian language descends from the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken in the Roman provinces north of the "Jireček Line" (a proposed notional line separating the predominantly ...
'') and displays Philippide's abilities as an historian. He brings critical analysis to the works of
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
,
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
,
Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...
,
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
,
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
and
Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
, focusing on their writings about
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
and the northern Balkans. The work includes long passages that had never previously appeared in Romanian. At the same time, he details the Latin inscriptions found in the Balkans, paying close attention to
Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...
' ''De aedificiis'' but also to other material in the ''
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...
''. He calculates the length and intensity of Romanization in various parts of the Balkans and documents the ethnic migrations that took place throughout the Middle Ages between the north and south banks of the Danube. Additionally, he summarizes and critiques the main theories of ethnogenesis that appeared between the Middle Ages and the beginning of the 20th century.Arvinte, p. 14 He completely rejects the notion put forth by Austrian historian Robert Roesler that Romance-speaking people migrated into
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
in the 12th–13th centuries, after Magyar settlement, instead proposing a migration north of the Danube starting in the 6th century.Pamfil 1992, p. 298 He made a correction to the
Jireček Line The Jireček Line is a conceptual boundary through the ancient Balkans that divides the influence of the Latin (in the north) and Greek (in the south) languages in the Roman Empire from antiquity until the 4th century. The border has been repeate ...
that was generally accepted by later linguists. Part I of volume II is called ''Ce spune limba română'' ("What the Romanian Language Says"), and details the history of the language's
phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
. Remaining a standard reference text into the 21st century, the book also includes a history of the
Aromanian language The Aromanian language (, , , or ), also known as Macedo-Romanian or Vlach, is an Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian and Romania ...
's grammar. Using the comparative historical method of the
Indo-Europeanists Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...
, he reconstructs the language at its beginnings, labeling it "primitive Romanian" (''see
Proto-Romanian language Common Romanian ( ro, româna comună), also known as Ancient Romanian (), or Proto-Romanian (), is a comparatively reconstructed Romance language evolved from Vulgar Latin and considered to have been spoken by the ancestors of today's Romania ...
''), a dialect of Vulgar Latin. He suggests how the
Eastern Romance languages The Eastern Romance languages are a group of Romance languages. Today, the group consists of the Daco-Romance subgroup, which comprises the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian), Aromanian language and two other related minor languages, Megleno-R ...
were related at that point and how they broke apart into four distinct entities:
Daco-Romanian Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in t ...
, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Istro-Romanian. He used Weigand's linguistic atlas of the area, as well as many other sources on the four languages. The evolution of each sound and each grammatical form in the languages is closely documented. In the second part of volume II, ''Ce spune limba albaneză'' ("What the Albanian Language Says"), he tackles the difficult question of how Romanian is related to
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
and how this might shed light on Romanians' ethnogenesis. His conclusions retain general acceptance: that commonalities between the two languages are not due to borrowing by the ancestors of the Romanians from early Albanian, or vice versa, but arise from an ancient substrate. For Romanian, this is a pre-Roman,
Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
- Dacian-Moesian one; while for Albanian, the substrate is the Illyrian-Pannonian language. In terms of where ethnogenesis took place, Philippide, based on historic and linguistic investigation, proposed that this happened after 268 AD in the Roman provinces south of the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
:
Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...
,
Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
(Superior and Inferior) and Dardania, and not in
Dacia Traiana Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...
. Later research using discoveries in archaeology and numismatics that had not yet been made in Philippide's day cast doubt on his hypothesis that the Roman population of Dacia withdrew south of the Danube during the reign of
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...
. The linguistic portion of his hypothesis dealt with
affrication An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair. ...
, and he based his conclusions on the chronology of this phenomenon that was accepted in his time. Since then, a new timeline has come to be accepted. Nevertheless, Philippide was not strident in his conclusions, suggesting that a Romanized remnant stayed in Dacia even after 268, while in the parts of Romania that were not under Roman rule, there were people "not Romanized, but only Romanianized, and who live there, where they are now, since time immemorial".Arvinte, p. 16


Later life and legacy

Philippide suffered an attack of paralysis in early 1926 and developed
atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheroma, atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usu ...
in 1931. This became worse upon his wife's death in March 1933 and led to his own death five months later. Nevertheless, although he reached the mandatory retirement age in 1929, he received three successive exemptions that allowed him to remain on the faculty until his death. In 1927, an Institute of Romanian Philology was set up alongside Iași University upon the initiative of Philippide and Pascu, its first director. In December 1933, four months after his death, it was named in Philippide's honor. During his lifetime, only Pușcariu was an intellectual rival of equal stature. Later, for years, and for mainly ideological reasons although using his work as a pretext, he was ascribed an image of provincialism and extravagance bearing unjustified pretensions. The south-Danubian ethnogenesis hypothesis proposed in ''Originea românilor'' provoked long-term fury among a wide variety of uncultured nationalists, while philologists who had their own ethnic-based prejudices summarily dismissed Philippide's view. Moreover, his personal character did not help matters, with contemporaries recalling him as withdrawn, overly proud, unpredictable, cold when not aggressive during unwanted encounters. It was only in the presence of close associates or before the classroom that he let down his guard. Feared and respected by allies as well as rivals, only a relatively few followers understood and valued him.Patraș, p. 79 Nevertheless, these latter scholars did make use of his publications as a basis for their own research, as well as adopting the rigorous intellectual methods and persistent search for knowledge that he displayed. His students include the main representatives of the Iași school of linguistics:
Gheorghe Ghibănescu Gheorghe Ghibănescu (29 September 1864 – 4 July 1936) was a Romanian historian and philologist. Born in Gugești, Vaslui County, he attended the junior seminary in Huși from 1875 to 1879, followed by the senior seminary at the Socola Monaste ...
,
Vasile Bogrea The male name Vasile is of Greek origin and means "King". Vasile is a male Romanian given name or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Basil. As a given name As a surname * Cristian Vasile (1908–1985), Romanian tango-romance s ...
, Giorge Pascu,
Iorgu Iordan Iorgu Iordan (; also known as ''Jorgu Jordan'' or ''Iorgu Jordan''; –September 20, 1986) was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety of t ...
, Constantin Gălușcă, Titus Hotnog, I. N. Popovici,
Ioan Șiadbei Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...
, Dimitrie Găzdaru, Grigore Scorpan, Haralambie Mihăescu and Gheorghe Ivănescu. Pascu, Ibrăileanu and Iordan took up his ideas on literary language, but it was Ivănescu who subjected them to a detailed critical analysis and developed his own theory by synthesizing Philippide's with linguistic idealism.
Ion Petrovici Ion (Ioan) Petrovici (June 14, 1882 – February 17, 1972) was a Romanian professor of philosophy at the University of Iași and titular member of the Romanian Academy. He served as Minister of National Education in the Goga cabinet and Ministe ...
's opening speech to the Romanian Academy in 1935 had Philippide as its theme. During the Communist period, Iordan published a biography in 1969. The latter, who retained a strong admiration for his mentor, wrote the book in response to a biography of Hasdeu published the previous year. Next came by a volume of studies that appeared in 1983 on the occasion of the semicentennial of his death, by a volume of his works the following year, and by a 1986 book recording dialogues with his contemporaries. Carmen-Gabriela Pamfil authored a 2008 biography in preparation for the 150th anniversary of Philippide's birth.Dumistrăcel, pp. 27–28 In 2011, his edited course materials were published as ''Istoria limbii române'' ("The History of the Romanian Language"). Two Iași sites associated with Philippide are listed as
historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
s by Romania's Culture Ministry: his house, now a laboratory used by the city's medical university; and his grave in
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 ...
.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Iași
pp. 1607, 1643


Selected bibliography

*. Iași, 1881 *. Iași, Editura Librăriei Frații Șaraga, 1888 *. Iași, Tipografia Națională, 1894 *. Iași, Editura Librăriei Isr. Kuppermann, 1897 *. Iași, Tipografia "Viața românească" S.A., 1925, 1928


Notes


References

* Vasile Arvinte
"70 de ani de la moartea lui A. Philippide"
in ''Buletinul Institutului de Filologie Română 'A. Philippide, year IV, Nr. 4, October–December 2003, pp. 13–16 *Cristina Bădară, "G. T. Kirileanu în colecțiile Bibliotecii Centrale Universitare Carol I", in ''Revista Bibliotecii Naționale a României'', Nr. 2/2006, pp. 45–52 *
Lucian Boia Lucian Boia (born 1 February 1944 in Bucharest) is a Romanian historian. He is mostly known for his debunking of historical myths about Romania, for purging mainstream Romanian history from the deformations due to ideological propaganda. I.e. as ...
, ''"Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial''. Editura Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010, *Grigore Brâncuș, "Gramatica lui Al. Philippide", in ''Anuarul Universității din Iași'', secțiunea III (Lingvistică), vol LIX, 2013, pp. 19–25 * Mioara Dragomir
"Locul limbii literare în doctrina lui Alexandru Philippide"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 17–25 * Stelian Dumistrăcel
"Alexandru Philippide – Gustav Weigand: ipostaze"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 27–42 * Cristina Florescu
"Alexandru I. Philippide. Coordonate stilistice"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 43–50 * Alexandru Gafton
"''Originea românilor'' – piatră de temelie a Şcolii lingvistice de la Iaşi"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 51–55 * Ofelia Ichim
"Alexandru Philippide și receptarea istoriei literare"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 57–61 *Lucian Nastasă, ''Intelectualii și promovarea socială în Romania''. Editura Limes, Cluj-Napoca, 2004, *
Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, ''Junimea și junimismul'', I-II. Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998, * Carmen-Gabriela Pamfil,
"Alexandru I. Philippide (1859–1933)"
in ''Anuar de lingvistică şi istorie literară'', vol. XXIII A. (Lingvistică), 1992–1993, pp. 297–299
"''Istoria limbii române'' de Alexandru Philippide"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year IV, Nr. 1, 2008, pp. 211–232 * Antonio Patraș
"Alexandru Philippide la ''Viaţa Românească''"
in ''Philologica Jassyensia'', year V, Nr. 1 (9), 2009, pp. 79–88 *Eugen Pavel, "Alexandru Philippide – între filologie și istorie literară", in ''Anuarul Universității din Iași'', secțiunea III (Lingvistică), vol LIX, 2013, pp. 31–41 * Mihai Sorin Rădulescu
"Philippide – o familie greco-română"
in ''Revista Arhivelor'', Nr. 1, 2009, pp. 83–96 *Marius Sala, "Cărți și oameni", in ''Anuarul Universității din Iași'', secțiunea III (Lingvistică), vol LVIII, 2012, pp. 27–9 *Simona Șova, "Polemica la Alexandru I. Philippide", in ''Anuarul Universității din Iași'', secțiunea III (Lingvistică), vol LVIII, 2012, pp. 65–74 *Roxana Vieru, "''Originea Românilor'', din nou sub tipar", in ''Anuarul Universității din Iași'', secțiunea III (Lingvistică), vol LVIII, 2012, pp. 75–78 {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippide, Alexandru 1859 births 1933 deaths 19th-century Romanian historians 20th-century Romanian historians Romanian literary historians Romanian Latinists Linguists from Romania Romanian lexicographers Romance philologists Albanologists 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists Male essayists Romanian textbook writers Romanian schoolteachers Romanian librarians Romanian magazine editors People from Bârlad Romanian people of Greek descent Gheorghe Roşca Codreanu National College alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Junimists Titular members of the Romanian Academy Romanian people of World War I Burials at Eternitatea cemetery 19th-century male writers 20th-century Romanian male writers