George Murnu (; rup, Ioryi Murnu; 1 January 1868,

Veria Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of ...

, Salonica Vilayet,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, now in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

– 17 November 1957,

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 ...

) was a

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

n university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator, and poet of Aromanian origin. After attending the courses of th
Romanian primary and secondary schools
in Macedonia at Bitola, he attended the

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

. In 1893, at age 25, Murnu was appointed professor at the

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

and shortly afterwards was awarded a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

by the Romanian State in order to complete his postgraduate studies in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and, after several years he returned to Romania after completing a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

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 th ...

. A fruitful scholarly activity followed, culminating in Murnu becoming a chairman professor of archaeology at the University of Bucharest. In 1909, he was appointed head of the National Archaeological Museum in Bucharest by the Ministry of Public Instruction and Religious Confessions. He has translated an accomplished version of the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' and ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' into

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

. He also wrote his own works of poetry (with

bucolic A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music ( pastorale) that depic ...

themes), both in Romanian and in his native

Aromanian language The Aromanian language (, , , or ), also known as Macedo-Romanian or Vlach, is an Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian and Romanian, spoken in Southeastern Europe. Its speakers are called Aromanians or Vl ...

. Murnu was a sympathizer of the far right Iron Guard, and was an intimate friend of the Aromanian

secessionist Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

politician,

Alcibiades Diamandi Alcibiades Diamandi (13 August 1893 – 9 July 1948, sometimes spelled ''Diamanti'' or ''Diamantis''; rup, Alcibiadi Diamandi; el, Αλκιβιάδης Διαμάντης) was an Aromanian political figure of Greece and Axis collaborator, act ...

who in 1917 participated in a failed effort to form an independent

Principality of Pindus The Principality of the Pindus ( rup, Printsipat di la Pind; el, Πριγκιπάτο της Πίνδου; it, Principato del Pindo; ro, Principatul de Pind) is the name used in literature to describe the attempt and proposal to create an auto ...

under the protection of Italy. After the end of

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Murnu was not subject to legal investigation - probably due to his age and prestige. He was elected a full member of the Romanian Academy. Nowadays,
street
in the Romanian

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

port of

Mangalia Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern ...

bears his name.

Works

* ''Românii din Bulgaria medievală'' ("Romanians in Medieval

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

") * ''Studiu asupra elementului grec ante-fanariot în limba română'' ("Essay on the pre-

Phanariote Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenic ...

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), southe ...

elements in Romanian")

Poetry written by Murnu

Cântecul plaiurilor noastre (in

) ''Din bură de codri răsună chemare''
''Din glasuri de păsări, de frunze, de crengi''
''De șoapte lungi, de fântâni, de izvoare''
''Cu lacrimi de umbră, cu zâmbet de soare;''
''Și clopote-aud, cunoscute tălăngi''
''De turme răzlețe pe văi și pripoare'' Grailu armãnescu (in Aromanian) ''Grailu-a mel di mumã, grailu-a mel di tatã''
''Vatra-a mea iu ni-arde anjli tsi-am bãnatã'' ''Grai picurãrescu di pãdhuri shi ploae''
''Zbor tsi-avdzãi dit gura-a paplui shi ali mae''
''Zbor di budzã vrutã, dumnidzescã njilã''
''Anjurizmã di frangã shi di trandafilã.'' ''Lavã di cãshare, boatse di cãlivã''
''Suflã vindicare-a ta dultse livã.'' ''Adiljat di moscu, duh di primuverã''
''Bana nj-u cutreamburã ca unã fluiarã''
''Tsi di dor pitrunde noaptea tu pundie''
''Inima-nj ti-cãntã, mãna-nj tut ti-scrie.'' ''Stãu, tsi-ascultu plãngu, jalea shi niholu,''
''Ved ãncrutsiljatã Soia-nj ca Hristolu''
''Shi mizie li-si-avde zborlu-a tal dit gurã.'' ''Scumpa-a mea fãntãnã tsi anarga curã,''
''Mãne, poate mãne, di dushmanj biutã,''
''Va s-armãne tu etã pondã shi tãcutã.''

Sources

* Nicolae-Șerban Tanașoca, ''Realism și idealism în "Chestiunea aromânească". Un episod diplomatic din viața lui George Murnu în lumina corespondenței sale inedite'' (''Réalisme et idéalisme dans "la question aroumaine". Un épisode diplomatique de la vie de George Murnu a la lumiere de sa corespondance inédite''), in ''Revista de Istorie'', 1997, 8, nr. 11–12, pp. 719–738.

External links

George Murnu - Autobiographical fragment in German

The Folklore Association of Aromanians (Armãnj) in Veria
*
Vlahoi.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murnu, George 1868 births 1957 deaths People from Veria People from Salonica vilayet Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire Titular members of the Romanian Academy Romanian people of World War II Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Romanian essayists Romanian fascists Aromanian historians 20th-century Romanian historians Romanian male poets Aromanian poets Aromanian writers Romanian translators Aromanian translators Romanian people of Aromanian descent 20th-century translators 20th-century essayists 20th-century Romanian male writers 19th-century Romanian historians