Dimitrie Gusti 2018 stampsheet of Romania

Dimitrie Gusti (; 13 February 1880 – 30 October 1955) was a

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

n sociologist,

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropolog ...

, historian, and voluntarist

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

; a professor at the University of Iaşi and 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 ...

, he served as Romania's Minister of Education in 1932–1933. Gusti was elected a member of the Romanian Academy in 1919, and was its president between 1944 and 1946. He was the main contributor to the creation of a new Romanian school of sociology. He was a prominent member of the Peasants' Party, and later of the National Peasants' Party into which the former had merged.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, he began studying Letters 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 ...

before moving on to the Universität unter den Linden and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), 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 ...

, where he studied and completed 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 ''l ...

in Philosophy (1904). In 1905, he began the study of Sociology, Law, and

Political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

at the Universität unter den Linden. Gusti was appointed to the Department of Ancient History,

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

and Sociology of the University of Iași in 1910, and was one of the main contributors to the creation of a new Romanian school of sociology. He moved 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 o ...

in 1920, and began work as a professor at the

, in the Department of Sociology, Ethics, Politics, and

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 t ...

of the latter's Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. His lectures became a center of interest inside the academic community, and he attracted students with diverse backgrounds and political convictions (the

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

Mircea Vulcănescu Mircea Aurel Vulcănescu (3 March 1904 – 28 October 1952) was a Romanian philosopher, economist, ethics teacher, sociologist, and far-right politician. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance from 1941 to 1944 in the Nazi-aligned govern ...

, the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Miron Constantinescu, the Austromarxist Henri H. Stahl, and the left-wing artist Lena Constante). Creator of the Bucharest School of Sociology and several Institutes, he also led, between 1925 and 1948, the intense research of Romanian villages and the publishing of its results as detailed

monographs A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograp ...

(a work in which he was notably assisted by

Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa (October 22, 1895–December 17, 1989) was a Romanian sociologist, journalist, left-wing politician, and diplomat. Biography Origins and work with Gusti Born in Răcoasa, Vrancea County, his parents were Constantin ...

and Stahl). In 1936, together with Stahl and

Victor Ion Popa Victor Ion Popa (; July 29, 1895 in Bârlad – March 30, 1946 in Bucharest) was a Romanian dramatist. He went to primary school in the village of Călmăţui, a village in the Grivița commune, in the former Tutova County, where his father was a ...

, Gusti created the

Village Museum The Village Museum formally National Museum of the Village "Dimitrie Gusti" (''Muzeul Național al Satului "Dimitrie Gusti"'' in Romanian) is an open-air ethnographic museum located in the King Michael I Park (Bucharest, Romania), showcasing tr ...

. He left the National Peasants' Party after 1938, disagreeing with its decision to oppose the

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

regime of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Carol II, and collaborated with the newly created National Renaissance Front. Consequently, he was threatened by the rise of the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was stron ...

(with the late 1940 establishment of the

National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a totalitarian fascist regime which governed Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by General Ion Antonescu in partnership with the ...

); following the

Legionary Rebellion Between 21 and 23 January 1941, a rebellion of the Iron Guard paramilitary organization, whose members were known as Legionnaires, occurred in Bucharest, Romania. As their privileges were being gradually removed by the ''Conducător'' Ion An ...

and the Guard's defeat, he sent a congratulatory telegram to ''

Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who mad ...

. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Gusti was approached by the new

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

with offers of collaboration. He was invited to attend official ceremonies inside the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, and was a member of the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union. He died in Bucharest in 1955, and was buried at

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 journ ...

Theory

Gusti defined his view on society as dependent on a set of principles: *Society is composed of " social units", as groups of humans linked by a voluntary organizing activity and interconnected spiritually. *The essence of life is "social will". *"Social will" is expressed in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

and

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape ...

, both of which are regulated by law and politics. *"Social will" is conditioned by factors which are included in four fundamental and parallel categories: cosmical,

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries bet ...

, and historical. *The changes engineered by the factors are known as " social processes". *The premises of development one can observe in present society, and thus can predict with some accuracy, are known as "social trends". A creator of the sociological ''monographic method'' (as still used by his Bucharest School), Gusti favored and theoretised first-hand intensive observation of social units and phenomena, as well as

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 other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

, with the research work being carried out through intensive collaboration within the field of

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

, but also with doctors, agronomists, schoolteachers, etc.

Main works

*''Egoismus und Altruismus'', 1904 *''Die soziologischen Betrehungen in der neuen Ethik'', 1908 *''Cosmologia elenă'', 1929 *''Sociologia militans'', (vol. 1, 1935; vols. 2–3, 1946) *''Enciclopedia României'', vols. I-IV, Bucharest, 1938, 1943 *''Cunoaştere şi acţiune în serviciul naţiunii'', (2 vols., 1939) *''Problema sociologiei'', 1940 *''La science de la réalité sociale'', 1941

Notes

Cited sources

* Lucian Boia, ed. (1998) ''Miturile comunismului românesc'' (''The Myths of Romanian Communism''), Editura Nemira, Bucharest. **Ovidiu Bozgan, "Traiectorii universitare: de la stânga interbelică la comunism" ("University Trajectories: from Interwar Left to Communism"), pp. 309–335 ** Adrian Cioroianu, "Lumina vine de la Răsărit. «Noua imagine» a Uniunii Sovietice în România postbelică, 1944–1947" ("The Light Arises in the East. The Soviet Union's «New Image» of Postwar Romania, 1944–1947"), p. 21–68 *

''Şcoala sociologică a lui Dimitrie Gusti'' ("Dimitrie Gusti's Sociological School")
*Ioan Scurtu, "PNL și PNȚ: Rezerve, nemulțumiri, proteste. Partidele istorice sub guvernarea antonesciano-legionară" ("PNL and PNȚ: Reserves, Dissatisfactions, Protests, Historical Parties under the Antonescu-Legionary Government"), in ''Dosarele Istoriei'', 9/2000

External links