Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.

Life

Sebastian was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After completing his secondary education, Sebastian studied law in Bucharest, but was soon attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary group Criterion which included

Emil Cioran Emil Mihai Cioran (, ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. ...

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...

and Eugène Ionesco. Sebastian published several novels, including ''Accidentul'' ("The Accident") and ''Orașul cu salcâmi'' ("The Town with Acacia Trees"), heavily influenced by French novelists such as Marcel Proust and

Jules Renard Pierre-Jules Renard (; 22 February 1864 – 22 May 1910) was a French author and member of the Académie Goncourt, most famous for the works '' Poil de carotte'' (Carrot Top, 1894) and ''Les Histoires Naturelles'' (Nature Stories, 1896). Among ...

. Although initially an apolitical movement, Criterion came under the increasing influence of

Nae Ionescu Nae Ionescu (, born Nicolae C. Ionescu; – 15 March 1940) was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist. Near the end of his career, he became known for his antisemitism and devotion to far right politics, in t ...

's brand of philosophy, called '' Trăirism'', which mixed jingoistic nationalism, existentialism and Christian mysticism, as well as that of the fascist and antisemitic paramilitary organization known as the Iron Guard. As a Jew, Sebastian came to be regarded as an outsider within the group, even by his friends. In 1934 he published another novel, ''De două mii de ani'' (''For Two Thousand Years''), about what it meant to be a Jew in Romania, and asked Nae Ionescu, who at the time was still friendly with Sebastian, to write the preface. Ionescu agreed, generating uproar by inserting paragraphs both antisemitic and against the very nature of the book they introduced. Sebastian "decided to take the only intelligent revenge"Sebastian, Mihail. ''Cum am devenit huligan'' and publish the preface, which only heightened the controversy. Sebastian's decision to include the preface prompted criticism from the Jewish community (Jewish satirist Ludovic Halevy, for instance, referred to Sebastian as "Ionescu's lap dog"), as well as the far-right circles patronized by Ionescu and the Iron Guard. The antisemitic daily newspaper '' Sfarmă Piatră'' (literally "Breaking Rocks") denounced Sebastian as a "Zionist agent and traitor", despite Sebastian's vocal declaration he was a proud Romanian with no interest in emigrating from his homeland. In response to the criticism, Sebastian wrote ''Cum am devenit huligan'' (''How I Became a Hooligan''), an anthology of essays and articles depicting the manner in which ''For Two Thousand Years'' was received by the Romanian public and the country's cultural establishment. In the book, he answered his critics by holding up a mirror to their prejudice, detailing and assailing the claims of both his right-wing and left-wing detractors. He addresses the rabid antisemitism of the former in a clear and unaffected manner, underlining its absurdity:

I was born in Romania, and I am Jewish. That makes me a Jew, and a Romanian. For me to go around and join conferences demanding that my identity as a Jewish Romanian be taken seriously would be as crazy as the Lime Trees on the island where I was born to form a conference demanding their rights to be Lime Trees. As for anyone who tells me that I'm not a Romanian, the answer is the same: go talk to the trees, and tell them they're not trees.

Yet for all the sharpness and clarity of his response, he could not help but feel betrayed and saddened by Ionescu's vicious preface:

What hurt me was not the idea that the preface would be made public - what hurt me was the idea that it had been written. Had I known it would have been destroyed immediately afterwards, it still would have hurt me had it been written...

Sebastian became known in

Romanian literature Romanian literature () is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language. History The development of the Romanian literature took place in parallel with tha ...

mainly for his plays, such as '' Steaua fără nume'' ("The Star Without a Name"), ''Jocul de-a vacanța'' ("Holiday Games"), and ''Ultima oră'' ("Breaking News").

''Journal, 1935-1944''

For 10 years, Sebastian kept a

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

that was finally published in Bucharest in 1996 to "considerable debate" and in America under the title ''Journal, 1935-1944: The Fascist Years''. It records the mounting persecution he endured and documents the disdain former friends began showing him in Romania's increasingly antisemitic sociopolitical landscape. A friend of

, he was deeply disappointed when the latter supported the Iron Guard. Despite this ominous tone, the diary also reveals Sebastian's unflagging sense of humor and self-irony. A fundamental testimony of anti-Semitism in Europe prior to, and during, the years 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 ...

, the ''Journal'' has been compared to those of

Victor Klemperer Victor Klemperer (9 October 188111 February 1960) was a German scholar who also became known as a diarist. His journals, published in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the Germa ...

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

. He was a great lover of classical music and often attended concerts. In his ''Journal'', there are many references to various classical composers and reviews of radio broadcast concerts. After being expelled from his home due to the new antisemitic laws, Sebastian moved into a tenement slum where he continued his writing. On August 23, 1944, the Romanian government of Ion Antonescu was overthrown, and Romania joined the Allies (''see

Romania during World War II Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol II officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political uph ...

'').

Death

On 29 May 1945, Mihail Sebastian was accidentally hit by a truck.

Legacy

In the 2000s, Sebastian's ''Journal'' gained a new audience in Western countries due to its lyrical, evocative style and the brutal honesty of its accounts. The manuscript of the journal was obtained by Harry From, who arranged for its publication in 1996, by the Romanian publishing house

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

. In 2004, American playwright David Auburn wrote a one-man play based on Sebastian's diary titled, ''The Journals of Mihail Sebastian''. It debuted the same year in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and starred Stephen Kunken in the role of Mihail Sebastian. Sebastian's niece, Michelle Hechter, a French writer and translator, published in 2000 an autobiographical work titled ''M. et M.'' dealing extensively with her uncle's life and writings. In 2006, Mihail Sebastian was posthumously awarded the

Geschwister-Scholl-Preis The Geschwister-Scholl-Preis is a literary prize which is awarded annually by the Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and the city of Munich. Every year, a book is honoured, which "shows intellectual independence and ...

for ''Voller Entsetzen, aber nicht verzweifelt''. On October 18, 2020,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

celebrated his 113th birthday with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

Selected bibliography

Novels

* ''Femei'' (1933) / ''

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

'' (trans. Gabi Reigh
''Women''
Aurora Metro Books, 2020) *''De două mii de ani'' (1934) / '' For Two Thousand Years'' (trans.

Philip Ó Ceallaigh Philip Ó Ceallaigh (born 23 March 1968) is an Irish short story writer and translator who lives in Bucharest. Ó Ceallaigh won the 2006 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Awar ...

Penguin Modern Classics
2016) * ''Orașul cu salcâmi'' (1935) /
The Town with Acacia Trees
' (trans
Gabi Reigh
Aurora Metro Books, 2019) * ''Accidentul'' (1940) / ''The Accident'' (trans. Stephen Henighan, Biblioasis, 2011)

Theatre

* ''Jocul de-a vacanța'' (1938) / ''Holiday Make Believe'' * ''Steaua fără nume'' (1944) /
Star with no Name''
(trans. Gabi Reigh, Aurora Metro Books, 2020) * ''Ultima oră'' (1945) / ''Breaking News'' * ''Insula'' (1947) / ''The Island''

Other

* ''Fragmente dintr-un carnet găsit'' (1932) / ''Fragments from a Found Notebook'' (Trans. Christina Tudor-Sideri. Seattle: Sublunary Editions, 2020) * ''Cum am devenit huligan'' (1935) / ''How I Became a Hooligan'' * ''Corespondența lui Marcel Proust'' (1939) / ''The Correspondence of Marcel Proust'' * ''Eseuri, cronici, memorial'' (1972) / ''Essays, Chronicles, Memorial'' * ''Journal, 1935-1944'' / published in America as ''Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years'' (trans. Patrick Camiller. Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2000) and in Britain as ''Journal: 1935-1944'' (London: Pimlico, 2003)

References

External links

''Mihail Sebastian''
by Loredana Dima

by Zachary Wemer

by David Auburn
''Thirsting for Music''
BBC Radio 3 feature {{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, Mihail Jewish novelists People from Brăila Road incident deaths in Romania Romanian Jews Romanian male novelists Romanian theatre critics Romanian people of World War II Jewish Romanian writers banned by the Antonescu regime Jewish Romanian writers 1907 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian male writers Holocaust diarists Romanian diarists