Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n historian of religions and mentalities,
ethnologist
Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology).
Scien ...
,
cultural anthropologist
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term s ...
, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the
history of religions
The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the st ...
and
mentalities, he is also noted for his investigation of rituals and
magic and his work in
Jewish studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...
and the
history of antisemitism
The history of antisemitism, defined as hostile actions or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group, goes back many centuries, being called "the longest hatred". Jerome Chanes identifies six stages in the historical developmen ...
. After the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...
of 1989, he also became noted for his articles and essays on the
Holocaust in Romania.
A founding member and researcher at the
Institute for History of Religions of the
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ) 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 bylaws, the academy's ma ...
in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, he is also the president of the
Romanian Association for the History of Religions (RAHR). Oișteanu is professor in the Department for Jewish Studies at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
. He is also member of the educational board of the
Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania and member of the editorial board of the
Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism (Academic Studies Press, Boston). Andrei Oișteanu is a Knight of the
Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...
, awarded by the Romanian President (2006), and a Commander of the
Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity ( ) was founded as a national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or foreigners who made an outstanding co ...
, awarded by the Italian President (2005).
He is the father of Amana Ferro Oisteanu, EU public affairs expert (Brussels) and the brother of American poet
Valery Oișteanu (New York).
Biography
Born into a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in Bucharest, Oișteanu took a post-graduate course in
Oriental Studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...
at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
(lecturers:
Sergiu Al-George and Amita Bhose).
[ , at the ; retrieved November 7, 2007] During the early 1970s, he was active in
Ceata Melopoică, an
experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
and
concept band led by
Mircea Florian.
In 1997 he took a course in
Jewish Studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...
at the
Central European University
Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...
in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
(lecturers:
Moshe Idel
Moshe Idel (; born January 19, 1947) is a Romanian-born Israeli historian and philosopher of Jewish mysticism. He is Emeritus Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and a Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hart ...
and Michael Silber). Between 1997 and 1999, he had a research grant at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
,
International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. In 2002 he had a documentary grant in Germany (Berlin, München, Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf) offered by the
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...
, a grant on "Jewish Identity and Antisemitism in Central and Eastern Europe". In 2005-2006 he had a research grant at the New Europe College Institute for Advanced Studies (as guest of the
Rector Andrei Pleșu) on "History of the History of Religions in Romania".
Works
* ''Grădina de dincolo. Zoosofia. Comentarii mitologice'' ("The Garden of the World Beyond. Zoosophy. Mythological Commentaries"),
Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1980 (second edition,
Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2012).
* ''Motive și semnificații mito-simbolice în cultura tradițională românească'' ("Mytho-Symbolical Motifs and Meanings in Romanian Traditional Culture"),
Editura Minerva
Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books.
The company was founded in Bucharest in ...
, Bucharest, 1989.
* ''Cutia cu bătrâni'' ("The Box with Old People", novel), Preface by Dan C. Mihăilescu, Meta Publishing House, Bucharest, 1995 (second edition,
Cartea Românească Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005; third edition, Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2012).
* ''Mythos & Logos. Studii și eseuri de antropologie culturală'' ("Mythos & Logos. Studies and Essays in Cultural Anthropology"), , Bucharest, 1997 (second edition, 1998).
* ''Cosmos vs. Chaos. Myth and Magic in Romanian Traditional Culture'', illustrated edition,
Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, Bucharest, 1999.
* ''Imaginea evreului în cultura română. Studiu de imagologie în context est-central european'' ("The Image of the Jew in Romanian Culture. A Study of Imagology in Central-East European Context"),
Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2001 (second edition, Humanitas, 2004; third edition, revised, enhanced and illustrated, Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2012). The volume was awarded with five major prizes in Romania, Italy, Belgium, and Israel.
* ''Das Bild des Juden in der rumänischen Volkskultur'' ("The Image of the Jew in Romanian Popular Culture"), Hartung-Gorre Verlag, Konstanz, 2002.
* ''Jewish Identity and Antisemitism in Central and South-Eastern Europe'', volume edited, foreworded and illustrated by Andrei Oișteanu, Goethe Institut, Bucharest, 2003.
* ''A Képzeletbeli Zsidó'' ("The Image of the Jew", translated in Hungarian), Kriterion Publishing House, Cluj, 2005.
* ''Ordine și Haos. Mit și magie în cultura tradiţională românească'' ("Order & Chaos. Myth and Magic in Romanian Traditional Culture"), illustrated edition, Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2004.
* ''Religie, politică și mit. Texte despre Mircea Eliade și Ioan Petru Culianu'' ("Religion, Politics and Myth: Texts on Mircea Eliade and Ioan Petru Culianu"), Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2007 (second edition, revised, enlarged, and illustrated, Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2014).
* ''Il diluvio, il drago e il labirinto. Studi di magia e mitologia europea comparata'' ("The Deluge, the Dragon and the Labyrinth. Comparative Studies in European Magic and Mythology"), A cura di Dan Octavian Cepraga e Maria Bulei, Postfazione di Dan Octavian Cepraga, Edizioni Fiorini, Verona, 2008.
* ''Inventing the Jew. Antisemitic Stereotypes in Romanian and Other Central-East European Cultures'', foreword by
Moshe Idel
Moshe Idel (; born January 19, 1947) is a Romanian-born Israeli historian and philosopher of Jewish mysticism. He is Emeritus Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and a Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hart ...
,
Nebraska University Press, Lincoln & London, 2009. The author was awarded with the Prize "A.D. Xenopol" of the Romanian Academy (Bucharest, 2011) and the Prize B'nai B'rith Europe (Brussels, 2015) "for an intellectual who has contributed to the changing image of the Jew in society";
* ''Konstruktionen des Judenbildes: Rumänische und Ostmitteleuropäische Stereotypen des Antisemitismus'', Aus dem Rumänischen übersetzt von Larisa Schippel, Frank & Timme Verlag, Berlin, 2010;
* ''Narcotice în cultura română. Istorie, religie și literatură'' ("Narcotics in Romanian Culture. History, Religion and Literature") Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2010 (second edition, 2011; third edition, 2014; forth edition, revised, enlarged and illustrated, Polirom, 2019). The volume was awarded with the Special Prize of the Union of Writers from Romania;
* ''Les Images du Juif: Clichés antisémites dans la culture roumaine. Une approche comparative'', Préface de Matei Cazacu, édition illustrée,
Éditions Non Lieu, Paris, 2013.
* ''Rauschgift in der rumaenischen Kultur: Geschichte, Religion und Literatur'', Translated from Romanian by Julia Richter, Frank & Timme Verlag, Berlin, 2013.
* Andrei Oișteanu,
Andrei Pleșu,
Neagu Djuvara &
Adrian Cioroianu, ''Evreii din România'' ("The Jews in Romania"), Hasefer Publishing House, Bucharest, 2013.
* ''Sexualitate și societate. Istorie, religie și literatură'' ("Sexuality and Society: History, Religion and Literature"), Illustrated edition, Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2016; Second edition, revised, enlarged and illustrated, Polirom, Iași, 2018. Author's Prize: "The Writers of the Year 2016".
* ''L´immagine dell'ebreo: Stereotipi antisemiti nella cultura romena e dell'Europa centro-orientale'', a cura di Francesco Testa e Horia Cicortas, Collana di Studi Ebraici, Edizioni Belforte, Livorno, 2018.
* ''Moravuri și nǎravuri. Eseuri de istorie a mentalitǎților'' ("Good Habits and Bad Habits: Essays on History of Mentalities", Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2021. The volume was awarded with the Special Prize of the Union of Writers from Romania.
References
CV at the Institute of the History of Religions
Further reading
Article about a book series in his honor
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oisteanu, Andrei
1948 births
Living people
Cultural anthropologists
Romanian historians of religion
Mythographers
Writers from Bucharest
Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania
Romanian anthropologists
Romanian essayists
Romanian ethnologists
20th-century Romanian historians
21st-century Romanian historians
Jewish Romanian writers
Romanian journalists
Romanian literary critics
Romanian literary historians
Romanian experimental musicians
Romanian novelists
Romanian male novelists
University of Bucharest alumni
Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni
Central European University alumni
Romanian male essayists
20th-century Romanian male writers