Matei Alexe Călinescu (June 15, 1934 – June 24, 2009) was a

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n literary critic and professor of

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Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, in

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Biography

Călinescu was born 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 ...

, the son of Radu Călinescu, an engineer, and Dora Călinescu (née Vulcănescu), a homemaker."Matei (Alexe) Calinescu." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit:

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, 2002. Retrieved via ''Biography In Context'' database, 2018-03-31. He attended the Ion Luca Caragiale High School in Bucharest, obtaining his diploma in 1952. He then pursued his 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 ...

, graduating in 1957. Călinescu became an assistant professor in the Department of Universal and Comparative Literature at the University of Bucharest, and made his literary debut in '. He was offered a

Fulbright grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

and defected to the

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in 1973. From 1973 to 1975 Călinescu was a visiting professor at Indiana University Bloomington, before becoming an associate professor there in 1976, and a full professor in 1978. He was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1975. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1980. Upon his retirement he became an Emeritus Professor at Indiana University. He lived with his wife in Bloomington, Indiana, and died there in 2009.

Selected bibliography

* Matei Călinescu, ''Matthew's Enigma: A father's portrait of his autistic son.'', Bloomington, IN:

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, 2009, 210 p. * Matei Călinescu, ''Eugène Ionesco: Teme identitare și existențiale'' (Eugène Ionesco: Identity and Existential Themes) Iași:

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 ...

, 2006, 491 p. * Matei Călinescu, ''Ionesco: Recherches identitaires'', Paris:

Oxus The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

, 2005, 348 p. * Matei Călinescu, ''Un fel de jurnal, 1973–1981'' (A Diary of Sorts, 1973–1981), Iași:

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, and ...

, 2005. * Matei Călinescu, Ion Vianu, ''Amintiri în dialog'' (Memories in Dialogue), Bucharest: Editura Litera, 1994; 2nd ed. with preface and two new chapters included as an Epilogue, Iași:

, 1998; 3rd edition, Iași:

, 2005. * Matei Călinescu, ''Tu: Elegii și invenții'' (You: Elegies and Inventions, poems), Iași: Polirom, 2004. * Matei Călinescu, ''Mateiu I. Caragiale: recitiri'', Cluj: Biblioteca Apostrof, 2003, 160 p., 2nd ed., Cluj-Iași: Apostrof-Polirom, 2007. * Matei Călinescu, ''Portretul lui M'' (The Portrait of M, a memoir), Iași: Polirom, 2003. * Matei Călinescu, ''Rereading'', New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 1993, 336 p. Translated into Romanian as ''A citi, a reciti. Către o poetică a (re)lecturii'', Iași: Polirom, 2003. * Matei Călinescu, ''Despre Ioan P. Culianu și Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, Lecturi, Reflecții'', Iași: Polirom, 2002, 177 p., 2nd ed., Iași: Polirom, 2002, 231 p. *

Vlad Georgescu Vlad Georgescu (October 20, 1937 – November 13, 1988) was a Romanian historian, academic, political dissident, and director of the Romanian-language department of Radio Free Europe between 1983 and 1988. Biography Born in Bucharest, Georgescu st ...

, Matei Călinescu, ''The Romanians: a history'',

Ohio State University Press The Ohio State University Press is the university press of Ohio State University. It was founded in 1957. The OSU Press has published approximately 1700 books since its inception. The current director is Tony Sanfilippo, who had previously worke ...

, 1991. * Matei Călinescu, ''Exploring Postmodernism'', (co-edited with Douwe W. Fokkema), Amsterdam and Philadelphia:

John Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...

, 1988, 270 p., Paperback edition, 1990. * Matei Călinescu, ''Five Faces of Modernity: Modernism, Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodernism'',

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

, 1987. * Matei Călinescu, ''Faces of Modernity: Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch'',

, 1977. * Matei Călinescu, Selections of Poetry translated into English in ''Mundus Artium'', 1976; ''New Letters'', 1976; ''Seneca Review'', 1981; ''Correspondences'', 1982; and ''2 PLUS 2'', 1983. * Matei Călinescu, ''Umbre de apă, poeme'', (Water Shadows, poems), Bucharest: Editura

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint of t ...

, 1972. * Matei Călinescu, ''Versuri'' (Lines), Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1970. * Matei Călinescu, ''Viața și opiniile lui Zacharias Lichter'' (The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter), a short novel, Bucharest: Editura Pentru Literatură, 1969. Translated into Hungarian, 1971; Polish, 1972; French excerpts, in ''Cahiers de l'Est'', 1, 2, 1975; and English, 2018. 2nd ed., enlarged, Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1971; 3rd ed., with new preface, 1995, Iași: Polirom, 1995; 4th edition, Iași: Polirom, 2004.

Awards

* 1969: Romanian Writers' Union Prize for Fiction, for ''Viața și opiniile lui Zacharias Lichter'' (The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter) * 1975:

* 2006: Writers' Union Prize for Essay and Criticism, for ''Eugène Ionesco: Teme identitare și existențiale'' (Eugène Ionesco: Identity and Existential Themes)

References

External links

"Matei Calinescu"
at Indiana University
"Matei Calinescu"
at WordsWithoutBorders
Author’s page
on the website of Romanian publishing house

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calinescu, Matei 1934 births 2009 deaths Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian defectors Indiana University faculty Romanian literary historians Romanian literary critics Deaths from lung cancer in Indiana Writers from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest 20th-century Romanian diarists Ion Luca Caragiale National College (Bucharest) alumni