Petre Țuțea (; 6 October 1902 – 3 December 1991) was 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 philosopher, journalist, and economist.
Biography
Early years and the Legionary Movement
Petre Țuțea was born in the village of
Boteni,
Muscel County (now in
Argeș County). His father, Petre Bădescu, was a
Romanian Orthodox priest and his mother, Ana Țuțea, was of peasant stock. In 1920, after the
Union of Transylvania with Romania
The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...
, Țuțea left his village to finish high school in
Cluj
Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...
and went on to study law at the
University of Cluj. After graduating, he obtained in 1929 a
Ph.D. in Administrative Law, also at the University of Cluj.
Țuțea moved to
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 ...
and in 1932 he founded, together with
Petre Pandrea,
[Petre Țuțea, ''Între Dumnezeu și Neamul meu'', Fundația Anastasia, Bucharest, 1992] a leftist newspaper, "Stânga" ("The Left"),
[Popescu, p. xxii] that was quickly and forcefully closed by the government. Although he was familiar with Marxist writings in his youth, he rejected it
[Eric Gilder]
Review: "Petre Tutea: Between Sacrifice and Suicide"
''Anglican Theological Review'', Spring 2008 and later became a devout
Orthodox Christian.
In 1935 Țuțea and four other writers published a nationalist program of economic and social development, "Manifestul Revoluției Naționale" ("Manifesto for a National Revolution").
Around the same time he met the influential philosopher
Nae Ionescu and wrote for his famous newspaper, "Cuvântul", along with
Mircea Eliade,
Emil Cioran,
Radu Gyr,
Mircea Vulcănescu,
Mihail Sebastian, and other known writers.
Țuțea was a member of the
Criterion literary society and, like many other fellow members, became a sympathizer of the
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
, a fascist organization. According to various published interviews of that time, Țuțea felt democracy would have not guaranteed the sovereignty of the Romanian people.
He also noted that many Romanian intellectuals had supported the Legionnaires, because "their radical position against the harmful influence of Russian
Bolshevism", which he considered to be "controlled by Jews" (see ''
Judeo-Bolshevism'').
Speaking of the Iron Guard, Țuțea believed the main difference between this organization and
Fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
or
National Socialism was its avowed Christian character.
Between 1936 and 1939, he was a director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in charge of the ''Office of Economics Publications and Propaganda''. In May 1937 Țuțea was awarded the
Order of the Crown, Knight rank. He then was a director of the research office in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. As the
National Legionary State was proclaimed in 1940, he was a member of the Romanian delegation to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
for economic negotiations. He returned after the National Legionary State was abolished (after January 1941).
[Popescu, p. xxiii] In May 1941 he was awarded the
Order of the Star, Knight rank.
As the
war against the Soviet Union began in June 1941, he asked to be sent to the front, but his request was refused.
Țuțea worked as a director in the Ministry of War Economy and after
King Michael's Coup
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...
of 23 August 1944, a director of studies in the Ministry of National Economy.
Communist era
Țuțea was arrested by the
Communist regime in 1949, and was sent, without a trial, to
"re-education" (euphemism for forced labor) at
Ocnele Mari state prison.
[Popescu, p. xxiv] After he was released in 1953, and unable to find work, he lived with friends and relatives.
Arrested again in 1956, he was tried for "conspiracy against the State".
He was found guilty and sentenced to 18 years of hard labor, of which he served 8 years in various prisons, ending up in the infamous
Aiud Prison.
After the release of all political prisoners in 1964, Petre Țuțea became a
Socratic philosopher. He also started to write books and essays, created an original dramatic form, "theater as seminar", and produced a philosophical manifesto, "The Philosophy of Nuances" (1969). Due to
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
, very little of his work would be published, and virtually nothing appeared after 1972. Under permanent observation, Țuțea had many of his manuscripts confiscated by the Romanian secret police, the
Securitate. In the late 1980s he started working on a massive unfinished project in 5 volumes; "Man, a Christian Treatise of Anthropology".
After the Revolution
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, Țuțea was embraced by Romanian intellectuals,
receiving frequent requests from journalists and TV crews for interviews while living for a year with a student in theology,
Radu Preda. Țuțea spent the last year of his life in a Christian hospice, "Christiana". He died in Bucharest at age 89, before seeing any of his books published. He was buried in the cemetery next to Saint Parascheva Church in
Boteni.
A very popular book (sold in more than 70,000 copies) is ''322 de vorbe memorabile'', a collection of
aphorism
An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
s taken from various interviews, ordered alphabetically. In these interviews Țuțea adopted a hyperbolic, rhetorical style and the editor's choices included several controversial topics, such as
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
,
Communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
, and
Antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. He generally adopts a hardline Orthodox Christian point-of-view, being critical of various groups, including atheists (whom he names "
weasels"), communists (naming communism a "social cancer") and
Jews
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 ...
(whom he finds responsible for the existence of antisemitism).
A street in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
and a school in Boteni bear his name. In 2017, a hall at
Aiud Prison was dedicated to his memory; the Petre Țuțea Hall is a space intended for educational and psychosocial assistance activities in support of inmates.
Bibliography
*Între Dumnezeu și neamul meu ("Between God and my Nation" – an early, fragmentary, very popular collection of interviews. Also contains unreliable editions of various essays)
*322 de vorbe memorabile ("322 Memorable Words", a collection of aphorisms collected from interviews, alphabetically ordered by the editor)
*Filozofia nuanțelor: Eseuri, Portrete, Corespondență ("The Philosophy of Nuances, with other Essays, Portraits and Correspondence)
*Aurel-Dragoș Munteanu (a book written in 1972 about the Romanian writer who was one of Țuțea's best friends, later became a famous dissident and diplomat)
*Mircea Eliade (book about
Eliade's scholarly, artistic and religious outlook)
*Reflecții religioase asupra cunoașterii ("Religious Reflections Upon Knowledge", a book on Plato's philosophy seen from a religious point of view)
*Lumea ca Teatru: Teatrul Seminar (World of Theatre: Theatre as Seminar)
*Omul; Tratat de antropologie creștină (Man: A Treatise of Christian Anthropology – an unfinished project of five volumes, of which the first two are published here: I. Problems, or The Book of Questions; II. Systems or The Books of Logical Wholes – Mathematical and Autonomous, Parallel to Ontic Wholes)
Notes
References
*Alexandru Daniel Popescu, "Petre Țuțea between sacrifice and suicide",
Ashgate Publishing
Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...
, 2004
External links
Web site dedicated to Petre ȚuțeaThe Philosophy of nuances – Site dedicated to Petre Țuțea's life and work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tutea, Petre
1902 births
1991 deaths
People from Argeș County
Babeș-Bolyai University alumni
Romanian dissidents
Romanian fascists
Romanian Holocaust deniers
Romanian monarchists
Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church
20th-century Romanian economists
20th-century Romanian essayists
20th-century Romanian philosophers
Inmates of Aiud prison
Romanian prisoners and detainees
Knights of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania
Christian fundamentalists
Critics of atheism