Traian Brăileanu or Brăilean
[Andrei Corbea-Hoișie, "'Wie die Juden Gewalt schreien': Aurel Onciul und die antisemitische Wende in der Bukowiner Öffentlichkeit nach 1907", in ''East Central Europe'', Vol. 39, Issue 1, 2012, p. 22] (September 14, 1882 – October 3, 1947) was an
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
-born Romanian sociologist and politician. A native of the
Bukovina
Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
region, he attended
Czernowitz University, where he studied philosophy and classical languages, subsequently earning a doctorate. Ending up as a translator in Vienna, he fought for Austria during World War I. At the conclusion of hostilities, returned to the renamed
Cernăuți
Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...
, now part of
Greater Romania
Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...
. There, he soon became a professor of sociology, leading a "Cernăuți School" of academics during the interwar period.
Meanwhile, he was involved in
nationalist politics, supporting
Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and Populism, populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as List of Prime Ministers of Romania, Prime Minister of thr ...
,
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...
and, ultimately, the extremist
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 ...
, of which he was among the most prominent intellectual backers. A theoretician of
organicism
Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Emb ...
,
corporatism
Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...
, 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 inspired the creation of ''
Iconar'', a literary society, and founded the review ''Însemnări Sociologice''. He was elected to the
Romanian Senate in 1937, and reached the apex of his political career during the short-lived
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...
of 1940–1941. He served as
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
and
Arts Minister under this regime, targeting the country's
Jewish community
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
and his various political opponents. In the wake of the
Legionnaires' rebellion, he was arrested, tried and acquitted, but later arrested again and interned.
Freed yet again in 1944, he was placed under house arrest following the
coup d'état of 23 August 1944, and, increasingly ill with ulcers, was tried before one of the
Romanian People's Tribunals The two Romanian People's Tribunals (), the Bucharest People's Tribunal and the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in Cluj) were set up by the post-World War II government of Romania, overseen by the Allied Control Commission to try ...
in 1946. Given a twenty-year sentence for
war crimes
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
, he died the following autumn at
Aiud Prison, shortly before the establishment of a
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
that suppressed his publications for the more than four decades of its existence.
Biography
Origins and education
Born in
Bilca,
Suceava County
Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...
, a village located in
Austrian-ruled Bukovina not far from
Rădăuți
Rădăuți (; ; ; ; , ''Radivtsi''; ''Radevits''; ) is a town in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. According to the 2021 census, Rădăuți is the second largest urban settlement in the ...
, Brăileanu was the ninth of twelve siblings. His father Gheorghe (1839–1902) was the director of the local primary school for at least forty years. Gheorghe's father Ioan, born in 1807, had been a simple peasant, but two of his sons became teachers, and the third a
Romanian Orthodox
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...
priest. Traian's mother, Maria (''née'' Polonic) was the daughter of a shoemaker from
Suceava
Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...
, and married his father in 1865. The first serious tragedy in his life came when his sister Ilenuța died, leaving the entire family despondent.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 512] Another two beloved siblings died of
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...
in late 1893, leaving him a mature individual at an early age.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 513] His mother predeceased his father, so that both parents had died by the time he was twenty.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 514] The young Traian was a voracious reader, his interests including classical literature, German literature, other European literatures in German translation, Romanian literature and Romanian history, including
Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol's ''Istoria românilor''.
He was attached to his brother Constantin, who settled in the
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...
, which he represented as consul at
Bitola
Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...
and
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
; an employee of the
Romanian Foreign Ministry, his son was killed in action during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
[Trebici, p. 385]
Brăileanu attended three grades of primary school in his native village, followed by a fourth grade in 1892–1893 at Rădăuți, where he and a number of Romanian classmates spent the year perfecting their German and preparing for admission to the local
German High School. He passed the entrance examination easily, entering the school in the autumn of 1893.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 515] German was the language of instruction; Latin and Greek the principal subjects. Upon graduation in 1901, he was fluent in all three. Entering
Czernowitz University, he took courses in philosophy and classical philology, the subjects of his degree. His professors included
Richard Wahle and
Ion G. Sbiera. Initially, he shared a rented room with two older sisters of his, who were attending a
normal school.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 516] In late 1902, after starting his second year of university, he went to the Romanian capital
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 ...
to bury his father, who had sought medical treatment there.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 519]
As a student, he was associated with ''
Societatea Academică Junimea'', a Romanian youth movement. In December 1901, already a member of the local chapter, he was selected as editor-in-chief of its satirical-humorous newsletter. Under his aegis it appeared bimonthly, and some issues were written entirely by Brăileanu. In 1904, he was named president of the society's literary section. In this capacity, together with
Ion Nistor and
George Tofan, he founded ''
Junimea Literară'', a literary journal. There, he published a short story, a series of humorous sketches and several poems. The magazine had a nationalist and ''
Sămănătorist'' agenda, and, according to Nistor, sought to counterbalance Austria's "hatred and contempt for all things
omanian. Another member,
Romulus Cândea, described the society and its magazine as preservers of "the nationalist flame" and "the Romanianist line".
Upon graduation, Brăileanu became a teacher at a German-language high school in Czernowitz, but, not finding the daily routine suitable to his studies, left after completing the 1905–1906 academic year.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 521] He then performed his military service in the
Austrian Army, first at Czernowitz and then at the officers' school in
Lemberg
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
. For a time, he held a series of low-paid jobs, including that of journalist. Around 1908, he was penning articles for various newspapers secretly run by
Aurel Onciul, a controversial leader of the
Democratic Peasants' Party.
In November 1909, Brăileanu obtained a doctorate in philosophy ''magna cum laude'', his adviser being Wahle.
The same year, he became engaged to Emilia Silion, of an old Bukovina family; the couple, who married in 1910, had three sons and a daughter.
Academic beginnings
Thanks to his elder brother, in 1909 he obtained a position as translator at the Romanian Legation in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where he remained until 1914. During this period, he took courses at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
and undertook research at its library. In 1912, he published a work of
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
, followed by one on
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
(''Die Grundlegung zu einer Wissenschaft der Ethik'') in 1919. During that interval, he became especially interested in the work of
Vasile Conta
Vasile Conta (; ; November 15, 1845 – April 21, 1882) was a Romanian philosopher, poet, and politician.
The son of a priest, he was born in Ghindăoani, a village in Bălțătești commune, Neamț County. He attended primary school in Tâ ...
, a 19th-century metaphyisician and political thinker. Writing in 1915, Ana Conta Kernbach identified Brăileanu as one of "the few young men who are researching
onta'swork".
Upon the outbreak of World War I, Brăileanu was drafted into the
Austrian Army. Wounded, he was hospitalized in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, then moved to
Lemberg
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
with his regiment, after which he returned to Vienna. Meanwhile, his wife and the two children had taken refuge in
Siret
Siret (; ; ; ; ) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 6,708 ...
and then in Suceava, later returning to Austria. The
union of Bukovina with Romania The union of Duchy of Bukovina, Bukovina with Kingdom of Romania, Romania was declared in 28 November 1918, being officially recognized by the international community in 1919 and 1920.
Timeline of events 1918
*22 October - Constantin Isopescu-Grecu ...
occurred at the end of World War I, and he immediately left Vienna for his native province, upon his older brother's urging.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 523]
Beginning in 1919, Brăileanu was a librarian at his alma mater in what was now Cernăuți. He occupied this role until 1921, while in 1920, he became a lecturer. In 1924, he was named full professor at the department of sociology, ethics and politics. As an academic, his objective was to write survey texts of sociology, then ethics and finally politics. His introduction to sociology, published in 1923,
[Trebici, p. 386] was noted for on the sociological work of Conta, whom he identified as the founder of
Romanian philosophy, and also as a personal guide. Following Conta, Brăileanu described a
holistic
Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258
The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...
social system of
organic unity
Organic unity is the idea that a thing is made up of interdependent parts. For example, a body is made up of its constituent organs, and a society is made up of its constituent social roles. In Aristotle's '' Poetics'' he likened drama narrative ...
, grouping "social tissues", for which he eventually coined the term "human community". While ethics dealt with individual behavior, the community was the inextricable object of sociology. His first major success, this work drew positive reviews from, among others,
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...
.
Nicknamed "
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
" by his admiring students, he was known to appreciate the term, considering the Greek philosopher a model.
Politically, he was, after 1919, involved in nationalist movements within the nascent
Greater Romania
Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...
. Brăileanu was at first a follower of
Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and Populism, populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as List of Prime Ministers of Romania, Prime Minister of thr ...
and his
People's League, the Bukovina wing of which he led. He was involved in a lengthy dispute with a Nicolai Mitenco, after deposing him as editor of ''Țărănimea'' newspaper and "purging" the party of undesirables. In September 1924, with an article he published in ''
Societatea de Mâine'', Brăileanu sought to identify the political problems of Greater Romania as they affected Bukovina's society. It suggested that, in the new political climate, "entirely stunted by the supremacy of timely politics, or what we call politicking", Romanian intellectuals were "caving in to a despotic domination by the bankers". He claimed that the
Bukovina Jews were a parasitical class, 90% of whom "made a living from the stupidity of the native population", and justified
economic antisemitism
Economic antisemitism is antisemitism that uses stereotypes and canards that are based on negative perceptions or assertions of the economic status, occupations, or economic behavior of Jews, at times leading to various governmental policies, re ...
as a reaction to historical "imbalance". Nonetheless, he argued in favor of complete
Jewish assimilation
Jewish assimilation (, ''hitbolelut'') refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conformity as a potential so ...
, including "long processes of interbreeding" with Romanians and a renewed social organization, based on the "
division of labor
The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (Departmentalization, specialisation). Individuals, organisations, and nations are endowed with or acquire specialis ...
" (with references to Conta and
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim (; or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French Sociology, sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern soci ...
).
Joining the Iron Guard
Brăileanu eventually quit the People's League due to internal maneuvers that displeased him. Then, he entered Iorga's
Democratic Nationalist Party, helping it to merge with remnants of the local
National People's Party, under
Constantin Isopescu-Grecul. Though he sincerely respected Iorga, and organized the party's Bukovina chapter from 1922 to 1925, he was unhappy with certain mergers the group had undergone, and again opted to leave. His decision, effected in November 1925, was censured by ''
Glasul Bucovinei'' newspaper, which called him "the most egotistical and least reasonable among the tiny bosses in Cernăuți"; as noted therein, his departure had established two newspapers called ''Gazeta Poporului'', one of which was under his own direction. Progressively, Brăileanu identified with the extreme right, claiming that the political mainstream took a "soft attitude" toward ethnic minorities. He migrated to the antisemitic
National-Christian Defense League
The National-Christian Defense League (, LANC) was a far-right political party of Romania formed by A. C. Cuza.
Origins
The LANC had its roots in the National Christian Union, formed in 1922 by Cuza and the famed physiologist Nicolae Paulescu. ...
(LANC), which he left following a disagreement with its leader
A. C. Cuza
Alexandru C. Cuza (8 November 1857 – 3 November 1947), also known as A. C. Cuza, was a Romanian far-right politician and economist.
Early life
Cuza was born in Iași into a family of mixed Armenian-Greek origins. He was the grandson of Moldav ...
.
In 1926–1927, Brăileanu was member of the small political group called "Statutory LANC", which, as academic Lucian Butaru noted, was home to "shady figures of the Romanian political and cultural life", including
Ion Zelea Codreanu and
Corneliu Șumuleanu. At the time, he presided over a commission which investigated the clashes between Romanian authorities in Bukovina and Jewish students who had failed the
Romanian Baccalaureate. He wrote an angry report, noting that Jews were ignorant of "the history and geography of the fatherland", and claiming that the riots were "premeditated". At the time, his adversaries at ''Glasul Bucovinei'' suggested that, though he spoke vehemently for both antisemitism and
anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
, and though he condemned all parties, including Averescu's, as taken over by the Jews, Brăileanu had failed to also attack his lawyer friend Constantin Rădulescu—just as Rădulescu was representing the Jewish students in court. Brăileanu's antisemitic bias was eventually brought up for public scrutiny by
Mayer Ebner, the Jewish community spokesman, and may have led to Brăileanu's eventual dismissal. This came in July 1927, when the governing
National Liberal Party reasserted control over his university.
Brăileanu was one of the editors of
Gheorghe Alexianu
Gheorghe Alexianu (January 1, 1897 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian lawyer, high school teacher and associate professor who served as governor of Transnistria between 1941 and 1944. In 1946, he was accused and convicted of war crimes, crim ...
's ''Bucovina'', a review of law, sociology, and criminology, and contributed to
Ion Petrovici's philosophical journal, ''Minerva'', with an essay on the sociology of
Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (; ; born Wilfried Fritz Pareto; 15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923) was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made severa ...
. By then, his sociological work intertwined with his politics. As noted by historian Lucian Nastasă, he was one of the Romanian academics whose work exemplifies "strongly nationalistic and extremist ideologies". In his 1928 ''Politica'', considered the first Romanian volume of political theory,
he suggested the establishment of a
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
to consolidate the Romanian monarchy. By many accounts, Brăileanu had joined 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 ...
(or "Legionary Movement"), a radical antisemitic and
fascist
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 soci ...
group, upon its founding in 1927. Historian Armin Heinen contrarily suggests that he was only a member from 1930; according to ''Glasul Bucovinei'', Brăileanu had partnered up with the LANC's Gheorghe Vitriescu in the municipal elections of March 1930, helping him spread "racial hatred and animosity among citizens". Also that year, Brăileanu entered the Iron Guard's "Senate", helping to consolidate the movement's intellectual prestige, and is seen by some as its most important theoretician after
Nae Ionescu
Nae Ionescu (, born Nicolae C. Ionescu; – 15 March 1940) was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist.
Life
Born in Brăila, Ionescu studied Letters at the University of Bucharest until 1912. Upon graduati ...
.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 527]
Possibly radicalized under the influence of racial
eugenicist
Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...
Iordache Făcăoaru, Brăileanu's views on minority issues were recast into a
scientifically racist sociological theory, which postulated that Jews were not capable of being integrated into any other nation. His support for
racial determinism led him to conclude that "the variation of social types" was only a historical action of environmental and demographic factors, and that, in all other respects, individuals of the same race were identical. Brăileanu also founded the literary society ''
Iconar'', noted for its strong
xenophobia
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
, which eventually divided itself into a far-right wing, under Brăileanu, and a more moderate one, supportive of the National Liberals. Writing in 1936 for
Marta Rădulescu's ''Revista Mea'', he demanded a neo-traditionalist and nationalist revival in Romanian art, placed in service to "the Church and the State", and rejecting "kike commercialism". According to literary historian Rodica Ilie, his call to "purge Romanian society of corrupting influences" was a "trope" shared by extreme nationalists and communists of the day, the latter of whom targeted "bourgeois seductions" rather than "Jewish spirituality".
Throughout the interval, Brăileanu carried on with his research, writing textbooks of sociology and ethics for the high school level. A translator from German and Greek, he was especially drawn to
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...
and
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
. Brăileanu's translation of the ''
Critique of Pure Reason
The ''Critique of Pure Reason'' (; 1781; second edition 1787) is a book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in which the author seeks to determine the limits and scope of metaphysics. Also referred to as Kant's "First Critique", it was foll ...
'' appeared in 1930,
being hailed by philosopher
Tudor Vianu
Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary criticism, literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translation, translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Liter ...
as one of the prime achievements of its era, but criticized by
Ernest Bernea as "confusing" and "fragmentary". There followed more works on ethics (1935–1936) and the history of sociological doctrines (1936–1937).
From 1931 to 1933, he was dean of the Philosophy and Letters Faculty. He had ties to foreign sociologists, and in 1937 became a member of the
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
-affiliated
Academy of Political Science. In addition, from 1933 he was assistant professor in the history of philosophy department, replacing the deceased
Vasile Gherasim. He was made a commander of the
Order of the Crown in 1933.
''Însemnări Sociologice'' and senatorial mandate
Brăileanu ultimately became the unchallenged leader of a sociological school at Cernăuți, akin to those led by
Dimitrie Gusti
Dimitrie Gusti (; 13 February 1880 – 30 October 1955) was a Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and voluntarist philosopher; a professor at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, he served as Romania's Minister ...
at Bucharest,
Virgil Bărbat at
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
Petre Andrei at
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 ...
. During this time, he founded ''Însemnări Sociologice'' magazine. As noted by various historians, it should be seen as largely dedicated to supporting the Iron Guard platform. Brăileanu's articles there combined a condemnation of the
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...
with the theory of "
Judaeo-communist revolution", arguing that the former would inevitably lead to the latter, and proposed instead a
corporate state headed by the Guard.
Leon Volovici concludes that ''Însemnări Sociologice'' "did not differ from Legionary propaganda", with its ample references to "the Internationale of the ''yids''",
anti-Masonic lore, and calls for
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...
("complete, biological and spiritual separation from the Jews").
Brăileanu himself proudly acknowledged that there was little difference between his Guardist credo and his sociological work, describing ''Însemnări Sociologice'' as providing "Legionary doctrine" with "all the support of social science". "Doctrines", he argued, always took precedence over scientific observation, since "they determine the lives of individuals and peoples." Brăileanu's writings, including his articles in teachers' magazines, shifted toward developing a Romanian "
elite theory
In philosophy, political science and sociology, elite theory is a theory of the State (polity), state that seeks to describe and explain power relations in society. In its contemporary form in the 21st century, elite theory posits that (1) power i ...
" and the role of state
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
in cultivating a fresh political establishment. His idea of corporatism differed from that espoused by
Mihail Manoilescu, arguing a strong dictatorship by an "ascetic elite", with a charismatic leader, could set up the Romanian corporations, but never the other way around. He saw his "meritocratic aristocracy" embodied in
Ion Moța and the other five Iron Guard men who left as volunteers for the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
.
Invoking the examples set by
Italian fascism
Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...
and
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, Brăileanu argued that educating the masses to accept leadership and social selection "without a murmur" was far more beneficial than perpetuating
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...
. In a June 1937 article for ''
Buna Vestire'', he identified international fascism as the quintessential enemy of communism and Jewishness, and postulated that freedom was only possible within nationalism.
[ Grigore Adriana Diana]
"Comunismul nu a prins în România interbelică din cauza Mișcării Legionare"
in ''Historia'', April 2013 Unlike other Guard intellectuals, he was skeptical of territorial expansionism, writing that, as Greater Romania, the Romanian state had reached its "
natural borders" and economic self-sufficiency. His complaint was that the entity had not yet become a "
nation state
A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...
".
Like the rest of the Guard, Brăileanu found himself in conflict with
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Carol II
Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...
and the political factions who supported him, leading to a series of violent clashes and retaliatory murders. In 1936, he was one of 50 "nationalist luminaries" invited at the Guard's student congress in
Târgu Mureș
Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...
. The event ended with mass arrests for conspiracy, during which time Brăileanu was asked to serve as the Guard's defense witness. According to one report, ''Însemnări Sociologice'' was banned in February 1937. The Guard itself was also outlawed, but reemerged under the guise of the "Everything for the Country Party". Although by then a secondary figure, cut off from the major political centers, Brăileanu was deeply involved in its creation, in recruiting youth, and in organizing charity campaigns, his activities closely monitored by the
Romanian Police. He was particularly enthusiastic about the Guard's work-camp network, deeming them the "formative school of the Legionary Romanian". In April 1937, he appeared in the witness box at a trial of the
''Decemviri'' squad, which had assassinated the Guardist dissident
Mihai Stelescu. He informed the prosecution that he had known Stelescu as a "diligent commandant" of the Guard, but, when asked specifically about whether Stelescu should have been killed for his "treason", he replied: "yes and no".
Brăileanu was still the inspiration behind ''Iconar'', described in police records as "a camouflaged Legionary newspaper of the defunct Iron Guard". Other magazines he edited included ''Cugetări'', ''Poporul'', ''Gazeta Poporului'' and ''Înălțarea'', the last at
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
between 1940 and 1941. He was sent to the
Romanian Senate following the
general election of December 1937, having presented himself on Legionary lists for both Cernăuți and
Câmpulung Moldovenesc
Câmpulung Moldovenesc (; formerly spelled ''Cîmpulung Moldovenesc'') is a municipiu, city in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina.
Câmpulung Moldovenesc is the fourth largest urban settleme ...
. Nationally, the split vote resulted in minority rule by a LANC successor, the
National Christian Party
The National Christian Party () was a far-right authoritarian and strongly antisemitic political party in Romania active between 1935 and 1938. It was formed by a merger of Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Chr ...
(PNC), with the king's endorsement. Writing in ''Însemnări Sociologice'' in January 1938, Brăileanu complained that the PNC's antisemitic program was incomplete, since it failed to target liberal democracy, "that which has made kikes all-powerful". The LANC, he noted, had been too moderate, "demagogic and corrupt"; the Iron Guard would need to reemerge and "turn chaos to order". He nevertheless displayed his and his party's loyalty toward the king, explaining for ''Buna Vestire'' that "the monarch represents the supreme principle of order and the political hierarchy".
Brăileanu eventually lost his Senate seat the establishment of a single-party regime, the
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front (, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romanian political party created by King Ca ...
(FRN), in February 1938. He withdrew from political life, while his ''Iconar'' disciples sought a rapprochement with the FRN chapter in
Ținutul Suceava. He focused on a synthesis of his
sociological theory
A sociological theory is a that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective,Macionis, John and Linda M. Gerber. 2010. ''Sociology'' (7th Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson ...
, with ''Teoria Comunității Omenești'' ("The Theory of Human Community"), published in 1939 by Editura Cugetarea (second edition 1941). The work also signified his distancing from both holism and the mainline,
positivist, sociological school of Bucharest, turning to
phenomenological sociology
Phenomenology within sociology (also social phenomenology or phenomenological sociology) examines the concept of social reality ( or "Lifeworld") as a product of intersubjectivity. Phenomenology analyses social reality in order to explain the ...
and
pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics� ...
, with more or less explicit borrowings from
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology.
In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
and
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...
.
Iron Guard Minister
Due to the
Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
Between 28 June and 3 July 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, following an ultimatum made to Romania on 26 June 1940 that threatened the use of force. Those regions, with a total area of and a population of 3,776 ...
in the summer of 1940, Brăileanu was obliged to flee his home, and his entire personal library was lost.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 532] He then entered 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 ...
as a professor. From his new home in Bucharest, Brăileanu was consulted by the FRN regime and
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Ion Gigurtu, helping them draft Romania's first set of
antisemitic laws. A month later, the FRN dictatorship crumbled, and Carol II abdicated; the Guard seized the opportunity and proclaimed its
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...
, with
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...
as the ''
Conducător''. Brăileanu took over two ministerial portfolios, fused into one: the
Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the
Ministry of the Arts. His deputy was a Bucharest sociologist,
Traian Herseni. The staff he appointed also included other Guard affiliates: Făcăoaru,
Haig Acterian,
Vasile Băncilă,
Dan Botta,
Eugen Chirnoagă,
Vladimir Dumitrescu, and
Radu Gyr
Radu Gyr (; pen name of Radu Ștefan Demetrescu ; March 2, 1905 – 29 April 1975) was a Romanian poet, essayist, playwright, journalist and fascist activist.
Biography
Early life
Born in Câmpulung-Muscel, Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan ...
.
Reportedly, Brăileanu's appointment prefigured later conflicts between the Guard and Antonescu: the latter disliked Brăileanu's radicalism, but yielded to pressures from
Horia Sima
Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was a ...
, the Guard Commander. Immediately after assuming office, and at the start of a new academic year, Brăileanu spoke on
Radio Bucharest, informing students that they were not required to join the Iron Guard, and also that the state would no longer require them to wear any uniforms; he expressed the belief that, once they would discover self-discipline, young men and women would join the Guard of their own free will. He also ordered sweeping changes in his ministry, but upheld and expanded upon the Gigurtu laws, equating interwar democracy with "the establishment of foreign and Kike rule". On his orders, Jewish students were expelled from Romanian high schools, excepting only those who could present proof that they were the direct descendants of war veterans; he allowed for the creation of a private-run, fully segregated, Jewish educational system.
[Bruja (2009), p. 299] This policy enlisted protests from Jewish community leaders such as
Wilhelm Filderman and
Alexandru Șafran. Their protests, which went unanswered, noted that Brăileanu's criteria for segregation were more intransigent than the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law ...
in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
.
Brăileanu similarly ordered the segregation of Jewish actors, who were sacked from all Romanian theaters, public or private, "without restriction or exception". They could only be employed by "Jewish theaters", which had to advertise their racial makeup, and could only perform in plays screened for "anti-patriotic" content. Speaking at the time, the minister intimated his goal of outlawing
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, and hinted at the possibility of destroying
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s, finding that these were "too many, if compared to the number of kikes." One other decree issued during his term banned Romanian pupils from purchasing schoolbooks from Jewish-owned businesses, while another dismissed eleven Jewish high school teachers.
Brăileanu also went after one of his FRN predecessors, the left-wing sociologist Andrei, declaring him an undesirable, banned from teaching in all public schools. In October 1940, he countersigned the order to arrest Andrei, who was thus shamed into committing suicide. Brăileanu annoyed Antonescu by insisting on minute details of cultural and religious policy: he wanted to rename villages whose name still honored
Ion G. Duca, demanded the removal of frescoes depicting Carol II, and also proposed to shut down the Bucharest Crematorium, which he saw as anti-Christian. According to various reports, his Ministry encouraged the display of propaganda material in high schools, allowing teachers to put up portraits of the Guard's assassinated founder,
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. The Guard was allowed to recruit young students, grouped into "Cross Brotherhoods"; teachers were prevented from interfering with their paramilitary activities, even when students skipped classes.
[Ștefan, pp. 43–44] Enlistment therein was facilitated by rumors that non-members would be barred from entering universities.
Brăileanu's other decrees lifted
academic freedom
Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism.
Academic ...
, allowing the Ministry to intervene in college policy, and prioritized the academic employment of people who, like himself, were known Guard members or had been jobless since the Soviet occupation. He disbanded the National Student Front, the sole student association established under the FRN, and lifted bans on other student associations. However, these were effectively centralized into the National Union of Christian Students, which answered directly to Brăileanu, and the Student Front property was handed over to the Guard.
Creating "review boards" presided over by Herseni, Chirnoagă and Făcăoaru, Brăileanu also presided over the purge of former FRN men, Jews, and known leftists, and personally stripped
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the most important Romani ...
,
Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan (; also known as ''Jorgu Jordan'' or ''Iorgu Jordan''; – September 20, 1986) was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety o ...
and
Bazil Munteanu of their university chairs. He also ordered the immediate pensioning of all teachers aged 65 and over. This measure was designed to hurt Iorga, who had emerged as a major adversary of the Guard.
Brăileanu's tenure at the twin Ministries is described by historian Marian Ștefan as a "vast program for the political influencing of both teaching body and youth." He was applauded by Sima as a "doctrinaire of nationalism" and "one of the prime representatives of our race". Co-opted on the Guard's executive committee, or "Legionary Forum", he was still particularly interested in the creation of a new Guardist elite. Unlike Sima, he saw in it a conservative rather than revolutionary force, lecturing on the topic and having his ideas reprinted in ''
Universul''. He also attended to problems of school organization, took steps to enhance theological education,
[Vintilă (2010), p. 533] and envisaged a state-sponsored translation program of the classics. Like Sima and painter
Alexandru Bassarab, he also promoted the ideal of a new "Legionary art", which advertised itself as the true representative of Romanian values. He described Codreanu as the national "educationist" and "great reformer of our times", and overall a "holy torch" of the Romanian people.
Downfall
Together with Sima and Herseni, Brăileanu sought to establish full Guardist control over cultural institutes such as ''
Accademia di Romania'', but their moves were vetoed by Antonescu, who favored a more conservative approach. Brăileanu had a tense relationship with another one of Antonescu's proteges,
Sextil Pușcariu
Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France ...
, who led the Romanian Institute in Berlin and had been given discretionary powers. Antonescu also asked Brăileanu to tone down his purge of academia, and the latter threatened with his resignation. Horrified by the Guard's assassinations of Iorga and
Virgil Madgearu, in late November, he again tendered his resignation, but was persuaded to reverse his decision—allegedly, he agreed so that he could spare the country even greater chaos.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 534]
The Guard and Antonescu still clashed over issues of political control, until, in January 1941, tensions exploded as the
Legionary rebellion. During these events, the "Cross Brotherhoods" were activated in various schools, and some of their members took up arms against Antonescu's more conservative faction.
The university student corps was also highly active during the events, and later organized an underground movement against Antonescu. Within seven days, however, Antonescu had retaken control of the country and purged his government of Guardist ministers. Brăileanu's immediate successor was an apolitical figure,
Radu R. Rosetti, who proceeded to undo the politicization of schools and universities. However, as Rosetti himself noted, the Ministry was in effect under Antonescu's direct control. In April 1941, Rosetti blamed "me predecessor" for having terrorized the mass of salaried teachers into accepting guidance from an "ill-prepared, but insolent and very active minority". Himself faced with ministerial suggestions for toning down the repression of Jews, Antonescu remained adamant that segregation was a valuable policy, and devised a system for its perpetuation.
Arrested during the counter-coup, Brăileanu was jailed in a former Bucharest barracks.
[Vintilă (2010), p. 536] He was sought after as an expert in Nazi Germany: in May,
Ernst Krieck, the racial scientist, invited him over as a
visiting scholar
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...
. Brăileanu was tried in June 1941 for "corrupting the youth"
or "encouraging dissent among the military".
[Săndulescu, p. 171] After acting as his own attorney,
he was acquitted of the more serious charge of treason, but sentenced to six months in jail for the lesser accusation.
A nephew of his, Virgil Procopovici, who had been visibly active in the Guard, was also detained at that time.
[Nastasă (2010), p. 473] In December 1942, when rumors spread that Sima was preparing to return from exile with Nazi support, Brăileanu was re-arrested, alongside some 1,500 other Guard figures, and interned at the
Târgu Jiu camp. He arrived there together with his former subordinates Gyr and
Petre P. Panaitescu, and found themselves cold-shouldered by left-wing inmates. One of these was journalist
Zaharia Stancu, who made a point of noting that Brăileanu looked "ill and profoundly miserable." Unusually, Brăileanu shared lodgings with a group of Jewish inmates such as Alexandru Albescu. Despite pleas from prominent members of the establishment, he was not released, whereas other detainees, including Gyr, left in February 1943.
Brăileanu was again freed in the spring of 1944 and repeatedly offered a chance to emigrate, which he declined. The year 1941 marked the end of Brăileanu's teaching career;
he was forced to retire following his acquittal.
Meanwhile, he continued his studies from 1941 to 1945, especially working on translations.
[Trebici, p. 388] In 1944, the official publishing company, Casa Școalelor, issued his Romanian version of the ''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...
''—according to literary critic
Adrian Marino, it was a "failed attempt", and "downright impossible". Philosopher Cristian Ducu also notes Brăileanu's inconsistent translation of the term ''ergon'', which results in "grave errors at the conceptual level."
Postwar trial and death

Following the
King Michael Coup of August 1944, General
Nicolae Rădescu
Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 – 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre- communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945.
Biography Early life and education ...
, soon to become prime minister, pointed to Brăileanu as among those guilty of the "national disaster" that had befallen the country. He was placed under house arrest, and was held under permanent watch in the room where he lay bedridden with a duodenal ulcer.
In 1945, he was removed from his house, detained and taken to police headquarters. Hospitalized following a hemorrhage, he remained under medical care until his trial.
This took place in May of the following year, when Brăileanu and Antonescu were among the 24 politicians brought before
Romanian People's Tribunals The two Romanian People's Tribunals (), the Bucharest People's Tribunal and the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in Cluj) were set up by the post-World War II government of Romania, overseen by the Allied Control Commission to try ...
, collectively charged with "bringing disaster upon the country". At the time, the
Communist Party organ, ''
Scînteia'', described Brăileanu as "flushed out, disjointed, his baldness sowed with grey bristle hairs as on a worn-out brush, his mouth toothless, words emerging inconsistent, gelatinous". As argued by political scientist
Ruxandra Cesereanu, such portrayals meant to induce the notion that Brăileanu was already dead to the world, a "living corpse".
Brăileanu was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment; another official jailed at the same trial was
Ion Petrovici, a successor of his at the Education Ministry.
First held at
Văcărești Prison
Văcărești Prison was a prison located in Bucharest, Romania.
The prison, situated in the southern part of the city, was established in 1865 within the former , where defendants found guilty of press offenses had been held since 1861. It was a ...
before being moved to
Aiud Prison,
Brăileanu continued working on translations of Aristotle, as well as on a memoir covering the early part of his life. In 1947, he developed a severe ulcer and, gravely ill, was taken to the
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County.
According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
prison hospital. In June, a committee of doctors decided he did not require a hospital stay, and he was returned to Aiud.
He died there, most likely on October 3.
Shortly before, the prison doctor had refused to send him for an operation, and he was not allowed to access a package his relatives had sent. His family managed to bring the body to Bucharest, where he was buried in an Orthodox ceremony at Sfânta Vineri Cemetery. Others who occupy the same gravesite include his wife, who lived until 1972, and his father.
Publication and analysis of Brăileanu's works were entirely suppressed under the
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
that followed his death. Some exceptions were made under the
national communism
National communism is a term describing various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent ...
of the 1980s, when Mihu Achim recovered him as a reference for "national sociology". By 1990, following the anticommunist
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 ...
, Brăileanu's philosophical output was again the object of public scrutiny. Controversially, sociologist
Dan Dungaciu published a piece honoring Brăileanu and his theory of the elites in a May 1993 issue of ''Mișcarea'', the
neo-fascist
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...
newspaper. In 1997, 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 ...
's sociological institute held a session dedicated to Brăileanu. His ancestral home in Bilca was reopened as a local museum.
Brăileanu's one daughter was married to his assistant Leon Țopa (1912–1996). Late in his life, Țopa was interviewed by Dungaciu, arguing that Brăileanu should be understood as a sociologist, beyond his political commitments. Brăileanu's nephew Virgil Procopovici survived both his jailing under Antonescu and a renewed communist imprisonment from 1948, and, in 1999, reemerged as a legatee of the Iron Guard, republishing Guardist literature that he had kept hidden for the previous 50 years.
A new edition of his uncle's ''Nicomachean Ethics'' appeared at Editura Antet in on around 2005; scholar Alexander Baumgarten criticized this editorial decision, noting that the translation had since been superseded by Stella Petrecel's (itself published in 1988).
[Alexander Baumgarten, "Cronica edițiilor. Aristotel în limba română (1). Cazul 'Antet'", in '' Idei în Dialog'', Vol. II, Issue 6, June 2005, pp. 44–45]
Selected bibliography
*''Despre condițiile conștiinței și ale cunoștinței'' ("On the Conditions of Consciousness and Knowing"; 1912)
*
*
*''Sociologie generală'' ("General Sociology"; 1926)
*''Etică și sociologie. Contribuții la soluționarea problemei Individ și Societate'' ("Ethics and Sociology. Contributions to the Solution of the Problem of the Individual and Society"; 1928)
*''Politica'' ("Politics"; 1928)
*''Etica'' ("Ethics"; 1935)
*''Sociologia și arta politică'' ("Sociology and the Art of Politics"; 1937)
*
*
*
References
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braileanu, Traian
1882 births
1947 deaths
Romanian sociologists
Romanian philosophers
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Romanian classical scholars
Epistemologists
Romanian ethicists
Kantian philosophers
Aristotelian philosophers
Holism
Phenomenologists
Pragmatists
Elite theory
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