(story to be published in tomorrow’s issue, March 31)
Philosopher Mihai aora had the chance to be born in a small house with a big library. His father was a priest and a religion teacher and his son become an ardent reader. The library in the house of his parents has an extraordinary story. After Romania entered the war in 1916, Romanians were oppressed in Ardeal. All valuables were confiscated and his father was forced to bury the books. They dug a giant hole in the ground, laid a straw mat on the bottom and used sacks to cover the walls. They put the books in and then they poured tar and covered the whole lot with fresh earth to prevent humidity. For two years, the books remained underground. Mihai aora says he had a great childhood. He was born during World War 2, in November 1916, in the village of Ivanova in the Timis county. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Izvin because his father had obtained a position as a religion teacher at the Regular School in Timisoara. The village was 16 kilometres from Timisoara and he commuted. The philosopher’s first memory of those times: him sitting on a pile of clothes in a carriage while they relocated to another village. They reached a hill where some cows were grazing peacefully. He imagined they were toys. That is one of his most cherished memories. He had another powerful experience when he was eight. He had the feeling that the whole universe melted around him. It may not sound much for someone else than him but he considers that particular moment the turning point when his life was decided. He began reading when he was five because he had learned the letters pretty fast. He remembers that during those times he sat with his father at the desk and tried to write. He went to the Philosophy Faculty in Bucharest where he was the colleague of Eugen Schileru, Miron Constantinescu, Octavian Nistor, Dolfi Trost – the surrealist poet, Beno Hecter – the brother of Mihail Sebastian and even his wife, Mariana aora. After graduation, Alphonse Dupront, the director of the French Institute, gave Mihai aora a grant and because the young man refused (he was to be married soon) he also gave a grant to Mariana, his future bride. They stayed in France for ten years because the war had started. He was involved with the Resistance towards the end of the war. In 1947 he published a book at the Gallimard House before Eugen Ionescu or Emil Cioran. He returned to Romania to visit with his parents and he was forced to stay. For 31 years he was prevented from publishing. In 1978 he finally managed to publish his first Romanian book and he started seeing himself as an “old ’80s writer.” He went to the “Monday Club” led by Nicolae Manolescu and befriended Florin Iaru, Bogdan Ghiu, Ioan Bogdan Lefter, Magda Carneci, Elena atefoi, Petre Romosan, Mariana Marin. He wrote under the influence of Radulescu Motru, Blaga and Husser. He loves horses, dreams of a country cottage with a garden somewhere in the Apuseni Mountains and is very disappointed with the current politics, considering that the new political class comes from the old communist politicians and deserves no respect.