George Murnu
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George Murnu (January 1, 1868, Veria, in the Ottoman Empire, now in Greece—November 17, 1957, Bucharest) was a Romanian university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator and poet of Aromanian origin.
After attending the courses of the Romanian primary and secondary schoolsin Macedonia at Bitola, he attended the University of Bucharest. In 1893, at age 25, Murnu was appointed professor at the University of Iaşi and shortly afterwards was awarded a scholarship by the Romanian State in order to complete his postgraduate studies in Munich, and, after several years he returned to Romania after completing a doctorate in philology. A fruitful scholarly activity followed, culminating in Murnu becoming a chairman professor of archaeology at the University of Bucharest.
In 1909 he was appointed head of the National Archaeological Museum in Bucharest by the Ministry of Public Instruction and Religious Confessions.
Murnu has translated an accomplished version of the Odyssey and Iliad into Romanian. He also wrote his own works of poetry (with bucolic themes), both in literary Romanian and in his native Veria Vlach dialect.
Murnu was a sympathizer of the far right Iron Guard, and was an intimate friend of the Vlach seccessionist politician, head of the Principality of Pindus, Alkiviadis Diamandi di Samarina. After the end of World War II, Murnu was not subject to legal investigation - probably due to his age and prestige.
He was elected a full member of the Romanian Academy. Nowadays, a street in the Romanian Black Sea port of Mangalia bears his name.
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[edit] Works
- Românii din Bulgaria medievală ("Romanians in Medieval Bulgaria")
- Studiu asupra elementului grec ante-fanariot în limba română ("Essay on the pre-Phanariote Greek language elements in Romanian")
[edit] Poetry written by Murnu
Cântecul plaiurilor noastre (in Romanian)
Din bură de codri răsună chemare
Din glasuri de păsări, de frunze, de crengi
De şoapte lungi, de fântâni, de izvoare
Cu lacrimi de umbră, cu zâmbet de soare;
Şi clopote-aud, cunoscute tălăngi
De turme răzleţe pe văi şi pripoare
Grailu armânescu (in Aromanian)
Grailu-a meu di mumă, grailu-a meu di tată
Vatra-a mea iu ni-ardu anilii tse-am bănată
Grai picurărescu di păduri shi plae
Zbor tse-avdzâi dit gura-a paplui shi-ali mae
Zbor di budză vrută, dumnidzască nilă
Niurismă di frangă shi di trandafilă.
Lavă di căshare, boatse di călivă
Suflă vindicarea a ta dultse livă.
Adiliat di moscu, duh di primuveară
Bana ni-u cutreamburi ca unã fluiară
Tse di dor pitrunde noaptea tu pundie
Inima-ni ti cântă, mâna-ni tut ti scrie.
Stau, tsi-ascultu plângul, jalea shi niholu,
Ved încrutsiliată Soia-ni ca Hristolu
Shi mizie li-si-avde zborlu-a tău dit gură.
Scumpa-a mea fântână tse anarga cură,
Mâne, poate mâne, di dushmani biută,
Va si-armâni tu etă pondă shi tăcută.
[edit] Sources
- Nicolae-Şerban Tanaşoca, Realism şi idealism în "Chestiunea aromâneascã". Un episod diplomatic din viaţa lui George Murnu în lumina corespondenţei sale inedite (Réalisme et idéalisme dans "la question aroumaine". Un épisode diplomatique de la vie de George Murnu a la lumiere de sa corespondance inédite), in Revista de Istorie, 1997, 8, nr. 11-12, pp. 719-738.
