Mircea Vulcănescu

Mircea Aurel Vulcănescu (3 March 1904, Bucharest – 28 October 1952, Aiud) was a Romanian philosopher, economist, ethics teacher, sociologist and convicted war criminal.

Biography

He studied philosophy and law at the University of Bucharest, graduating in 1925. He was then more attracted to sociology, due to his field experiences (monograph campaigns) under the coordination of professor Dimitrie Gusti. Gusti became one of his most admired mentors, alongside Nae Ionescu. He was also Gusti's assistant at the University of Sociology in Bucharest. He started working towards a Ph.D. degree in law and sociology at the University of Paris, but dropped out later, due to the coming of the communist regime and his imprisonment. In the winter of 1927 he started collaborating with Gândirea. King Carol I and, later, King Michael I offered him awards and distinctions for the services done for the Romanian nation and its culture.

From June 1935 to September 1937 he was director of the Customs Service, while in 1940 he was director of Casa Autonomă de Finanțare și Amortizare. From January 27, 1941 to August 23, 1944, he was undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance, in the Ion Antonescu government.[1]

After the establishment of the communist regime, he was arrested on August 30, 1946, tried as a war criminal, and sentenced on October 9, 1946 to 8 years in prison.[1] Incarcerated in Aiud prison, he died after 6 years, due to the harsh treatment he was subjected to. Fellow prisoners told the story of his death: he and a group of 12 other convicts form his cell were all punished to stay naked, without any clothes or chairs, in a very cold and wet cavern in the prison's dungeon, for reciting poetry (poetry was very popular in prisons that communists used to condemn people just for being intellectuals; it was one of the few resorts of resisting the mental torture). A young man fell to the floor, risking to die of a lung disease, and Mircea Vulcănescu practically forced him to stay on top of him, rather than on the wet stone floor, and thus saved his life. He said: "I'm an old man, how can I let a young man like you die?". Yet he was only 48, an age many do not regard as "old". Soon after this, the young man was better, but Mircea Vulcănescu developed pneumonia, and soon after he died. His last words to the world were: "Do not avenge us!"

Controversies

Vulcănescu has been accused of having been a sympathizer of the Iron Guard,[2] "a supporter of discrimination based on ethnicity"[3] and that he "supported spiritually and morally the antisemitism of the government."[4]

Family

He was married twice: to Anina Rădulescu-Pogoneanui, and to Margareta Ioana Niculescu.[5] He had three daughters: Mariuca, Vivi, and Sandra.[6]

Main Works

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Diaconescu, Ioana. "Deţinutul K 9320: Mircea Vulcănescu" (in Romanian). Romania literara. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Ornea, Zigu (2009). Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească (in Romanian). Editura Samuel Tastet.
  3. ↑ Moraru, Ovidiu (2005). "Intelectualii români si „chestia evreiasca"" (in Romanian) (6 (639)). Romania culturala. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ Florian, Alexandru (June 24, 2014). "Mircea Vulcănescu şi memoria publică" (in Romanian). Revista 22. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Şcoala Centrală de fete la 150 de ani" (in Romanian) (11). Romania literara. 2001. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Vicleim in patru acte" (in Romanian) (898). Formula AS. 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2014.