Mihai Eminescu

caly. Both of these were among the leading Romanian theatrical troupes of their day, the latter including Matei Millo and Fanny Tardini-Vladicescu. He soon settled in Bucharest, where at the end of November he became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater. Through this period, he continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent by translating hundreds of pages of a book by Enric Theodor Rotscher, although this never resulted in a completed work. Also at this time he began his novel Geniu pustiu (Wasted Genius).

On April 1 1869 he was a co-founder of the "Orient" literary circle, whose interests included the gathering of fairy tales, popular poetry, and documents relating to Romanian literary history. On June 29, various members of the "Orient" group were commissioned to go to different provinces. Eminescu was assigned Moldova. That summer, he quite by chance ran into his brother Iorgu, a military officer, in Ciºmigiu Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew ties to his family.

Still in summer 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernãuþi and Iaºi. He renewed ties to his family; his father promised him a regular allowance to pursue studies in Vienna in the fall. As always, he continued to write and publish poetry; notably, on the occasion of the death of the former ruler of Muntenia, Barbu Dimitrie ªtirbey, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui ªtirbey.

His Illness

In his last years, he suffered from manic-depressive psychosis. In 1883, in Romania, he was diagnosed with syphilis and G. Calinescu wrote in the poet's biography that he had the illness since he was 20; however, a separate diagnosis done in Vienna, also from 1883, mentioned his depression but did not mention syphilis. In 1884, he returned to Romania and appeared generally healthy. Starting in 1886, he received a few injections with mercury, which was at that time the usual treatment for syphilis.

Eminescu died in hospital June 15, 1889. His autopsy was poorly conducted, so the matter of his precise cause of death is unlikely to be definitively settled. He is buried in Bucharest at Bellu cemetery.

Works

Nicolae Iorga, the Romanian historian, considers Eminescu the godfather of the modern Romanian language. He is unanimously celebrated as the greatest and most representative Romanian poet.

His poems span a large range of themes, from nature and love to history and social commentary. His carefree early years were evoked in his later poetry with deep nostalgia.

Eminescu's work has been translated in over 60 languages.

Information Found at: www.wordiq.com/definition/Mihai_Eminescu