1. LLP Comenius Multilateral Partnership 2013-2015
Material prepared by:
Daniela Livadaru (Teacher of Religion)
and presented by:
Macrina Bârlădeanu – 1oth Grade Student
Alin Miron – 11th Grade Student
Project Meeting in Munich, Germania
- the 21st – the 26th of March 2014-

2.  a Romanian literary critic, essayist,
philosopher, pedagogue, politician,
prime minister of Romania in 1912
and 1914, Internal Affairs minister ,
founder member of the Romanian
Academy;
 he is considered a Mecena of
Romanian culture in an important
transition phase;

3.  Born on the 15th of February, 1840, in
Craiova, in a high-esteemed
intellectual family;
 He graduated in 1858 at The
Theresianum Academy in Vienna, as
first in his class;
 Eager to continue his studies, in 1859
he obtained his PhD in Philosophy at
Giessen, in 1860 he got his license in
Philology and Philosophy in Sorbona
and in 1861 a license in Law at Paris;Photo showing Maiorescu in his youth

4.  1863 – Dean of the Philosophy Faculty
in Iaşi and History course professor,
then Rector of the University of Iaşi;
 1863, October – principal of “Vasile
Lupu” Normal School in Iaşi, where
he taught Pedagogy, Romanian
Grammar, Psychology and
Composition;
 He reorganized the school and
initiated the pedagogical practice of
students;
Maiorescu in his middle-ages

5.  After his return to Romania, in 1861, he
used his knowledge and skills to
contribute to the progress of the recently
formed state, after the union in 1859, and
of the cultural and political life at an
European level;
 He had a rapid ascent: University
professor at 22 years old, dean and rector
at 23, academician at 27, deputy at 30 and
minister at 34;
 In 1861, he started to address the
“popular prelections”, on different topics;
Maiorescu in his full ascent

6.  1863 – he founded alongside with other
foreign-educated friends The Junimea
Society, the most influential intellectual
and political association from Romania
in the 19th century;
 The earliest literary gathering was in
1864, to hear a translation of Macbeth;
 Members started to meet each Sunday,
discuss the problems of the day and
review the newest literary works;
Maiorescu in his full ascent

7.  Annual lectures were held on broad
themes, such as Psychological
Researches (1868 and 1869), Man
and Nature (1873) or The Germans
(1875), addressing to intellectuals,
students, lawyers, professors,
government officials, etc.;
 The society was frequented by the
Romanian literature classics – Mihai
Eminescu, Ion Creangă, Ion Luca
Caragiale, Ioan Slavici – and many
other important cultural
personalities;
Romanian classics meeting at Junimea

8.  Junimea brought a new wave of
German influence, accommodating
thus Romanticism;
 In the same time, it introduced
Realism into local literature, while
only few literary figures represented
the French-influence;
 The society, through Maiorescu’s
voice, favoured an accurate use of
the Romanian language;
 The society encouraged a move
towards professionalism in the
writing of history, as well as
intensified research;
Pogor House in Iași, the headquarters
of Junimea; nowadays, The Romanian
Literature Museum

9.  1867 - Junimea started publishing its own
literary review, Convorbiri literare
(Literary Discussions), one of the most
important publications in the history of
Romanian literature;
 The journal added a new, modern vision
to the whole Romanian culture, defining
itself through ethic and aesthetic value
sense;
 Many important Romanian poets,
novelists, drama writers… published their
works in this journal;
Cover from 1920, on the commemoration
of Maiorescu’s 80th birth anniversary

10.  As Minister of Education in late-19th
century cabinets, he supported the
creation of new opportunities in the field
(schools in rural areas, selection of the
best manuals, conservation of national
heritage, mentoring, the granting of
scholarships), amounting thus to the
creation of an influential Romanian
generation of historians;
 He reacted against the prevailing interest
in literary form at the expense of content
and pointed toward a later reassessment
of the uses of literature.
Maiorescu in his latest years

11.  Romanian historian of religion,
philosopher, fiction writer and
professor;
 He established paradigms in
religious studies that persist to this
day.
 He represents excellence in culture,
being regarded as proof that
Romania’s interwar culture could
reach higher levels of depth,
sophistication and creativity.

12.  Born on the 7th of March, 1907, in Bucharest, in
a religious family;
 He attended the University of Bucharest's
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1928;
 He studied Italian, English, Persian and
Hebrew and he stayed a few years in British
India with a scholarship, where he also learnt
Sanskrit;
 He studied Indian philosophy and he
personally met Mahatma Gandhi;
 Eliade received his PhD in 1933, with a thesis
on Yoga practices, paper with significant
impact in Romania and abroad;Photo showing Eliade in his youth

13.  Treatise on the History of Religions (3 vols.
1976-1983) was praised worldwide for its
coherence and ability to synthesize diverse and
distinct mythologies;
 Eliade is famous for his attempt to find broad,
cross-cultural parallels and unities in religion,
particularly in myths – the Eternal Return;
 In The Sacred and the Profane Eliade argues
that religious thought in general rests on a
sharp distinction between the Sacred and the
Profane. He shows how religion emerges from
the experience of the sacred, and myths of
time and nature.

14.  Eliade notes that, in traditional societies,
myth represents the absolute truth about
primordial time. It was the time when the
Sacred first appeared, establishing the world's
structure.
 Eliade argues that all myths are, in that sense,
origin myths: "myth, then, is always an
account of a creation".
 According to Eliade's theory, only the Sacred
has value, only a thing's first appearance has
value and this is the reason for the “nostalgia
for origins" that appears in many religions, the
desire to return to a primordial Paradise.

15.  According to Eliade, there are two types of people:
the nonreligious man and the traditional man;
 For traditional man, historical events gain
significance by imitating sacred, transcendent
events.
 “The modern nonreligious man assumes a new
existential situation”. In contrast, he lacks sacred
models for how history or human behaviour
should be, so he must decide on his own how
history should be.
 He sees in Christianity the ultimate example of a
religion embracing linear, historical time, giving
purpose to existence.

16.  Mircea Eliade is also an intensely prolific author of fiction and non-
fiction alike, publishing over 1,300 pieces over 60 years, novels,
novellas, and short stories.
 His experiences in the Himalayas, at Swami Shivananda's ashram,
where he went to meditate, Eliade depicted in the novel Maitreyi
(1933), which became a success.
 He earned international fame with Le Mythe de L'éternal Retour
(1949, The Myth of the Eternal Return), an interpretation of religious
symbols and imagery, followed by Mythes, rêves et mystères (1957,
Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries). Eliade was much interested in the
world of the unconscious.
 An important role play his autobiographic journal and essays
containing personal reflections on his own life and works as well as
on scholarly, religious, social, and political developments in Romania
and the world;

17.  Mircea Eliade's earliest works, most of
which were published at later stages,
belong to the fantasy genre. The early
writings also include two sketches for
novels: The Wonderful Journey of the
Five Beetles into the Land of the Red
Ants and The Memoirs of a Lead
Soldier. Eliade himself explained that
The Memoirs of a Lead Soldier was an
ambitious project, designed as a fresco
to include the birth of the Universe,
abiogenesis, human evolution, and the
entire world history.

18.  An endowed chair in the History of
Religions at the University of Chicago
Divinity School was named after Eliade
in recognition of his wide contribution to
the research on this subject;
 In 1990, Eliade was elected posthumously
to the Romanian Academy.
 In Romania, Mircea Eliade's legacy in the
field of the history of religions is
mirrored by the journal Archaeus
(founded 1997).
 His legacy in the field of history of
religions was scrutinized by various
scholars, some of whom were his direct
students at the University of Chicago.

21.  Orthodox theologian, academic, and
professor, teacher of Orthodox
spirituality and the spiritual life;
 a guide and teacher of the theology
of humility, a translator of Patristic
treasures, and a tireless author of
theological and spiritual works;
 He is considered one of the foremost
Christian theologians of the 20th
Century.

22.  Born on the 16th of November, 1903, in
Vlădeni, Braşov, in a peasant family;
 He graduated in 1922 at Andrei Şaguna
Confessional Humanist Lyceum in
Braşov and the Theology Faculty in
Cernăuţi în 1927, obtaining his PhD in
Theology at Cernăuţi, in 1928;
 He specialized in Byzantinology and
Dogmatics, attending courses in
Munich, Berlin, Athens, Paris and
Constantinople;
Photo showing father Stăniloae in
his youth

23.  1934 – Fr. Stăniloae became the director
of the newspaper Romanian Telegraph, a
position he held until 1945;
 1929 – associate professor and then
rector (1936) of the Theological Academy
in Sibiu, position held till 1946;
 1958 – he was arrested for attending the
Burning Altar group, a movement for
the rejuvenation of Orthodox Christian
life in Bucharest, and confined to prison
till 1963;Father Stăniloae in his middle-ages

24.  1963 – after his release, he began working
for the Holy Synod of the Romanian
Orthodox Church;
 1965 – he was asked by the Romanian State
Department of Cults to write articles and
take part in studies as the government
attempted to project an image of religious
freedom in Romania, which permitted to
travel and attend worldwide conferences
(Freiburg, Heidelberg, Oxford);
 He received honorary doctoral degrees
(Thessaloniki, 1976); St. Sergius Orthodox
Institute in Paris (1981); Belgrade (1982);
Athens (1991); Bucharest (1992);
A.M. Allchin (left), a famous Anglican
theologian, and Father Stăniloae
(right)

25.  A gifted linguist who wrote in five
languages and knew very well old
Greek and Latin, he is the author of an
impressive work (more than 90 books,
275 studies, 33 translations and so on),
covering all fields of Theology;
 His foremost works are Philokalia
(translated from old Greek, with
extensive commentaries between 1946-
1991), The Orthodox Dogmatic
Theology (1978), The Orthodox
Spirituality (1981).Many of the books in his library are
written by himself

26.  The world is a manifestation of God;
 The whole world ought to be regarded as
the gift of God to humankind;
 The more human beings discover the
beauty of created things and the greater
the gratitude and love which responds to
God, the more God will respond with
still greater love;
 It is very simple to conceive of God and
to know Him;
He strongly affirmed that God is
first of all Love

27.  He placed great emphasis on solidarity
between humanity and creation;
 Humanity is in a position to profoundly
affect the entire cosmos, by poisoning
and diminishing its spiritual dimension
or respecting it;
 The whole natural order is destined for
glory alongside redeemed humanity;
 Humankind is responsible for
sanctifying the entire creation;
He sees the human as a priest of creation,
offering the world back to God

28.  His theology is rather a confession of
faith than an abstract system;
 He emphasizes the concept of person
and communion, asking for love and
solidarity among people;
 His perspective focuses on human
freedom and its true fulfillment in God;
 Father Stăniloae invites us to rediscover
ourselves, our humanity and kindness
and to put them into practice;
 The final goal of our life should be the
quest for divine, our moral restoration
and deification;A “flying eagle”, working for the
spiritual conversion of heart and mind

29.  In your life be decisive, without
compromise or confusion, clear and
consistent.
 Make your belief alive within you: life,
not theory.
 Always ask yourself what are you
running after in your life, so as not to
drown in the sea of life.
 We have to do our best to discern in
any man in a crowd a valuable face of
God that should deserve being loved,
that should need my love, a fact that
makes me leave behind the barrenness
of loneliness.

30.  Time is the distance between the call of
God and our reply.
 Kindness is the support of patience and
the door to love.
 Prayer sets free the human being,
releases him from his exterior nature
and from himself.
 You are necessary to me, not to make
you my subordinate and my serf, but
because I want you to be in the centre of
my preoccupation and my serving
towards you. You are necessary for me in
order to replace the need for myself
with the need and caring for you, to put
you in the place of my ego.