- Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, a name chosen in 1857 by Tadeu Hasdeu (
February 26 ,1838 —August 25 ,1907 ), was aRomania n writer and philologist, who pioneered many branches of Romanianphilology and history. Hasdeu is considered to have been able to understand 26 languages (many of which he could also converse in).Life
He was born in
Cristineştii Hotinului (nearKhotyn ), northernBessarabia , at the time part ofImperial Russia , into a family with noted Polish connections. After studying law at the University ofKharkiv , he fought as a Russianhussar in theCrimean War . In 1858 he settled inIaşi as a high school teacher and librarian. In 1865, Hasdeu published amonograph on Ioan Vodă the Terrible, renaming him for the first time "cel Viteaz"—"the Brave". The portrayal of this violent, short rule as a glorious moment (and of Ioan himself as a reformer) drew criticism from the "Junimea " society, a conflict which was to follow Hasdeu for the rest of his life. Still, Hasdeu's version of Ioan's character and his anti-boyar actions were to be reclaimed as a founding myth byCommunist Romania .In 1863, Hasdeu again moved his residence, from Iaşi to
Bucharest ; he began editing the satirical magazine "Aghiuţă", which ceased publication the following year.cientific works
In Romania, Hasdeu started work on the "Arhiva historică a României" (1865-1867), the first history work to use sources in Slavonic and Romanian. He also published the 1870 philological review "Columna lui Traian", the best at the time in Romania. With the work "Cuvente den Batrâni" (2 volumes, 1878-1881), he was the first to contribute to the history of apocryphal literature in Romania.
His "Historia etnică a Românilor" (1875), though incomplete, marks the beginning of critical investigation into the history of Romania. Hasdeu edited the ancient "Psalter of
Coresi " of 1577 ("Psaltirea lui Coresi", 1881).His "Etymologicum magnum Romaniae" (1886) was the beginning of an encyclopaedic dictionary of the Romanian language, though he never covered letters after "B". While the completed parts of the work do aim to be exhaustive, and are remarkably detailed, many of its entries reflect more of Hasdeu's own vision than historical facts (in one famous entry, he claims to be able to trace
Basarab I 's ancestry in a direct line to theDacia n rulers, with Dacia as a developed state that would have had, at times, dominated theRoman Empire —to the point where the single ruling family would have given Rome a large number of emperors).Hasdeu got implicated in the dispute over the
Latin origin of the Romanian language. Being challenged by numerous arguments which pointed to the central position occupied by words of Slavic origin in theRomanian language , Hasdeu developed an influential verdict, deemed "the theory of words' circulation". The conclusion given was that Slavic words were never as used as Latin ones, with usage giving the language its character.In 1876 he was appointed head of the State Archives in
Bucharest , and in 1878 professor of philology at theUniversity of Bucharest .Other activities
Hasdeu was also a keen politician, but often at odds with the Romanian establishment. For example, he was placed under arrest for a nine-day interval after Captain Alexandru Candiano-Popescu's "
Republic of Ploieşti " conspiracy (1870). Although he had been a staunch defender of the deposedAlexander John Cuza , he eventually backed the movement against him (led byMihail Kogălniceanu ), and was not opposed to the new "Domnitor " (futureKing of Romania ) Carol. However, Hasdeu was a Liberal Party activist (he was elected to Parliament on its list for two non-consecutive terms), and close to its most radical, republican wing—the one led byC. A. Rosetti . As the republican experiment coincided with worsened relations between Prime MinisterIon Brătianu and Carol, all Liberal Party members became suspect of involvement. Together with several Party leaders, Hasdeu was tried and acquitted.After the death of his only child, Iulia, in 1888, he became a spiritualist and a firm adept of the
spiritism . He retreated to aCâmpina mansion, and arranged it as a temple to his newly found beliefs and to his daughter. He died there and was buried in Bellu cemetery,Bucharest .His works include two dramas, "
Răsvan şi Vidra " (romanticizing the actions of an obscure 1590s Moldavian-RomaniVoivode ,Ştefan Răzvan ), and "Domniţa Ruxandra". In 1891-92, he wrote "Sic Cogito", a theoretical work of spiritism as a philosophy.In addition to his interest in science, Hasdeu was the author of many poems, usually short ones. The Romanian critic
Mircea Eliade described him as a "genius of an amazing vastness". [ [http://cimec.ro/Muzee/hasdeu/2.htm The B. P. Hasdeu Memorial House] ]Note on his name
"Hasdeu" is pronounced as if spelled with the Romanian version of "
ş " ("Haşdeu"); Hasdeu never spelled it with any diacritic (most likely because theRomanian alphabet appeared and went through several major changes during his lifetime).Although many times taken for a first surname, "Petriceicu" is in fact his second name. The confusion can be ascribed to the name's uniqueness, and to the misguided assumption that "cu" is the same as the extremely common suffix for Romanian family names. The name was chosen by the writer himself, and it reflected the Hasdeu family claim to have descended from 17th century Moldavian ruler
Ştefan Petriceicu .References
*B. P. Hasdeu,
**"Pagini alese", Editura Tineretului, Bucharest, 1968
**"Ethymologicum Magnum Romaniae. Dicţionarul limbei istorice şi poporane a românilor (Pagini alese)", Minerva, Bucharest, 1970ee also
*
Protochronism External links
* [http://cimec.ro/Muzee/hasdeu/index.htm Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Memorial Museum]
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