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Mihail Sebastian
Biography
Mihail Sebastian was born Iosif Hechter to a Jewish family in Brăila in 1907. He studied law in Bucharest but soon turned to writing, publishing novels and writing plays. He belonged to a group calledCriterion which came under the influence of Nae Ionescu, noted for his far-right politics and anti-Semitism. As a Jew, Sebastian often felt excluded. When he published De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years), about life as a Jew in Romania he asked Ionescu, with whom he was still on good terms, to write a preface to it. Ionescu wrote a vitriolic, anti-Semitic introduction to it. After considering it and discussing it with his publisher, Sebastian left the introduction in the published version. The result was that he was criticised by both Jews and the far right.
His response was to write Cum am devenit huligan [How I Became a Hooligan] which addressed the various issues and the comments by both sides.I was born in Romania, and I am Jewish. That makes me a Jew, and a Romanian., he stated.
He later became best known for his plays though he also wrote a journal, published posthumously, detailing the anti-Semitism he had suffered. He was killed when hit by a lorry in 1945.
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Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
The Jew as Pariah (about publication of De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years ))
Bibliography
1932 Fragmente dintr-un carnet găsit
1933 Femei (Women) (novel)
1934 De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years ) (novel)
1935 Oraşul cu salcâmi (The Town with Acacia Trees) (novel)
1935 Cum am devenit huligan (memoirs)
1939 Corespondenţa lui Marcel Proust (correspondence)
1939 Jocul de-a vacanța (drama)
1940 Accidentul (The Accident) (novel)
1942 Steaua fără nume (The Star with No Name) (dama)
1945 Ultima oră (Stop News) (drama)
1956 Opere alese … 1, Teatru (drama)
1962 Opere alese. Vol. 2, Proză, publicistică (collected works)
1972 Eseuri, cronici, memorial (essays)
1995 Jurnal, 1935-1944 (US: Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years; UK: Journal 1935-1944)
2006 Jurnal indirect