Mihai Eminescu (born Mihail Eminovici ; b.January 15, 1850, Botoșani , Moldova – d.

June
15, 1889, Bucharest , Romania ) was a Romanian poet , prose writer and journalist , generally
considered to be the most famous and influential personality in Romanian literature . [8] He published
a single volume before, Poems , composed of poems published throughout his life in the
magazine Convorbiri literare a society Junimea , of which Eminescu was a part. [9] [10] Notable works
include Luceafărul , Ode (in ancient meter) and the five Letters ( I , II , III , IV and V ). [11]
Part of the late Romantic movement , his poetry contains notions
from metaphysics , mythology , philosophy and history , while his prose also
contains sociological elements . [11] [12] The recurrent themes in his work are nature , a typical
theme of romanticism , which, in Eminescu's case, is viewed through the prism of
local folklore , love , sometimes violent, sometimes intimate or unrequited, birth , death , the
cosmos and the condition of genius . [11] [13] An article in the Encyclopædia Britannica , updated in
January 2023, states: "He transformed both the form and the content of Romanian poetry, creating a
school of poetry that strongly influenced Romanian writers and poets, at the end the 19th and the
beginning of the 20th century". [14]
He was born in Botoșani and grew up in Ipotești , moving, as a teenager, to Cernăuți to attend
secondary school where, at the age of 16, he published his first poem, De-aș avea . [15] [16] At the age
of 19, he began studying philosophy at the University of Vienna , where he encountered the writings
of authors who would strongly influence his work, such
as Plato , Spinoza , Leibniz , Kant , Rousseau and Schopenhauer , but also Eastern philosophy
through works such as the Ramayana , the Mahābhārata and the Vedas . [12] [17] It was also during
this period that he began to publish in the magazine Convorbiri literare . [18] At 22 he went to Berlin to
continue his studies. [19]
Eminescu returned to the country at the age of 24, initially settling in Iasi . [20] Mihai Eminescu's
journalistic activity took place between 1875 and 1877 , at Curierul de Iași , and from 1877
at Timpul , the official of the Conservative Party , to which Eminescu was ideologically close . [21] The
newspaper articles followed the philosophical line adopted by the author, conservative , but not
reactionary, he being a supporter of the social order from birth, of xenophobic , anti-Semitic and
bellicose nationalism and an opponent of bourgeois liberalism . [21] [22] [23] His vision was relatively
common to European nationalist authors of the time. [22] [23]
Exhausted from his daily work and probably suffering from bipolar disorder , Eminescu retired from
journalism in June 1883 . [24] [25] Following a nervous breakdown in 1886 , his mental health problems
were interpreted, probably erroneously, as symptoms of neurosyphilis , and the poet was treated
with mercuric chloride injections . [24] [26] [27] Eminescu died on June 15, 1889 , in the sanatorium of
doctor Alexandru Șuțu , being buried two days later at the Bellu cemetery in Bucharest . Death was
most likely due to mercury poisoning . [26] [28] [27] The manuscripts of Mihai Eminescu, in 46 volumes
and approximately 14,000 pages, were donated to the Romanian Academy by Titu Maiorescu in
1902. [29] He was elected a member of the Romanian Academy post-mortem in the year 1948 . [30]