Neagu Bunea Djuvara (; 18 August 1916 – 25 January 2018) was a Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat.

Biography

Early life

A native of Bucharest, he was descended from an aristocratic Aromanian family. His father, Marcel, a graduate of the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universität Berlin) and a captain in the Romanian Royal Army's Engineer Corps, died of the Spanish flu in 1918; Djuvara later stated that, at the time, his political sympathies veered towards the far right: he became a supporter of the Romanian fascist movement, the Iron Guard, and took part in the February 1934 riot against the French Radical-Socialist government of Édouard Daladier. He joined the Romanian Armed Forces and was stationed in Ploiești under the Iron Guard's National Legionary government. He stated that he gave up his interest in the far right after a 1943 dialog with fellow diplomat Victor Rădulescu-Pogoneanu, who convinced Djuvara to become "a supporter of parliamentary democracy". In this capacity, he was instructed to communicate to the Romanian Ambassador in Stockholm, Frederic Nanu, that he was to ask the Soviet representative Alexandra Kollontai whether earlier terms advanced by Joseph Stalin in regard to peace with Romania were still valid (Nanu was also told not to inform the Western Allies of these talks). and divided his time between Paris and Munich (occasionally traveling to Canada and the United States). and expressed his concern that President Traian Băsescu was unable to complete planned reforms in the wake of Romania's accession to the European Union, as well as his belief that the former Securitate was still in a position of power. His last public appearance was on 5 December 2017, when in an interview, he expressed his grief over the demise of King Michael. He died from pneumonia in Bucharest on 25 January 2018, at the age of 101 years and 147 days, and was buried at Bellu Cemetery.

Djuvara was survived by his daughter, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters.

Regarding Romanian history, Djuvara advocated continued and extensive research into what he believed was still unexplored territory. His views were often seen as undermining a Romanian national identity, mainly because of his doubts on the scientific accuracy of most historic research done in Romania since the Great Union of 1918, and putting forward controversial hypotheses concerning the origin of the Romanians, such as advancing the theory that the vast majority of the nobility in the medieval states that made up the territory of modern-day Romania was of Cuman origin.

He also published extensively regarding the relationship between his native Romania and Europe, placing the country politically and culturally "between East and West", citing it as the "last to enter what is commonly called the European concert",

Djuvara can be seen as a populariser and "de-mystifier" of history, having published books aimed a younger audience as well as books seeking to explain the historical basis for mythical figures such as Dracula or Negru Vodă. He also published memories from his exile, recounting his life and work in Paris, France, and Niamey, Niger.

Djuvara claimed that Romanian marshal Ion Antonescu, who ruled Romania during World War II, was in fact an Albanian of Romania or, as he called him, an . Romanian historian Ion Teodorescu agrees with this view.

References

  • Page at the Humanitas site