Life[edit]

Early years[edit]

Lui Mihai Eminescu, 1932 Oscar Han sculpture, Constanța

Mihail (as he appears in baptismal records) or Mihai (the more common form of the name that he
used) was born in Botoșani [ro], Moldavia. He spent his early childhood in Botoșani and Ipotești, in
his parents family home. From 1858 to 1866 he attended school in Cernăuți. He finished 4th grade
as the 5th of 82 students, after which he attended two years of gymnasium. The first evidence of
Eminescu as a writer is in 1866. In January of that year Romanian teacher Aron Pumnul died and his
students in Cernăuţi published a pamphlet, Lăcrămioarele învățăceilor gimnaziaști (The Tears of the
Gymnasium Students) in which a poem entitled La mormântul lui Aron Pumnul (At the Grave of Aron
Pumnul) appears, signed "M. Eminovici". On 25 February his poem De-aș avea (If I Had) was
published in Iosif Vulcan's literary magazine Familia in Pest. This began a steady series of published
poems (and the occasional translation from German). Also, it was Iosif Vulcan, who disliked the
Slavic source suffix "-ici" of the young poet's last name, that chose for him the more apparent
Romanian "nom de plume" Mihai Eminescu.
In 1867, he joined Iorgu Caragiale's troupe as a clerk and prompter; the next year he transferred
to Mihai Pascaly's troupe. Both of these were among the leading Romanian theatrical troupes of
their day, the latter including Matei Millo and Fanny Tardini-Vlădicescu [ro]. He soon settled
in Bucharest, where at the end of November he became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater.
Throughout this period, he continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent by translating
hundreds of pages of a book by Heinrich Theodor Rotscher, although this never resulted in a
completed work. Also at this time he began his novel Geniu pustiu (Wasted Genius), published
posthumously in 1904 in an unfinished form.
On April 1, 1869, he was one of the co-founders of the "Orient" literary circle, whose interests
included the gathering of Romanian folklore and documents relating to Romanian literary history. On
29 June, various members of the "Orient" group were commissioned to go to different provinces.
Eminescu was assigned Moldavia. That summer, he quite by chance ran into his brother Iorgu, a
military officer, in Cișmigiu Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew his ties to
his family.
Still in the summer of 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernăuţi and Iaşi. He renewed
ties to his family; his father promised him a regular allowance to pursue studies in Vienna in the fall.
As always, he continued to write and publish poetry; notably, on the occasion of the death of the
former ruler of Wallachia, Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui
Știrbei ("On the Death of Prince Știrbei").

1870s[edit]
The University's Central Library "Mihai Eminescu", Iași

From October 1869 to 1872 Eminescu studied in Vienna. Not fulfilling the requirements to become a
university student (as he did not have a baccalaureate degree), he attended lectures as a so-called
"extraordinary auditor" at the Faculty of Philosophy and Law. He was active in student life,
befriended Ioan Slavici, and came to know Vienna through Veronica Micle; he became a contributor
to Convorbiri Literare (Literary Conversations), edited by Junimea (The Youth). The leaders of this
cultural organisation, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti, Iacob Negruzzi and Titu
Maiorescu, exercised their political and cultural influence over Eminescu for the rest of his life.
Impressed by one of Eminescu's poems, Venere şi Madonă (Venus and Madonna), Iacob Negruzzi,
the editor of Convorbiri Literare, traveled to Vienna to meet him. Negruzzi would later write how he
could pick Eminescu out of a crowd of young people in a Viennese café by his "romantic"
appearance: long hair and gaze lost in thoughts.
In 1870 Eminescu wrote three articles under the pseudonym "Varro" in Federaţiunea in Pest, on the
situation of Romanians and other minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He then became a
journalist for the newspaper Albina (The Bee) in Pest. From 1872 to 1874 he continued as a student
in Berlin, thanks to a stipend offered by Junimea.
From 1874 to 1877, he worked as director of the Central Library in Iași, substitute teacher, school
inspector for the counties of Iași and Vaslui, and editor of the newspaper Curierul de Iași (The
Courier of Iaşi), all thanks to his friendship with Titu Maiorescu, the leader of Junimea and rector of
the University of Iași. He continued to publish in Convorbiri Literare. He also was a good friend of Ion
Creangă, a writer, whom he convinced to become a writer and introduced to the Junimea literary
club.
In 1877 he moved to Bucharest, where until 1883 he was first journalist, then (1880) editor-in-chief of
the newspaper Timpul (The Time). During this time he wrote Scrisorile, Luceafărul, Odă în metru
antic etc. Most of his notable editorial pieces belong to this period, when Romania was fighting the
Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and throughout the diplomatic race that
eventually brought about the international recognition of Romanian independence, but under the
condition of bestowing Romanian citizenship to all subjects of Jewish faith. Eminescu opposed this
and another clause of the Treaty of Berlin: Romania's having to give southern Bessarabia to Russia
in exchange for Northern Dobrudja, a former Ottoman province on the Black Sea.