N. Porsenna

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N. Porsenna (pen name of Nicu Porsena Ionescu, also known as Nicu Porsenna or Porsena; 13 January 1892 – 18 January 1971) was a Romanian lawyer, writer, publisher, social psychologist, and political figure, also active as a paranormal investigator. Born to a successful printer, whose business he inherited at age 20, he began his career in letters, and his lifelong participation in polemics, while attending Matei Basarab National College. Before the outbreak of World War I, he had attracted attention as a student organizer, modernist raconteur, and Flacăra journalist, also founding his own short-lived newspaper, Latinul. During Romania's neutrality years, Porsenna veered between strong support for the Entente Powers (hinted at in a verse drama he co-wrote with Scarlat Froda) and a more cautious stance, akin to that of his political mentor, Alexandru Marghiloman. Upon Romania's declaration of war, he enlisted as an artillery cadet, and fought with distinction throughout the subsequent campaigns. Porsenna returned to civilian life following capitulation in early 1918, and founded the daily Arena—possibly acting as an employee of his controversial friend, Alfred Hefter-Hidalgo. This venue supported Marghiloman, who had emerged as Romania's "Germanophile" Prime Minister; Porsenna joined the governing Conservatives ahead of elections in May…Citește mai mult

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Early life The future writer, who listed himself as "of Romanian nationality and ethnic origin", was born as Nicu Porsena Ionescu on 13 January 1892. His exact place of birth is Strada Doamnei 14, Lipscani, Bucharest. This was the domicile of his father, the printer Gheorghe (or George) Ionescu, and mother Maria (née Cordea). Nicu's maternal grandfather was a Transylvanian immigrant to Wallachia, who had served as a Barrier Captain in the Bucharest police. The surname "Ionescu" was originally Gheorghe's patronymic, fixated during his time in school; originally from Afumați in Wallachia, he had spent some of his youth as a homeless urchin, owing his success to being selected as an apprentice by C. Petrescu-Conduratu. He was serving as general manager of Institutul de Arte Grafice Carol Göbl, one of Romania's most prestigious presses, and later set up his own firm, Tipografia George Ionescu. The future writer's second birth name, and his selected pen name, was chosen by his father to honor Lars Porsena, the ancient Etruscan king. Gheorghe, who cultivated literature and corresponded with historian Nicolae Iorga, had given unusual, bookish names, to all his children. Three of Nicu's sisters were known as Lucreția, Eugenia, and Gilberta; a brother…Citește mai mult

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World War I In 1914, Porsenna also issued a debut novel and began putting out his own newspaper, Latinul ("The Latin"), accompanied by a magazine, Ghilotina ("The Guillotine"), which appeared from November 1915 to March 1916 with Froda as the editorial secretary. Here, he focused for a while on attacking liberal theorist Eugen Lovinescu, whom he likened to a "barking mutt". Porsenna's work as a raconteur was continued in 1915 by a collection of mainly satirical prose, Dincolo de iubire și de moarte ("Beyond Love and Death"), which evidence the intellectual influence of Anatole France and Oscar Wilde. His 1916 novel, Magdalena, was briefly reviewed in Panait Mușoiu's Revista Ideei as "revelations sketched out with a very lively talent [...] which gentle souls would do well to heed." As clarified in the prologue, it was designed as an experiment in anti-art and unreliable narration, drawing attention to processes of self-mystification—to the lyricism of love imagined when compared to the banality of one's amorous biography. Porsenna's career was touched by political tension during the first two years of World War I, when Romania maintained neutrality. In his Latinul, he urged for an intervention in support of the Entente Powers, citing Francophilia…Citește mai mult

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Interwar politics In the resulting Greater Romania, which included both Transylvania and Bessarabia, Porsenna was recognized as a professional author: completing two more novels and two collections of stories by 1921, he was head of Gutenberg publishing house from 1920, and a member of the Romanian Writers' Society from 1923. According to a tongue-in-cheek statement by Șeicaru, Arena went under because: "We were all aged 24 and all of us natural-born bosses. This is why we split up in no time, and went on to establish, each in turn, our very own gazettes". Literary historian Paul Cernat notes that Porsenna was founder of the newspaper Naționalul ("The National"); in 1921–1922, he was also Flacăra's co-editor, which implied an association with Brătianu's National Liberal Party. Porsenna was, or was perceived to be, a member of the latter group. Strigoii ("The Ghosts"), appearing in 1920, was supposed to be Porsenna's first work of "serious" literature, since it tackled the sobering experience of war. It was however panned by an indignant Vinea (whose relationship with Porsenna had grown visibly strained); Vinea suggested that Strigoii could only be called a novel because of its overall size. As Teutișan notes, interwar critics almost always ignored…Citește mai mult

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Social rise and downfall Porsenna, who was also co-opted as publisher at Editura Cugetarea, expanded on his theoretician's work with Proporția etnică și primatul muncii românești ("Ethnic Proportionality and the Primacy of Romanian Labor"). Appearing in 1938, it included a formal denunciation of antisemitism, and clarified that its proposals for social reform had nothing in common with the "proletarian beastliness" of communism. The study drew attention in the rival Kingdom of Hungary, with its daring claims about Transylvanian Hungarians and other ethnic minorities. In a 1941 overview for Kisebbségvédelem journal, scholar András Arató noted that Porsenna, a "well-known right-wing writer and political reformer", had proposed the Romanianization of minorities by voluntary means (which implied that non-Romanians wishing to integrate ethnically would have to abide by a set of rules), as well as by more violent ones—such as resettling and dispersing them in rural areas, which could be thus become "wonderful farmlands." Arató declared himself shocked by Porsenna's "determination and cynicism." The period saw Porsenna returning to his psychic research, with Les hypostases de l'âme humaine ("The States of the Human Soul"), which was preserved as a manuscript by Valère Musatesco. It outlined a substance theory of the soul, seen by…Citește mai mult

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Imprisonment and persecution The establishment of a Romanian communist regime in 1948 came with renewed threats. Porsenna hid in Zoe's apartment on Saligny Street, and only went out when she could accompany him; at the time, she had a good reputation as an employee of ICRAL, a state venture overseeing the nationalization of real estate. He was "almost completely cloistered", but also able to focus on his writing. He kept in contact with Ioanițescu's other disciples, including Petre Țuțea—though, as Zoe notes, they never discussed politics. Țuțea was arrested by the Securitate in December 1956, for "crimes of agitation"—meaning his alleged establishment of an anti-communist cell. During the preparatory stages of his trial, prosecutors spuriously noted: "as early as 1948–1949 [Țuțea and his co-defendants] have set up [...] a subversive fascist-Guardist-type organization called 'Nationalist Party', whose leader were the Guardists Ștefan Petre and Porsenna Nicolae (long-time defectors from this country) [sic], their purpose being the violent toppling of our people's democracy and the establishment of a fascist-type regime". On 26 June 1957, which was Zoe's birthday, the Securitate responded to an anonymous tip (allegedly from Dorina or from a woman picked up during the stake-out); its agents stormed the apartment,…Citește mai mult

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Legacy Weeks after the burial, anthropologist Victor Săhleanu discussed Romanian contributions to parapsychology, mentioning Porsenna's "intense activity" in that field—and in succession to Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu's earlier work. His output as a social psychologist was sampled in Ion Ungureanu's 1989 overview, Idealuri sociale și realități naționale. Here, Porsenna was defined as an evolutionist and positivist thinker, in line with A. D. Xenopol, Spiru Haret, and Henric Sanielevici. Focus on Porsenna's lifelong work was only restored in the 1990s, that is after the anti-communist uprising; in 1995, his rendition of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 was included a definitive Shakespeare edition, put out by Leon Levițchi. Five years later, Radio România Cultural hosted readings by Victor Rebengiuc from Porsenna's translations of Poe. Porsenna's widow led efforts to ensure that his books could undergo critical reappraisal, establishing a foundation named after him. However, as she complained in 2001 (when she was aged 89): "[it] cost me a lot of money, but I never got anywhere with it, because I had no means at my disposal. All around me people have duped me, though I am credited as the sponsor of historically valuable books." Regenerarea reappeared, care of Editura Vremea, in 2001; the following…Citește mai mult