Henric Sanielevici
Romanian scholar
Died when: 75 years 151 days (904 months)Star Sign: Libra
Henric Sanielevici (Romanian pronunciation: ['henrik sani'elevit???], first name also Henri, Henry or Enric, last name also Sanielevich;September 21, 1875 – February 19, 1951) was a Romanian journalist and literary critic, also remembered for his work in anthropology, ethnography, sociology and zoology.
Initially a militant socialist from the political-philosophical circle of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, he incorporated other influences and, in 1905, created his own literary review, Curentul Nou ("The New Trend").
Sanielevici and his friend Garabet Ibraileanu were among the founders of "Poporanism", a peasant-oriented and left-wing movement.However, Sanielevici soon detached himself from both Marxism and agrarianism, criticizing Romanian traditionalist literature, and prophesying a Neoclassicism for the working men.
His heated polemic with the rival school of Samanatorul journal isolated him from the other Poporanists, whom he eventually denounced as "reactionaries".
More controversy surrounded his ambiguous attitudes during World War I.From 1920, Sanielevici was an isolated figure on the left, editing a new version of Curentul Nou and only affiliating with the popular daily Adevarul.
He moved away from literary theory and, following his anthropological speculations, revived Lamarckism and scientific racism to formulate his own racial-sociological system.
Himself a Jewish Romanian, Sanielevici attempted to undermine the racial assumptions of Nazi ideologists and local fascists.The author faded into obscurity by the 1940s, when his work was vilified by the governing fascists, then expunged by the communist regime.