IOAN PETRU CULIANU AND CIVIC JOURNALISM
IOAN PETRU CULIANU AND CIVIC JOURNALISM

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the columns signed by Ioan Petru Culianu in Romanian-language publications issued abroad. The New York Free World newspaper ran most of the columns in “Scoptophilia” section starting from 23rd of June 1990 until 22nd of December 1990. The target is to study the articles published by Culianu, especially the political ones, and assess the impact of these texts on the assassination that occurred on 21st of May 1991. History of religion American scholar, writer and columnist, Ioan Petru Culianu is well-known worldwide as a disciple of Mircea Eliade, pundit and world authority on the history of religions. Culianu still exerts a unique fascination on successive generations of Romanian readers. Because he has built his career abroad (he left the country in 1972 and never returned), his research works were published only posthumously in Romania. After the Revolution, Culianu’s name became famous to his fellow countrymen interested in his religious studies and prose fiction. His columnist activity hasn’t arisen much echo, even though it is considered that the political articles published abroad could have been the direct cause of his death.

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