Fuga lui Petru Dumitriu
Petru Dumitriu’s Escape

Summary/Abstract: The article evokes the personality of the writer Petru Dumitriu. In 1960, Petru Dumitriu was 36 years old and the most important Romanian writer of the time. In February 1960, he took refuge in the West, together with his wife. Although two years younger than Marin Preda, his biography was totally different from that of the other writers arrested by the new regime, who, in the best case, graduated from high school. He had a Humboldt scholarship that allowed him to study philosophy at the University of Munich. He was preparing his undergraduate thesis about theologian Jacob Boehme when, coming home, on vacation, he could no longer return to Germany after the coup of August 23, 1944. He was 20 years and he already made his debut in “Journal of the Royal Foundations”. Petru Dumitriu adjusted since 1948 to the new conditions in the country. In 1956, taking advantage of the peak time of the “thaw”, Petru Dumitriu published the trilogy Family chronicle, of about 1,500 pages, a book like no other in the Romanian literature, meant to remain our largest and most expressive epic work. Being considered trustworthy by the regime, Petru Dumitriu had come to know many compromising details from the biography of some people at the top of the political pyramid. While escaping to the West he took with him manuscripts and notes. Once there, from the microphone of Radio Free Europe, he revealed specific issues with precise details about the past and the way of life of many Communist leaders.

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