Mircea Eliade

Romanian-American historian, writer, philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago (1907-1986) · United States · Writers · Died at 79

Mircea Eliade is read about 1,050 times a day, in 54 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 27 October 2026

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He split the world into sacred and profane and argued that myths don't just remember the divine - they participate in it. That framework, and his theory of eternal return, made him one of the most influential religion scholars of the 20th century.

Academics Academic History Journalism Fiction Philosophy Theatre Literature

A life in dates

1986Died22 April 1986Gordon J. Laing AwardAward1982“The history of religions reaches down and makes contact with that which is essentially human: the relation of man to the sacred.”In their wordsOrdeal by Labyrinth, Conversations with Claude-Henri Rocquet (1982), p. 148Read the whole statement

1977“The interpretations of Freud are more and more successful because they are among the myths accessible to modern man.”In their wordsNo Souvenirs (1977) later retitled Journal II, 1957-1969 (1989), p. 117Read the whole statement

1976Doctor Honoris Causa from the Paris-Sorbonne UniversityAward1969“The History of Religions is destined to play an important role in contemporary cultural life.”In their wordsThe Quest: History and Meaning in Religion (1969), p. 3Read the whole statement

1965“Psychoanalysis justifies its importance by asserting that it forces you to look to and accept reality. But what sort of reality?”In their words7 October 1965Journal entry (7 October 1965) as published in No Souvenirs (1977) later retitled Journal II, 1957-1969 (1989), p. 269Read the whole statement

1961“For those to whom a stone reveals itself as sacred, its immediate reality is transmuted into supernatural reality.”In their wordsThe Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion: The Significance of Religious Myth, Symbolism, and Ritual within Life and Culture (1961)Read the whole statement

1956“In virtue of this, the artisan is a connoisseur of secrets, a magician; thus all crafts include some kind off initiation and are handed down by an occult tradition.”In their wordsThe Forge and the Crucible (1956)Read the whole statement

1907Born9 March 1907

Also in Deutsch

Photos 1

Expoziție Mircea Eliade, fragment (cropped)

In their own words 10

Mircea Eliade

10 statements, newest first

The history of religions reaches down and makes contact with that which is essentially human: the relation of man to the sacred.
1982, Ordeal by Labyrinth, Conversations with Claude-Henri Rocquet (1982), p. 148, Own words
The interpretations of Freud are more and more successful because they are among the myths accessible to modern man.
1977, No Souvenirs (1977) later retitled Journal II, 1957-1969 (1989), p. 117, Own words
The History of Religions is destined to play an important role in contemporary cultural life.
1969, The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion (1969), p. 3, Own words

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Awards

Gordon J. Laing Award1986

Doctor Honoris Causa from the Paris-Sorbonne University1976

Knight of the Legion of Honour

About this person

Born in Romania in 1907, Eliade became a disciple of philosopher Nae Ionescu and moved between journalism, literature, and scholarship. In the late 1930s he publicly supported the Iron Guard, a Christian fascist movement - a fact that shadowed him for decades. He served as cultural attaché to the U.K. and Portugal in the 1940s before landing at the University of Chicago, where he built his paradigms: hierophanies as the basis of religion, the division of experience into sacred and profane, and eternal return as the engine of ritual. He wrote in five languages and produced fiction across genres - novels like "Bengal Nights" (1933) and "The Forbidden Forest" (1955), novellas, and stories steeped in the fantastic. He died in 1986; four years later, Romania's Academy elected him posthumously.

Country

United States

Writers from the United States 6

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Jerry Heller60.1

Charles Taze Russell60.1 John Dickson Carr60.1

Jane Wagner60.2 Howard Ashman60.1

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