Secrete, minciuni şi consecinţe: Trecutul ascuns al unui mare savant și asasinarea discipolului său

by Bruce Lincoln, Sorana Lupu (Translator)

Volumul lui Bruce Lincoln conectează câteva teme de mare interes pentru publicul românesc, având în centru personalitatea lui Mircea Eliade și relația sa îndelungată și complexă cu Ioan Petru Culianu.

Perspectiva autorului, fost doctorand al lui Mircea Eliade la University of Chicago și, ulterior, profesor la Catedra de istorie a religiilor din aceeași universitate, îi permite să realizeze corelații surprinzătoare între extrema dreaptă din România interbelică, controversele izbucnite în anii 1980 în mediile academice occidentale pe tema afinităților legionare ale lui Eliade și, în fine, enigma asasinării lui Culianu la 21 mai 1991, propunând inclusiv o nouă ipoteză despre autorii ei. Este totodată un volum despre relația dintre un mare savant și tânărul cercetător chemat să-i continue munca, iar dezechilibrul intrinsec din această relație, sugerează autorul, poate deveni dramatic atunci când discipolul alege să apere, cu energie și bună-credință, ceva ce magistrul nu i-a dezvăluit niciodată pe deplin.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Biography, True Crime, American History, Crime

264 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Jim Coughenour · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but ultimately disappointing book about scholarship and murder. Lincoln digs into the spiritual/fascist background of Mircea Eliade and the assasination of his protégé Ioan Culianu in 1991. Disappointing — for me — because I was hoping for more insight into the scholarly imagination of Culianu as well as a more specific solution to his murder than that posited in Ted Anton’s Eros, Magic, and the Murder of Professor Culianu (published almost 30 years ago). Bruce Lincoln, who taught at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago along with Eliade and Culianu, has excavated a series of controversial, suppressed articles written by Eliade in the late 1930s that document his sympathy for the nationalist, antisemitic, violent Legion of the Archangel Saint Michael as it existed in pre-WWII Romania, and Culianu’s botched effort to defend Eliade without exonerating him. The critical point, as I understand it, is that the extreme spiritual beliefs Eliade advanced in the 1930s continued to influence the writings that later brought him worldwide acclaim. Esoteric wisdom, unrivaled insight, tainted at the source.

My personal interest — I was a PhD student at the Divinity School in the early 1980s. I was less interested in Eliade than in Bernard McGinn’s yearlong seminar on Western Mysticism and Paul Ricoeur’s studies of time and memory, but I saw him around and had heard of his formidable wife. Culianu I discovered only after I’d abandoned the program, encountering him first in Eros and Magic in the Renaissance and then in his utterly fascinating The Tree of Gnosis: Gnostic Mythology from Early Christianity to Modern Nihilism. It is harrowing to realize that he was assassinated in Swift Hall where I visited three times a week for three years. My appreciation for Culianu (far more than for Eliade, who barely interested me) and my proximity to his milieu makes my interest keen — yet it seems that this is a murder which will never be solved. Every time I pick up one of Culianu’s sui generis books, I mourn again that there will be no more from this brilliant idiosyncratic thinker.

It’s disturbing to believe that it was his friendship and appreciation for his mentor that in the end may have gotten him killed. (And, as Lincoln suggests, as bizarre as one of the occult conspiracies in Culianu’s own unpublished novel or those of Umberto Eco, in whose company he belongs.)

[Sabin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well researched book, which points no fingers, but brings together and analyses Mircea Eliade’s relationship with the Legionary Movement in Romania, then Ioan Petru Culianu’s relationship to his mentor right until his unsolved murder in 1991 and a few years after, while also discussing the possible culprits for this murder.

If I had to find the most fascinating character from this whole cast which includes a lot of Romanian, American, Jewish and Italian intellectuals, as well as legionaries, communists and a smattering of Romanian neo-legionaries in Chicago, all of whom have reasons to love and loathe the complex personality that was Micrea Eliade, that would be his second wife, Christinel Eliade. She was of noble birth, an exile to France, just like her husband in that period, who took it upon herself to preserve her husband’s reputation and deflect any attempts at probing into her husband’s motivations and personal beliefs. Yes, he did write articles in a Legionary newspaper, he did admire the spiritual side of the Legionary movement (and not its political implication or its violence, aspects which were continued by its Iron Guard successor) and he did show an ambivalent attitude to the Jewish minority in Romania. On the one hand he admired their tenacity and hard work despite all the obstacles in the way, but, on the other hand, their existence interfered with his great plan of spiritual awakening for the Romanian people, for their transfer from the periphery of European culture to its centre. Christinel held the ranks, did not allow any criticism, did not want to see any evidence pertaining to his Legionary association, and, in short, expected a cult-like adoration for her husband not only during his lifetime, but especially after his death, when she wanted full control over his literary material even though Culianu was named executor in her husband’s will. She stands out as the protector of her husband’s legacy, with her deeply set beliefs and faith in her husband’s innocence.

The book is courageous and very well informed, with the author researching the original sources in Romanian and also willing to translate some of Eliade’s articles in English, but currently unable to do so due to opposition from his subject’s heirs. (apparently they will enter public domain in 1927 and he could only then add them as an annex to the book) Ultimately, just as the author proclaims in the last chapter, the book may help the studious reader “comprehend and regret his stance, but not excuse or forgive it”.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my third week of class at UChicago, the radiator rattled in my religion social sciences class and my professor jokingly blamed it on the ghost of Professor Culianu who was shot thirty years ago in the men’s bathroom two floors above our classroom. So, of course, when my professor mentioned that a book had been written by one of his colleagues pertaining to Culianu’s assassination, I had to buy it out of pure curiosity.

And even though Culianu’s murder remains unsolved, I enjoyed reading about the complex politics of WW2-era Romania and how they fueled many of the theories behind his death. Very interesting.

[Titi Coolda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derapajele tinereții pot fi iertate, dar nu trebuie, niciodată, uitate. Dacă trecem cu vederea peste greșelile trecutului, riscăm să le repetăm și în prezent. Roata istoriei ne arată că asta se întâmplă, din păcate.

[Marian Pālie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despre cât de mici pot fi oamenii mari.

[Neil Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting little book. Although not the same genre, it reminded me a bit of a Sebald or Drndic book. Also a little of the Dorothy Thompson article "Who Goes Nazi."

[Dielleina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those curious to learn more about Mircea Eliade and I.P. Culianu, and that piece of history.

[Igo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good analysis of:
1. Eliade connections with the Iron Guard (what he wrote, what he said, what documents exist about what other people said)
2. How Eliade’s involvement with the fascists came to light after the war (spoiler slowly) and what Eliade said to deny his involvement was relevant.
3. How Culianu evolved: from a defender of Eliade to a much critical position.

Most important for me, is the way Eliade wrote about Iron Guard: not clear, sustaining basic ideas but not necessarily the means, admiring some individuals but maybe not the entire organisation, appreciating the ideal without looking too much at the realities, etc
And then covering it up with: I was not interested in day to day politics, I appreciated the religious ideas, I did not write in that newspaper, I was friends with a Jew (Sebastian).

I must say that I have seen those “methods” in a lot of present day Romanian intellectuals that do not like to talk seriously about our country inter war far right politics (now and especially in the 90s).

[Milda Alisauskiene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing story about one of the key scholars of religion Mircea Eliade, his connections with nazis and attempts to cover them through his lifetime and afterwards. The story was new to me and it provides aditional valuable perdpective for interpretation of Eliade’s works and their contribution to the study of religion.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful and meticulous investigation of a real life detective case which remains unsolved, the 1991 murder of Ioan Cuilescu..It back then received a flurry of attention among intellectuals, but outside rarified circles, has been forgotten. As a scholar of religion who happened to have been given a stash of documents which had been entrusted to a preceding colleague just before Ioan's death, Bruce Lincoln makes amends for his own unwitting action regarding this stash. He excerpts as much of Eliade and his student Ioan's published correspondence, interviews, and scholarship, and unpublished archives. Lincoln learned Romanian to better research this case, and the complicated contexts of war, the Iron Guard, the Cold War, and 1989. While this book will doubtless keep this mystery within a readership of academics, it can be an accessible by way into the fascist legacy of Romania in the past century, Mircea Eliade's tangled web of deceit, self-interest, ambiguity, and elusive rhetoric, and how professors are no less immune to the flaws of those they'll emulate, patronize, chastise, or idolize. Thanks to Edelweiss for an ARC.

[Philip Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend and former colleague, Danut Manastireanu, mentioned this book, and I was intrigued. Although I had visited Romania many times in the last decade of the 20th century, I was particularly ignorant of the pre-Ceaușescu politics. Although the ‘unsolved murder’ added spice to the invitation, the real satisfaction lay in filling that gap.

[Landis Duffett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who killed Ioan Culianu? Culianu was a professor in the History of Religion program at the University of Chicago who was shot in the back of the head in Taft Hall of the University of Chicago Divinity School in May of 1991. He had been a former protege of Mircea Eliade, a towering figure in the 20th century in the field of academic history of religion, who had died a few years before. Both men were born in Romania. Eliade was involved in his youth in the fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania, a protege of the cultural visionary Nae Ionescu who took under his wing an entire group of critics, authors and religious revivalists who were called the Young Generation, Eliade foremost among them. The question of Eliade's political commitment as a young writer seeking a rebirth of Romania through the intersection of politics, culture and religious, specifically Orthodox, mysticism is perhaps as much of a mystery as the identity of Culianu's murderer. This book weaves both mysteries together as it tells the story of Eliade's journey from interwar Romania to postwar America, where he was joined by the younger Culianu. Culianu engaged in dubious scholarship to defend Eliade's name and legacy, which he, in a very concrete sense--he was appointed professor at the University of Chicago--was chosen to inherit. After Eliade's death, though, and before his own, he had access to articles that changed his assessment of Eliade's fascist commitments in his youth. Culianu made many enemies as a result of this "betrayal", including Eliade's widow. Then, after the fall of Ceaucescu, Culianu made even more enemies as he published speculative political musings that denigrated the Securitate, Romania's state intelligence service under Ceaucescu and, many would argue, still very much active, both in Romania and--perhaps fatefully for Culianu--abroad. The author investigates these two interwoven questions by way of his own attempt to recover the contents of a handful of translations of articles written by the young Eliade, translations which the murdered Culianu had given to another man just months before he was killed and whom that other man gave to the author (Lincoln) and which Lincoln foolishly had thrown away. Spoiler alert: the identity of Culianu's murderer is unknown to this day. Thus, while this book doesn't solve any mysteries definitively, it brings the reader closer to understanding Eliade, Culianu and even the story of Romania in the 20th century.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1991 Ioan Culianu, a religion scholar with a specialty in European occult and esoterism, was murdered in a bathroom stall in the University of Chicago's Divinity School. Weeks prior, he suspected someone had been following him, so he gave a colleague a stack of papers for safekeeping.

The murder remains unsolved, but various theories have been put forth. It could have been the Romanian Securitate, since he was critical of them. Connections to drugs and satanic cults were also speculated. It could have been old fascist Romanian emigres, upset at his critiques and his engagement to a Jewish woman.

The papers eventually came to the author of this book, Bruce Lincoln. According to him they were translations of newspaper articles that their shared mentor, Eliade had written in support of the Iron Guard in the 1930s. He claims he accidentally threw them out while cleaning his desk during his retirement, and this book is an attempt to rectify this loss for posterity.

The majority of the book is a retracing of Eliade's early support of the Iron Guard and a history of other scholars' attempts at disclosing this. Most agree that Eliade was not a "card carrying" member of the Iron Guard and that he provided no material support to the cause. However, there are a few articles that make his moral support explicit, and when confronted about it, Eliade denied writing it at all. Eliade died in 1986. Lincoln convincingly argues that Eliade did write these contentious articles and that Culianu, initially skeptical himself, was also coming to the same conclusion before his murder.

One leaves with the sense that while Eliade definitely wrote in support of the Iron Guard and Christian chauvinism, it was a sort of milqutoast cheerleading blended with mumbled criticism. Reprehensible, yes, but perhaps only marginally worse than Heidegger's Nazi ties.

The final chapter suggests the murder was done at the behest of Eliade's wife who feared that Culianu was going to publish translations of these articles and tarnish her husband's memory.

[Raul Popescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Publicarea, în 2024, la Oxford University Press, a volumului „Secrets, Lies, and Consequences. A Great Scholar’s Hidden Past and his Protege’s Unsolved Murder” de Bruce Lincoln, volum apărut și la noi în 2024, în Colecția „Ioan Petru Culianu” a Editurii Polirom, în traducerea Soranei Lupu („Secrete, minciuni și consecințe. Trecutul ascuns al unui mare savant și asasinarea discipolului său”), constituie, dintr-un anumit punct de vedere, un eveniment. Trebuie să fim conștienți că nu mai putem vorbi la fel ca acum cinci, zece sau douăzeci de ani nici despre Mircea Eliade și nici despre discipolul acestuia, Ioan Petru Culianu. Informațiile aduse de Bruce Lincoln despre cei doi nu sunt inedite, dar ele niciodată până acum nu au fost spuse răspicat, asumat, deși nu era vorba de lipsa dovezilor – articole, documente etc. Altfel zis, da, se cunoașteau și se cunosc foarte multe despre legăturile lui Eliade cu mișcarea legionară, știm că Ioan Petru Culianu, fidel, și-a apărat în numeroase rânduri, prin diverse justificări, maestrul. Știm, de asemenea, că I.P. Culianu împreună cu Matei Călinescu pregăteau un volum cu articolele prolegionare ale lui Eliade. Cu toate acestea, nimeni de la noi, în afară de Marta Petreu sau Andrei Oișteanu, nu a scris ceva comparabil cu cartea din 2024 a lui Bruce Lincoln, în care ezitările și răstălmăcirile să fie zadarnice în fața unor mărturii și probe irecuzabile. De apreciat, însă, încă o dată, tonul clar și direct al lui Bruce Lincoln. (Vezi pe Literomania articolul „Secretul savantului”: https://www.litero-mania.com/secretul...

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Oxford University Press for this book I won via Goodreads Giveaways.

Previously unaware of the early 90's Culianu cold case where Professor Culianu was found murdered in a University of Chicago restroom, I was curious to learn more after winning this book.

Although this book is a relatively short read (under 200 pages) its focus is more on the analysis of Romanian politics and is a meticulously detailed analysis of facts and statements made in relation to this case. It is a very precise analysis of theories past and present regarding the unsolved murder of Professor Culianu.

It's clear the author is passionate about this subject and cares very much to shed light on this murder and hopefully find justice for Culianu's unsolved murder with this research.

*3.5 stars. Thank you for reading.

[Danielle DeLano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A former student and huge admirer of Lincoln, this felt a little “soft” for him. I found Eliade’s personal history fascinating, though I would have hoped for more of Culianu’s (to better locate him) and Romanian political history (post-Eliade’s exile).
He says he does not intend to solve the murder (which I think is more than fair and sounds impossible, frankly), but I guess I wanted more bite.
I do feel that understanding Eliade as a fascist (at least at some point in life) so clarifies his work.
I want to find space for forgiveness for a young man involved in an abhorrent political movement, but in our particular moment, it’s a same to see these same beliefs revived and embraced. And I suppose I wanted the book to throw down that hammer more.

[Geof Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a bizarre little book, that fails to live up to the title or premise. I was hoping for Bruce Lincoln does "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher," but I feel the esteemed scholar may have been too close to the material, let alone the folks involved to produce something.

As a scholar of religion, taught the history of religion by one of Bruce Lincoln's students, I was also let down by the lack of any insight into Eliade or Lincoln's work, though it does say enough about Culianu's for me to safely say that particular niche is not for me. (ew gnosticism)

[ברוך · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe useful as an analysis of Eliade's connections to the Legionary Movement pre-1941, but is based almost entirely on secondary literature/pre-existing document collections, completely ignores the wider context of the Romanian exile groups he was actively involved in (which were predominantly Legionary — no mention at all of any of these characters), and is seemingly unaware of the fact that police connected other attacks against Romanian exile figures in the Toronto-Hamilton-Detroit area to this murder, thus missing a huge amount of context that, if investigated a bit more thoroughly, completely alters the story presented here.

[Donna M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. I learned a lot about Romanian history and politics. While the book is comprehensive and the endnotes copious, it is still pretty clear that this death will not really be solved. Much of what I learned about Culianu was in relation to Elias’s and now I would like to learn more about Culianu’s scholarship.

[Andrei Hognogi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may not be for everybody, since it's just the account of a really niche political intrigue, which however ended with an execution, so not quite without stakes.

It's very very interesting to find out details on how the intellectual elites at the times related to the Romanian legionaires.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting (and niche) little rabbit hole into a slice of Romanian political and intellectual history.

[Jean Mehochko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the politics in Romania during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, which was rather depressing. Interesting story, but a lot of conjecture.

[Elzira Rai · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was Christinel.

[Sawyer Wampler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting piece of history rooted in the University of Chicago!

[David Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW - Secrets, Lies, and Consequences, A Great Scholar's Hidden Past and His Protégé’s Unsolved Murder by Bruce Lincoln (04.07.24)

This book wants so badly to be a gripping intellectual mystery, a deep dive into the murky intersections of scholarship, espionage, and murder. Unfortunately, what it delivers is a muddled, self-indulgent, and at times laughably absurd mess that confuses speculation with substance and drama with depth.

From the start, the book stretches credulity. The author attempts to tie the unsolved 1991 murder of his former student, Ioan Culianu, to a supposed secret life of Mircea Eliade—renowned scholar of religion and Culianu’s mentor. While there may be room for valid scholarly inquiry into Eliade’s past, including his flirtation with fascism in the 1930s, Lincoln’s speculative leaps make conspiracy theorists look restrained. The idea that Eliade’s long-dead political sympathies and obscure connections might have led to a politically motivated hit in 1990s Chicago is ridiculous. This is not investigative journalism—it’s historical fan fiction wearing the mask of academia.

Worse than the premise is the prose. The writing veers between academic posturing and melodramatic overreach. One particularly groan-worthy line encapsulates the problem: “In the labyrinth of secrets, even the shadows cast by whispers might conceal the knife.” The structure is chaotic. Long digressions into Romanian history, Cold War intelligence services, and Eliade��s bibliography are jammed together without coherence. Instead of building a persuasive argument, Lincoln bombards the reader with tenuous connections, half-baked theories, and breathless insinuations. It’s exhausting and ultimately unsatisfying.

This book may appeal to those drawn to the sensational or to conspiracy-laden readings of history, but readers looking for intellectual rigor or credible true crime will be disappointed. Lincoln’s work here is a case study in how not to blend scholarship with storytelling.