HISTORIAN

Mircea Eliade

1907 - 1986

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Mircea Eliade (Romanian: [ˈmirtʃe̯a eliˈade]; March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and interpreter of religious experience, he established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential. One of his most instrumental contributions to religious studies was his theory of eternal return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but (at least in the minds of the religious) actually participate in them. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Mircea Eliade is the 17th most popular historian (down from 16th in 2019), the 15th most popular biography from Romania (down from 14th in 2019) and the most popular Romanian Historian.

Mircea Eliade is most famous for his book "The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion" which argues that religion is a human response to the experience of the sacred.

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Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Mircea Eliade ranks 17 out of 561. Before him are Polybius, Suetonius, Thomas Kuhn, Hecataeus of Miletus, Procopius, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. After him are Cassius Dio, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Manetho, William of Tyre, Leopold von Ranke, and Arrian.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1907, Mircea Eliade ranks 11. Before him are John Wayne, Ayub Khan, Katharine Hepburn, Oscar Niemeyer, Alexander R. Todd, and W. H. Auden. After him are J. Hans D. Jensen, Alberto Moravia, Hergé, Maria Branyas, Lee Miller, and Baldur von Schirach. Among people deceased in 1986, Mircea Eliade ranks 8. Before him are Jorge Luis Borges, Wallis Simpson, Vyacheslav Molotov, Olof Palme, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Cary Grant. After him are Tenzing Norgay, Jiddu Krishnamurti, James Rainwater, Robert S. Mulliken, Jean Genet, and Frank Herbert.

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In Romania

Among people born in Romania, Mircea Eliade ranks 15 out of 844. Before him are Emil Cioran (1911), John Hunyadi (1407), Tristan Tzara (1896), Ion Antonescu (1882), Béla IV of Hungary (1206), and Herta Müller (1953). After him are Elena Ceaușescu (1916), Radu cel Frumos (1438), Constantin Brâncuși (1876), Vlad II Dracul (1395), Paul Celan (1920), and Theodoric I (393).

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Among HISTORIANS In Romania

Among historians born in Romania, Mircea Eliade ranks 1. After him are Arnold Hauser (1892), Edward Luttwak (1942), and Neagu Djuvara (1916).

Romanian born Historians

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