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emilcioran

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Summary

Emil Cioran (1911-1995) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist who later became a prominent voice in French philosophy after moving to Paris. Born in Resinár, Austria-Hungary (now Rășinari, Romania), he studied at the University of Bucharest alongside future intellectual figures like Mircea Eliade and Eugène Ionesco. His early work was heavily influenced by philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer, and was defined by a pervasive philosophical pessimism, exploring themes of suffering, decay, nihilism, and suicide. A lifelong battle with insomnia, which began at age 20, profoundly shaped his writing, starting with his first book, On the Heights of Despair.

During the 1930s, while studying at the University of Berlin, Cioran developed a brief but intense sympathy for totalitarian ideologies, expressing admiration for Hitler and supporting Italian fascism and Romania’s far-right Iron Guard movement. He would later vehemently renounce these views, describing them as “the worst folly of my youth.”

In 1937, Cioran moved to the Latin Quarter of Paris, which became his permanent home. There, he lived a secluded life with his partner, Simone Boué, and made the crucial decision to abandon writing in Romanian and adopt French. His first French book, A Short History of Decay (Précis de décomposition), published by Gallimard in 1949, won the prestigious Prix Rivarol, though he famously refused most awards offered to him. His work is characterized by its aphoristic style, which he favored over systematic philosophy, calling himself a “secretary of my own sensations.”

Cioran’s writings, including The Trouble with Being Born and The Temptation to Exist, cemented his legacy as a master of pessimism and a profound stylist. He was admired by intellectuals like Susan Sontag, who helped introduce his work to an English-speaking audience. He died of Alzheimer’s disease in 1995 and was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery.

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