Born in
Giurgiu to a Jewish family, Bianu had converted to
Christianity. He completed his primary education in the city, at the
Ion Maiorescu Gymnasium, followed by the
Gheorghe Lazăr High School in
Bucharest. Around 1910, he began writing poetry — which he never published. In 1915, Vianu became a student at the Department of Philosophy and Law at the
University of Bucharest. During the period, Vianu began attending
Alexandru Macedonski's
Symbolist literary circle, and, in 1916, he published a study on Macedonski and later his own verses in
Flacăra magazine. Upon Romania's entry in World War I, he was drafted into the
Romanian Army, trained as an
artillery cadet in
Botoşani, and took part in the
Moldavian campaign. In 1918, he returned to Bucharest, where he was editor of Macedonski's
Literatorul, and resumed his studies, graduating in 1919. Vianu also worked on the editorial staff for
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru's
Ideea Europeană and for
Luceafărul. In 1921, he began his long collaboration with
Viaţa Românească, while he contributed to
Eugen Lovinescu's
Sburătorul. In 1923, he obtained a
doctorate in Philosophy at the
University of Tübingen, with the thesis
Das Wertungsproblem in Schillers Poetik ("The Judgment of Values in
Schiller's Poetics"), his first major study in
aesthetics (delivered in November 1923). The work was praised by
Lucian Blaga, who was subsequently Vianu's colleague during their time as staff members for
Gândirea; the two shared an appreciation of
Expressionism. With Blaga, he stood for
Gândirea's early modernist tendencies, and grew opposed to
Nichifor Crainic's intense advocacy of traditionalism (at a time when the magazine's editor,
Cezar Petrescu, was occupying a middle position). With the publishing of his
Dualismul artei in 1925 (followed by a long succession of collections of essays and studies), Vianu secured his place in the cultural landscape of modern Romania, and became the titular professor of aesthetics at the University of Bucharest. At around the same period, he distanced himself from
Gândirea (which was becoming the mouthpiece of Crainic's
far right traditionalism), and instead advocated
democratic government. Throughout the
interwar period, Vianu was an adversary of the
fascist Iron Guard, and polemized with its press, becoming the target of attacks serialized in
Cuvântul. His status as a professor was in peril during the
National Legionary State established by the Guard in 1940, and he felt the imminent danger of physical assaults.
Anti-Semitic authorities began alluding to his Jewish origins, and several violent remarks were aimed at him. In 1945, after the end of
Antonescu's regime and World War II, he was the recipient of a letter from his friend
Eugène Ionesco: the document forms a list of intellectuals whom Ionesco harshly criticized for their pro-Iron Guard activism (they include
Nae Ionescu,
Mircea Eliade,
Emil Cioran,
Constantin Noica,
Dan Botta,
Mircea Vulcănescu,
Horia Stamatu,
Paul Sterian,
Mihail Polihroniade,
Haig Acterian,
Dumitru Cristian Amzăr,
Costin Deleanu and
Paul Deleanu). In charge of
Romania's National Theater in 1945, ambassador to the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, Vianu became an honorary member of the
Romanian Academy starting in 1955. He made several concessions to the new
Communist authorities, which
Ion Vianu has described as "purely formal" (an assessment shared by
Ion Papuc, who argued that Vianu joined the
Romanian Communist Party "for lack of a way out"). He gave active support to literary figures who, as former members of the Iron Guard, faced imprisonment — Vianu was a defense witness in the trial of
Traian Herseni, and, with
Mihai Ralea, the author of an appeal for the release of
Petre Ţuţea. During his late years, he translated several of
William Shakespeare's works into Romanian. In the beginning of summer 1964, he completed
Arghezi, poet al omului ("
Arghezi, Poet of Mankind"), carrying the subtitle
Cântare omului ("A Chant to Mankind"), a work in the field of comparative literature. It began printing on the very day of its author's death, which was due to a
heart attack. ==Philosophy==