Mihail Sebastian (1907–1945)

Mihail Sebastian was the pen name of Iosif Hechter, born to a Jewish family in Brăila, Romania. His parents were Mendel and Clara Hechter. He studied law and philosophy in Bucharest and Paris, and qualified as a lawyer, but was more drawn to the literary life. The 1920s-1930s were a time of an exciting new generation of Romanian writers and intellectuals. However,

as a Jew, Sebastian came to be regarded as an outsider, even by his friends. In 1934, he wrote a novel called De două mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years), and asked his friend Nae Ionescu to write the preface. Ionescu agreed, but inserted anti-Semitic remarks into it.
Sebastian's decision to publish anyway prompted a major controversy.
In response to criticism, Sebastian wrote Cum am devenit huligan (How I Became a Hooligan, 1935), which pointed out the absurdity of prejudice. A novelist, journalist, and literary critic, he was best-known in Romanian literature for his plays, such as Jocul de-a vacanța (Holiday Games, 1938) and Steaua fără nume (The Star With No Name, 1944) .

During this period, Sebastian kept a diary that recorded the mounting persecution he endured but also revealed his sense of humor and irony.


Because of anti-Semitic laws enacted in the early 1940s, he was banned from working as a journalist and his law license was revoked. His plays were banned. He used a second pseudonym, Victor Mincu, to try to get around the restrictions. He had to move into a tenement building, but he avoided deportation due to his connections in Romanian society. He survived the Holocaust, but on May 29, 1945, Sebastian
was accidentally hit by a Red Army truck and killed. His latest play, Ultima ora (Breaking News), was performed posthumously at the Bucharest National Theatre. His diary remained private for 50 years, until it was published by the Romanian publisher Humanitas in 1996. It appeared in English translation in the USA in 2000 under the title Journal, 1935-1944: The Fascist Years. In 2006, Sebastian was awarded the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis for the diary, which appeared in German as Voller Entsetzen, aber nicht verzweifelt – Tagebücher 1935-1944 (Full of Horror, But Not in Despair).