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Mihai Sora

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Mihai Sora
Mihai Sora
Birth: 7 November 1916
Ianova, Timis County, Kingdom of Romania (now Romania)
Death: 25 February 2023
Bucharest, Romania
Age: 106 years, 110 days
Country: RomaniaROU
Centenarian

Mihai Sora [Romanian: Șora] (7 November 1916 – 25 February 2023) was a Romanian centenarian, philosopher, and essayist.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Mihai Sora was born in Ianova, Timis County, Kingdom of Romania (now Romania) on 7 November 1916. The son of an Orthodox priest, Sora studied philosophy at the University of Bucharest from 1934 to 1938, where he was a student of Mircea Eliade. From 1939 to 1948 he studied in Paris and Grenoble on a fellowship granted by the French government. He joined the French Communist Party during this period.

In 1939, Sora married the writer Mariana Klein (1917–2011), with whom he has three children.

Communist Rule in Romania[]

After travelling back to Romania in 1948, Sora became a member of Romanian Communist Party (PCR) and was employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the time led by communist leader Ana Pauker. In interviews published after the fall of Communist Party rule in 1989, Sora claimed that he was unofficially "arrested". He was allegedly barred from holding a teaching appointment in communist Romania, but nevertheless became an influential editor for one of the main Romanian publishers, ESPLA. Sora's family emigrated to the West in the 1970s, and he was allowed to visit them in the 1980s. According to Aurelia Crăiuțu, he was allegedly forced to publish under pseudonyms rather than use his own name. However, Sora was still able to publish his third book in 1985.

Later Life[]

In March 1989, he joined intellectuals protesting the treatment of dissident poet Mircea Dinescu. After the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu in December 1989, he briefly served as minister of education in Petre Roman's post-revolutionary coalition. He was one of only two cabinet members to endorse the March 1990 Timișoara Proclamation, which unsuccessfully proposed a law to prevent former Securitate members from occupying leading political positions. He was a member of the Group for Social Dialogue, writing for its weekly publication Revista 22, and the Civic Alliance Foundation, which later became the Civic Alliance Party (PAC).

In 2014, Sora remarried with Luiza Palanciuc, an essayist and poet. He celebrated his 100th birthday in November 2016.

Sora died in Bucharest, Romania on 25 February 2023 at the age of 106 years, 110 days. At the time of his death, he was the one of ten oldest known living people in Romania.

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