Teohari or Teochari Antonescu ( 1865/1867 – January 11, 1910) was a Romanian archeologist and historian of antiquity. He was born in either Bucharest or Giurgiu, possibly out of wedlock, and had a destitute childhood; he compensated with his scholastic achievements, emerging as a disciple and imitator of Alexandru Odobescu. Like Odobescu, he pioneered Dacology—his acclaimed graduation paper from the University of Bucharest (1889) was focused on the Cabeiri cult in Roman Dacia. He was also discovered as both an intellectual and political ally by political philosopher Titu Maiorescu, who inducted him into Junimea society. With Odobescu and Maiorescu's support, Antonescu was able to study abroad, then to return home to teaching posts at Saint Sava National College, and then at the University of Iași. From Iași, he directed the effort to revive Junimist activities. For a while, he mainly expressed himself through Convorbiri Literare, a Junimist review of which he was also editor; it hosted his numerous essays on ancient art and history, going as far back as the origin and evolution of mankind.
Antonescu impressed his contemporaries with his modern teaching methods and his familiarity with developments in archeology. He was also commended for his incidental contributions to Oriental studies, which included his sample translations from Vedic Sanskrit and Sumerian. He nevertheless generated controversy by directly attacking older historians such as Grigore Tocilescu and A. D. Xenopol, and by presenting dissenting views on ancient monuments and complexes, from Tropaeum Traiani to Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa. Antonescu was also at times vocal in his support for political Junimism: like the faction itself, he joined, quit, then rejoined the Conservative Party, becoming the focus of scrutiny with his violent rhetoric. He was similarly active within the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, which he used as a venue for his practical-minded, conservative, version of Romanian nationalism. Antonescu's diverse public involvements were always secondary to his scholarly work; they were also interrupted by his neglected cancer, which killed him in 1910, when he was in his early forties. Posterity rediscovered him as a political diarist.
Biography Mysterious origin and early life Antonescu’s precise origins are uncertain, and no birth certificate has been found.Boldur 2007, pp. 209–210 His obituary note in Opinia daily informs that he was born in Bucharest, capital of the Principality of Romania, on September 1, 1866."Ultime informații. †Teohari Antonescu", in Opinia, January 12, 1910, p. 3 Two encyclopedias state the same date and place, while a third gives 1867. Historian Lucian Nastasă gives the earlier date, saying his father was a minor trader, Petru Antonescu, but that the latter's date of death (December 1, 1865) raises serious doubts about his paternity. Antonescu's disciple Ioan Andrieșescu knew him to have been born in 1866, but at Giurgiu.Andrieșescu, p. 1 Researchers Valeriu and Sanda Râpeanu also advance "1866" as the birth year, while Antonescu's fellow historian, Nicolae Iorga, ambiguously refers to him as "a Bucharester from Giurgiu".Iorga et al., pp. 180, 806 In 1992, museologist Emil Păunescu proposed that Antonescu was born at Giurgiu "in winter 1866 or in spring of the following year".Emil Păunescu, "Mari aniversări. Teohari Antonescu", in Vlașca, June 22, 1992, p. 8 Several 21st-century books also give Giurgiu as the birthplace, while favoring 1867 as the year.Bogdan Sandu, "Muzeul Județean își omagiază patronul spiritual",in Giurgiu Express, February 16, 2010, p. 7
Writing in 1936, scholar Constantin Rădulescu-Motru recalled that Antonescu was raised in a poor household by a Greek monk, Antonie, relaying a rumor that he was the monk's illegitimate son. The name Teohari ("gift of God"), and the surname that may be linked to the monk's first name, lend credence to this notion. His mother Alexandrina (Lucșița) was very poor, washing clothes for the wealthy families of Giurgiu. Following the death of Petru Antonescu (in the event he was Teohari's father), she remarried, taking the name Petrescu. As recalled by Teohari’s daughter Adriana (Adina), Lucșița was an unfriendly, uncouth woman, ill-suited to city life; he brought her to Iași during several winters. He always avoided discussions about his parents, finding them embarrassing. It is possible that one of the rich men whose clothes his mother washed granted the boy a scholarship, helping cover his expenses while at the Higher Normal School in Bucharest. In addition to keeping silent on his paternity and social status, he was sensitive about his appearance. He believed that the cut on the right side of his jaw, and particularly his sunken eyes, would mean that no woman would love him for disinterested reasons.
The first records of Antonescu's education date to 1878–1879, when he attended the Giurgiu gymnasium, today Ion Maiorescu National College. As classes were suspended around the time of his admission due to the Romanian War of Independence, there is no school record of his birthdate, although the information points to 1867. He finished his first year in fourth place, out of 35 students; in his second, he had the same rank, but only 20 remained. He started his third year in 1880 but withdrew, attending school in Bucharest for the next eight years, no record of which survives. The version provided by Opinia has him as an alumnus of Saint Sava National College. The same paper notes his stints as a clerk at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1885–1886) and as a substitute teacher of French in Ploiești (1888–1889).
A subject of the newly formed Romanian Kingdom, Antonescu attended the University of Bucharest, graduating in October 1889 with a thesis on the Cabeiri. According to Andrieșescu, it was "ampler and more innovative than most that came out in that period". Among the early reviewers, antiquarian George Ionescu-Gion was much impressed, suggesting that the research was "precious" and fulfilling "all the requirements of science."Gion, "Curier literar", in Romanulu, October 1, 1889, pp. 985–986 As observed by Păunescu, it was the work of a "brilliant student", and still cited as mandatory reading 100 years after its first print. Antonescu's paper was directed and heavily influenced by Alexandru Odobescu, who effectively introduced him to archeology.Tzigara-Samurcaș, p. 97 Antonescu himself wrote that it was only a matter of serendipity that he was ever coached by Odobescu, who then helped advance his career. More precisely, he happened to take unsolicited advice from historian Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who told him that his original adviser, Gian-Luigi Frollo, was not well-liked in the community.Antonescu 1940, p. 250
Academic rise and Junimea relaunch Antonescu's other mentor was Titu Maiorescu, who taught him logic, and whom he regarded as "the greatest man ever born in this Romanian land of ours".Marius Chelaru, "Panoramic editorial. Edituri moldave/Autori moldavi. Teohari Antonescu, Jurnal (1893–1908)", in Convorbiri Literare, April 2022, p. 185 He also attended Grigore Tocilescu's course on ancient history, and V. A. Urechia also taught him.Boldur 2006, pp. 175–176Asandei, p. 216 Upon Maiorescu's intervention, and with direct support from Odobescu, he received a generous scholarship for specialized studies in Western Europe; the former hoped he would become a scholar of archeology and ancient history. The young man took courses at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, Heidelberg University, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the University of Paris, and the University of London, also undertaking study visits to the Technische Hochschule Dresden and the University of Vienna, later to Italy and Greece. While in Paris, he registered for the École des hautes études, between 1890 and 1892; his professors included archeologist Maxime Collignon and historians Bernard Haussoullier and Théophile Homolle. In Paris, Antonescu was roommates with Iorga.Asandei, p. 216 Iorga remembers Antonescu as "haughty" from the praise of Odobescu and Maiorescu; in his account, Antonescu also appears as a moralizer, who once stepped into the Latin Quarter and humiliated a Romanian student whom he found to be gambling.Iorga et al., pp. 180–181 He and Iorga, while never close, exchanged career advice in a series of letters.Iorga et al., p. 806 Antonescu privately referred to Iorga as "that annoying creature".
Antonescu's primary focus at this time was the study of ancient art. At Athens, he received lectures from Wilhelm Dörpfeld, while Homolle showed him Delphi.Asandei, pp. 215–216 Overall, he disliked modern Greece, describing it as engulfed by the "filthy Orient"—and only finding solace on the Acropolis, "the world's most attractive spot". Andrieșescu notes that his training came just as classical scholars, primarily Adolf Furtwängler and his school, were discovering prehistoric ages—which Antonescu also became interested in doing.
In 1894, upon his return to Romania, Antonescu was named Greek teacher at Saint Sava—his supposed alma mater. Two months later, he was appointed associate professor at the University of Iași,Asandei, p. 216 joining there his university colleague, Petre P. Negulescu. During late 1894, Antonescu still networked with Odobescu, recording information on the latter's family history in 1840s Wallachia.Antonescu 1940, pp. 248–249 Like Negulescu and Rădulescu-Motru, Antonescu was also a faithful disciple of Maiorescu, joining a new wave of inductees into Maiorescu's own Junimea literary-and-political society. However, by his own account, he only came in contact with the club when it was declining rapidly: Maiorescu and others were settled in Bucharest just as he was at Iași, where a local chapter was barely surviving through meetings held by Anton Naum. Maiorescu's letters to N. Volenti reveal that he had personally arranged for Antonescu and Negulescu to be working from Iași, since they was suited for reviving Junimea in its original location.Liviu Papuc, "Noi mărturii junimiste (I)", in Convorbiri Literare, November 2005, p. 84 Antonescu's first self-recorded presence at Junimea came in January 1895. The session was held in the Volenti home, and involved various figures—ranging from Miron Pompiliu (rated by Antonescu as "perhaps the quickest-witted" in that room) to "one very fat guy whose name I never learned".
Dacian studies and orientalism Starting in 1893, Antonescu contributed specialty articles to various publications, in particular the Junimist tribune Convorbiri Literare. The latter became the main venue of his scholarship, including his introduction to Troy as a "homeland of the Aryan peoples" (1901) and his courses about the origin of Man (1906–1907). He was also part of Convorbiris editorial staff, following a modernization effort in 1894 (when Iacob Negruzzi was forced to resign for his alleged incompetence), and down to 1900. For a while in 1895, Antonescu was deputy headmaster of the Iași Normal School. In 1896, he became provisional professor in the department of archeology and antiquities, acquiring permanent status in 1899.Asandei, pp. 216–217 In June 1899, he was serving as Iași treasurer of the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians—serving the cause of Romanian nationalism. However, he and Nicolae Culianu effectively produced a schism within the League, by refusing to recognize its elected leadership."Dela Congresul General al Ligeĭ Culturale din Bucureștĭ", in Ecoul Moldoveĭ, June 13, 1899, p. 3 He resigned shortly after due to widespread disapproval."Din localitate", in Ecoul Moldoveĭ, June 17, 1899, p. 3