Paul Goma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Paul Goma
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| Born | October 2, 1935 Mana, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | March 24, 2020 (aged 84) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Writer and dissident |
| Citizenship | Romania (1935–1977) Moldova (since 2013) |
| Years active | 1966–2020 |
Paul Goma (born October 2, 1935 – died March 24, 2020) was a Romanian writer. He was well-known for speaking out against the communist government in Romania before 1989.
Because of his actions, the communist leaders forced him to leave the country. He became a political refugee and lived in France without official citizenship. After the year 2000, Goma shared some ideas about World War II, the Holocaust in Romania, and Jewish people. These ideas led to many people saying he had unfair views.
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About Paul Goma
His early life
Paul Goma was born in a Romanian family in a village called Mana. This village was in what was then the Kingdom of Romania. Today, it is part of Moldova.
In March 1944, Goma's family had to leave their home and find safety in Sibiu, a city in Transylvania. A few months later, in August 1944, they were in danger of being sent back to the Soviet Union against their will. So, they quickly moved to a village called Buia.
From October to December 1944, the family hid in the forests around Buia. On January 13, 1945, Romanian shepherds found them. The shepherds handed them over to the police in Sighișoara. There, they were held at a "Repatriation Center."
Paul's father, Eufimie Goma, managed to create fake documents for his family. However, Paul's mother's brother did not have fake papers. He was sent to Siberia. In June 1945, using their fake documents, the Goma family returned to Buia. Paul Goma later wrote about his family's difficult journey in his novels. Some of these books are Arta refugii, Soldatul câinelui, and Gardă inversă.
Speaking out in Romania
Goma finished high school in Făgăraș in 1953. In 1954, he started studying at the University of Bucharest. In November 1956, he took part in a student movement in Bucharest. During a class, he read parts of a novel he had written. The story was about a student who started a movement similar to what was happening in Hungary at the time.
Goma was arrested for trying to organize a student strike. He was sentenced to two years in prison. He was held in prisons in Jilava and Gherla. After that, he was kept under house arrest in Lăteşti until 1963.
Because he had been a political prisoner (someone jailed for their beliefs), he was not allowed to go back to school. He had to work as a manual laborer. In 1965, a new rule allowed former prisoners to study at the university. So, in September 1965, he was able to go back to the University of Bucharest.
In August 1968, Goma joined the Romanian Communist Party. He did this to show support for Romania's stance during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Romania did not join the invasion and even spoke out against it.
A few months later, Goma tried to publish a novel called Ostinato. This book was based on his experiences with the secret police. However, the government's censors did not allow it. One censor claimed a character in the book was based on Elena Ceaușescu, the leader's wife. Despite this, Goma published the novel in West Germany in 1971. Because of this, he was removed from the Communist Party.
In the summer of 1972, Goma was allowed to visit France. There, he wrote Gherla, a novel about his time in Gherla Prison. This book was also not allowed to be published in Romania. It was published in France in 1976.
Goma's letters in 1977
In 1977, Goma wrote a public letter to show support for a human rights group called Charter 77. But few people wanted to sign it. So, he wrote another letter directly to Ceaușescu, the Romanian leader. In this letter, he jokingly asked Ceaușescu to sign it, saying they were the only two Romanians not afraid of the Securitate (the secret police). After this, he wrote another letter to 35 countries, asking them to make sure Romania respected human rights.
In February 1977, Ceaușescu gave a speech where he criticized "traitors of the country." He was talking about Goma's letters. The next day, police blocked Goma's building. They stopped people from entering to sign his letter. The authorities tried to convince Goma to leave Romania, but he refused. As the police control became less strict, more people signed the letter. They were arrested as they left Goma's apartment.
In March, Goma wrote an even stronger letter to Ceaușescu. He urged the leader not to break the bond with the people. This bond had formed after Ceaușescu spoke out against the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Goma also attacked the Securitate, calling them "traitors and enemies of Romania." He said they produced nothing and stopped others from producing. Meanwhile, Goma gained support from two important thinkers: Ion Vianu and Ion Negoiţescu. In total, 75 people signed his letter.
On March 12, Goma met with Cornel Burtică, a high-ranking official. Goma was promised he could publish his books again. But he refused, saying he wanted the Securitate to stop following him. A week later, a former boxer broke into Goma's apartment and attacked him. These attacks continued for several days. While Goma and some friends barricaded themselves in his apartment, he gave an interview to a French TV station.
Goma was arrested and removed from the Writers' Union of Romania. After his arrest, Romanian media attacked him. Writers called him "a nobody" and accused him of "stirring up trouble."
People around the world called for his release. Famous writers like Eugène Ionesco and Jean-Paul Sartre signed appeals. Goma was released on May 6, 1977. This was four days before Romania's 100th independence anniversary. Ceaușescu did not want Goma's arrest to overshadow these celebrations.
On November 20, 1977, Goma and his family left Romania. They went to live in France.
Life in France
On February 3, 1981, Goma and another person, Nicolae Penescu, received packages in the mail. Penescu opened his package, which contained a book. When he lifted the book's cover, it exploded and wounded him. Goma, who had received death threats since arriving in France, called the police. Both packages had been sent by a famous criminal known as Carlos the Jackal.
In 1982, the Securitate planned to kill Goma. They sent a secret agent named Matei Haiducu to carry out the plan. But Haiducu turned to the French secret service. With their help, Haiducu pretended to try to poison Goma's drink at a restaurant. A French agent, acting clumsy, spilled the drink.
Even though Goma's many books were translated worldwide, they were only published in Romania after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. He lived in Paris as a political refugee. His Romanian citizenship had been taken away by the communist government in 1978.
His death
On March 18, 2020, Paul Goma was taken to a hospital in Paris. He had been infected with COVID-19. He passed away on March 24, 2020, at the age of 84.
His writings
Paul Goma started his writing career in 1966. He published a short story in a magazine called Luceafǎrul. He also wrote for other literary magazines. In 1968, he published his first collection of stories, Camera de alături ("The Room Next Door").
After his book Ostinato was published in West Germany in 1971, his next book, Uşa ("The Door"), came out in Germany in 1972. After he was forced to leave Romania in 1977, all his books were published in France and in French. His novel Gherla was actually published first in French in 1976, before he left Romania.
Other novels followed, such as Dans le cercle ("Within the Circle", 1977) and Garde inverse ("Reverse Guard", 1979). He also wrote Le Tremblement des Hommes ("The Trembling of People", 1979) and Chassée-croisé ("Intersection", 1983). His book Les Chiens de la mort ("The Dogs of Death", 1981) describes his experiences in the Piteşti prison in the 1950s. Bonifacia was published in 1986.
His autobiographical book Le Calidor came out in French in 1987. It was later published in Romanian as Din Calidor: O copilărie basarabeană ("In Calidor: A Bessarabian Childhood"). This book was translated as My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest.
Overall, Goma's writing shows "a powerful and dark look at how cruel totalitarian governments can be." Even when he lived in another country, he was not completely safe. In his later novels, like Bonifacia and My Childhood at the Gate of Unrest, he focused on his own life, especially his childhood in Bessarabia.
He also published several diaries in Romania in 1997 and 1998. These diaries give insights into his later life and career. They include Alte Jurnale ("Other Journals"), Jurnal I: Jurnal pe sărite ("Journal I: By Leaps and Bounds"), Jurnal II: Jurnal de căldură mare ("Journal II: Journal of Great Heat"), Jurnal III: Jurnal de noapte lungă ("Journal of the Long Night"), and Jurnalul unui jurnal 1997 ("The Journal of a Journal, 1997").
Books he published
- Camera de alături, Bucharest, 1968.
- Ostinato, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, 1971. ISBN: 3-518-06638-2
- La Cellule des libérables, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1971. ISBN: 2-07-028096-9
- Ostinato, Bruna & Zoon, Utrecht, 1974.
- Ostinato, Editura Univers, 1992. ISBN: 973-34-0215-X
- Die Tür, 1972.
- Elles étaient quatre, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1974.
- Uşa noastrǎ cea de toate zilele, Editura Cartea Româneascǎ, Bucharest, 1992.
- Gherla, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1976.
- Gherla, 1978.
- Gherla, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990. ISBN: 973-28-0169-7
- Dossier Paul Goma. L'écrivain face au socialisme du silence., Paris, 1977
- Dans le cercle, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1977. ISBN: 2-07-029709-8
- In cerc, 1995.
- Garde inverse, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1979.
- Gardă inversă, Univers, 1997. ISBN: 973-34-0409-8
- Le Tremblement des Hommes: peut-on vivre en Roumanie aujourd'hui?, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 1979. ISBN: 2-02-005101-X.
- Les chiens de mort, ou, La passion selon Piteşti, Hachette, Paris, 1981. ISBN: 2-01-008309-1
- Chassé-croise, Hachette, Paris, 1983.
- Soldatul câinelui, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1991. ISBN: 973-28-0235-9
- Le calidor, Albin Michel, 1987.
- L'art de la fugue, Julliard, 1990. ISBN: 2-260-00635-3
- Sabina, 1991.
- Sabina, 1993.
- Sabina, Universal Dalsi, Bucharest, 2005. ISBN: 973-691-031-8
- Astra, 1992.
- Astra, Editura Dacia, 1992.
- Bonifacia, 1993.
- Bonifacia, Albin Michel 1998. ISBN: 2-226-02589-8
- Bonifacia, Anamarol, 2006. ISBN: 973-8931-18-5
- Adameva, Loreley, Iaşi, 1995. (not distributed)
- Amnezia la români, Litera, 1995.
- Scrisori întredeschise – singur impotriva lor, Multiprint "Familia", Oradea, 1995.
- Justa Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1995.
- Jurnal pe sărite, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997
- Jurnal de cǎldura mare, Edutura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997
- Altina – grǎdina scufundata, Editura Cartier, Chişinau, 1998.
- Scrisuri. 1972–1998, Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1999. ISBN: 973-569-377-1
- Roman intim, Editura Allfa, 1999. ISBN: 973-9477-06-2
- Jurnal de Noapte Lungă, Dacia, Bucharest, 2000.
- Jurnal unui jurnal, Dacia, Cluj, 2000.
- Jurnal de Apocrif, Dacia, Cluj, 2000.
- Profil bas, Des Syrtes, 2001. ISBN: 2845450389
- Săptămîna Roşie. 28 Iunie–3 Iulie 1940 sau Basarabia şi evreii, Museum, Chişinău, 2003. ISBN: 978-9975-906-77-7
- Jurnal, Criterion, Bucharest, 2004. ISBN: 978-973-86850-8-6
- Alfabecedar, Editura Victor Frunză, 2005.
Awards and honours
- "Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (France), 1986
- Writers' Union of Moldova's Prize for Prose, March, 1992.
- Writers' Union of Romania's Prize for Prose, May 25, 1992.
- "Honorary Citizen" by the Municipal Council of Timișoara, January 30, 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Paul Goma para niños
