Sami Damian (sometimes referred to as S. Damian or Samy Damian (born Samuel Druckmann, 18 July 1930, Alba Iulia, Romania - 1 August 2012) was a Romanian-born Jewish literary critic and essayist.
Biography
Studies
S. Damian studied at the Jewish "Cultura Max Aziel" middle school in Bucharest, then at the "Mihai Eminescu" Literature and Literary Criticism School in Bucharest (1950-1955), and at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest (diploma received in 1972).
Literary activity
S. Damian made his debut around 1955/1956 with literary criticism written in the spirit of that age's dogmatism.
He worked for a while as a copy editor for Contemporanul, Gazeta literarÃÂ, România literaràand LuceafÃÂrul.
Marginalised for a period of time, he was sent to West Germany in the mid-1970s to teach Romanian language and literature at the University of Heidelberg, after which he defected. He would continue to teach there until 1995.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he published several books of literary criticism, essays, etc.
He married Simona Timaru-Druckmann in 1996.
In 1998 Ion NegoiÃÂescu's book Dialoguri dupÃÂ tÃÂcere. Scrisori cÃÂtre S. Damian ("Dialogues after silence. Letters to S. Damian") was published.
He had a twin brother, Marcel.
Books
- Generalitatea ÃÂi individualitatea ideii operei literare (The Generality and Individuality of the Idea of Literary Work), 1955
- ÃÂncercÃÂri de analizÃÂ literarÃÂ (Attempts at Literary Analysis), 1956
- DirecÃÂii ÃÂi tendinÃÂe în proza nouà(Directions and Tendencies in the New Prose), 1963
- Intrarea în castel (Entering the Castle), BucureÃÂti, 1970
- G. CÃÂlinescu romancier. Eseu despre mÃÂÃÂtile jocului (G. Calinescu, Novelist. An Essay on the Game Masks), 1971
- ScufiÃÂa RoÃÂie nu mai merge în pÃÂdure (Litte Red Riding Hood Does Not Go Into the Woods Anymore), 1994
- Fals tratat despre psihologia succesului (False Treatise on the Psychology of Success), 1972; ediÃÂia BucureÃÂti, 1995
- Duelul invizibil (The Invisible Duel), 1996
- Replici din burta lupului (Replies From the Wolf's Belly), BucureÃÂti, 1997
- Aruncând mÃÂnuÃÂa (Throwing the Gauntlet), BucureÃÂti, 1999
- PivniÃÂe, mansarde, nu puÃÂine trepte (Basements, Attics, Not Few Stairs), 2002
- Aripile lui Icar (The Wings of Icarus), 2004
- Trepte în sus, trepte în jos (Stairs Up, Stairs Down), 2006
- PÃÂr de aur, pÃÂr de cenuÃÂÃÂ (Hair of Gold, Hair of Ashes), 2007
- Nu toÃÂi copacii s-au înÃÂlÃÂat la cer (Not All the Trees Have Grown to the Sky), 2010
- Zbor aproape de pÃÂmânt (Flying Close to the Ground), 2008
Awards
References