Family drama

In 1873, his brother Gheorghe, a lieutenant committed suicide. It was the second tragic death in his family. Ilie, one of the brothers died although he had a successful career. A year later, in 1874, Serban, the older brother, died. Serban was a renowned doctor who studied med school in many prestigious German universities. He had a brilliant career and apparently no real reasons for his suicide. In 1876, Raluca, his beloved mother, died due to a terrible battle with cancer. She was buried next to the church she and her husband built. In 1884 his father, Gheorghe, died. In the same year, on March 7th Nicolae, the forth brother commits suicide. The only brother who lived a longer life was Matei, the younger brother who died at the age of 73, in 1929. He was married 3 times, had a brilliant career as a captain in the army and was a war veteran.

Veronica Micle

In 1872 he meets for the first time Veronica Micle, the one who will be his great love. When they first met, she was married to Stefan Micle, a professor at the University of Iasi. Her husband was 30 years her senior. Mihai and Veronica met in Vienna and so their relationship begun. Their love lasted for the rest of their lives.

They used to meet during literary salons that Veronica used to host. In 1875 Mihai wrote poems for her and she wrote back. In 1879 Stefan died and Veronica was alone and poor. Soon after, Mihai announced that Veronica is his fiancée. Although it is supposed that they had a child, it is not clear. Veronica wrote a volume of poetry which was dedicated to her beloved Mihai Eminescu, as a testimony of her deep love. She died 3 months after he died, on August 3rd 1889.

Illnesses

In 1883, Mihai was diagnosed with syphilis. On June 28th he was sent to Charity Institute for his mental issues. During the following years he seemed to be getting well but Mihai was forced to leave some of his projects, including his job as editor-in-chief of Timpul, a popular newspaper at that time. Mihai Eminescu is buried in Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest. He didn’t have the chance to see the first volume of his own poetry that had a foreword by Titu Maiorescu.

Museums

If you want to see a piece of their lives, you can visit the Veronica Micle museum in Targu Neamt, on Stefan cel Mare street no. 33.
In Iasi you can visit Mihai Eminescu museum in Copou Park. Each year, when the tilia trees are in blossom you can participate at the “Tilia holiday”. In the Copou Park there is a Tilia tree that was Mihai’s favourite tree which is now called “Mihai Eminescu’s Tilia”. Mihai Eminescu was one of the best journalists, a great novelist and a brilliant poet.

Author: Liliana Ianculescu

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