*An "Activ Spirit" invitation to know the values given by the Romanians to humanity *O invitaţie marca "ACTIV SPIRIT", pentru cunoaşterea valorilor oferite de români umanităţii
(most of the materials in this blog are the source data from Wikipedia and are filled with pictures and video links from other sources)
Lucian Blaga was a commanding personality of the Romanian culture of the inter-bellum period. He was a philosopher and writer acclaimed for his originality, a university professor and a diplomat. He was born on May 9, 1895 in Lancrăm, near Alba Iulia, Romania, into a family of priests. Although he could speak he did not speak any words until he was four, and he later described his early childhood as "under the sign of the incredible absence of word". In the poem "Self-Portrait" he describes himself : "Lucian Blaga is silent like a swan."
His elementary education was in Sebeş (1902-1906), after which he attended the "Andrei Şaguna" school in Braşov (1906-1914), under the supervision of a relative, Iosif Blaga, who happened to be the author of the first Romanian treatise on the theory of drama. At the outbreak of the First World War, he began theological studies at Sibiu, where he graduated in 1917. From 1917 to 1920, he attended courses at the University of Vienna, where he studied philosophy and obtained his PhD.
Upon returning to the re-unified Romania, he contributed to the Romanian press in Transylvania, being the editor of the magazines Culture in Cluj and The Banat in Lugoj.
In 1926, he became involved in Romanian diplomacy, occupying successive posts at Romania's legations in Warsaw, Prague, Lisbon, Bern and Vienna. He was chosen member of the Romanian Academy in 1937. His acceptance speech was entitled Elogiul satului românesc (In Praise of the Romanian Village).
In 1939, he became professor of cultural philosophy at the University of Cluj, temporarily located in Sibiu in the years following the Second Vienna Award. In Sibiu he edited, beginning in 1943, the magazine Saeculum, which was published annually.
He was dismissed from his university professor chair in 1948 and he worked as librarian for the branch department (Cluj) of the History Institute of the Romanian Academy. Until 1960, he was allowed to publish only translations.
In 1956, he was nominated to the Nobel Prize for Literature on the proposal of Bazil Munteanu of France and Rosa del Conte of Italy, but it seems the idea was of Mircea Eliade. Still, the Romanian Communist government sent two emissaries to Sweden to protest the nomination, because Blaga was considered an idealist philosopher, and his poems were forbidden until 1962.
He died of cancer on May 6, 1961, and is buried in Lancrăm, Romania.
The University of Sibiu bears his name today.
Literature
Poetry
1919 - Poems of Light ( Poemele luminii );
1921 - The Prophet's Footsteps ( Paşii profetului );
1924 - In the Great Passage ( În marea trecere );
1929 - In Praise of Sleep ( Laudă somnului );
1933 - At the Watershed ( La cumpăna apelor ) ;
1938 - At the Courtyard of Yearning ( La curţile dorului ) ;
1943 - Unsuspected Steps ( Nebănuitele trepte );
1982 - 3 Posthumous Poems;
Drama
1921 - Zamolxis, A Pagan Mystery
1923 - Whirling Waters
1925 - Daria, The Deed, Resurrection
1927 - Manole the Craftsman ( Mesterul Manole )
1930 - The Children's Crusade
1934 - Avram Iancu
1944 - Noah's Ark
1964 - Anton Pann - published posthumously.
Philosophy
His philosophical work is grouped in three trilogies:
a cunoaşterii (knowledge) (1943)
a culturii (culture) (1944)
a valorilor (values) (1946).
His fourth, cosmologica (cosmology), remained in the project stage.
Philosophical works
1924 - "The Philosophy of Style"
1925 - "The Original Phenomenon" and "The Facets of a Century"
1931 - "The Dogmatic Aeon"
1933 - "Luciferian Knowledge"
1934 - "Transcendental Censorship"
1936 - "Horizon and Style" and "The Mioritic Space"
1937 - "The Genesis of Metaphor and the Meaning of Culture"
1939 - "Art and Value"
1940 - "The Divine Differentials"
1942 - "Religion and Spirit" and "Science and Creation"
1943 - The Trilogy of Knowledge (The Dogmatic Aeon, Luciferian Knowledge, Transcendent Censorship: in 1983 On Philosophical Cognition and Experiment and the Mathematical Spirit added by his daughter)
1944 - The Trilogy of Culture (Horizon and Style, The Mioritic Space, The Genesis of Metaphor and the Meaning of Culture)
1946 - The Trilogy of Values (Science and Creation, Magical Thinking and Religion, Art and Value)
1959 - Historical Existence
1966 - Romanian Thought in Transylvania in the 18th Century
1968 - Horizons and Stages
1969 - Experiment and the Mathematical Spirit
1972 - Sources (essays, lectures, articles)
1974 - On Philosophical Cognition
1977 - Philosophical Essays
1983 - The Cosmological Trilogy (The Divine Differentials, Anthropological Aspects, Historical Existence)
Lucian Blaga (n. 9 mai 1895 la Lancrăm, lângă Sebeş, judeţul Alba - d. 6 mai 1961 la Cluj) a fost un filozof, poet, dramaturg, traducător, jurnalist, profesor universitar şi diplomat român. Personalitate impunătoare şi polivalentă a culturii interbelice, Lucian Blaga a marcat perioada respectivă prin elemente de originalitate compatibile cu înscrierea sa în universalitate.
Primii ani
S-a născut la Lancrăm, lângă Alba Iulia, fiind al nouălea copil al unei familii de preoţi, fiul lui Isidor Blaga şi al Anei (n. Moga), de origine aromână. Copilăria i-a stat, după cum mărturiseşte el însuşi, "sub semnul unei fabuloase absenţe a cuvântului", viitorul poet – care se va autodefini mai târziu într-un vers celebru "Lucian Blaga e mut ca o lebădă" – neputând să vorbească până la vârsta de patru ani. Mama poetului, Ana Blaga, moare la Sibiu la vârsta de 74 de ani în 1933. În luna august 1949, fratele poetului, Login Blaga, moare în Sibiu.
Primele clase le-a făcut la Sebeş, la şcoala primară germană (1902-1906), după care a urmat Liceul "Andrei Şaguna" din Braşov (1906–1914), unde era profesor ruda sa, Iosif Blaga, autorul primului tratat românesc de teoria dramei. Încă de pe băncile liceului se va familiariza cu opera lui Friedrich Schiller.
Debutul
A debutat în ziarele arădene Tribuna, cu poezia Pe ţărm (1910), şi în Românul, cu studiul Reflecţii asupra intuiţiei lui Bergson (1914). După moartea tatălui, familia se mută la Sebeş în 1909. În anul 1911 călătoreşte în Italia, unde îşi petrece timpul în librării, căutând cărţi de filosofie, şi vizitând vestigiile istorice ale acestei ţări.
Studii
A urmat cursurile Facultăţii de Teologie din Sibiu şi Oradea în perioada 1914–1916, pe care le-a finalizat cu licenţă în 1917. A studiat filosofia şi biologia la Universitatea din Viena între anii 1916 şi 1920, obţinând titlul de doctor în filosofie. Aici a cunoscut-o pe Cornelia Brediceanu, cea care îi va deveni soţie. A revenit în ţară în ajunul Marii Uniri. În anul 1916, în timpul verii, Blaga vizitează Viena, unde descoperă Expresionismul.
Cariera literară
Activitatea publică şi academică
Imaginea lui Lucian Blaga pe o marcă poştală din Republica Moldova
Publică la Sibiu, în 1919, placheta de versuri Poemele luminii (reeditată în acelaşi an la Cartea Românească, în Bucureşti), precum şi culegerea de aforisme Pietre pentru templul meu. Prima sa dramă, Zamolxe, îi apare în ziarul Voinţa (1920), iar în volum în 1921, la Cluj, la Editura Institutului de Arte Grafice „Ardealul”. Academia Română îi decernează Premiul Adamachi pentru debut (1921). Universitatea din Cluj îi premiază piesa Zalmoxe (1922). I se tipăresc primele traduceri de poezie în limba germană în revista cernauţeană Die Brucke (1922) (Podul). În 1924-1925, locuieşte în Lugoj. A fost redactor la ziarele Voinţa şi Patria, membru in comitetul de direcţie al revistei Cultura, colaborator permanent la publicaţiile Gândirea, Adevărul literar şi artistic şi Cuvântul.
După Dictatul de la Viena, se află în refugiu la Sibiu, însoţind Universitatea din Cluj (1940–1946). Conferenţiază la Facultatea de Litere şi Filosofie din Cluj (1946–1948). Are un rol major în formarea tinerilor care fac parte din Cercul literar de la Sibiu şi o mare influenţă asupra lui Ion Desideriu Sârbu. Revenit în România reîntregită, s-a dăruit cauzei presei româneşti din Transilvania, fiind redactor la revistele Cultura din Cluj şi Banatul din Lugoj. A fost ales membru al Academiei Române în anul 1937. Discursul de recepţie şi l-a intitulat Elogiul satului românesc.
În anul 1939 a devenit profesor de filosofia culturii la Universitatea din Cluj, mutată temporar la Sibiu în anii ce au urmat dictatului de la Viena (1940–1944). La Sibiu redactează, începând cu 1943, revista Saeculum, care va apărea un an. A funcţionat ca profesor universitar până în 1948, când a fost îndepărtat cu brutalitate de la catedră. Motivul este de natură politică: se pare că Blaga a refuzat invitaţia de a conduce Partidul Naţional Popular, un satelit al Partidului Comunist. Împreună cu el au fost înlăturaţi şi conferenţiarul şi discipolul său, Ion Desideriu Sârbu, şi profesorii universitari Liviu Călin şi Nicolae Mărgineanu.
Activitatea diplomatică
În anul 1926 a intrat în diplomaţie, ocupând succesiv posturi de ataşat cultural la legaţiile ţării noastre din Varşovia, Praga, Lisabona, Berna şi Viena. A fost ataşat şi consilier de presă la Varşovia, Praga şi Berna (1926–1936), subsecretar de stat la Ministerul de Externe (1936–1938) şi ministru plenipotenţiar al României în Portugalia (1938–1939).
Luntrea lui Caron
Din 1948, fiind îndepărtat de la catedră, a lucrat în cadrul filialei din Cluj a Academiei Române ca bibliograf. Devine cercetător la Institutul de Istorie şi Filosofie (1949–1951). Apoi bibliotecar-şef (1951–1954) şi director-adjunct (1954–1959) la filiala clujeană a Bibliotecii Academiei. Nu îi mai sunt publicate volumele şi preferă să se ocupe de traduceri. În această perioadă a finalizat traducerea piesei Faust de Goethe, iar în 1958 apare primul volum din Opere de G.E. Lessing în traducerea lui Lucian Blaga. A tradus poeţi germani clasici şi moderni. Poeziile scrise acum vor fi publicate postum. Tot în această perioadă scrie romanul cu tentă autobiografică Luntrea lui Caron, publicat de asemenea postum. A trecut la cele veşnice pe 6 mai 1961, in Cluj. Lucian Blaga a fost înmormântat în ziua sa de naştere, 9 mai, în cimitirul din Lancrăm.
Propus pentru premiul Nobel
În anul 1956 Lucian Blaga a fost propus de Rosa del Conte şi de criticul Basil Munteanu, dar se pare că ideea a pornit chiar de la Mircea Eliade pentru a primi premiul Nobel pentru literatură. Cei doi nu locuiau în România, Rosa del Conte era autoarea unei cărţi despre Eminescu, iar Basil Munteanu locuia la Paris, unde se exilase din motive politice. Autorităţile comuniste nu au sprijinit în niciun fel aceste gesturi, pentru că Blaga era considerat un filosof idealist, iar poeziile lui au fost interzise până la ediţia din 1962 îngrijită de George Ivaşcu. Rosa del Conte a recunoscut că paternitatea ideii îi aparţine lui Mircea Eliade, cel care publicase la moartea lui Blaga, în 1961, un emoţionant necrolog intitulat Tăcerile lui Lucian Blaga.
Opera
Volume de versuri
1919 - Poemele luminii
1921 - Paşii profetului
1924 - În marea trecere
1929 - Lauda somnului
1933 - La cumpăna apelor
1938 - La curţile dorului
1942 - Poezii, ediţie definitivă
1943 - Nebănuitele trepte
Cicluri de versuri editate postum
Vârsta de fier 1940-1944
Cântecul focului
Corăbii cu cenuşă
Ce aude unicornul
Dramaturgie
1921 - Zamolxe, mister păgân
1923 - Tulburarea apelor, dramă
1925 - Daria, dramă în patru acte
1925 - Ivanca
1925 - Învierea, pantomimă în patru tablouri şi Fapta, joc dramatic
1927 - Meşterul Manole, dramă în cinci acte
1930 - Cruciada copiilor
1934 - Avram Iancu, dramă într-un prolog şi trei faze
1942 - Opera dramatică, 2 vol.
1944 - Arca lui Noe
1964 - Anton Pann, dramă într-un prolog şi patru faze (postumă)
Filosofie
Creaţia sa filosofică este grupată în trei trilogii:
1943 - Trilogia cunoaşterii în trei volume: Eonul dogmatic, Cunoaşterea luciferică, Cenzura transcendentă.
1944 - Trilogia culturii in trei volume: Orizont şi stil, Spaţiul mioritic, Geneza metaforei şi sensul culturii
1946 - Trilogia valorilor, Ştiinţă şi creaţie, Gândire magică şi religie, Artă şi valoare.
Cea de-a patra, Trilogia cosmologică, a rămas în stadiu de proiect. Din ea autorul a publicat un singur volum, Diferenţialele divine, primul din această ultimă trilogie.
Aforisme
1919 - Pietre pentru templul meu
1926 - Ferestre colorate, însemnări şi fragmente
1945 - Discobolul, aforisme şi însemnări
1977 - Elanul insulei, editată postum
Proza
Hronicul şi cântecul vârstelor, volum autobiografic, editat postum, 1965
Luntrea lui Caron, roman, editat postum, 1990, ediţia a II-a, 1998, ediţia a III-a, 2006
Volume de eseuri şi studii filosofice
1922 - Cultură şi cunoştinţă
1924 - Filosofia stilului
1925 - Fenomenul originar
1925 - Feţele unui veac
1926 - Daimonion
1931 - Eonul dogmatic
1933 - Cunoaşterea luciferică
1934 - Censura transcendentă
1934 - Orizont şi stil
1936 - Spaţiul mioritic
1936 - Elogiul satului românesc, discursul de recepţie la admiterea sa în Academia Română
1937 - Geneza metaforei şi sensul culturii
1939 - Artă şi valoare
1940 - Diferenţialele divine
1941 - Despre gândirea magică
1941 - Religie şi spirit
1942 - Ştiinţă şi creaţie
1947 - Despre conştiinţa filosofică
1948 - Aspecte antropologice
Eseuri publicate postum
1966 - Gândirea românească în Transilvania în secolul al XVIII-lea
1968 - Zări şi etape
1969 - Experimentul şi spiritul matematic
1972 - Isvoade
1977 - Fiinţa istorică
1977 - Încercări filosofice
Volume traduse în limba franceză
1988 - L'Eon dogmatique, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).
1989 - L'Éloge du village roumain, (Librairie Roumaine Antitotalitaire, trad. Georges Piscoci-Danesco et collab.).
1992 - L'Étoile la plus triste, (La Différence, trad. Sanda Stolojan).
Carol Popp de Szathmary ((November 1, 1812, Cluj - July 3, 1887, Bucharest), was a Romanian painter, graphic artist, lithographer, topographer and photographer, the first art photographer in the Kingdom of Romania and the author of world's first war reportage (Russian-Turkish Crimean War, 1853-1856).
Carol Popp de Szathmary was born in Cluj in 1812. He did studies school in Cluj, at the Reformed College. After obtaining the baccalaureate, he tried to enter the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire, but he failed and returned in his hometown, where studied law at the University of Cluj. After several years working as a clerk in the Transylvanian administration, Carol Popp gets hired at the imperial chancellery in Vienna. Passion for painting pushed it to make several trips through Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy. Going back in Transylvania, he painted a series of portraits of dignitaries of Transyvania's Dieta (parliament).
At the invitation of Prince George Bibescu - future ruler of Principality of Wallachia, he reaches Bucharest, where he made his the first daguerreotypes and published the volume "Transylvania in images", made with this technique. In 1847 he was the travel companion of great piano player Franz Liszt in his tournament by the Principality of Moldavia, Bukovina and Russia.
In 1853 made the first war photographs, in the Crimean War, in which he participated as war correspondent. His works, paintings and photos were collected in a new album which was presented at the International Exhibition of Paris of 1855 - then offered personally to the French emperor Napoleon III and Queen Victoria of England. In 1864 he participated to the official delegation of the United Romanian Principalities to Constantinople, where the High Gate recognized Alexandru Ioan Cuza as ruler. He is also created of the United Principalities logo.
He accompanied the new prince of the Romanians, Prince Carol of Hohenzollern, in his travel through the Kingdom of Romania, becoming the painter of the royal court in Bucharest.
Besides photo-stamps representing Bucharest those times, and made an album, "Costumes of Romania", a paper that gives personally to the Kings of Belgium and the Netherlands. In a trip to the East (Turkey, Afghanistan, China), Chinese emperor offered him the job of photographer of the imperial court, but he declined the offer, then returned home.
He made a series of art exhibitions in Bucharest, Vienna, Cluj, Târgu-Mureş, and in some towns in Austria. Carol Popp de Szathmary participated in the Rusian-Turkish war, known as the War of Independence as a photographer and war correspondent. He organized meanwhile, a photographic workshop in Cluj, in Biasini Hotel building, located on Avram Iancu street. In 1881, he organized the ceremony of coronation of the first king of Romania, King Carol I and Queen Elizabeth. He died July 3, 1887, and was buried in the Evangelical-Lutheran cemetery in Bucharest.
Carol Popp de Szathmáry (n. 1 noiembrie 1812, Cluj - d. 3 iulie 1887, Bucureşti) a fost un pictor şi grafician transilvănean, primul fotograf de artă şi documentarist din Regatul Român şi unul dintre primii zece fotografi din Europa.
Pictor
Primele studii le-a făcut în Transilvania, apoi (1853) a lucrat cu Anton Chladek la Pesta. A călătorit intens în ţară şi străinătate, de unde a adus numeroase imagini pitoreşti cu caracter de reportaj, dintre care cele executate în acuarelă se disting prin vervă, spontaneitate şi poezie. În pictură, limbajul său este migălos şi greoi, dar vădind acelaşi spirit de observaţie ascuţit, mai ales în scenele reprezentând bâlciuri sau târguri. Ca litograf, Szathmáry a lăsat un Album cu vederi din Transilvania (1841), precum şi portretele deputaţilor din Dieta Transilvaniei. În 1860 a realizat o hartă topografică a ţării. Opera sa mai cuprinde cromolitografii şi acuarele înfăţişând tipuri şi porturi populare cu un caracter exclusiv documentar.
Fotograf
În anul 1843 a realizat primele dagherotipii, iar în urma unor cercetări, a realizat şi primele tabotipii.
În perioada 1860-1870, Carol Popp de Szathmary a publicat un volum cu 100 de fotografii. A fost printre primii 10 fotografi din Europa şi a realizat primul reportaj fotografic de război din lume în timpul Războiului Crimeii.
A călătorit în China, iar cu acordul Ţarului Rusiei, a ajuns şi în Siberia, unde a realizat fotografii artistice.
Distincţii
În anul 1855 a primit patru medalii, pentru albumele de fotografie realizate şi pentru activitatea sa fotografică, medaliile fiind acordate de Regina Angliei, Împăratul Austriei, Napoleon al III-lea al Franţei şi Regele Spaniei.
Activitate culturală
În anul 1860 a contribuit la înfiinţarea Bukuresti Magyar Közlöny, prima asociaţie culturală a maghiarilor din Bucureşti.
Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was a Romanian-born German-American swimmer and actor. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan in films, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive, ululating Tarzan yell is still often used in films.
Early life
Weissmüller was an ethnic German born to Peter Weissmüller and his wife Elisabeth Kersch, in the Romanian part of Banat, Austria-Hungary. The ship's roster from his family's arrival at Ellis Island lists his birthplace as Međa, in border area of Serbia. It has been claimed that he was actually named Peter by his parents, but when he arrived in the US he used his brother's name, Johnny, because it was more American. However, the records of St Rochus Church in Freidorf show that Johann, son of Peter Weissmüller and Elizabeth Kersch, was baptized there on 6 May 1904. The passenger manifest of the S.S. Rotterdam, which arrived in New York on 26 January 1905, lists Peter Weissmüller, a 29-year-old laborer, his 24-year-old wife Elisabeth, and seven-month-old Johann, The family is listed as Germans, last residence Temesvár, despite the fact that they lived for a long time in Freidorf (Szabadfalu). They were going to join their brother-in-law Johann Ott of Windber, Pennsylvania. On November 5, 1905, Johann Peter Weissmüller was baptized at St John Cantius Catholic Church in Windber. In the 1910 census, Peter and Elizabeth Weisenmüller as well as John and Eva Ott were living at 1521 Cleveland Ave in the 22nd Ward of Chicago, with sons John, age six, born in Temesvár and Peter Jr., age five, born in Illinois. Peter Weissmüller and John Ott were both brewers, Ott immigrating in 1902, Weissmüller in 1904. The ethnic group known as Banat Swabians had lived for several centuries in that region and developed a distinctive dialect and cultural traits.
When Weissmüller was a small child, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Rotterdam as steerage passengers. They left Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived at Ellis Island in New York harbor twelve days later as Peter, Elisabeth and Johann Weissmüller. The passenger list records them as ethnic Germans and citizens of Romania. After a brief stay in Chicago, visiting relatives, they moved to the coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania. (For most of Weissmüller's career, show business biographies incorrectly listed him as having been born in Pennsylvania. Some sources state that Weissmüller lied about his birthplace in order to ensure his place on the US Olympic swimming team.) Peter Weissmuller worked as a miner, and his youngest son, Peter Weissmüller, Jr., was born in Windber on 3 September 1905. Peter Jr. is listed on one census as born in Illinois.
At age nine, Weissmüller contracted polio. At the suggestion of his doctor, he took up swimming to help battle the disease. After the family moved from Western Pennsylvania to Chicago, Weissmüller continued swimming and eventually earned a spot on the YMCA swim team.While living in Chicago, Weissmüller's father owned a bar for a time and his mother became head cook at a famed restaurant. After Peter's business failed, he began drinking heavily and abusing both his wife and children. Elizabeth Weissmüller eventually filed for, and was granted, a divorce (various biographies erroneously state that Weissmüller's father died of tuberculosis leaving her a widow). According to draft registration records for World War I, Peter and Elizabeth were apparently still together as late as 1917. On his paperwork, Peter was listed as a brewer, working for the Elston and Fullerton Brewery. He and his family were living at 226 West North Avenue in Chicago. In his book, Tarzan, My Father, Johnny Weissmuller Jr. stated that although rumors of Peter Weissmüller living to "a ripe old age, remarrying along the way and spawning a large brood of little Weissmüllers" were reported, no one in the family was aware of his ultimate fate. Peter signed his consent for 19-year old John "Weissmuller"'s passport application in 1924, preceding Johnny's Olympic competition in France. In the 1930 federal census, Elizabeth Weissmüller, age 49, has listed with her, her sons John P. and Peter J., and Peter's wife Dorothy. Elizabeth is listed as a widow.
Careers
Swimming
As a teen, Weissmuller attended Lane Technical H.S. before dropping out to work various jobs including a stint as a lifeguard at a Lake Michigan beach. While working as an elevator operator and bellboy at the Illinois Athletic Club, Weissmuller caught the eye of swim coach William Bachrach. Bachrach trained Weissmuller and in August 1921, Weissmuller won the national championships in the 50-yard and 220-yard distances. Though he was foreign-born, Weissmuller gave his birthplace as Tanneryville, Pennsylvania, and his birth date as that of his younger brother, Peter Weissmuller. This was to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team, and was a critical issue in being issued an American passport. (This comment seems to be contradicted by data on his actual passport application - On his 1924 passport application, he listed his date of birth as June 2, 1904, and his place of birth as Windbar, Pennsylvania. His father, Peter signed an affidavit to this effect, giving his 19-year-old son permission to travel abroad to participate in the Paris Olympics and for other competitions in England and Belgium. His passport was issued in May, 1924.)
On July 9, 1922, Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record on the 100-meters freestyle, swimming it in 58.6 seconds. He won the title in that distance at the 1924 Summer Olympics, beating Kahanamoku for the gold. He also won the 400-meters freestyle and the 4 x 200 meters relay. As a member of the American water polo team, he also won a bronze medal. Four years later, at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won another two Olympic titles.
In all, he won five Olympic gold medals, one bronze medal, won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. Johnny Weissmuller never lost a race and retired from his amateur swimming career undefeated.
Motion pictures
In 1929, Weissmuller signed a contract with BVD to be a model and representative. He traveled throughout the country doing swim shows, handing out leaflets promoting that brand of swimwear, signing autographs and going on talk shows. In that same year, he made his first motion picture appearance as an Adonis, wearing only a fig leaf, in a movie entitled Glorifying the American Girl. He appeared as himself in the first of several Crystal Champions movie shorts featuring Weissmuller and other Olympic champions at Silver Springs, Florida.
He co-starred with Esther Williams in Billy Rose's Aquacade during the San Francisco World's Fair, 1939–41, pursuing her throughout a span of two years.
His acting career began when he signed a seven year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. Tarzan author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character.
Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane (with whom he had a brief affair) and Cheeta the Chimpanzee. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Then, in 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO and starred in six more Tarzan movies with markedly reduced production values. Unlike MGM, RKO allowed Weissmuller to play other roles, though a three picture contract with Pine-Thomas Productions led to only one film, Swamp Fire, being made, co-starring Buster Crabbe. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for RKO. Another co-star was Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller's last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies, (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (During an appearance on television's The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s, Weissmuller explained how the famous yell was created. Recordings of three vocalists were spliced together to get the effect—a soprano, an alto, and a hog caller).
When Weissmuller finally left that role, he immediately traded his loincloth costume for a slouch hat and safari suit for the role of Jungle Jim (1948) for Columbia. He made thirteen Jungle Jim films between (1948) and (1954). Within the next year, he appeared in three more jungle movies, playing himself. In 1955, he began production of the Jungle Jim television adventure series for Screen Gems, a film subsidiary of Columbia. His costars were Martin Huston and Dean Fredericks. The show produced only twenty-six episodes, which were subsequently played repeatedly on network and syndicated television. Aside from a first screen appearance as Adonis and the role of Johnny Duval in the 1946 film Swamp Fire, Weissmuller played only three roles in films during the heyday of his Hollywood career: Tarzan, Jungle Jim, and himself.
After movies
According to David Wallechinsky's Complete Book of the Olympics, while playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Cuba in 1958, Weissmuller's golf cart was suddenly captured by rebel soldiers. Weissmuller sized up the situation, got out of the cart and gave his trademark Tarzan yell. The shocked rebels soon began to jump up and down, calling "Tarzan! Welcome to Cuba!" Johnny and his companions were not only not kidnapped, but were given a rebel escort to the golf course.
In the late 1950s, Weissmuller moved back to Chicago and started a swimming pool company. He lent his name to other business ventures, but did not have a great deal of success. He retired in 1965 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Sometime in the 1960s, Weissmuller built a doomed tourist attraction called Tropical Wonderland, aka Tarzan's Jungleland, on US 1 in Titusville, Florida. In September 1966, Weissmuller joined former screen Tarzans James Pierce and Jock Mahoney to appear with Ron Ely as part of the publicity for the upcoming premiere of the Tarzan TV series. The producers also approached Weissmuller to guest star as Tarzan's father, but nothing came of it.
In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. That same year, he made a cameo appearance with former co-star Maureen O'Sullivan in The Phynx (1970).
Weissmuller lived in Florida until the end of 1973, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel for a time. In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney, in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and he also made his final public appearance in that year when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Weissmuller had five wives: band and club singer Bobbe Arnst (married 1931 – divorced 1933); actress Lupe Vélez (married 1933 – divorced 1939); Beryl Scott (married 1939 – divorced 1948); Allene Gates (married 1948 – divorced 1962); and Maria Baumann (married 1963 – his death 1984).
With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (September 23, 1940 – July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (b. June 1, 1942), and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944 – November 19, 1962).
Declining health and death
In 1974, Weissmuller broke both his hip and leg, marking the beginning of years of declining health. While hospitalized he learned that, in spite of his strength and lifelong daily regimen of swimming and exercise, he had a serious heart condition. In 1977, Weissmuller suffered a series of strokes. In 1979, he entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California for several weeks before moving with his last wife, Maria, to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie.
On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. He was buried in Acapulco at Valley of the Light Cemetery. As his coffin was lowered into the ground, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played three times, at his request.
Influence
His former co-star and movie son, Johnny Sheffield, wrote of him, "I can only say that working with Big John was one of the highlights of my life. He was a Star (with a capital "S") and he gave off a special light and some of that light got into me. Knowing and being with Johnny Weissmuller during my formative years had a lasting influence on my life."
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnny Weissmuller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
Johnny Weissmüller, născut Peter Johann Weissmüller, (n. 2 iunie 1904, în cartierul Freidorf din Timişoara, pe atunci în Austro-Ungaria - d. 20 ianuarie 1984, Acapulco, Mexic) a fost un sportiv şi actor american de origine germană. Părinţii săi, şvabii bănăţeni Petrus Weissmüller şi Elisabeth Weissmüller născută Kersch, au emigrat în SUA împreună cu fiul lor în vârstă de şapte luni. Johnny Weissmüller a susţinut ulterior că s-ar fi născut în Windber (Pennsylvania), probabil pentru a fi selectat în lotul naţional de nataţie al SUA. Copil bolnăvicios, a fost sfătuit de un medic să se apuce de înot.
Aşa a ajuns de cinci ori campion olimpic la înot (1924-1928 ), deţinătorul a 67 de titluri mondiale şi 52 de titluri naţionale. A deţinut recordurile la stilul liber la toate probele de la 100 de yarzi la jumătatea de milă şi a fost primul care a înotat 100 m sub un minut. A devenit celebru prin seria de filme Tarzan, ecranizări inspirate de romanele lui Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Seria de filme a început la studiourile MGM, cu Tarzan the Ape Man (Tarzan omul-maimuţă), în 1932. Se povesteşte că în timpul revoluţiei cubaneze, pe când Johny Weissmüller juca golf cu nişte prieteni în Cuba, jucătorii s-au trezit înconjuraţi de revoluţionari înarmaţi. Fără să-şi piardă cumpătul, Weissmüller a lansat celebrul strigăt al lui Tarzan, iar soldaţii, recunoscându-l, au fost foarte încântaţi să escorteze grupul într-o zonă sigură.
Johny Weissmüller a fost căsătorit de cinci ori.
Respectându-i-se dorinţa, la înmormântarea sa, coşciugul a fost coborât în groapă având ca fond sonor celebrul strigăt al lui Tarzan.
ACTIV SPIRIT, youth organization of the Romanian-Swedish Cultural Association "FRĂŢIA" was born on September 13, 2009.
Active Spirit purpose is to foster integration youth of different nationalities living in Sweden, in Swedish society, to encourage and help young people of various nationalities present here to offer and value their best potential in the Swedish society .
ACTIV SPIRIT aims to promote tolerance among young people, multiculturalism, and information about diversity and perennial values of humanity, present in various cultures from which young people integrated in Swedish society.
ACTIV SPIRIT assumes purposes of "FRĂŢIA" Association, to keep, encourage, stimulate, present, disseminate and support the creation of art in the multicultural society in which they operate, a better knowledge of Sweden and promote Romanian culture and traditions in Sweden.
activ.spirit@yahoo.com
