The Romanian novelist Paul Goma spent his life navigating the violent political shifts of the 20th century, emerging as a leading dissident against the communist regime. After surviving imprisonment and forced exile, he maintained a prolific career as a writer and diarist, producing work that examined the mechanics of state control and the human cost of political oppression.
Early Refuge and Imprisonment
Born in 1935 in Mana, Goma spent his formative years fleeing the threat of forced repatriation to the Soviet Union. His family endured time in hiding and internment within the Repatriation Center in Sighișoara. Later, Goma channeled these experiences into novels such as Arta refugii and Soldatul câinelui. His academic trajectory at the University of Bucharest was interrupted in 1956 when he was arrested for supporting movements linked to the Hungarian Revolution. He served time in the Jilava and Gherla prisons and subsequently endured house arrest in Lătești until 1963.
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Conflict with the Romanian State
In 1965, a state decree allowed Goma to resume his studies at the University of Bucharest. Despite briefly joining the Romanian Communist Party in 1968, his relationship with the regime deteriorated after censors blocked his novel Ostinato. When he successfully published the work in West Germany in 1971, he was excluded from the Party. A 1972 visit to France allowed him to write Gherla, a prison narrative published in France in 1976 that further solidified his status as an intellectual thorn in the side of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
The 1977 Protests and Exile
In 1977, Goma sent public letters to the Romanian authorities and the international community demanding respect for human rights. He sought to create a formal dialogue with Ceaușescu, which resulted in state-sponsored harassment and his temporary arrest. Following an international outcry from figures like Eugène Ionesco and Jean-Paul Sartre, he was released. In November 1977, he moved to France. He became a primary target of the Securitate abroad, surviving a letter bomb sent by Carlos the Jackal and a thwarted poisoning attempt orchestrated by an undercover agent, Matei Haiducu.
Later Life and Recognition
During his years in France, Goma continued his professional writing and essay work. His contributions to literature were acknowledged in 1986 with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2007, he was named an honorary citizen of Timișoara. Following 2000, his public discourse regarding the Holocaust in Romania generated significant controversy and allegations of antisemitism. Goma died in Paris in 2020 and was interred at the Cimetière parisien de Thiais.
Fast facts
- Born: 1935, Mana
- Died: 2020, Paris
- Education: University of Bucharest
- Primary Languages: Romanian, French
- Awards: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1986
- Burial Site: Cimetière parisien de Thiais
Questions readers ask
Why was Paul Goma imprisoned in 1956?
He was arrested for attempting to organize a student strike and for reading portions of a novel that mirrored the Hungarian Revolution.
Did Goma ever live in the Soviet Union?
No. While his family fled the risk of being sent to Siberia and his mother's brother was sent there, Goma remained in the Kingdom of Romania and later the Socialist Republic of Romania before moving to France.
