Virgil Nemoianu

Virgil Nemoianu
Nemoianu in 2005
Born(1940-03-12)March 12, 1940
Bucharest, Romania
DiedJune 6, 2025(2025-06-06) (aged 85)
OccupationEssayist, literary critic, philosopher of culture
Alma materUniversity of Bucharest
University of California, San Diego
Notable worksThe Taming of Romanticism
Theory of the Secondary
The Triumph of Imperfection
Imperfection and Defeat
Notable awardsOrder of the Star of Romania, Commander rank
SpouseAnca Nemoianu
Children1

Virgil Nemoianu (Romanian pronunciation: [virˈd͡ʒil nemoˈjanu], March 12, 1940 June 6, 2025) was a Romanian-American essayist, literary critic, and philosopher of culture. He was generally described as a specialist in comparative literature, but this is a somewhat limiting label, only partially covering the wider range of his activities and accomplishments. His thinking placed him at the intersection of neo-Platonism and neo-Kantianism, which he turned into an instrument meant to qualify, channel, and tame the asperities, as well as what he regarded as the impatient accelerations and even absurdities of modernity and post-modernity. He chose early on to write within the intellectual horizons outlined by Goethe and Leibniz, and continued to do so throughout his life.