George Silviu family papers
Extent and Medium
boxes
14
11,739 , JPEG
13.1 ,
Creator(s)
- Silviu family
Biographical History
George Silviu (1901-1971) was born Silvius Goliger in Focşani, Romania, on January 2, 1901. He was a Romanian poet, playwright, translator and lawyer. His father, Iancu Goliger, was a famous architect, and the family held Romanian citizenship. Silviu completed his law degree at the University of Bucharest in the early 1920’s, became a member of the Socialist Party, and started writing for left-wing reviews and newspapers. From 1927 to 1931, he was press attaché with the Romanian delegation to the League of Nations. He worked as a lawyer within the Ilfov County bar beginning in 1924, but he was excluded due to anti-Jewish regulations in 1939. During WW II, he was obliged to perform forced labor. After the war, he resumed practicing law and studied for a doctorate. He held various posts in the post-war government, such as secretary general, but resigned in 1948 when the Communists took over. He was banned from publishing under his true name, arrested and imprisoned in March 1953, and released in July 1954. He married his second wife, Renée Saraga, in 1938. She was a writer, a puppet-maker and puppeteer, whose career extended from 1938 to 1958 in Romania. The family finally received permission to immigrate to France in 1961 with their two daughters, Ioana and Lumiora. George Silviu died in Paris on May 16, 1971.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ioana George Macker and Lumioara Billière-George
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Ioana George Macker and Lumioara Billière-George.
Scope and Content
The George Silviu family papers document George Silviu, a Romanian poet, playwright, translator and lawyer. Records include administrative and professional documents, official letters, Silviu articles and poems published in journals, personal letters, and press clippings. The collection also includes copies of extensive files now held in the Securitate Archives in Bucharest that document how Silviu was banned from publishing under his true name, arrested, and imprisoned. The collection further documents the family’s Romanian citizenship and the career of Silviu’s father, famous architect Iancu Goliger. Part of this collection contains documents, artwork, and photos relating to Silviu’s second wife, Renée Saraga, her family, and her career as a puppet-maker and puppeteer, as well as an exhibition and slide show dedicated to her in 2014 at the Théâtre Mouffetard in Paris. There are rare editions of George Silviu’s poems, children’s stories, and novels, as well as manuscripts of love poems to his wife.
System of Arrangement
Documents are arranged by year and thereunder by section: administrative and professional documents, official letters, articles and poems by George Silviu published in journals, personal letters, press clippings about George Silviu or his family, and copies of CNSAS personal dossiers P (or I) 195507, 58649, 790.
People
- Silviu, George, 1901-1971.
Subjects
- Focșani (Romania)
- Bucharest (Romania)
- Poets.
- Paris (France)
- Jews--Romania--History--20th century.
- Jews--Romania--Focșani.
- Antisemitism--Romania.
- Dramatists.
Genre
- Document
- Letters.
- Photographs.