Petre Țuțea – An intellectual colossus

An intellectual colossus in the soul of a child. An encyclopaedist who never managed to write anything. A philosopher who perfected his conception in the fire of the dungeon. He spoke brilliantly all his life, aware that he was betraying himself. He often read his ideas in magazines and was satisfied, for it was not he but his faith that he wanted to spread.

All the Romanian cultural and political leaders met in Jilava, such as M. Manoilescu, Bejan, Bentoiu, Istrate Micescu, Petre Pandrea, Țuțea, and he imposed himself among them with undisputed authority. If the discussions between the walls of Jilavei could be reproduced, it would result in an amazing and sharp meeting of opinions.

His thinking was profoundly Christian. His formulations were scholarly. And yet in intimacy he was simple, warm-hearted and gentle as a child. He did not merely philosophise theory, but embraced all of life in an optimistic and majestic vision.

He suffered many years of imprisonment with dignity, then lived as a kind of nobody, a nobody, a nothing. Not only the Romanian nation, but the whole world has lost a great thinker.

Long live Petre Țuțea!

(Ioan Ianolide – Return to Christ. Document for a New World, Bonifaciu Publishing House, Bucharest, 2012, pp. 307-308)