Nicolas Steinhardt and the "Journal of Happiness"
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article by Olivier Clément presents the life and work of Nicolae Steinhardt (1912-1989), a Romanian writer and Orthodox monk, author of the *Journal of Happiness*, a masterpiece of universal literature still unpublished in French at the time of publication. The article adopts a biographical and theological approach, tracing the three stages of Steinhardt's destiny: cultivated European aesthete, convict converted to Orthodox Christianity in Romanian communist prisons, then monk-writer at the monastery of Rohia. The study highlights Steinhardt's theological thought, articulated around divine kenosis, apophatic theology, paschal joy and hesychasm. It also underscores his ecumenical vision, forged through the prison experience, and his contribution to an open Orthodox spirituality, combining resistance to totalitarianism, the freedom of the person and the transfiguration of the world.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
The rest of this article is reserved for subscribers of the Contacts review.
Subscribe to read more
Digital subscription · Immediate access to the Contacts library