Mihail Sebastian and the Young People with Lily Souls
“Mihail Sebastian and the Young People with Lily Souls” is a multimedia webcomic (combining documentary comics, animation and original music) that aims, based on excerpts from the diary and work of the author Mihail Sebastian, to document the decline of democracy and the rise of extremism in Romanian society in the 1930s and 1940s. The webcomic can be accessed at www.mihailsebastian.ro and was mixed live at two events in Berlin and Bucharest.
Although Romania is the country that had the far-right movement with the most adherents per capita before its rise to power (the Legionary Movement), is the second country in the world after Nazi Germany with an official anti-Semitic party in power (the Goga-Cuza Government), and is directly responsible for the deaths of the largest number of Jews during the Holocaust after Germany, the history of fascism in Romania remains little known.
Mihail Sebastian’s diary offers a unique personal perspective on a troubled period in Romanian history. Born into a Jewish family, a prolific writer and journalist and a close friend of some of the most important cultural figures of the inter-war period (such as Nae Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran), Sebastian lives and writes with a keen eye about the rightward slide of Romanian society and the anti-Semitic policies that followed.
Behind the project is a group of animators, illustrators and musicians, together with Diaspora Civica Berlin.
The project can be followed on our social media channels:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/webcomic_mihailsebastian
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566790481143
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@webcomic_ms
The project is co-funded by the Romanian National Cultural Fund Administration (Administrației Fondului Cultural Național).
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Romanian National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary.
