Defending "latin nations" during WWW2. A case study on Victor Buescu

Abstract

I aim to discuss the cultural activity of Romanian translator and Latinist Victor Buescu (1911-1971) in terms of translation and cultural transfer, keeping in mind the intellectual networks and institutions he was part of, within the intricate context of World War II. His rich translation activity targets both Romanian and Portuguese audiences, being carried out mainly within two institutions: the Romani- an Institute for Latin Studies and the University of Lisbon, where he was appointed lecturer of Romanian language during World War II. Together with other key figures of Romanian intelligentsia, like Nicolae Herescu or Mircea Eliade, Buescu contributed to the dissemination of a pan-Latinist ideology, bridging Romania and Portugal as Latin nations able to (symbolically) defeat barbarian forces.