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Zevedei Barbu Romania Brazil England France Scotland

Biography of Zevedei Barbu

Zevedei Barbu, Matriculation Slip 1949-50
Zevedei Barbu, Matriculation Slip 1949-50

Zevedei Barbu was born in Reciu, a village near Sibiu, Romania, in 1914, son of Marcu, a farmer. He would become a world-renowned Professor of Sociology and Social Psychology.

Barbu began his academic career at the University of Cluj, where he obtained a PhD in Psychology in 1941, and subsequently assisted Florin Ştefănescu-Goangă of the Psychology Department and Lucian Blaga (Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright) of the Department of Philosophy of Culture between 1940 and 1945.

Barbu was arrested in 1943 accused of engaging in left-wing political activity, and after his release in 1944, he sought political asylum in the UK. In 1949, Barbu enrolled as a PhD research student at the University of Glasgow. His PhD, The psychology of Nazism, Communism and Democracy, was one of the first comparative psychosocial approaches of the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. It was presented in front of two internal examiners, Professor Nisbet and Dr. Rickford, and two external examiners, Professor W.J.H Sprott, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Nottingham, and Professor D.W. Harding, Bedford College, London. Barbu successfully graduated on 10 July 1954.

After graduating, he worked on two books: "Democracy and Dictatorship. Their Psychology and Patterns of Life" (1956) and "Problems of Historical Psychology" (1960), before returning to the University of Glasgow in 1961, where he lectured in Sociology and Social Psychology until 1963, laying the foundations for the Department of Sociology. Barbu was also a visiting professor at the University of Sussex, lecturing Sociology, and established the Department of Sociology there. In 1976, Barbu was invited to lecture at the University of Brazil by then principal, José Carlos Azevedo, where he died in March 1993.

Summary

Zevedei Barbu
Born 28 January 1914.
Died March 1993.
GU Degree: PhD , 1954; Science and Engineering, 1949-1954;
University Link: Lecturer, Researcher
Occupation categories: psychologists; sociologists
English snippet: Sociologist, psychologist and philosopher
Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan snippet: Sociolog, psiholog şi filosof - a pus bazele departamentului de sociologie la Universitatea din Glasgow, prieten cu faimosul filosof&poet român, Lucian Blaga
Record last updated: 28th Jan 2015

Country Associations

Romania Romania, Reciu
Place of Birth

Brazil Brazil, No Region
Place of Death

England England, Sussex

France France, Paris

Romania Romania, Cluj

Scotland Scotland, Glasgow

University Connections

University Roles

  • Lecturer
  • Researcher