Moș Gerilă

Moș Gerilă^[1] is the name of a character from Romanian folklore and communist propaganda.

Origin of the name

The Romanian word moș means an elder male person.^[2] The term ger means "frost" in Romanian. Moș Gerilă's name is a translation of the Russian Ded Moroz and was adopted by the Romanian communists, under influence of the Soviet model, as a new name for Moș Crăciun (Santa Claus).

Appearance

In 1947, the newspaper Națiunea published an illustration of Moș Gerilă as a young, athletic, proletarian, bare-chested man.^[3]

History of the character

Origins

During the period from 1944 to 1948, Romanian Communist Party newspapers tried to denigrate the image of Christmas, emphasizing, for example, the peasant origins of many colinde.

In 1948, after the Communists took power in Romania, the word Crăciun ceased to appear in any article in the newspaper Scînteia.^[4]

The word Crăciun was considered too religious, and therefore instead of Moș Crăciun, (the Romanian name for Santa Claus), a new character was introduced in the 1950s: Moș Gerilă. Children were told that it was Moș Gerilă who brought gifts each December 25.

In the three years following the installation of the Communists in power, Christmas celebrations were transferred to the New Year, December 30, the day when King Michael of Romania abdicated in 1947, was renamed the Day of the Republic. December 25 and 26 became working days.

Decline

In the 1980s, the personality cult of "the beloved leader" would leave its imprint on the character of Moș Gerilă. Children's New Year gifts were associated less with Moș Gerilă and more with the state itself, personified by Nicolae Ceaușescu.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Moș Gerilă lost influence and the older character of Moș Crăciun returned.^[5]

Notes and references

^ "Gerilă". Dexonline.ro (in Romanian).
^ "Moș". Dexonline.ro (in Romanian).
^ (in Romanian) Povestea impostorului Moş Gerilă Archived 2012-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, România liberă, 29 December 2011
^ (in Romanian) Amintiri cu Moș Gerilă^{[permanent dead link]} ("Memories with Moș Gerilă"), Evenimentul Zilei, 24 December 2005
^ "The Scent of Christmas in Romania, December 2006 by Magdalena Chitic". European Youth Voice. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2010-11-26.

[1] "Gerilă". Dexonline.ro (in Romanian).

[2] "Moș". Dexonline.ro (in Romanian).

[3] (in Romanian) Povestea impostorului Moş Gerilă Archived 2012-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, România liberă, 29 December 2011

[4] (in Romanian) Amintiri cu Moș Gerilă^{[permanent dead link]} ("Memories with Moș Gerilă"), Evenimentul Zilei, 24 December 2005

[5] "The Scent of Christmas in Romania, December 2006 by Magdalena Chitic". European Youth Voice. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2010-11-26.

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