# Mircea Eliade

Influential historian of religion who theorized hierophanies, eternal return, and sacred/profane distinction in human experience.

**Lived:** 1907–1986 (b. Bucharest, Romania)
**Nationality:** Romanian
**Training:** Disciple of Romanian philosopher Nae Ionescu; self-educated in comparative religion and history of religions
**Affiliation:** University of Chicago; religious studies and history of religions scholarship

## Key works

- *The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History* (1954)
- *The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion* (1957)
- *Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy* (1951)
- *Patterns in Comparative Religion* (1958)
- *A History of Religious Ideas* (1978)
- *Yoga: Immortality and Freedom* (2009)