Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade was born in 1907 in Bucharest. He was a precocious child and published works for the first time at the age of 13. He studied in Cernavoda, Bucharest, finished Philosophy courses at the University of Bucharest at the age of 21, and went to Calcutta, India, to study Sanskrit and Yoga. After three years, he returned to Romania, published some novels and stories, and taught the history of religions. In 1940, he was sent as a cultural attaché to London, UK, and then to Lisbon, Portugal. After WW II, he remained in exile in Paris, moving in 1956 to Chicago where he chaired the History of Religions school at the University of Chicago. Starting in 1979, he published his masterpiece "A History of Religious Ideas" for which he was awarded by France with the Legion of Honour. He died in Chicago in 1986.