Cicerone Theodorescu (February 9, 1908 – February 18, 1974) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n poet. Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, his father was a laborer for ''

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on 1 October 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. CFR as an entity existed from 1880, even though the first ra ...

'' state railway. After attending high school in his native city, he studied at the literature and philosophy department of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

. He then taught in various high schools and worked as an editor and reporter. A contributor to the left-wing press, he signed, together with other pro-democracy intellectuals, protests against the country's drift toward fascism. After the

King Michael Coup King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

of 1944, Theodorescu held important posts at ''Centrala Cărții'' publishing overseer, was vice president of the

Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society () was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the early Communist Romania, communist re ...

from 1944 and editor-in-chief of ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

'' magazine from 1948. Theodorescu made his literary debut in 1925 in

Perpessicius Perpessicius (; pen name of Dumitru S. Panaitescu, also known as Panait Șt. Dumitru, D. P. Perpessicius and Panaitescu-Perpessicius; October 22, 1891 – March 29, 1971) was a Romanian literary historian and critic, poet, essayist and fiction wr ...

' ''Universul literar''; he subsequently published in ''Azi'', ''Credința'', ''Cuvântul'', ''Cuvântul liber'', ''

Facla ''Facla'' ("The Torch") was a Romanian political and literary magazine. ''Facla'' was published weekly in Bucharest between 13 March 1910 and 15 June 1913, daily from 5 October 1913 to 5 March 1914, weekly from 1 January to 7 August 1916 and daily ...

'', ''Lumea'', ''Sinteza'', ''Gazeta literară'', ''Viața Românească'', ''Vremea'', ''Zodiac'', ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...

'' and '' Luceafărul''. His first book was the 1936 ''Cleștar'', described by

Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu (born Moise Cahn or Cohn; 16 August 1921, in Galați, Romania – 27 April or 28 April 2000, in Berlin, Germany) was a Romanian literary critic and science fiction writer. Biography After graduating from high school i ...

as "enclosing the soul's turmoil in glacial, pellucid verses, slowly carved with a jeweler's care". He drew particular notice for his verses inspired from the work and suffering of railwaymen. His other volumes followed the same direction (including ''Cântece de galeră'', 1946; ''Focul din amnar'', 1946; ''Un cântec din ulița noastră'', 1953, State Prize). However, with time, his lyricism tended toward the epic or became anemic, and remained lively only in the collections of fixed-form poems such as rondels. His later books included ''Poteca lunii'', 1964; ''Hronic'', 1965; ''Zburătorul din larg'', 1965; ''Țărmul singuratic'', 1968; ''Platoșa duratei'', 1973 and ''Nebunul regelui'', 1976. In 1971-1972, near the end of his life, he spent lengthy periods in Rome, writing a poem about

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

that remains unpublished. Theodorescu translated widely, in particular Soviet literature (

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

Aleksandr Tvardovsky Aleksandr Trifonovich Tvardovsky ( rus, links=no, Александр Трифонович Твардовский, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈtrʲifənəvʲɪtɕ tvɐrˈdofskʲɪj; – 18 December 1971) was a Soviet poet and writer and chief editor of ' ...

), but also authors who included

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

Jérôme Carcopino Jérôme Carcopino (27 June 1881 – 17 March 1970) was a French historian, author, and Nazi collaborator. He was the fifteenth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française, in 1955. Biography Carcopino was born at Verneuil-sur-A ...

and Lino Curci. He collected folklore (''Izvoare fermecate'', 1958) and wrote prolifically for children, although some of these works are now irrecoverable. He sometimes used the pen names Radu Lăncieru, Victor Sângeru, C. Tudor and C. Tudoran.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 705. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

External links

"Mihai Eminescu" Central University Library Iasi - Digital collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodorescu, Cicerone 1908 births 1974 deaths Writers from Bucharest 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian children's writers Romanian folklorists Romanian magazine editors Romanian schoolteachers Romanian male poets 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian translators