Alexandru "Sașa" Ivasiuc (; July 12, 1933 – March 4, 1977) was a Romanian novelist.

Life

He was born in Sighet, the son of a science teacher. After the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

of 30 August 1940, the family fled to Bucharest, only returning to Sighet in 1951. After graduation from high school he entered the Faculty of Philosophy in Bucharest, but he was expelled after two years of study for ideological reasons. After the expulsion, Ivasiuc entered the Faculty of Medicine of the Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Bucharest. During his fourth year he participated in the student protest movements of 1956. He was among the organizers of a solidarity rally in University Square, scheduled for 15 November 1956. He was arrested on 4 November 1956, and by decision No. 481 of 1 April 1957 the Bucharest Military Tribunal sentenced him to five years' imprisonment. On his return from the labour camp he was placed under house arrest for a period of two years in

Brăila County Brăila County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, Brăila County had a population of 281,452 (172,533 people in urban areas and 108,919 people in rural ...

. In 1963, Ivasiuc returned to Bucharest where he worked briefly at a pharmaceutical factory and married the journalist Tita Chiper. He worked at the US Embassy until 1968, first as a film projector operator and later as a reviewer of Romanian literary magazines. In 1968, the year when he became a Communist Party member, Ivasiuc received a scholarship from the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the I ...

of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

and spent there half a year together with his wife, and gave a series of lectures at Columbia and at Berkeley; he also travelled to Oxford, England. In 1970, he became editorial director at the Cartea Românească publishing house and secretary of the Romanian Writers' Union. Between 1972 and 1974 he was director of "Casa de Filme nr. 1", a state-owned movie production company. Although he had been imprisoned for political reasons, he was allowed by the Romanian Communist authorities to study in the United States and to hold a series of high-level jobs after he was released, so

Paul Goma Paul Goma (; October 2, 1935 – March 24, 2020) was a Romanian writer, known for his activities as a dissident and leading opponent of the communist regime before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refug ...

accuses him of having been an informer for the secret police, the

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

. Others, like

Vladimir Tismaneanu Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology T ...

, are not sure whether he was an informer, while again others, like

Nicolae Manolescu Nicolae Manolescu (; 27 November 1939 – 23 March 2024) was a Romanian literary critic. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1997, he was upgraded to titular member in 2013. Life and career Manolescu was born in Râmnicu ...

, refute the accusations that Ivasiuc was an informer. He is mentioned in W. D. Snodgrass's ''After-Images'' (1999). He died in the

1977 Vrancea earthquake The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5, making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 Novem ...

in Bucharest, and was buried in the Străulești cemetery.

Works

*''Vestibul'' ("Vestibule", 1967), for which he was awarded the

Romanian Writers' Union The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

Prize *''Corn de vânătoare'' ("Hunting Horn", 1972) *''Interval'' (1973) *''Apa'' ("The Water", 1973) *''Păsările'' ("The Birds", 1973) *''Cunoaşterea de noapte'' ("The Knowledge of Night", 1973) *''Iluminări'' ("Illuminations", 1976) *''Racul'' ("The Cancer", 1976)

Bibliography

*Ion Bogdan Lefter, ''Păsările'', Albatros, Bucharest, 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivasiuc, Alexandru Romanian male novelists Victims of the 1977 Vrancea earthquake People from Sighetu Marmației 1933 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Romanian novelists International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Romanian male writers