Alexandru Jar (; pen name of Alexandru Avram ; November 20, 1911 – November 10, 1988) 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 and prose writer. Born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, his parents were Iacob Avram and his wife Șura Bella; he was self-taught. He married the revolutionary

Olga Bancic Olga Bancic (; born Golda Bancic; also known under her French ''nom de guerre'' Pierrette; 10 May 1912 – 10 May 1944) was a Jewish Romanian communist activist, known for her role in the French Resistance. A member of the FTP-MOI and Missak Ma ...

, and the couple began life together as members of the banned

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

, alternately entering and escaping prison. They went into exile in France, where in 1939 Olga gave birth to a daughter, Dolores. After the surrender of Paris during the World War II

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, Jar entered the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, while his wife was captured by the Nazis and beheaded. He returned to Romania in 1943. Jar recalled his wartime experience in the poems of the 1945 collection ''Sânge și vis'' ('Blood and dream') and in the 1948 short story book ''Interogatoriu''. After the Coup of 1944 against Romania's pro-Axis dictator, he occupied various administrative positions in what would soon become 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 ...

. He made his literary debut in 1930 in ' magazine. Other publications that ran his work include ', ''Șantier'', ''Vremea'', ''Tinerețea'' and ''

Flacăra ''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile ''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and t ...

''. Following two further poetry volumes that appeared in 1946 (' and '), he worked on prose. Jar turned out a large number of novels (''Evadare'', 1949; ', 1950; ', 1951; ', 1952; ', 1952; ', 1955; ', 1966; ', 1968; ''Eu, Consula!'', 1971), as well as a few short story volumes, such as ' (1951) and ' (1976). He was barred from publishing between 1956 and 1966, due to a less rigid approach he had taken that set off vehement criticism and "unmasking". He was awarded the State Prize in 1950Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 814. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. and the , 2nd class in 1971.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jar, Alexandru 1911 births 1988 deaths Writers from Iași Jewish Romanian writers Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian participants in the French Resistance Jewish socialists Jews in the French resistance Communist members of the French Resistance 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romanian male novelists