Alexandru Ioan Odobescu (; 23 June 1834 – 10 November 1895) was a Romanian author, archaeologist and politician.

Biography

George Demetrescu Mirea - Portretul lui Alexandru Odobescu

He was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. After attending

Saint Sava College Saint Sava College was one of the earliest academic institutions in Wallachia, Romania. It was the predecessor to both Saint Sava National College and the University of Bucharest. History It was the continuator of the Princely Academy from Buchar ...

and, from 1850, a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

''lycée'', he took the ''baccalauréat'' in 1853 and studied literature and archaeology at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

, graduating two years later. In 1858, he married

Pavel Kiselyov Count Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselyov or Kiseleff (Па́вел Дми́триевич Киселёв) (, Moscow – , Paris) is generally regarded as the most brilliant Russian reformer during Nicholas I's generally conservative reign. Early m ...

's daughter Alexandra (Saşa) Prejbeanu; they had one daughter, Ioana. He was often apart from his wife and had affairs with other women. Odobescu served as cabinet minister for religion and education in 1863, as head clerk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1865, and as prosecutor at the Court of Appeal. In 1870, he travelled in Switzerland and Italy, in connection with his discovery and description of the Pietroasele treasure, a collection of objects made from precious metals, of Gothic origin, found on Romanian territory; he also travelled to several other countries, including Denmark, Russia and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He opposed the tendency toward artificially Latinizing the literary

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

. He was elected to the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...

in 1870 and was professor of archaeology at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princ ...

from 1874, the year he was named chairman of the

National Theatre Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional " Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gr ...

. He served as secretary of the Romanian legation at Paris in 1882, was principal of a teacher-training institute in Bucharest, and principal of the National Educational Institute in 1892. Poor, sick with

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...

, separated from his wife and daughter, around 1891, he fell passionately in love with Hortensia Racoviţă, a geography professor thirty years his junior. She rejected a marriage proposal made by Odobescu's wife, and he committed suicide by

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. Ther ...

overdose in Bucharest in 1895. Cristian Petru
"Câteodată, adevărul poate ucide" ("Sometimes, the Truth Can Kill")
, ''Jurnalul Naţional'', 7 June 2004 Adriana Oprea-Popescu

, ''Jurnalul Naţional'', 19 April 2004 Florentin Popescu

Selected works

*''Mihnea-Vodă cel rău'', 1857 *''Doamna Chiajna'', 1860 *''Câteva ore la Snagov'', 1862 *''Pseudo-cynegeticos, sau fals tratat de vânătoare'', 1875 *''Le Trésor de Petrossa'', 1889 *''Pagini regăsite'' *''Note de călătorie'' Other writings include short stories, several dozen scholarly articles, an anthology of folk tales (among them 1875's "Jupân Rănică Vulpoiul" and "Tigrul păcălit") and one of folk poetry, and a ''History of Archaeology'' (1877). He also translated both literary and scholarly works.Chevalier, p.613

Notes

References

*Chevalier, Tracy, ''Encyclopedia of the Essay'', p. 613, New York: Taylor & Francis, 1997, .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odobescu, Alexandru 1834 births 1895 deaths Titular members of the Romanian Academy Archaeologists from Bucharest Diplomats from Bucharest Writers from Bucharest Romanian essayists Romanian folklorists Romanian Ministers of Culture Romanian Ministers of Education 19th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French Chairpersons of the National Theatre Bucharest University of Bucharest faculty Drug-related suicides in Romania Burials at Bellu Cemetery Male essayists 19th-century short story writers 19th-century male writers 19th-century essayists Romanian politicians who committed suicide 1890s suicides

Biography

Selected works

Further reading

Notes

References

External links