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 ( , ; ) 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 ...

, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. Ecaterina belonged to the Caracaș family, originally from modern northern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. After attending Saint Sava College and, from 1850, a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, graduating two years later. In 1858, he married

Pavel Kiselyov Count Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselyov or Kiseleff (; , Moscow – , Paris) is generally regarded as the most brilliant Russian reformer during Nicholas I's generally conservative reign. Kiselyov was plenipotentiary president ( de facto governor) ...

's daughter Alexandra (Sașa) 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He opposed the tendency toward artificially Latinizing the literary

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

. He was elected to the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) 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 bylaws, the academy's ma ...

in 1870 and was professor of archaeology at 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 ...

from 1874, the year he was named chairman of the

National Theatre Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest () 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'' ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director ...

. 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 pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

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

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

overdose in Bucharest in 1895. Cristian Petru
"Câteodată, adevărul poate ucide" ("Sometimes, the Truth Can Kill")
, ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...

'', 7 June 2004 Adriana Oprea-Popescu
"Amor intelectual, desfrâu și drame" ("Intellectual Love Affairs, Debauchery and Dramas")
, ''

'', 19 April 2004 Florentin Popescu
"Nebun n-am fost, dar am căzut pradă..."

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 Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

, 1997, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Odobescu, Alexandru 1834 births 1895 deaths Archaeologists from Bucharest Diplomats from Bucharest Writers from Bucharest Romanian folklorists Ministers of culture of Romania Ministers of education of Romania 19th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French Expatriates in France Titular members of the Romanian Academy Chairpersons of the National Theatre Bucharest Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Romanian male essayists 19th-century short story writers 19th-century Romanian male writers 19th-century Romanian essayists Romanian politicians who died by suicide 1890s suicides Drug-related suicides in Romania Burials at Bellu Cemetery Founders of Romanian schools and colleges

Biography

Selected works

Further reading

Notes

References