Annie Bentoiu (1 May 1927 – 21 December 2015) 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-born Swiss writer and translator. The daughter of Constantin Deculescu, a Romanian doctor and politician, and Violette Bujord, a native of Switzerland, she was born Annie Deculescu 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 ...

and grew up there and in

Oltenița Oltenița () is a Municipiu, city in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, on the left bank of the river Argeș (river), Argeș, where its waters flow into the Danube. Geography The city is located in the southwestern part of the county; it sta ...

. She attended the

Central School A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where m ...

in Bucharest, going on to study law 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 ...

and literature and history at the . In 1949, she married composer

Pascal Bentoiu Pascal Bentoiu (22 April 1927 – 21 February 2016) was a Romanian modernist composer. Life and career Bentoiu studied harmony, counterpoint and Musical composition, composition with Mihail Jora and piano with Theophil Demetriescu. He spen ...

. She translated Romanian literature into French. She was awarded the Prix de l'Union des Écrivains for her translations in 1979, 1983, and 1991. In 2000, she was awarded the National Order of Merit, Knight rank, by the

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

for her work in translating the works of

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...

Selected works

* ''Strada Mare'' novel (in Romanian) (1969) as Adriana Vlad * ''Poèmes I/II'' poetry (in French) (1989) * ''Dix méditations sur une rose'' poetry (in French) (1989) * ''Phrases pour la vie quotidienne'' poetry (in French) (1990) * ''Timpul ce ni s-a dat'' volume 1 memoir (in Romanian) (2000) * ''Timpul ce ni s-a dat'' volume 2 memoir (in Romanian) (2006) * ''Voyage en Moldavie'' (in French) (2001) * ''Une liberté désenchantée'' (in French) (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentoiu, Annie 1927 births 2015 deaths Writers from Bucharest Romanian emigrants to Switzerland University of Bucharest alumni Romanian novelists Romanian memoirists Romanian translators Romanian writers in French Romanian women writers Women memoirists 20th-century translators Școala Centrală National College alumni Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania)