Aurel Mihale (August 7, 1922 – 2007) 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 prose writer. Born in

Spanțov Spanțov is a commune in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Cetatea Veche, Spanțov, and Stancea. The commune lies on the left bank of the Danube River, in the southern reaches of the Bărăgan Plain. It is l ...

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 94.1% ...

, his parents Ignat and Elena (''née'' Mitu) were peasants. Mihale passed his ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' at

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

in 1942, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From that time until 1944, he studied at the reserve officers’ school. He was mobilized to

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

in 1944. Following Romania's turn to the Allies, he saw combat on the Czechoslovak front. From 1945 to 1947, he attended the Philology and Law faculties of 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 1949 to 1954, after the establishment of a

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, he was employed in higher education. He held leadership positions in the umbrella trade union of artists, writers and journalists; in the

Writers' Union of Romania 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 takin ...

; and in the state committee for culture and art. He was deputy editor-in-chief of ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

'' (1953-1954) and editor-in-chief of '' Luceafărul'' (1958-1959) and ''Gazeta literară'' (1962).

Monica Lovinescu Monica Lovinescu (; 19 November 1923 – 20 April 2008) was a Romanian essayist, short story writer, literary critic, translator, and journalist, noted for her activities as an opponent of the Romanian Communist regime. She published severa ...

records an anecdote from 1971, during the session where dictator

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

presented the

July Theses The July Theses () was a speech delivered by Nicolae Ceaușescu to the executive committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) on 6 July 1971. The July Theses, officially named ''Propuneri de măsuri pentru îmbunătățirea activității po ...

to a group of writers. Mihale, a “notorious Stalinist”, offered such an impassioned recitation of the canon encompassing socialist realism in Romania that even Ceaușescu was embarrassed by the author's zeal.

, ''O istorie a literaturii române pe unde scurte: 1960–2000'', p. 128. Bucharest:

Editura Humanitas Humanitas () is an independent Romanian publishing house, located at Piața Presei Libere 1 (House of the Free Press), Bucharest. It was founded on February 1, 1990 (after the Romanian Revolution) by the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, based on a ...

, 2014. Mihale made his literary debut in 1943, publishing antiwar poetry in ''Dacia rediviva'' magazine. His works included tales (''Nopți înfrigurate'', 1957; ''Hotărârea'', 1964; ''Somnul de veghe'', 1969), sketches (''Ultimul asalt'', 1955; ''Forța ascunsă'', 1973), short stories (''Vin apele'', 1950; ''În pragul primăverii'', 1952; ''Poartă și drum'', 1971; ''Nimeni nu moare singur'', 1974; ''Vatra'', 1974; ''Șase nopți și șase zile'', 1984) and novels (''Ogoare noi'', 1953; ''Floarea vieții'', 1954; ''Destin'', 1960; ''Fuga'', 1963; ''Cronică de război'', I-III, 1967; ''Primăvara timpurie'', 1969; ''Focurile'', I-III, 1977–1978; ''Acțiunea „Hildebrand”'', 1979; ''Îngerul negru'', 1981; ''Alertă în munți'', 1982).Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, pp. 98-99. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihale, Aurel 1922 births 2007 deaths People from Călărași County University of Bucharest alumni Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian novelists Romanian short story writers Romanian magazine editors Romanian communists Socialist realism writers