Charles Drouhet (January 22, 1879–January 8, 1940) 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 literary historian. Born in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

, his parents were Pierre Drouhet and his wife Natalia (''née'' Olivari), high school teachers. His paternal grandfather Charles was a physician at

Blaye Blaye (; ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. For centuries, Blaye was a particularly convenient crossing point for those who came from the north and went to Bordeaux or fur ...

, a French town near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. His father was born in France and emigrated to Romania; in 1869, he became a French teacher at Bârlad's Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu High School. His mother, the daughter of the local girls' boarding school director who herself later became teacher and director there, married Drouhet in 1867.Charles Drouhet, Silvia Burdea (ed.), ''Studii de literatură română și comparată'', p. 453. Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1983 Drouhet completed primary school in 1889, went to Codreanu for the 1889-1890 year and subsequently entered

Saint Sava National College The Saint Sava National College (Romanian: ''Colegiul Național Sfântul Sava''), Bucharest, named after Sabbas the Sanctified, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. It was founded in 1694, under the name of th ...

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 ...

, graduating in 1896. He attended 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 ...

, earning a degree in modern philology in 1900. In 1909, he took a doctorate in literature from the Sorbonne. His first position was as a substitute Romanian teacher at Codreanu in 1900; the following year, he became a substitute at the local normal school. Drouhet became a teacher at Dimitrie Cantemir High School in Bucharest in 1904. He was hired as a substitute professor at the French department of the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

's literature faculty in 1909, rising to full professor the following year. In 1915, he succeeded the deceased

Pompiliu Eliade Pompiliu Eliade (April 13, 1869 – May 24, 1914) was a Romanian literary critic and historian. Life Born in Bucharest, he attended primary and high school in his native city, followed by the University of Bucharest, where he obtained a liter ...

as professor of French language and literature in Bucharest, holding the post until his death. Drouhet first published in 1906: a linguistic study in ''Romania'' magazine and another about

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas i ...

in ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' () is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by Titu Maiorescu in 1867. The ma ...

''. His work also appeared in ''

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. ...

'', ''Viața Nouă'', ''Revue d’histoire littéraire de la France'', ''Le correspondent'', ''La Minerve française'' and ''Mercure de France''. Alone or in collaboration, he authored several fine French textbooks for high schoolers. He was particularly noted as a literary historian, devoting ample study to French literature. Drouhet's university courses were published as: ''Istoria poeziei franceze în sec. al XIX-lea'', 1915; ''Istoria teatrului clasic francez'', 1916; ''Comentarii din clasicii francezi din sec. al XVII-lea'', 1919-1920; ''Curs de literatură franceză. Secolul al XVIII-lea'', 1919-1920; ''Villon Montaigne'', 1923-1924; ''Începuturile romantismului francez'', 1927-1928; ''Literatura franceză în secolul al XVIII-lea'', 1934; ''Poezia lirică în Evul Mediu și comentarii din Charles d’Orléans și François Villon'', 1934; ''Literatura franceză. Boileau și Voltaire, critici literari'', 1934-1935; ''Literatura franceză. Preromantismul francez (1761- 1820)'', 1934-1935; ''Literatura franceză. Romantismul'', 1937; ''Literatura franceză. Umanismul. Renașterea și Rabelais'', 1937; ''Literatura franceză. La Chanson de Roland. Poezia lirică medievală. Trubadurii. François Villon'', 1937- 1938; ''Literatura franceză. teatrul romantic, romanul romantic, ivirea spiritului realist în epoca romantică'', Bucharest, 1937-1938; ''Literatura franceză. Poezia franceză în sec. al XVI-lea. Clément Marot. La défense et illustration. Ronsard, poet liric și epic'', 1938-1939. He was equally interested in cultural relations between France and Romania. His doctoral thesis, which dealt with François Maynard, won the Bordin Prize of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1910. His 1924 ''Vasile Alecsandri și scriitorii francezi'' remains a model of comparative research, well documented and nuanced, especially attentive to the particularities of the author studied.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, pp. 524-25. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. For his merits as a professor, Drouhet was awarded the Order of the Crown in 1911 and 1922, and he was inducted into the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1922.Ramona Boca Bordei (ed.), ''Francophonie roumaine et intégration européenne'', p. 221. Université de Bourgogne, 2006.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drouhet, Charles 1879 births 1940 deaths People from Bârlad Romanian people of French descent Saint Sava National College alumni University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Romanian literary historians Romanian schoolteachers Romanian textbook writers Comparative literature academics Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Legion of Honour