
Constantin D. Aricescu (18 March 1823 –18 February 1886) was a
Wallachian, later
Romanian poet, prose writer, playwright and revolutionary.
Born in
Câmpulung, his parents were the ''
serdar'' Dimitrie Aricescu and his wife Elena (''née'' Chiliașu). His early education took place at home with private tutors and at the Greek and Romanian schools in his native town. It continued at
Saint Sava College the capital
Bucharest from 1837 to 1844. After graduating, he worked for several months as an engineer's assistant, followed in 1847 by a low-ranking clerk's position at the Treasury. Later, he was editor and administrator of the newspapers ''
Românul
''Românul'' (, meaning "The Romanian"; originally spelled ''Romanulu'' or ''Românulŭ'', also known as ''Romînul'', ''Concordia'', ''Libertatea'' and ''Consciinti'a Nationala''), was a political and literary newspaper published in Bucharest, Ro ...
'', ''Buciumul'' and ''Pressa'' and director of the
State Archives, the State Domains and the State Press (1869-1870; 1871-1876). He was a school inspector in
Ilfov and
Vlașca counties, as well as in Bucharest.
Aricescu's literary debut, the poem "Adio la Colegiul Național Sf. Sava (La corpul profesoral)", was published in 1846 in ''Curierul românesc''. His first volume of poetry, ''Câteva ore de colegiu'', appeared the same year. His contributions appeared in ''Foaie pentru minte, inimă și literatură'', ''Pruncul român'', ''Românul'', ''Zimbrul'', ''Trompeta Carpaților'' and ''Pressa''. A participant in the
Wallachian Revolution of 1848 at Câmpulung, he was a fervent supporter of the
union of Wallachia and Moldavia
The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Unirea Moldovei și Țării Românești), also known as the unification of the Romanian Principalities ( ro, Unirea Principatelor Române, link=no) or as the Little Union ( ro, Mica Unire, link=no) ...
, secretary of the local Unionist Committee and a deputy in the 1857 ''
ad-hoc Divan''. He was a prolific versifier who had noble intentions but lacked poetic talent. An occasional playwright, he had a certain perceptiveness when it came to creating dialogue. Aricescu's prose work is more interesting, especially his historical writings (particularly the 1874 ''Istoria revoluțiunei române de la 1821'') and his memoir pieces, sometimes naive and emphatic, but written with vigor and in places showing a genuine aptitude for pamphleteering. The ambitious novel ''Misterele căsătoriei'', a dense pastiche published in three volumes between 1861 and 1886, was less well executed.
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 73. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aricescu, Constantin
1823 births
1886 deaths
Writers from the Principality of Wallachia
Organizers of the Wallachian Revolution of 1848
People from Câmpulung
Saint Sava National College alumni
19th-century Romanian novelists
Romanian dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Romanian poets
Members of the Ad hoc Divans
Romanian newspaper editors
Romanian civil servants
Romanian memoirists
Romanian male poets
Romanian male novelists
19th-century memoirists