Constantin Stamati (1786 – 12 September 1869) was a Romanian/ Moldovan writer and translator. Born in the

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially independent and later auto ...

, he settled in

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 ...

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

(presently in Moldova) after the 1812 partition of Moldavia at the end of the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. Stamati became a civil servant and official translator under the first

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

administration of the region. He was rewarded by the Russian Emperor with the Medal of Saint Anne and became a knight of that order. He made the acquaintance of the Russian poet

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

at the time of latter's exile to Chişinău in 1820–1823. Stamati's most important work, ''Povestea poveştilor'' ("The Tale of Tales"), an idealized description of Moldavia's beginnings in verse, was published in Iaşi in 1843. His other works include contemporary satires and glorifications of Moldavia's past. In 1866, he became one of the founding members of 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 ...

References

Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Russian male poets Male poets from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Translators from the Russian Empire Founding members of the Romanian Academy Writers from Iași 1786 births 1869 deaths {{romania-translator-stub