Călin Gruia (; born Chiril Gurduz ; March 21, 1915 – July 9, 1989) 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 writer, author mainly of children's fairy tales and poems. Born in Trifești, Orhei County, in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered t ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, from 1918 to 1940 a part of

Greater Romania Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...

and today in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, his parents were the peasants Vartolomeu and Alexandrina (''née'' Galbură). He graduated from the normal school in

Orhei Orhei (), also formerly known as Orgeev (), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is approximately north of the capital, Chișinău. Hist ...

in 1936 and from the reserve officers' school the following year. Between 1937 and 1939, he was a teacher in

Tvardița Tvardița (, ''Tvǎrdica'') is a town in Taraclia district, Moldova. It was founded following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 by Bulgarian refugees from Tvarditsa, a town just south of the Balkan Mountains, and the surrounding region. ...

, Tighina County, and in

Umbrărești Umbrărești is a commune in Galați County, Western Moldavia, Romania with a population of 6,628 people. It is composed of six villages: Condrea, Salcia, Siliștea, Torcești, Umbrărești, and Umbrărești-Deal. Umbrărești-Deal was establish ...

, Tecuci County. He performed his military service in 1939–1940, fought on the Eastern Front of

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 1940 to 1944 and was one of the Romanian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1948. Between 1951 and 1969, he edited the children's programs at Radioteleviziunea Română.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 699. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. He was one of the creators of the show and wrote over 50 radio scripts for it. In 1958, the program changed from a radio format to a television format and had been continuously running for 50 years in 2007. Among the magazines for which he wrote were ''Roza'' and ''Basarabia literară'' from

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 ...

, ''Cutezătorii'', ''Luminița'' and ''Arici Pogonici''. His poetic and prose debut came in 1938, in Orhei's ''Speranța''. His first published work was a small 1942 volume of poetry, ''Litanii de seară'', followed a decade later by the selection of stories ''Nucul lui Toderiță''. Further publications included stories and legends, several novels and books of stories for adults. In 1980, he published the poems he wrote between 1940 and 1970, republishing part of them in 1988. He also wrote for history-themed films. Part of his output was translated into a number of languages. The literary magazine ''Observator Cultural'' listed Gruia as one of the leading writers of children's literature in Romania, among others such as

Dumitru Almaș Dumitru Almaș (; pen name of Dumitru Ailincăi ; October 19, 1908 – March 12, 1995) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, historian, writer and professor. His prolific output included children's literature, historical novels and textbooks. H ...

, , Octav Pancu-Iași,

Mircea Sântimbreanu Mircea Sântimbreanu (January 7, 1926 – August 19, 1999) was a Romanian writer, journalist, screenwriter and film producer. Sântimbreanu was the director of the publishing house Albatros, and is best remembered as a writer of children's literat ...

, and

Ovidiu Zotta Ovidiu Zotta (1935–1996) was a Romanian writer of children's stories and an editor, scriptwriter and comic strip designer. In the late 1960s he created a character, "Dim Dunăreanu" who was a superhero for children and has been called the "Romani ...

. In 2012, his works were still being presented at children's theater performances.

Published works

*''Litanii de seară'' (1942) *''Nucul lui Toderiță'' (1952) *''Nuielușa de alun'' (1954) *''Ciuboțelele ogarului'' (1954) *''Poveste mică pentru cei mici'' (1954) *''Povestea lăcrămioarelor'' (1955) *''Profesorul cel nou'' (1955) *''Izvorul fermecat'' (1956) *''Minunata-mpărăție cu palate de hârtie'' (1957) *''La 'Drumurile lumii'' (1959) *''Poiana lunii'' (1960) *''Onică'' (1962) *''Vineri la amiază'' (1962) *''Drumul spune povești'' (1963) *''Di-Di-Ri'' (1964) *''Ograda'' (1965) *''De-a visele...'' (1966) *''Ospățul'' (1966) *''Povești'' (1967) *''Jucăușul'' (1967) *''Domnița de rouă'' (1969) *''Vântură-lume'' (1970) *''Măriuca'' (1970) *''Cu ochii ca iarba...'' (1972) *''Acolo colinele ard...'' (1974) *''Ramura de măr înflorit'' (1974) *''Peretele de lut'' (1975) *''Scrisori pentru fluturi și pietre'' (1976) *''Prințul de hârtie'' (1977) *''Prietena mea, Cateluța'' (1979) *''Moara lui Elisei'' (1980) *''În norii ce vin și se duc'' (1980) *''La valsul dimineții'' (1981) *''Poiana de argint'' (1982) *''Pânzele mamei'' (1984) *''Nălucile nopții'' (1985) *''Călătorii'' (1988) *''The Hound Boots'' (1995) *''Izvorul fermecat'' (1997) *''Fata cu părul de aur'' (1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruia, Calin 1915 births 1989 deaths People from Rezina District Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Romanian children's writers Romanian male poets Romanian male novelists Romanian male screenwriters 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian screenwriters