Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

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 ...

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Symbolist movement Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

prose poem Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

Neo-romantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...

Social Realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

Hungarian-language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

Oszkár Jászi Oszkár Jászi (born Oszkár Jakubovits; 2 March 1875 – 13 February 1957), also known in English as Oscar Jászi, was a Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician. Early life Oszkár Jászi was born in Nagykároly on March 2, 18 ...

János Thorma János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, which started in 1896, in Nagybánya, Austria-Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), he moved through different ...

Aladár Kuncz Aladár is a Hungarian male given name of Germanic origin, which developed as a Hungarian adaptation of the German names Aldarik or Aldemar. Its meaning comes from Germanic words: ''adal'' or ''alda'' means "experienced" or "old," and ''ric'' mea ...

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

Kolozsvár Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

ethnic Romanian Romanians (, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a common culture and ancestry, they speak the Romanian language and live primarily in Roma ...

Memorandum A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

Someș The Someș () or Szamos ( or ''Samosch'') is a left tributary of the Tisza in Hungary and Romania. It has a length of (including its source river Someșul Mare), of which 50 km are in Hungary... I came around when called upon by my mother—and the priest baptized me in ''

Eau de Cologne Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne") or simply cologne is a perfume originating in Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a gene ...

'', or blood, or tears, or

holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...

—and my godfather wanted to give me the name Alfred, for he loved

Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

, but my father gave me the name Emil, since he loved

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

."Călinescu, p.702 From a young age, Isac was an avid reader. As he later recalled, he found an optimistic faith in science after being introduced to

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's popular novels. Corneliu Apetroaiei
"Eternul Jules Verne"
, in '' Clujeanul'', April 12, 2005 He began his education in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, attending a Transylvanian Evangelical Church school in his native city, and later (1895–1901) a

Hungarian-language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

run by the

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...

. Isac was eventually moved to

Năsăud Năsăud (; , ''Nußdorf''; ) is a town in Bistrița-Năsăud County in Romania located in the historical region of Transylvania. The town administers two villages, Liviu Rebreanu (until 1958 ''Prislop''; ''Priszlop'') and Lușca (''Szamospart'' ...

(''Naszód''), at a military academy for the Romanian

border regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

in Austro-Hungarian service (1902–1904), but, in 1907, took his ''

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' at the Hungarian Lycée in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

(''Nagyszeben''). In the meantime, he made his debut in literature. His first published piece was a 1902 essay on the life and work of Romantic poet

Vasile Alecsandri Vasile Alecsandri (; 21 July 182122 August 1890) was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia. He fought for the unification of the Roma ...

, published in Hungarian by ''Ellenzék'' magazine."Isac Emil"
biographical note i
''Cronologia della letteratura rumena moderna (1780-1914)'' database
at the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

's Department of Neo-Latin Languages and Literatures; retrieved April 28, 2010 It was followed a year later by his Hungarian-language translation of two poems, collected from

Romanian folklore The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. A feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romania ...

and printed by the local periodical ''Koloszvári Friss Ujság'' under the pen name ''Emisac''. Also in 1903, Isac made his second debut, in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, with ''La umbra plopilor'' ("In the Shadow of Poplar Trees"), a poem published by the Transylvanian literary venue '' Familia''. He was later a member of ''Familia''s editorial staff, where, in March 1905, he wrote Jules Verne's obituary. Over time, his other contributions were featured in such Transylvanian Romanian periodicals as '' Cele Trei Crișuri'', ''

Gazeta de Transilvania ''Gazeta de Transilvania'' was the first Romanian-language newspaper to be published in Transylvania. It was founded by George Bariț in 1838 in Brașov. It played a very important role in the awakening of the Romanian national conscience in Tran ...

'' and ''

Tribuna Tribuna may refer to: * ''Tribuna'' (Russian newspaper), a Russian weekly newspaper * ''Tribuna Portuguesa'', a bilingual newspaper serving the Portuguese-American community * Tribuna.com, a digital sports publisher * Tribuna Monumental, a monum ...

''. Emil Isac's editorial debut came in 1908, with the

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

collection ''Poezii. Impresii și senzații moderne'' ("Poems. Modern Impressions and Sensations"). The work attracted attention from critics, in both the Romanian-speaking areas of the Austro-Hungarian realm and the bordering

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

: Sever Dan in Transylvania and

Mihail Dragomirescu Mihail Dragomirescu (March 22, 1868 – November 25, 1942) was a Romanian aesthetician, literary theorist and critic. Born in Plătărești, Călărași County, he completed primary school in his native village in 1881, followed by Bucharest's ...

in

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 ...

both reviewed it for the cultural press.''Biobibliografie selectivă. Referințe critice'', n. pag. Its rejection of convention was hotly contested by the tribune of Transylvanian traditionalism, ''

Țara Noastră ''Ţara'' () was a magazine from the Republic of Moldova founded on August 15, 1990 as a newspaper of the Popular Front of Moldova. Ţara was the successor of Deşteptarea. Ştefan Secăreanu was the editor in chief and Sergiu Burcă was the dep ...

'': it called Isac a "bane" for his generation and a "political traitor", referring to his lyrics as "babblings". In 1910, Isac took a degree in law from

Franz Joseph University Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University () was the second modern university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Founded in 1872, its seat was initially in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). After World War I, it first moved to Budap ...

. It was during this episode that he met the modern Hungarian writer

Aladár Kuncz Aladár is a Hungarian male given name of Germanic origin, which developed as a Hungarian adaptation of the German names Aldarik or Aldemar. Its meaning comes from Germanic words: ''adal'' or ''alda'' means "experienced" or "old," and ''ric'' mea ...

, who was his lifelong friend.Neubauer, p.169 Isac's own affiliation with

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

was facilitated by a voyage to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where he observed first-hand the impact of artistic innovation. Reportedly, in 1912, Isac also traveled to study in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, intending to get a masters' degree in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

.

Cincinat Pavelescu Cincinat Pavelescu ( – November 30, 1934) was a Romanian poet and playwright. Born in Bucharest, his parents were the engineer Ion Pavelescu and his wife Paulina (''née'' Bucșan). He attended the Cantemir High School in his native city, foll ...

''Lui Emil Isac''
(wikisource)

Political beginnings and Symbolist militancy

Like his father before him, Emil Isac became interested in advancing the cause of Romanians throughout

Transleithania The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River), were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire existence (30 March 1867 – 16 ...

(the regions administered directly from

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

). This

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

militancy merged with his advocacy of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

causes, leading him to become a member of the Transylvanian Social Democratic Party. After 1911, he was in correspondence with the

Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...

activist

Vasile Goldiș Vasile Goldiș (12 November 1862 – 10 February 1934) was a Romanian politician, social theorist, and member of the Romanian Academy. Early life He was born on 12 November 1862 in his grandfather's (Teodor Goldiș) house in the village of ...

. The young poet was a frequent traveler into the Romanian Kingdom, and he contributed to periodicals of various cultural and political interests which were published there. His work was thus featured in leftist newspapers and reviews, among them ''

Adevărul Literar și Artistic (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Roma ...

'', '' Dimineaţa'', ''

Facla ''Facla'' ("The Torch") was a Romanian political and literary magazine. ''Facla'' was published weekly in Bucharest between 13 March 1910 and 15 June 1913, daily from 5 October 1913 to 5 March 1914, weekly from 1 January to 7 August 1916 and daily ...

'', ''

România Muncitoare ''România Muncitoare'' ("Working Romania" or "Laborer Romania") was a socialist newspaper, published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Eur ...

'', but was also hosted by mainstream or even traditionalist media (''

Sămănătorul ''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian language, Romanian for "The Sower") was a Literary magazine, literary and Political journalism, political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță ...

'', ''

Universul ''Universul'' was a mass-circulation newspaper in Romania. It existed from 1884 to 1953, and was run by Stelian Popescu from 1914 to 1943 (with a two-year break during World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 No ...

''). Making his acquaintance with Romania's Symbolist trend, Isac also contributed to periodicals which either tolerated or promoted artistic innovation, among them '' Noua Revistă Română'', '' Rampa'', ''

Seara Seara is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. The Museu Entomológico Fritz Plaumann is located in the town. See also *List of municipalities in Santa Catarina This is a list of the municipalities in t ...

'', '' Versuri și Proză'' and '' Vieața Nouă''. Isac became a personal friend of ''Vieața Nouă'' editor, the Symbolist promoter and philologist

Ovid Densusianu Ovid Densusianu (; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, chief of a poetry school, university professor ...

. The latter referred to his pupil as "Transylvania's talented poet", which perplexed the anti-Symbolist critic Ilarie Chendi; Chendi contrarily claimed that Isac was "made famous by frivolous people". Ilarie Chendi
"Vieaţa literară în 1911 (o privire generală)"
in '' Luceafărul'', Nr. 3/1912, p.63 (digitized by the Babeş-Bolyai Universitybr>Transsylvanica Online Library
Emil Isac's later memoirs describe in some detail Densusianu's

dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance and personal grooming, refined language and leisurely hobbies. A dandy could be a self-made man both in person and ''persona'', who emulated the aristocratic style of l ...

habits and generosity, which the academic kept as a standard even as he was facing material ruin, and note that such efforts accounted for Denusianu being ostensibly "weighed down", "impoverished", "submerged in thoughts". Although involved in such projects, Emil Isac spend the pre-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

years building bridges with members of the ethnic Hungarian elite in Transylvania and beyond. He maintained personal contacts with opinion leaders, among them poets

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

,

Mihály Babits Mihály Babits (; 26 November 1883 – 4 August 1941) was a Hungarian poet, writer, essayist, and translator. His poems are well known for their intense religious themes. His novels such as “The Children of Death” (1927) explore psychol ...

,

Dezső Kosztolányi Dezső Kosztolányi (; March 29, 1885 – November 3, 1936) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, translator, and also a speaker of Esperanto. He wrote in all literary genres, from poetry to essays to theatre plays. Building his own style, he used ...

, and painter

János Thorma János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, which started in 1896, in Nagybánya, Austria-Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), he moved through different ...

. Following his interest in

Hungarian culture Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

, Isac was one of the Romanians who maintained connections with the influential Hungarian-language review ''

Nyugat ''Nyugat'' (, ''West''; pronounced similar to ''New-Got''), was an important Hungarian literary journal in the first half of the 20th century. Writers and poets from that era are referred to as "1st/2nd/3rd generation of the NYUGAT". History an ...

'', which was at the time equally interested in chronicling

Romanian literature Romanian literature () is the entirety of literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language or by any authors native to Romania. Early Romanian literature inc ...

. Writing in 1913, Ignotus, ''Nyugat'' editor and leading cultural critic, defended the political participation of non-Hungarian communities, commending both Isac and the traditionalist Romanian poet

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian far-right politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Biography Early life Octavian Goga was born on 1 April 1881 in the village of Rășinari, on the northern sl ...

for their resistance to

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

.Fenyo, p.62 While Goga, defended by Endre Ady during his

political imprisonment A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

of 1912, soon disappointed the group with his

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

rhetoric and his uncompromising stance, Isac remained close to the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

or left-wing Hungarian circles. After witnessing the end of Goga's friendship with Ady, he was himself involved in a conflict with the former's radical approach, arguing that people "on both sides" needed "to evaluate, without prejudice, their own blemishes and virtues". Around 1912, Isac was working with Kuncz on a trans-communal theatrical project: the staging of Ady's ''A műhelyben'' ("In the Workshop") by a theater in Bucharest, to coincide with the Budapest performance of plays by Isac and the prestigious comedy author

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179–184 – 9 June 1912), commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale, was a Romanians, ...

.Fenyo, p.63 The project was abandoned, probably because of Caragiale's sudden death in Berlin. In April of that year, Emil Isac also joined the circle formed around

Ion Minulescu Ion Minulescu (; 6 January 1881 – 11 April 1944) was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist, literary critic, and playwright. Often publishing his works under the pseudonyms I. M. Nirvan and Koh-i-Noor (the latte ...

and his rebelliously Symbolist magazine, the Bucharest-based ''Insula''. By the same time, the young poet was entering another polemic with the more traditionalist wing of Romania's intellectual movement, represented at the time by historian and literary theorist

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

, former editor of the nationalist tribune ''

Sămănătorul ''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian language, Romanian for "The Sower") was a Literary magazine, literary and Political journalism, political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță ...

''. In 1912, he became a contributor to the short-lived Symbolist review ''

Simbolul ''Simbolul'' (Romanian for "The Symbol", ) was a Romanian avant-garde literary and art magazine, published in Bucharest between October and December 1912. Co-founded by writers Tristan Tzara and Ion Vinea, together with visual artist Marcel Janco, ...

'', issued in Bucharest by the high school students

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...

,

Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian language, Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading ...

and

Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the Modernist literature, modernist scene during hi ...

(all of whom were later

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

figures). It was there that Isac published

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

specifically aimed at Iorga's group. Tom Sandqvist, ''Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire'', MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006, p.76. Those articles where he specifically targeted Iorga's principles enlisted a negative response from ''Consânzeana'', the Orăştie-based review of

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

priest Ioan Moţa (it called Isac ''Don Quijote de la Cluj'', "the

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

of Cluj"). Meanwhile, Isac's articles continued to champion mutual respect between Hungarian and Romanian intellectuals: a letter defending Ady in his dispute with Goga saw print in Ady's '' Világ'' review (February 1913), and another one, to Ignotus, was published in ''Nyugat'' as ''Az új magyar irodalom'' ("The New

Hungarian Literature Hungarian literature is the body of written works primarily produced in Hungarian,

"); the same year, ''Nyugat'' also received his ''Új románság'' ("New Romanians") essay, in which Isac claimed that the two communities had a common interest in resisting the threat of

Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement that took shape in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with promoting integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled the South ...

.Neubauer, p.168 A year later, at the buildup to World War I, ''Nyugat'' published Isac's review of Goga's political play '' Mr. the Notary'', his sympathetic obituary to the neutralist

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol I of Romania Carol I or Charles I of Romania (born Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 20 April 1839 – ), was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as ...

, and his ''A román-magyar béke'' ("The Romanian-Hungarian Peace"), which optimistically argued that the policies of

István Tisza Count István Imre Lajos Pál Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged (, English: Stephen Emery Louis Paul Tisza, short name: Stephen Tisza); (22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary, prime minister ...

could limit dangerous distrust between the two sides in question. The same journal published Isac's one-page-long

sketch story A sketch story, literary sketch or simply sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The genre was invented after the 16th century in England, as a result of increasing publ ...

, ''A szerecsen'' ("The

Moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. People * Moor (surname) * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during the ...

").

World War I and unionist activity

Early during the war, Isac was carrying on with his literary work in the Romanian Kingdom, which still pursued a neutrality policy before joining the

Entente Powers The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

in summer 1916 (''see

Romania during World War I The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...

''). During that interval, he again outraged the traditionalist public, when his dramolet ''Maica cea tânără'' ("The Young Nun"), questioning the Romanian Orthodox view of monastery life, was staged by the

National Theater Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest () is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director ...

(1914).Cernat, p.50 His second volume, comprising prose poems, was issued in and dedicated to his native region: ''Ardealule, Ardealule bătrân'' ("Transylvania, Old Transylvania"), published in 1916 by the Orthodox Diocese of Arad.''Biobibliografie selectivă. Opera'', n. pag. Isac also contributed his texts to ''Cronica'', a literary and political magazine published in Bucharest by Symbolist poet

Tudor Arghezi Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Biography Early life He graduated from Sai ...

; this review was later criticized by the mainstream politicians as a venue for collaborationists and

Germanophile A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of Culture of Germany, German culture, Germans, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German ...

s. Among the other magazines who received his contributions was the Symbolist tribune ''Absolutio'', published in Iaşi by the Arghezian disciple

Isac Ludo Isac Ludo (1894–1973) was a Romanian writer and political figure. Born into a Jewish-Romanian family, Ludo was active in left-wing literary circles prior to World War II. After the Communist take-over in 1947, he rose to important positio ...

. By 1918, Isac was seeking to obtain an amicable solution to the ethnic conflicts rekindled by the war, in the context of Austria-Hungary's dissolution, the

Aster Revolution The Aster Revolution or Chrysanthemum Revolution () was a revolution in Hungary led by Count Mihály Károlyi in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in the foundation of the short-lived First Hungarian People's Republic. The revolution ...

, and the advent of a

Hungarian Democratic Republic The First Hungarian Republic (), until 21 March 1919 the Hungarian People's Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognized country, which quickly transformed into a small rump state due to the foreign and military policy of the doctrinaire pacifis ...

. As early as 1917, Isac signed an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

, published by ''Világ'', in which he rallied with

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

thinker

Oszkár Jászi Oszkár Jászi (born Oszkár Jakubovits; 2 March 1875 – 13 February 1957), also known in English as Oscar Jászi, was a Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician. Early life Oszkár Jászi was born in Nagykároly on March 2, 18 ...

(who became Minister of Nationalities in the Aster Revolution), arguing: "For us of the

ther Ther may refer to: * ''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist * Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India * Therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempte ...

nationalities your name in recent months has sounded like a reassuring chime of bells, your name has signified to us vigorous defense, and through your writings democratic Hungary has made its voice heard."Litván, p.132 Historian

György Litván György Litván (19 February 1929 in Budapest – 8 November 2006 in Budapest) was a Hungarian historian, politician, political activist, and Senior Official during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Revolution. Early life Györg ...

notes that this was the type of messages motivating Jászi to "stubbornly" believe that his

Danubian Confederation The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

projects could win support from all sides, even though other reactions were already showing their practical limitations and their unpopularity. In the end, Isac opted to throw his support behind the unionist movement. He attended the 9th Social Democratic Congress, and was elected a representative to the Great National Assembly of

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

."Am trăit...", p.16-17 There, on December 1, the Romanian socialist clubs, together with the Romanian National Party and the various other civic forces, demanded the union with Romania (''see

Great Union In Romanian historiography, the Great Union () or Great Union of 1918 () was the series of political unifications the Kingdom of Romania had with several of the Romanian historical regions, starting with Bessarabia on 27 March 1918, continuin ...

''). According to fellow socialist Tiron Albani, Isac first sparked disagreements within the unionist gathering, after endorsing proposals that the Romanian Kingdom become a republic in exchange for union. Isac's controversial address to his peers, as cited by Grapini, stresses: "a quarter of an hour ago you have approved of the resolution o uphold civil liberties Now you are revolted that a human idea is being expressed. Today, when three emperors have been ejected and their crowns hurled back at them! Would you be more consistent! ..a king may well be good and wise, but he may also be a tyrant, and he'll still be king". In the end, the socialist delegation renounced its republican aims, placated by a resolution to ensure

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

and workers' rights throughout the resulting nation. In 1919, as the act of union was being assessed by foreign powers, Isac represented the Romanian lobby as a

press attaché In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subje ...

in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Back in Cluj, Isac entered Romanian government service as superintendent of Transylvanian and

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

theaters (an office he kept from 1920 to 1940). He helped set up the Cluj branch of the

Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society () was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the early Communist Romania, communist re ...

(of which he was already a member by that time). His cultural activity in

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 ...

was rewarded with two civil decorations: he was made a Knight of the Romanian Order of the Crown and received the '' Ordinul Cultural'' medal, First Class. Another focus of Isac's political activity was mediating a Hungarian–Romanian reconciliation, both before and after the 1919 military conflict, while reaching out to both Hungarians in Hungary and the Hungarian community in Romania. As noted by literary historians John Neubauer and

Marcel Cornis-Pope Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

, Isac was one of the Romanian authors who could combine a nationalist outlook with respect for minority cultures: in his articles for the Bucharest-based '' Ideea Europeană'' magazine and the Hungarian '' Napkelet'' of Cluj, he demanded equal

cultural rights Cultural rights are rights related to themes such as language; cultural and artistic production; participation in cultural life; cultural heritage; intellectual property rights; author's rights; minorities and access to culture, among others. ...

for all of Greater Romania's communities. His call to the "great masses" of Romanians and Hungarians, read: "There is only one possible politics in Romania: the politics of true democracy. By its very nature such politics safeguards the rights of everybody, ncludingHungarians, who lead today an isolated life in Transylvania. ..it is the duty of Romanian writers to initiate divorce proceedings from the negative traditions". In his other political articles, Isac notably expressed his alarm at seeing the Regency regime take shape in post- Trianon Hungary, writing that the exiled Oszkár Jászi was preferable as national leader to the

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

.Litván, p.234 He gave a positive review to Jászi's renewed campaigning in favor of a Danubian Confederation to replace competing

nation state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...

s, but argued that there was little prospect of "today's generation", in both Romania and Hungary, to endorse the project. Answering to this objection, Jászi himself suggested that Isac take into consideration the creation of a Danubian cultural Alliance, with "civilized" representatives from Hungary, Romania, the

Czechoslovak Republic Czechoslovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá republika'', ČSR), was the official name of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 and between 1945 and 1960. See: *First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) *Second Czechoslovak Republic ...

and the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. Isac, György Litván notes, remained evasive, and, even as Jászi was facing much criticism from partisans of Hungarian

ethnic nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnostate/ethnocratic) approach to variou ...

, as well as from Romanian advocates of

centralism Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...

, refused to help Jászi and his associate

Pál Szende Pál Szende (born as Pál Schwarz, 7 February 1879 – 15 July 1934) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Finance between 1918 and 1919. From 1904 he worked as a lawyer. He participated in the radical political movement along ...

tour the Transylvanian conference circuit.

Interwar cultural contributions

Isac's return to the forefront of literary debates was consecrated in 1919, when, in an interview for '' Rampa'', he discussed "Transylvania's role" in

Romanian culture The culture of Romania is an umbrella term used to encapsulate the ideas, customs and social behaviours of the people of Romania that developed due to the country's distinct geopolitical history and evolution. It is theorized that Romanians an ...

. In August of that year, modernist literary theorist and reviewer

Eugen Lovinescu Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the ...

wrote the article ''Emil Isac redivivus!'' ("Emil Isac Brought Back to Life!"), published by his ''

Sburătorul ''Sburătorul'' was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging f ...

'' magazine. In the same context, Isac sparked debates by commenting negatively on '' Poemele luminii'', the debut volume of fellow Transylvanian poet

Lucian Blaga Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanians, Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is considered one of the greatest philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the twenti ...

(his reaction was notably received with irony by poet-critic

Artur Enăşescu Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur meaning "bear-like", or “of honour”. It is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''a ...

and his colleagues at ''Junimea de Nord'' magazine in Botoşani). Three years later, Isac's Symbolist colleague Davidescu reviewed his entire work in the critical essay ''Poezia d-lui Emil Isac'' ("Mr. Emil Isac's Poetry"), contributed for a November 1922 issue of ''

Flacăra ''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile ''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and t ...

'' journal. For part of that decade, Isac was close to

Cezar Petrescu Cezar Petrescu (; December 1, 1892–March 9, 1961) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, and children's literature, children's writer. He was born in Cotnari, Hodora, Iași County, the son of Dimitrie Petrescu, an engineer and a teacher. Af ...

's Cluj-based literary review ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar P ...

'', whose agenda was a distinct mix of traditionalism and modernism, and who later alienated its modernist contributors by switching to

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. He was also an occasional contributor to

Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the Modernist literature, modernist scene during hi ...

's avant-garde venue, ''

Contimporanul ''Contimporanul'' (antiquated spelling of the Romanian word for "the Contemporary", singular masculine form) was a Romanian (initially a weekly and later a monthly) avant-garde literary and art magazine, published in Bucharest between June 1922 ...

''. In parallel, the poet was pursuing his interest in visual arts, and especially involved in the

professionalization Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any tradesman, trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often ...

of Transylvania's art scene. To this goal, he joined Aurel Popp, George Bacaloglu and

János Thorma János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, which started in 1896, in Nagybánya, Austria-Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), he moved through different ...

in setting up the ''Collegium Artificum Transilvanicorum'', an art salon where artists of all trades and ethnicities could exhibit their work (February 1921). Vasile Radu
"Şcolile artistice din Cluj şi Timişoara între iniţiativă privată şi învăţământ public"
, in ''

Tribuna Tribuna may refer to: * ''Tribuna'' (Russian newspaper), a Russian weekly newspaper * ''Tribuna Portuguesa'', a bilingual newspaper serving the Portuguese-American community * Tribuna.com, a digital sports publisher * Tribuna Monumental, a monum ...

'', Nr. 172, November 2009 From 1925 to 1931, he was also a Professor of Aesthetics at the newly founded Fine Arts School of Cluj, and as such a faculty colleague of several influential figures in 20th century Romanian art theory, painters ( Catul Bogdan,

Aurel Ciupe Aurel Ciupe (May 16, 1900 – July 18, 1988), was a Romanian painter, educator, and museum director. He authored numerous portraits, and landscape paintings, and worked within the Fauvism movement. Ciupe was a professor at the Institute of Fine A ...

,

Anastase Demian Anastase Demian (25 May 1899 – 5 September 1977) was a Romanian painter, illustrator, and university professor. Early life and education Anastase Demian was born on 25 May 1899 in Budapest. His father, either named Dumitru or Anastasie Demi ...

, Romulus Ladea, Eugen Pascu, Alexandru Popp) as well as intellectuals (historian Coriolan Petreanu, critics Liviu Rusu and

Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică (born Gheorghe Bogdan; –September 21, 1934) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian literary critic. The son of a poor merchant family from Brașov, he attended several universities before launching a career as a critic, f ...

). Around 1926, he was co-opted as a contributor by the venue of ASTRA Society, ''Transilvania'': it published one of Isac's poems and the text of his public lecture ''Propaganda artistică'' ("Art Propaganda"). As superintendent of the theaters and cultural activist, Isac also participated, with journalist

Ion Clopoţel An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

, on a major cultural reunion of Hungarian,

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...

and Romanian authors (November 1928); other noted participants were

Miklós Bánffy Count Miklós Domokos Pál Bánffy de Losoncz (30 December 1873 – 5 June 1950) was a Hungarian nobleman, liberal politician, and historical novelist. His books include '' The Transylvanian Trilogy'' (''They Were Counted'', ''They Were Found Wa ...

,

Mária Berde Mária is a Hungarian and Slovak form of Maria (given name) or Mary (given name). As of December 2020, Mária is the most common female given name in Slovakia. With over 193 thousands Slovak women bearing the name, it has a substantial lead over ...

, Egon Hajek,

Sándor Makkai Sándor () is a Hungarian given name and surname. It is the Hungarian form of Alexander. It may refer to: People Given name * Sándor Apponyi (1844–1925), Hungarian diplomat, bibliophile, bibliographer and book collector * Sándor Boldogfai ...

, Adolf Meschendörfer,

Károly Molter Károly Molter (; 2 December 1890 – 30 November 1981) was a Hungarian novelist, dramatist, literary critic, journalist and academic. He spent most of his life in the region of Transylvania, being successively a national of Austria-Hungary a ...

and

Heinrich Zillich Heinrich Zillich (23 May 1898, Brașov, Austria-Hungary — 22 May 1988, Starnberg, West Germany) was a German-language, Saxon writer from Romania. Biography In 1916 he took the bachelor's degree at the Johannes Honterus High School in Brașov ...

. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, Emil Isac published several new volumes of poetry and prose, beginning with ''Poeme în proză'' ("Prose Poems",

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

, 1923), and followed by two books of articles and essays, both printed in 1925 under the auspices of the Arad Diocese: ''Cartea unui om'' ("A Man's Book") and ''Notiţele mele'' ("My Little Notes").''Biobibliografie selectivă'': ''Opera'', ''Referinţe critice'', n. pag. The writer also issued a print version of ''Maica cea tânără'' (Cluj, 1931), and two volumes of collected poems, published in 1936 by, respectively,

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint of t ...

publishing house and the eponymous publishing company of ''

Adevărul (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...

'' newspaper. These various works kept Isac in the focus of critical attention. Reviews were notably written by:

Ovid Densusianu Ovid Densusianu (; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, chief of a poetry school, university professor ...

, Claudia Millian and

Camil Petrescu Camil Petrescu (; 9/21 April 1894 – 14 May 1957) was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. He was a member of the Sbur ...

(''Poeme în proză''); Romulus Dianu and

Perpessicius Perpessicius (; pen name of Dumitru S. Panaitescu, also known as Panait Șt. Dumitru, D. P. Perpessicius and Panaitescu-Perpessicius; October 22, 1891 – March 29, 1971) was a Romanian literary historian and critic, poet, essayist and fiction wr ...

(''Cartea unui om'', ''Notiţele mele'');

Tudor Bugnariu Tudor most commonly refers to: * House of Tudor, Welsh and English royal house of Welsh origins ** Tudor period, a historical era in England and Wales coinciding with the rule of the Tudor dynasty Tudor may also refer to: Architecture * Tudor a ...

, Alexandru Al. Philippide and

Eugeniu Sperantia Eugeniu Sperantia ( – January 11/12, 1972) was a Romanian poet, aesthetician, essayist, sociologist and philosopher. He was born in Bucharest to folklorist Theodor Speranția and his wife Elena (''née'' Cruceanu), a relative of poet Mihail ...

(the other poetry volumes). In 1928, Isac was also interviewed by short story author I. Valerian, their dialogues seeing print in ''Viaţa Literară'' magazine, with the general title ("A Precursor of Modernist Poetry. In Conversation with Mr. Emil Isac"). Five years later, the same venue hosted Isac's conversation with cultural journalist Octavian Şireagu: ''Cu d. Emil Isac despre critici şi modernişti'' ("With Mr. Emil Isac on Critics and Modernists"). Several other such interviews followed, including a 1936 ''Adevărul'' piece where he was engaged by George Macovescu, the leftist activist, in a conversation about "poetry, theater ndpeace". Isac's own leftist views led him to contribute articles for the pro-socialist newspaper '' Cuvântul Liber''.

World War II and late 1940s

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 ...

and after the cession of

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

to Hungary, Isac left Cluj for the part of the country still controlled by Bucharest.Câmpean, p.14 He made his return to Cluj some time after the August 23, 1944 Coup which toppled the

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

regime, aligned Romania with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, and initiated the recovery of Northern Transylvania (''see

Romania during World War II The Kingdom of Romania, under the rule of King Carol II of Romania, King Carol II, initially maintained Neutral country, neutrality in World War II. However, fascist political forces, especially the Iron Guard, rose in popularity and power, urgi ...

''). Literary historians note that he subsequently became, with

Lucian Blaga Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanians, Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is considered one of the greatest philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the twenti ...

and

Ion Agârbiceanu Ion Agârbiceanu (first name also Ioan, last name also Agărbiceanu and Agîrbiceanu; 12 September 1882 – 28 May 1963) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian writer, journalist, politician, theologian and Greek-Catholic priest. Born among the ...

, one of the most important Romanian writers to continue residing in that city after 1945.

Petru Poantă Petru is a given name, and may refer to: * Petru I of Moldavia (Petru Mușat, 1375–1391), ruler of Moldavia * Petru Aron (died 1467), ruler of Moldavia * Petru Bălan (born 1976), Romanian rugby union footballer * Petru Cărare (1935–2019), wri ...

"Locuri şi personaje" (II)
, in ''

Tribuna Tribuna may refer to: * ''Tribuna'' (Russian newspaper), a Russian weekly newspaper * ''Tribuna Portuguesa'', a bilingual newspaper serving the Portuguese-American community * Tribuna.com, a digital sports publisher * Tribuna Monumental, a monum ...

'', Nr. 75, October 2005 In 1946, poet

Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...

, who had already published a review of Isac's lifelong contributions in ''

Timpul ''Timpul'' (Romanian for "The Time") is a literary magazine published in Romania. Originally a political newspaper, it was the official platform of the Conservative Party between 1876 and 1914. The publication is still active (2018) and publish ...

'' newspaper (1942), supervised the publication of his integral edition, ''Opere'' ("Works"). The following year, Hungarian versions of some of his poems were included in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Mai román lira'' ("Modern Romanian Verse"), published in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. During the political transition ending with the establishment of a Romanian communist regime, Emil Isac adapted his literary and political stances to the new ideological requirements, sparking negative comments in later exegesis with his effective endorsement of a

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

state. His cooperation with the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

and his endorsement of Romania's political alignment with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

resulted in his collaboration on ''Veac Nou'', official newspaper of the

Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

. Letiţia Constantin
"Instrumente ale 'agitaţiei culturale' în perioada 1944-1954"
, in ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...

'', Nr. 19/2009 Of the Cluj writers, he and Agârbiceanu became associates of the communists, while Blaga resisted such advances and was

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. Both of them, however, were for a while equally unsuccessful in setting up new Romanian-language cultural reviews: their projects were rejected by the communist authorities, who would only allow the existence of a Hungarian venue ('' Utunk'') and literary supplements in local newspapers (such as ''Almanahul Literar'', which was published together with '' Lupta Ardealului''). Although not enlisted in the ruling Communist Party—or, as it styled itself at the time, the Workers' Party, PMR—Isac also received '' Ordinul Muncii'' medal, the regime's recognition of social or cultural importance. In 1948, he became a corresponding member 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 ...

. Nevertheless, Neubauer suggests, Isac and the entire Transylvanian generation had by then lost their cultural importance: "Some of the survivors still had a minor career after the war, in Transylvania or beyond it, but the most creative and hopeful years of the generation died with the orldwar."

''Steaua'' affiliation and final years

Isac was affiliated with ''Almanahul Literar'' before 1949, when it was redesigned as ''Steaua'' monthly (for long still the only Romanian-language literary periodical published in Cluj).Mariana Gorczyca, "Să (des)facem totul...", in ''

Contemporanul ''Contemporanul'' (''The Contemporary'') was a Romanian literary magazine published in Iaşi, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukrain ...

'', Nr. 12/2006 His contributions reflected the politicized editorial line, especially by endorsing the

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an ideali ...

of Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

: his poem ''Scrisoare către Stalin'' ("A Letter to Stalin") opened the very first issue of ''Steaua'', and another such piece, ''Slavă nemuritorului Stalin'' ("Glory to the Immortal Stalin"), was hosted by the review upon Stalin's 1953 death. In 1951, Isac was part of ''Steaua'' jury presided upon by poet Anatol E. Baconsky, awarding the magazine's annual prize to a high school student by the name of Ion Motoarcă. They were thus the unwitting subjects of a prank, played on them by the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

poet and

Sibiu Literary Circle The Sibiu Literary Circle () was a literary group created during World War II in Sibiu to promote the modernist liberal ideas of Eugen Lovinescu. The group was formed around Lucian Blaga and other intellectuals from Cluj, who had settled in Sibiu ...

member Ştefan Augustin Doinaş: waging that he could write poetry better poetry than those authors promoted by the regime, and probably enticed by the prospect of financial gain, Doinaş had agreed to hide his

parodic A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

contributions under Motoarcă's signature. Emil Isac died in March 1954, in Cluj. Some of his final works were published later that year: the Workers' Youth organ ''

Scînteia Tineretului ''Scînteia Tineretului'' ("Youth Spark"; originally spelled ''Scânteia Tineretului'') was a central organ of the Union of Communist Youth (UTC), which was itself a youth branch of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Appearing daily between Novemb ...

'' featured three pages of his posthumous poetry. The PMR voice, ''

Scînteia ''Scînteia'' ( Romanian for "The Spark") was the name of two newspapers edited by Communist groups at different intervals in Romanian history. The title is a homage to the Russian language paper '' Iskra''. It was known as ''Scânteia'' until ...

'', hosted an article signed by communist poet laureate

Mihai Beniuc Mihai Beniuc (; 20 November 1907 – 24 June 1988) was a Romanian socialist realist poet, dramatist, and novelist. Biography He was born in 1907 in Sebiș, Arad County (at the time in Austria-Hungary), the son of Athanasie and Vaseline Beniuc. H ...

, and similar posthumous homage pieces were published by Ion Brad,

Cezar Petrescu Cezar Petrescu (; December 1, 1892–March 9, 1961) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, and children's literature, children's writer. He was born in Cotnari, Hodora, Iași County, the son of Dimitrie Petrescu, an engineer and a teacher. Af ...

, Veronica Porumbacu and, at an

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

level, Hungarian author

Károly Molter Károly Molter (; 2 December 1890 – 30 November 1981) was a Hungarian novelist, dramatist, literary critic, journalist and academic. He spent most of his life in the region of Transylvania, being successively a national of Austria-Hungary a ...

(in both '' Igaz Szó'' and '' Literárni Noviny''). In 1957, the same venue published his final text for the stage, ''Domnul Million'' ("Mr. Million").

Work

Early positioning and Symbolist prose

Emil Isac's contribution to the development of

modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

in Romanian-speaking areas was pioneering: deemed "the first 'modernist' Transylvanian poet" by critic Gheorghe Grigurcu, Gheorghe Grigurcu
"Poeţi din Nord" (II)
, in ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...

'', Nr. 5/2007 he was also called "a ymbolistexception on the other side of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

" by literary historian

Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian l ...

. Reviewing his own political battles, the poet identified such support for innovation with the rejection of

isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...

: "I write these words, these consoled, gentle, tired words, after a violent campaign. And I am tranquil when noting that I was right after all, in maintaining that, to us Romanians, modernism is the only force that may lead to a victory. ..The world is not aware of us, because our nationalism has sealed us hermetically in front of all propitious influences." Isac's trademark contribution to the development of Romania's Symbolist movement was his work in the

prose poem Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

genre, with

exotic Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 *Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordinar ...

reveries borrowing from a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

model set in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

. In general, literary historian

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the most important Romani ...

notes, these pieces are "willingly grandiloquent and egolatrous, often ending with a pun". According to Călinescu, they merged in style with Isac's various

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

articles, the latter of which make use of techniques similar to those employed by writer and humorist

Tudor Arghezi Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Biography Early life He graduated from Sai ...

, but display original "

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

" touches. Isac's basic humorous technique, the critic notes, was one where "the most humble occurrences are eerily detached", such as in depicting a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese man's visit to Cluj: "But what is it you're looking for, child of Dai-Nipon, with your

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

-like soul, here in our home?" Similarly, the ''

Nyugat ''Nyugat'' (, ''West''; pronounced similar to ''New-Got''), was an important Hungarian literary journal in the first half of the 20th century. Writers and poets from that era are referred to as "1st/2nd/3rd generation of the NYUGAT". History an ...

'' piece ''A szerecsen'' delves into

racial stereotype An ethnic stereotype or racial stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype does the same for a given natio ...

s, discussing the perception of

Black men Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ch ...

as

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality. Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British St ...

s. In one of his '' Vieaţa Nouă'' essays, published in 1911 to the irritation of Ilarie Chendi, Isac aimed to prove that Transylvanians were "

demagogues A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoati ...

"—this thesis quoted liberally from philosophers such as

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

,

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

. Another product of this creative period was his main contribution to ''

Simbolul ''Simbolul'' (Romanian for "The Symbol", ) was a Romanian avant-garde literary and art magazine, published in Bucharest between October and December 1912. Co-founded by writers Tristan Tzara and Ion Vinea, together with visual artist Marcel Janco, ...

'', the faux memoir piece ''Protopopii familiei mele'' ("My Family's

Protopope A protopope, or protopresbyter, is a priest of higher rank in the Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Catholic Churches, generally corresponding to Western Christianity's archpriest or the Latin Church's dean. History The rights and duties of th ...

s"). The piece was reviewed by literary historians as a relevant step in Symbolism's mutation into the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

. Paul Cernat, who notes its similarity to the prose poetry of absurdist cult hero

Urmuz Urmuz (, pen name of Demetru Dem. Demetrescu-Buzău, also known as Hurmuz or Ciriviș, born Dimitrie Dim. Ionescu-Buzeu; March 17, 1883 – November 23, 1923) was a Romanian writer, lawyer and civil servant, who became a cult hero in Romania's av ...

, defines it as "a very modern playful-ironic and imaginative-parodic piece". The text is Isac's answer to political attacks, and indirectly evidences his solidarity with the Jewish-Romanian community. Cernat sees in it: " sac'sanswers to

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

insinuations made by the nationalist publications, intrigued by the ewishresonance of his name."

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

researcher Tom Sandqvist, who finds the implication of solidarity with the Romanian Jews "quite remarkable", also argues: "The story is also explicitly aimed against

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

and his anti-Semitism, telling how Iorga—obviously—has written that the narrator Emil Isac's omitting to properly pay homage to the great historian and philosopher Nicolae Iorga is due to the simple fact that Isac is a Jew." Written as the short biography of a "

decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

joker" in relation to his extended family, ''Protopopii familiei mele'' shows its protagonist being visited at his deathbed by some unusually long-living Orthodox clergymen, who present him with absurd gifts.

Isac and Symbolist poetry

Like many other Romanian Symbolists, from Eugeniu Ştefănescu-Est and

Ion Minulescu Ion Minulescu (; 6 January 1881 – 11 April 1944) was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist, literary critic, and playwright. Often publishing his works under the pseudonyms I. M. Nirvan and Koh-i-Noor (the latte ...

to N. Davidescu,

George Bacovia George Bacovia (; the pen name of Gheorghe Vasiliu ; – 22 May 1957) was a Romanian symbolist poet. While he initially belonged to the local Symbolist movement, launched as a poet by Alexandru Macedonski with the poem and poetry collection (" ...

and D. Iacobescu, Isac made a point of using

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...

to as a way of airing ideological differences, and, according to critic

Vladimir Streinu Nicolae Iordache (May 23, 1902 in Teiu, Argeș – November 26, 1970 in Bucharest), known by his pseudonym Vladimir Streinu, was a Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern a ...

, "cultivated literary scandal either in

macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...

or immoral motifs, or in a

meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

that defied all norms". Alternating free verse with more conventional forms (he was among the few affiliates of the movement to still appreciate the traditional

metrical foot The foot is the basic repeating rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of verse in most Indo-European traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. ...

), his Symbolist poetry is defined by Călinescu as a compilation of elements borrowed from poets based in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

: Minulescu (in his descriptions of furnished interiors) and Bacovia (the "heart rending" ambiance and the references to musical instruments). According to the same author, Isac viewed his sources in the manner of a Renaissance humanist and "

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

" author in his relation to

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Together with the Minulescian or Bacovian elements, the Transylvanian author's poetry followed the other conventions of the Symbolist epoch, from depictions of the autumnal landscapes or everyday tragedies (the burial of an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest's daughter) to elements which, Călinescu notes, suggest a "tendency of transfiguring the real" (for instance, the ocean life trapped inside a jar, or a waiter's flight to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

). One particular trait of Isac's poetic universe is his preference for strong chromatic contrasts. Călinescu, who notes this "pictorial aspect" (and likens it to

poster art A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

), supports his interpretation with the fragment from one of Isac's poems: Discussing the Symbolists' overall appreciation of " synesthesic"

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

s, scholar Carmen Nicolescu writes about Isac's particular reference to the color white when suggesting suffocation: ''Maica cea tânără'', a

one-act A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

verse drama Verse drama is any drama written significantly in poetry, verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significan ...

called "

neo-romantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

dramolet" by Călinescu, shows an Orthodox nun committing murder against the bride of her former lover. Călinescu primarily notes the play for illustrating in dramatic form Isac's generic poetic principles, in particular his use of visual elements such as color clashes.

From protest poems to Socialist Realism

A second stage in Isac's career came with the reorienting toward certain traditionalist subjects, in particular by taking inspiration from his rival

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian far-right politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Biography Early life Octavian Goga was born on 1 April 1881 in the village of Rășinari, on the northern sl ...

, the leading voice of Transylvanian traditionalism. Like Goga and other voices in Transylvania, he wrote verse shaped by the influence of

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...

, the

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished ...

and mentor of all traditionalist sub-currents. According to John Neubauer and

Marcel Cornis-Pope Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

, Isac's interwar career exemplified one of the two schools in Transylvania's Romanian-language poetry: to the current of Emil Giugiuca and other poets inspired by

George Coşbuc George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgi ...

's

elegiac The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...

tone, Isac and

Aron Cotruş Aron may refer to: *Aron (name), name origin, variants, people Fictional characters *Aron (comics), from the Marvel Universe comic ''Aron! HyperSpace Boy!'' *Aron (Pokémon), in the ''Pokémon'' franchise * Aron Trask, from John Steinbeck's nove ...

opposed a neo-romantic and "prophetic" attitude borrowed from Goga. While, in Cotruş's case, this came as an

ethno-nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnostate/ethnocratic) approach to variou ...

discourse about "the ethnic and social battles of the Romanians", Isac "combined

social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

with Symbolism, offering dramatic-grotesque descriptions of Transylvanian rural and city culture, and depictions of the poet's

existential isolation Existential isolation is the subjective feeling that every human life experience is essentially unique and can be understood only by themselves, creating a gap between a person and other individuals, as well as the rest of the world. Existential is ...

." The traditionalist elements in Isac's writings were inventoried by George Călinescu. He suggested that the poet merged Goga's "grief" with elements of social protest ("pale workers gathering at the sound of a

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Sir ...

, orphaned children of the '' moţi''") and even imagery related to that of devotional Romanian Orthodox ("Orthodoxist") poets. Another significant trait of his modernist synthesis is, according to Grigurcu, the "air of confrontation between peasant 'health' and the 'decadent' temptation". This aspect of Isac's career notably produced lyrics expressing his intense love for the place of his birth: The final part of Isac's career was marked by the politicization of his writing, in line with Socialist Realism and its Romanian literary avatar. His poetry pieces for ''Veac Nou'' are seen by academic Letiţia Constantin as evidence that Isac had a satisfactory political background from the communist point of view. Constantin describes them as

agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

pieces, stylistically "

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

s" of Soviet poetry. The importance Isac had for the new literary mainstream, shaped in the 1950s by

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and waves of political repression, was underlined by communist poet

Dan Deşliu Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

in a 1956 report for 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 ...

: "after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and especially in the period of our country's fascization, ..the flame of poetry continued to burn, lighting the way of tomorrow. With different intensities, its rays are the creation of poets who have long since entered Romanian literary history, such as: G. Topîrceanu, A. Toma, Emil Isac, G. Bacovia or maestro Tudor Arghezi, whom we presently take joy in counting among the active members in our ranks". The contextual relevancy of Isac's lyrical tributes to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

was assessed by literary historians such as Diana Câmpean and Mariana Gorczyca, who researched the impact of

communization Communization theory (or communisation theory in British English) refers to a tendency on the ultra-left that understands communism as a process that, in a social revolution, immediately begins to replace all capitalist social relations with ...

on the various literary magazines of the 1950s and '60s. In Câmpean's view, ''Scrisoare către Stalin'' as one of the signs that ''Steaua'' was "tributary to

proletkult Proletkult ( rus, Пролетку́льт, p=prəlʲɪtˈkulʲt), a portmanteau of the Russian words "proletarskaya kultura" ( proletarian culture), was an experimental Soviet artistic institution that arose in conjunction with the Russian Revol ...

demands", as a package for the other content, which was more focused on the "actual" and "valuable" elements in Romanian literature (from the celebration of its dead classics to the recovery of non-political voices such as Blaga). According to Gorczyca, Isac's 1949 poem, together with similar ones by Ion Brad,

Victor Felea Victor Felea (; 24 May 1923 – 28 March 1993) was a poet, essayist, and literary critic from Cluj (now Cluj-Napoca), Romania, a longtime collaborator with the magazine ''Tribuna''.Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...

, illustrates the "embarrassing obedience" to a political line imposed on writers by the country's officials. To underline its circumstantial nature, she notes that the ''Steaua'' of the mid 1960s (that is, during

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...

) replaced its cult of Stalin with that of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, and afterwards dropped most politicized content. In autumn 1953, as Anatol E. Baconsky was facing a political investigation for having opened ''Steaua'' to non-political content, official critic

Mihu Dragomir Mihu Dragomir (pen name of Mihail Constantin Dragomirescu; April 24, 1919 – April 9, 1964) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and translator. A native of Brăila on the Bărăgan Plain, he was heavily influenced by the worldview of an older novel ...

suggested that "maestro Emil Isac"'s contributions were a good poetic standard to follow, urging Baconsky to again endorse it.

Legacy

Several literary historians and critics have described the impact of Emil Isac's contributions in the work of other authors, beginning with those elements which were transferred into

Adrian Maniu Adrian Maniu (February 6, 1891 – April 20, 1968) was a Romanian poet, prose writer, playwright, essayist, and translator. Born in Bucharest, his father Grigore, a native of Lugoj, was a jurist and professor of commercial law at the University o ...

's modernist poetry (in particular, Călinescu notes, the "pictorial" quality the two shared). Among the young Symbolists outside Transylvania, Isac also found a follower in the

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, 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 in ...

n-born poet Benjamin Fondane (Fundoianu), who mentioned his importance as a literary guide in several of his early articles for the cultural press. Outside this context, Isac was the target of two

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s by

Cincinat Pavelescu Cincinat Pavelescu ( – November 30, 1934) was a Romanian poet and playwright. Born in Bucharest, his parents were the engineer Ion Pavelescu and his wife Paulina (''née'' Bucșan). He attended the Cantemir High School in his native city, foll ...

(a poet who attended Symbolist circles): connecting his visit to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179–184 – 9 June 1912), commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale, was a Romanians, ...

's death in the same city, they mockingly assert that Caragiale would rather die than have to greet the young poet. Isac's early commitment to radical and cosmopolitan aesthetics, generally perceived as alien by his more nationalist colleagues in Transylvania, left few traces in Isac's native region before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However, through his eventual synthesis of modernism and traditionalism, Isac is credited with having created a school of Transylvanian poets, whose careers spanned the 20th century. This was in particular noted by Călinescu, who found that Isac's "prosaic, abrupt" use of poetic language had been assimilated, alongside echoes from

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

and Russian Symbolism, into the early works of Aron Cotruş. Likewise, researcher Carmina Tămăzlăcaru speaks of Cotruş's poems as being in the line of Goga and Isac, but modifying it through the adoption of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. According to Gheorghe Grigurcu, Isac's poetic language made possible the development of a "cosmic perspective" in Transylvanian poetry, adopted by the traditionalist-modernist ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar P ...

'' contributor

Lucian Blaga Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanians, Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is considered one of the greatest philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the twenti ...

, and later by ''Steaua'' poet

Aurel Rău Aurel Rău (born 9 November 1930) is a Romanian poet, novelist, and translator. He was born in Josenii Bârgăului, Bistrița-Năsăud County, the son of Iacob Rău and Floarea, née Chibulcutean. From 1942 to 1949 he studied at high schools în ...

. The links between Isac and Blaga had earlier been noted by Călinescu, who suggested that the innovative elements in ''Maica cea tânără'' already announce the "stylized iconography" of Blaga's works for the stage, "which is in effect a Transylvanian perspective on things". Gigurcu also notes that Isac's influence in Maramureş was eventually reflected in the poems of Gheorghe Pârja, in what concerns their common view of the rural-urban confrontation. Emil Isac's work was published in several new editions during the decades after his death. Such volumes enlisted contributions from several authors and critics of the day: Ion Brad, Veronica Porumbacu,

György Rába György () is a Hungarian version of the name ''George''. Some notable people with this given name: * György Alexits (1899–1978), Hungarian mathematician * György Almásy (1867–1933), Hungarian asiologist, traveler, zoologist and ethnogr ...

,

Elemér Jancsó Elemér is a masculine given name, the Hungarian form of the Slavic Velimir. Notable people with the given name include: * Elemér Berkessy (1905–1993), Hungarian footballer and coach * Elemér Bokor (1887–1928), Hungarian entomologist * Ele ...

,

Mircea Zaciu Mircea Zaciu (August 27, 1928–March 21, 2000) was a Romanian critic, literary historian and prose writer. Biography Born into a Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, Greek-Catholic family in Oradea, Ion Pop"Prezența lui Mircea Zaciu" in ''Tribu ...

, Mircea Tomuş, Ion Oarcăsu, Leon Baconsky, Dumitru Micu,

Constantin Ciopraga Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konstant ...

etc. His contributions were gathered into a definitive Hungarian-language translation, printed in Bucharest in 1962, while his correspondence with Hungarian intellectuals was issued as Hungarian-language magazines and separate volumes, in both Romania and Hungary. His various poems were included into several

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

of Romanian poetry, or published individually, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

,

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

), and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Isac's name was assigned to an avenue in Cluj, and his family home, located on that road, was opened as a memorial museum in 1955. The poet was survived by his son, Dan Isac. A historian and writer, he joined the academic staff of Babeş-Bolyai University, and notably edited his father's correspondence with Vasile Goldiş. During the final,

national communist National communism is a term describing various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent ...

, stage of the Romanian regime, Dan Isac was reportedly made a target of censorship for his alleged closeness to the Hungarian-Romanian community. Isac's legacy was touched by the fall of Romanian communism during the 1989 Revolution. His memorial home was effectively disestablished in 2001, following an administrative decision of the

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

Council, and the cultural items in its patrimony were transferred to the Octavian Goga County Library. However, in autumn 2004, Isac was one of the contributors whose work was paid homage to in ''Steaua'' magazine's 50th anniversary issue."Reviste străne: ''La lettre''. De ici, de colo: ''Steaua'', ''Apostrof'', ''Media expres'', ''Info Congres''"
in ''

Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...

'', Nr. 243, October 2004

Notes

References

''Emil Isac. Biobibliografie selectivă''
, at th
Octavian Goga Cluj County Library
; retrieved April 28, 2010 *"Am trăit măreţia acelei zile. Amintiri", in ''

Magazin Istoric ''Magazin Istoric'' () is a Romanian monthly magazine. Overview ''Magazin Istoric'' was started in 1967. The first issue appeared in April 1967. The headquarters is in Bucharest. The monthly magazine contains articles and pictures about Romanian ...

'', November 1968, p. 16-25 *

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the most important Romani ...

, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent'',

Editura Minerva Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books. The company was founded in Bucharest in ...

, Bucharest, 1986 *

Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian l ...

, ''Avangarda românească şi complexul periferiei: primul val'',

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint of t ...

, Bucharest, 2007. * Diana Câmpean
"Literatura realismului socialist şi iniţiativele grupului ''Steaua''"
, in the December 1 University of Alba Iulia'
''Philologica Yearbook''
, 2000, p. 13-28 *

Ovid Crohmălniceanu Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three ...

, ''Literatura română între cele două războaie mondiale'', Vol. I, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1972. *Mario D. Fenyo, ''Literature and Political Change: Budapest, 1908-1918. Transactions, Volume 77, Part 6, 1987'',

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, Philadelphia, 1987. *

György Litván György Litván (19 February 1929 in Budapest – 8 November 2006 in Budapest) was a Hungarian historian, politician, political activist, and Senior Official during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Revolution. Early life Györg ...

, ''A Twentieth-century Prophet: Oscar Jászi, 1875-1957'',

Central European University Press Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, Budapest, 2006. *John Neubauer, "Conflicts and Cooperation between the Romanian, Hungarian, and Saxon Literary Elites in Transylvania, 1850–1945", in Victor Karady, Borbála Zsuzsanna Török (eds.)
''Cultural Dimensions of Elite Formation in Transylvania (1770–1950)''
Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, Cluj-Napoca, 2008, p. 159-185. *John Neubauer,

Marcel Cornis-Pope Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

, Sándor Kibédi Varga, Nicolae Harsanyi, "Transylvania's Literary Cultures: Rivalry and Interaction", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), ''History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe'', Vol. 2,

John Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...

, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004. * Carmen Nicolescu
"Moduri de expresie în lirica simbolistă românească"
, in the December 1 University's ''Philologica Yearbook'', 2007 (Vol. I), p. 124-132 * Ana Selejan, ''Literatura în totalitarism. Vol. II: Bătălii pe frontul literar'', Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Isac, Emil 1886 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Male essayists Romanian art critics Romanian literary critics Romanian opinion journalists Romanian humorists Symbolist poets Social realism Adevărul writers Contimporanul writers Gândirea Socialist realism writers Romanian socialists Romanian propagandists Writers from Austria-Hungary Hungarian-language writers 20th-century translators Romanian translators Romanian–Hungarian translators Academic staff of the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca Romanian activists Romanian civil servants Diplomats from Cluj-Napoca Writers from Cluj-Napoca Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian people of World War I People of World War I from Austria-Hungary Ethnic Romanian politicians in Transylvania Franz Joseph University alumni Knights of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Delegates of the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia Romanian people of the Hungarian–Romanian War 20th-century Romanian memoirists