Henriette Yvonne Stahl (January 9, 1900 – May 25/26, 1984) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n novelist, short story writer and translator.

Biography

Born in Sankt Avold, Alsace-Lorraine, 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 ...

(now Saint-Avold in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

department of France), she was illegitimate until her parents' marriage in February 1901. Her mother was Blanche Boueve; her father

Henri Stahl Henri Joseph Stahl (also known as Henric, Enric, or Henry Stahl; April 29, 1877 – February 18, 1942) was a Romanian Stenography, stenographer, Graphology, graphologist, historian and fiction writer. Born to educated immigrant parents, he was a fr ...

, a professor and minor writer, was the son of a Bavarian naturalized citizen of Romania. Her brother was the sociologist and ethnographer Henri H. Stahl. She took private lessons in lieu of attending high school, following which Stahl studied at the Dramatic Arts Conservatory 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 ...

from 1921 to 1925. Her first published work was the short novel ''Voica'', which appeared in ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

'' in 1924 and was received with enthusiasm by

Garabet Ibrăileanu Garabet Ibrăileanu (; May 23, 1871 – March 11, 1936) was a Romanian-Armenian literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, University of Iași professor (1908–1934), and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, fo ...

(the magazine's own editor), who proposed it for the Romanian Writers' Society prize. Her first book was also ''Voica'' (1929), followed by the 1931 short story collection ''Mătușa Matilda''. She then wrote a series of psychological novels: ''Steaua robilor'' (1934), ''Între zi și noapte'' (1942), ''Marea bucurie'' (1946) and ''Fratele meu omul'' (1965). Near the end of her writing career, Stahl returned to short stories, several of which surpassed the quality of some of her novels, and were collected as ''Nu mă călca pe umbră'' (1969). Perfectly fluent in French, she translated a number of her novels into the language and published them in France, meeting with considerable success. She wrote the novel ''Le Temoin de l'Eternité'' (1975) directly in French; a Romanian edition appeared in 1995. Marian Victor Buciu
"Proza Henriettei Yvonne Stahl"
, 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. 7/2008 Her translations into Romanian were

Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated '' The Mysteries of Paris'', whi ...

's '' Mysteries of Paris'';

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Bront� ...

's ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'' (1959);

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

's '' Forsyte Saga'' (1958-1961, four volumes);

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's ''Gora'' (1965);

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, Japanese poetry#Age of Nyobo or court ladies, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered t ...

's ''

Tale of Genji Tale may refer to: * Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fa ...

'' (1969) and, in collaboration, several plays by

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

(1958). In 1981, she was awarded the Romanian Writers' Union special prize.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 597. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. By and large, critics did not place Stahl at the forefront of Romanian prose writers.

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 ...

accused her of an "exaggerated feminism", and while recognizing that several characters rang true, believed this insufficient to cover her deficiencies. In ''Istoria literaturii române'', Ion Negoițescu was enthusiastic about two novels, but kept silent about the rest. Stahl was romantically involved with two fellow writers,

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 ...

and Petru Dumitriu. Clara Mărgineanu
"Henriette Yvonne Stahl, printre stele norocoase"
, ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...

'', March 15, 2010"Dragostea scriitorilor în vremea Securității"
''

Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name translates to "The event of the day" or "Today's event". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nisto ...

'', February 19, 2008 After the latter fled

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 ...

, she was arrested, interrogated and detained for a year, threatened with a charge of high treason after admitting she knew of his plans.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stahl, Henriette Yvonne 1900 births 1984 deaths People from Saint-Avold Romanian people of French descent Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film alumni Romanian novelists Romanian women short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian writers in French Romanian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Romania 20th-century Romanian translators Romanian expatriates in Germany