Isac Peltz or Ițic Peltz (12 February 1899 – 10 August 1980) 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 prose writer and journalist.

Early life and education

Born into a

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 ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family of small craftsmen, his father Nathan Peltz was a tailor, while his mother Estera (''née'' Rotenberg) made linens. He was self-taught, and reportedly studied Jewish theology, although there is no documentary evidence to support the notion.

Journalism

In 1915, he edited and wrote ''Îndrumarea'' magazine, which appeared for only a brief period; this marks his published debut. His first book was the 1916 essay ''Menirea literaturii'', in which he argued for a "message literature" and stressed the importance of ethics. In 1916, he worked as a proofreader at ''Gazeta ilustrată''. In 1918, he was an editor for ''Scena'' and ''Presa liberă''; the same year, he held a similar role at

Alexandru Macedonski Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism (arts ...

's ''Literatorul''. In 1919,

N. D. Cocea N. D. Cocea (common rendition of Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, , also known as Niculae, Niculici or Nicu Cocea; November 29, 1880 – February 1, 1949) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but c ...

hired Peltz at ''Chemarea'' and ''Facla'' newspapers; at the same time, he was an editor at ''

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 ...

'' and ''Dimineața''. During the interwar period, he had an active newspaper career, also working as an editor at ''Epoca'', ''Îndreptarea'','' Lupta'', ''Era nouă'', ''Ordinea'', ''Izbânda'' and ''Avântul'', and as a contributor for the magazines ''

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 ...

'' (sporadically attending the publication's

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 ...

-led circle), ''

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. ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Cuvântul liber'', ''Azi'', ''Șantier'', ''

Bilete de Papagal ''Bilete de Papagal'' was a Romanian left-wing publication edited by Tudor Arghezi, begun as a daily newspaper and soon after issued as a weekly satirical and literary magazine. It was published at three different intervals: 1928–1930, 1937–1938 ...

'', ''Vremea'', ''Reporter'' and ''Adevărul literar și artistic''. He directed two magazines, ''Caiete lunare'' (1927) and ''Zodiac'' (1930-1932). He sometimes used the pen names I. P. Aniurg, Enter, Ipel, Logicus, I. Pajură and Rix. After World War II and with the rise of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, Peltz was an editor at the newspapers ''Drapelul'' (December 1944 – 1946) and ''Era nouă'' (1946-1948), and a contributor to ''

România Liberă Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, 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 the east, and the Black Sea t ...

'' (1957-1963), ''Steagul roșu'', ''Informația Bucureștiului'', ''Munca'', ''Gazeta literară'', ''România Literară'', '' Luceafărul'', ''Veac nou'', ''Albina'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Pentru Patrie'' and '' Revista cultului mozaic''. Arrested in 1949, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in 1950, passing through the prisons at Calea Rahovei,

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as ...

Gherla Gherla (; ; ) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 19,873 as of 2021. Three villages are administered by the city: ...

, and

Aiud Aiud (; , , Hungarian pronunciation: ; ) is a city located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The city's population is 21,307 (2021). It has the status of municipiu. The city derives its name ultimately from Saint Giles (Aegidius), to whom t ...

Literature

His first book of literature, ''Fiori'' (1918), included prose poems. For a time, he wrote plays (''Veninul'', 1917; ''Crima'', 1920; ''Ediție specială'', 1921), which appeared in ''Revista pentru toți''. His short prose includes ''Stafia roșie'' (1918), ''Meșterul viață'' (1919), ''Paiațele'' (1921) and ''Fantoșe vopsite'' (1924); Peltz returned to the genre under communism, with ''Inimi zbuciumate'' (1962), ''Până într-o zi'' (1963), ''Fauna burzuluiților'' (1965), ''Instantanee comice – și nu prea...'' (1967) and ''Microbar'' (1971). His most noted works were his novels, beginning with ''Viața cu haz și fără a numitului Stan'' (1929) and ''Horoscop'' (1932), but especially ''Calea Văcărești'' (1933) and ''Foc în Hanul cu tei'' (1934), which showed the full measure of his writing talent, later diluted and marked by aesthetic lapses in ''"Actele vorbește"'' (1935), ''Țară bună'' (1936), ''Nopțile domnișoarei Mili'' (1937) and ''Pui de lele'' (1937). The World War II-era

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 officially banned his entire work as "Jewish". Liviu Rotman (ed.),
Demnitate în vremuri de restriște
', p. 174. Bucharest: Editura Hasefer,

Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania The Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania (, FCER) is a cultural association in Romania representing the Jewish community. The FCER has right to one seat in the Chamber of Deputies. History The organisation was originally founded as the ...

Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania The Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania, () is a public institution established by the Romanian government on August 7, 2005, and officially opened on October 9 of the same year, which is Romania's National Day o ...

, 2008. His postwar ''Israel însângerat'' (1946), ''Vadul fetelor'' (1949) and ''Max și lumea lui'' (1957) were unremarkable, but retained their setting within a Jewish milieu, which he barely updated to reflect current realities. Authors he translated alone or in collaboration include

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

Henri Murger Louis-Henri Murger (27 March 1822 – 28 January 1861), also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger, was a French novelist and poet. He is chiefly distinguished as the author of the 1847-1849 book '' Scènes de la vie de bohème'' (''Scenes ...

Pierre Daix Pierre Georges Daix (24 May 1922 – 2 November 2014) was a French journalist, writer and art historian. He was a friend and biographer of Pablo Picasso. As a young man, Daix was an ardent Stalinist. He joined the French Communist Party at the ag ...

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(''Memoirs''),

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

Aziz Nesin Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...

Konstantin Fedin Konstantin Aleksandrovich Fedin ( rus, Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Фе́дин, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈfʲedʲɪn, a=Konstantin Alyeksandrovich Fyedin.ru.vorb.oga; – 15 July 1977) was a Sovie ...

Ivan Yefremov Ivan Antonovich (Antipovich) Yefremov, sometimes Efremov (; 23 April 1908 – 5 October 1972) was a Soviet paleontologist, science-fiction author and social thinker. He founded taphonomy, the study of fossilization patterns. Biography He ...

Arseniy Golovko Arseny Grigoryevich Golovko (; 10 June 1906 – 17 May 1962) was a Soviet admiral, whose naval service extended from the 1920s through the early Cold War. Service He entered the Soviet Navy in 1925 and graduated in 1928 from the M.V. Frunze ...

, Mikhail M. Nikitin,

Pyotr Pavlenko Pyotr Andreyevich Pavlenko (; 11 July 1899 – 16 June 1951), was a Soviet writer, screenwriter and war correspondent. Recipient of four USSR State Prize, Stalin Prizes. Biography Early life Pavlenko was born in Saint Petersburg where his father ...

and Alexander Rekemchuk.

Recognition

He won 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 ...

Prize in 1929 and the

Romanian Writers' Union 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 taking ...

Special Prize in 1979.

Personal life

Peltz was a member of the Romanian Freemasonry.Cicerone Ionițoiu
"Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar P"
p. 159. His daughter

Tia TIA most commonly refers to the transient ischemic attack, a "mini-stroke". TIA or Tia may also refer to: People * Tia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * TiA, stage name of a female ...

was a painter.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 582-83. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peltz, I. 1899 births 1980 deaths Writers from Bucharest Jewish Romanian writers banned by the Antonescu regime Romanian magazine editors Romanian newspaper editors Adevărul editors Romanian male short story writers Romanian Freemasons 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian translators Prisoners and detainees of Romania Inmates of Aiud prison Inmates of Gherla prison Romanian prisoners and detainees 20th-century Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian male writers Inmates of Jilava Prison