Max Blecher (8 September 1909 – 31 May 1938) was a

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

n writer.

Life and work

Max Blecher's father was a successful

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 ...

merchant and the owner of a porcelain shop. Blecher attended primary and secondary school in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. After graduating from the Roman-Vodă High School and receiving his baccalaureat, Blecher left for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study medicine. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis (

Pott's disease Pott's disease, or Pott disease, named for British surgeon Percivall Pott who first described the symptoms in 1799, is tuberculosis of the spine, usually due to haematogenous spread from other sites, often the lungs. The lower thoracic and upp ...

) and forced to abandon his studies. He sought treatment at various sanatoriums:

Berck-sur-Mer Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer in French or Berck-su-Mér in Picard ( ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. Situated on the English Channel immediately north the mouth of the ri ...

in France,

Leysin Leysin is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in the Aigle (district), Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''. Located ...

in Switzerland, and Tekirghiol in Romania. For the remaining ten years of his life, he was confined to his bed and practically immobilized by the disease. Despite his illness, he wrote and published his first piece in 1930, a short story called "Herrant" in

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 ...

's literary magazine ''

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 ...

''. He contributed to

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

's literary review ''Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution'' and carried on an intense correspondence with the foremost writers and philosophers of his day such as

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

Ilarie Voronca Ilarie Voronca (pen name of Eduard Isidor Marcus; 31 December 1903, Brăila – 8 April 1946, Paris) was a Romanian avant-garde poet and essayist. Life and career Voronca was of History of the Jews in Romania, Jewish ethnicity. In his early yea ...

Geo Bogza Geo Bogza (; born Gheorghe Bogza; February 6, 1908 – September 14, 1993) was a Romanian avant-garde theorist, poet, and journalist, known for his left-wing and Communism, communist political convictions. As a young man in the interwar period, h ...

Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter (née We ...

, and

Sașa Pană Sașa Pană (; pen name of Alexandru Binder; 8 August 1902—22 August 1981) was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, and short story writer. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Bucharest, he trained as a physician in Iași and Bucharest, ...

. In 1934 he published ''Corp transparent'', a volume of poetry. In 1935, Blecher's parents moved him to a house on the outskirts of Roman, Neamț county where he continued to write until his death in 1938 at the age of 28. During his lifetime he published two other major works, ''Întâmplări în irealitate imediată'' (Adventures in Immediate Irreality) and ''Inimi cicatrizate'' (Scarred Hearts), as well as a number of short prose pieces, articles and translations. ''Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu'' (The Lit-Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal) was published posthumously in part in 1947 and in full in 1971.

Major works

*''Corp transparent'' (Transparent Body) *'' Întâmplări din irealitatea imediată'' (Adventures in Immediate Unreality) *''Inimi cicatrizate'' (Scarred Hearts) *''Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu'' (The Lit-Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal)

Translations

Max Blecher's books have been translated into English, Esperanto, Estonian, French, German, Spanish, Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Italian, Polish, and Greek. The German translation of ''Inimi cicatrizate'', ''Vernarbte Herzen'' in German, was number one on ''

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

'''s list of Notable Books.

English translations

*''Adventures in Immediate Unreality'', Jeanie Han (trans.) (2007) A free download of the translation is available a
maxblecher.wordpress.com
or at https://archive.org/details/AdventuresInImmediateUnreality *''Occurrence in the Immediate Unreality'', Alistair Ian Blyth (trans.), University of Plymouth Press (2009) *''Scarred Hearts'', Henry Howard (trans.) London: Old Street Publishing (2008) *''Adventures in Immediate Irreality'', newly translated into English by Michael Henry Heim. New Directions, February, 2015. *''Something is still present and isn't, of what's gone. A bilingual anthology of avant-garde and avant-garde inspired Rumanian poetry'', Victor Pambuccian (trans.) Rome: Aracne editrice (2018) *''The Illuminated Burrow: A Sanatorium Journal'', Gabi Reigh (trans.), introduction by Gabriela Glăvan, artwork by the author, Twisted Spoon Press (2022). *''The Lighted Burrow - A Sanatorium Journal'', Christina Tudor-Sideri (trans.) Sublunary Editions (2022)

Notable translations in other languages

*''Accadimenti nell'irrealtà immediata'', Bruno Mazzoni (trans.), Rovereto: Keller editore (2012) *''Aus der unmittelbaren Unwirklichkeit'', Ernest Wichner (trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2003) *''Aventures dans l'irréalité immédiate'', Marianne Sora (trans.), Paris: Editions Denoel (1972) *''Vernarbte Herzen'', Ernest Wichner (trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2006) *''Acontecimientos de la Irrealidad Inmediata; la Guarida Iluminada: Diario de Sanatorio'', Joaquín Garrigós (trans.), Valencia: Aletheia (2007) *''Cuerpo transparente'', Joaquín Garrigós (trans.), Barcelona: Rosa Cúbica (2008) *''Corazones cicatrizados, Joaquín Garrigós (trans.), Valencia: Pre-Textos (2009) *''Corpo transparente/Corp transparent'', Fernando Klabin (trans.),
(n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução
', nº 1 (set/2010), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141 *''Cœurs cicatrisés'', Gabrielle Danoux (trans.), Kingersheim (2014), *''Corps transparent'', Gabrielle Danoux (trans.), Kingersheim (2017) *''Corpi cicatrizzati'', Bruno Mazzoni (trans.), Keller editore, Rovereto, (novembre 2017), *''Verkaro (preskaŭ) kompleta'', Tomasz Chmielik, Ionel Oneţ (trans.), Ars Libri, Lublin (2018). . The most complete volume in any language other than Romanian. *''Händelser ur den omedelbara overkligheten'', Inger Johansson (trans.), h:ström Text & kultur, Umeå (2010). *''Upplyst gryt'', Inger Johansson (trans.), h:ström Text & kultur, Umeå (2021).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blecher, Max 1909 births 1938 deaths 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian novelists Jewish poets Jewish novelists Romanian male poets Romanian male novelists Jewish Romanian writers People from Botoșani 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Romania