Mihail Petroveanu (October 28, 1923–March 4, 1977) 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 literary critic and historian. Born 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 ...

, his parents were Jean Petroveanu and his wife Maria (''née'' Algazi). He attended primary school and the first six grades of secondary school at Saint Andrew High School in his native city from 1930 to 1940. From 1940 to 1942, he studied at and graduated from the theoretical high school where

Alexandru Graur Alexandru Graur (; July 9, 1900 – July 9, 1988) was a Romanian linguist. Born into a Jewish family in Botoșani, Graur graduated from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris (19 ...

was principal. In 1944, Petroveanu enrolled in the French-Romanian section of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

's literature faculty, graduating in 1947. During this time, his first work was published; this consisted of literary news that appeared in ''Studentul român'' in 1945. Right after completing university, he was hired as an editor for ''

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 ...

''. He was then a teaching assistant at the aesthetics department of the Institute of Theater, Fine Arts and Music (1949-1950); editor for the literary programs of Romanian Radio (1948–1952); chief department editor and overall adjunct editor at Editura de Stat pentru Literatură și Artă (1950–1955); editor and adjunct editor-in-chief at ''

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. ...

'' (1955–1956) and ''Gazeta literară'' (1956–1961); principal editor for a four-language publication meant for foreign audiences, ''Revue roumaine – Roumanian Review – Rumänische Rundschau – Румынская литература'' (1962–1977). By 1958, Petroveanu was already a name frequently met in the country's main literary magazines. That year, he published his first book, ''Pagini critice'', a collection of articles and reviews he had written for ''Studentul român'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Contemporanul'', ''Viața Românească'', ''Steaua'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''Gazeta literară'' between 1947 and 1957. His later studies appeared in ''Profiluri lirice contemporane'' (1963), ''Studii literare'' (1966) and ''Traiectorii lirice'' (1974); he also authored two monographs, ''Tudor Arghezi, poetul'' (1961) and ''George Bacovia'' (1969; second edition, 1972). In collaboration, he supervised an excellent edition of

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 (" ...

's works, which appeared as ''Opere'' in 1978. He translated

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 ''

In Search of the Castaways ''In Search of the Castaways'' () is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–68. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains illustrations by Édouard Riou. In 1876, it was republished by George Routledge & Son ...

''. Petroveanu was involved in supervising critical editions of

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, ...

(1950, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1973), Aleksandr Chakovsky (1950),

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

(1950),

Mateiu Caragiale Mateiu Ion Caragiale (; – 17 January 1936), also credited as Matei or Matheiu, or in the antiquated version Mateiŭ,Sorin Antohi"Romania and the Balkans. From Geocultural Bovarism to Ethnic Ontology" in ''Tr@nsit online'', Institut für die Wi ...

(1957), Nicolae Velea (1960), Platon Pardău (1963), Anatol E. Baconsky (1964), Demostene Botez (1964),

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 ...

(1964),

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 ...

(1965),

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, ...

(1966), Agatha Bacovia (1967), and Ion Caraion (1978).Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 355. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. He was married to poet Veronica Porumbacu; the couple died in the

1977 Vrancea earthquake The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5, making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 Novem ...

while on a visit to Baconsky.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petroveanu, Mihail 1923 births 1977 deaths Writers from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni Romanian literary critics Romanian literary historians Romanian magazine editors Romanian radio people Victims of the 1977 Vrancea earthquake 20th-century Romanian translators