Mircea Demetriade
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Mircea Constantin Demetriade (; also rendered as Demetriad, Dimitriade, Dimitriadi, or Demitriadi; September 2, 1861 – September 11, 1914) 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 poet, playwright and actor, one of the earliest animators of the local Symbolist movement. Born in
Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...
to a theatrical family, he largely gave up on a similar career to become a bohemian writer. He associated with, and was inspired by, Alexandru Macedonski, building on early romantic influences at '' Literatorul'' magazine. Later, he incorporated borrowings from
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...
and Arthur Rimbaud, two of the authors Demetriade would translate into Romanian. Demetriade's work, which mainly consists of
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 ...
and verse drama with fantasy elements, was often included in the National Theater Bucharest programs; however, critics and historians have dismissed it as a rather minor contribution to
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 ...
. In addition to pioneering Symbolism, Demetriade affiliated with the socialist circle of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea and
Constantin Mille Constantin Mille (; December 21, 1861 – February 20, 1927) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, lawyer, and Socialism, socialist militant, as well as a prominent human rights activist. A Marxism, Marxist for much of his life, Mille was not ...
, and was a local promoter of
Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
. During the 1880s, he cultivated the friendships of writers Vasile Alecsandri and Bonifaciu Florescu, editing ''Analele Literare'', a magazine which mixed Symbolist activism and literary scholarship. He is additionally remembered for helping to found the society of writers at Kübler Coffeehouse circle, and for being one of the regulars at Macedonski's literary salon.


Biography


Early life and poetic debut

Demetriade was born in Ocnele Mari,
Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county (județ) that lies in south-central Romania. Located in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt (river), Olt River), it i ...
, or, according to other documents, in
Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...
Călinescu, p. 532 (yet another account, probably erroneous, has
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 ...
). The family was of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
origin, its original surname being reported as ''Dimitriadis'', then Romanianized as ''Demetriade'' or ''Demetriad''. The poet's father was a Greek immigrant"Poețĭ de la ''Litteratorul''", in '' Literatorul'', Nr. 2/1904, p. 27 and celebrated actor, Constantin "Costache" Dimitriade. His wife, Mircea's mother, was Luxița (''née'' Saragea), Rodica Zafiu, "Demetriade Mircea", in Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I, p. 471. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. who was descended from the old
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
nobility of
Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...
. Costache's other children, Aristide Demetriade and Aristizza Romanescu, also became actors. Demeteriade was the uncle of Eraclie Sterian, the sexologist and playwright, and the great-uncle of poet-sociologist Paul Sterian. Mircea left high school early and then took declamation courses at the Bucharest Conservatory. In 1880, he appeared alongside his sister and (on his retiring performance) his father, in a production for the National Theater Bucharest; the chosen play was Victor Séjour's "Outlaw of the Adriatic", and he had the title role. Having registered some success in comedy, with a leading role in Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu's ''Trei crai'', he became a pledgee of the National Theater the following year. Demetriade soon became more interested in writing and composing poetry. Primarily a disciple of the proto-Symbolist Alexandru Macedonski, Demetriade also described himself as a student of the 1840s romantic poet Ion Heliade Rădulescu. According to his colleague and biographer N. Davidescu, Demetriade was also an avid reader of literary theory by
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...
, Arthur Rimbaud, and
René Ghil René François Ghilbert (27 September 1862 – 15 September 1925), known as René Ghil, was a French poet. He was a disciple of Stéphane Mallarmé, a major contributor to the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement in France, although they later ...
, constantly at work refining and modernizing his own art. Davidescu sees Demetriade and most other Romanian Symbolists as in reality Parnassians; this verdict was partly shared by comparatist Adrian Marino. He also reads a "Parnassian note" and echoes from the "macabre poetry" of Maurice Rollinat in the work of Demetriade, Alexandru Obedenaru, and Alexandru Petroff. Demetriade's first published work consisted of poems that appeared in Macedonski's ''Literatorul'', in 1880; his first book was the 1883 ''Fabule'', followed in 1884 by the collection ''Versuri''.Tamara Teodorescu, Rodica Fochi, Florența Sădeanu, Liana Miclescu, Lucreția Angheluță, ''Bibliografia românească modernă (1831–1918). Vol. II: D–K'', p. 60. Editura științifică și enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1986. These works fund an early reviewer in the traditionalist Ioan Russu-Șirianu, who saw Demetriade as a promising
sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
eer, but rejected his experiments with meter. Demetriade's first work as a translator, from Préville's "thoughts on theater", also saw print in ''Literatorul''. He later followed up with pure-poetry and '' vers libre'' renditions from Baudelaire, Rimbaud,
Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...
and
Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...
. Demetriade, who sometimes used the pen names M. Demetriad and M. C. Dimitriade, soon became an animator of the literary world. He joined Macedonski's literary circle at Fialcovski Coffeehouse in Bucharest, before moving to Kübler and, later, to Imperial—this became the epicenter of the small but growing Symbolist scene. For much of the 1880s, he was also involved with the socialist movement, first as a writer for Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea's ''Emanciparea''. In December 1884, Demetriade was a founding member of the Bucharest Social Studies Circle, with Alexandru G. Radovici and
Constantin Mille Constantin Mille (; December 21, 1861 – February 20, 1927) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, lawyer, and Socialism, socialist militant, as well as a prominent human rights activist. A Marxism, Marxist for much of his life, Mille was not ...
, wherein he also represented a
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
(named after Mircea Rosetti). With the National Theater troupe, including his sister and Constantin Nottara, Demetriade toured the Romanian-speaking regions of the
Duchy of Bukovina The Duchy of Bukovina (; ; ) was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1849 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until 1918. Name The name ''Bukovina'' came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation ...
,
Austria-Hungary 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#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, during summer 1885. He gave readings of Romanian poetry and spoke to a cultural gathering in Czernowitz. In 1885–1886, his father having died in an accident on the outskirts of Bucharest, Demetriade gave recitals, from his own lyrical work, at Dacia Theater, Bucharest. In 1891, he made another return to the stage, again alongside Aristizza. Their version of ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', with Demetriade as The Ghost, was notably staged at the Carltheater in Vienna.


First plays

Demetriade also cultivated close friendships with other more writers, including Vasile Alecsandri and Bonifaciu Florescu. He was thus a speaker at Alecsandri's funeral in 1890, and the last person to visit Florescu upon the latter's death in 1899. From 1885 to 1889, with Macedonski absent from Romania, he published his own "Macedonskian" literary review, ''Analele Literare'' ("Literary Annals"). The magazine had contributions from Symbolists such as Traian Demetrescu and from Macedonski himself. However, it mainly included academic articles by Florescu, Hasdeu, and other scholars: Anghel Demetriescu, Gheorghe Ghibănescu, Petre Ispirescu, and
Lazăr Șăineanu Lazăr Șăineanu (, also spelled Șeineanu, born Eliezer Schein;Leopold, p.383, 417 Francization , Francisized Lazare Sainéan, , Alexandru Mușina"Țara turcită", in ''România Literară'', Nr. 19/2003 or Sainéanu; April 23, 1859 – May 11, ...
. In its first issues, ''Analele Literare'' also hosted Demetriade debut play, ''În noaptea nunții'' ("On Their Wedding Night"),Călinescu, p. 1004 called a "weak comedy" by the traditionalist Nicolae Iorga. In addition to the ''Literatorul'' (or ''Revista Literară''), he also published in the various Macedonskian satellite reviews, from
Iuliu Cezar Săvescu Iuliu Cezar Săvescu (September 22, 1866 – March 9, 1903) was a Romanian poet. Biography Born in Brăila to the civil servant Eulampiu Săvescu and his wife Fania, he attended primary school and the first years of high school in his native ci ...
and Florescu's ''Dumineca'' to Petroff's ''Hermes''. Demetriade's other contributions were hosted by various Symbolist or mainstream publications, among them '' Telegraful Român'', '' Vieața Nouă'', ''Revista Orientală'', ''Unirea'', ''Naționalul'', ''Fântâna Blanduziei'', ''Ileana'', ''Liga Literară'', and ''Generația Nouă''. During the elections of 1892, he registered himself as a voter in the 1st College, a resident of Olari, Bucharest. After ''În noaptea nunții'', which was to be premiered at the National Theater in 1900, Demetriade focused mainly on versified plays which were picturesque and had a fairy-tale ambience: ''Făt-Frumos'' ("Prince Charming"), 1889; ''Renegatul'' ("The Renegade"), 1893; ''Opere dramatice'' ("Works in Drama"), 1905. According to the literary critic
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 ...
, ''Renegatul'' was "monotonous and artistically modest", "abundant in the stuff of operetta songs". The work shows a disabused engineer, Mahmud (played by Nottara in the 1893 staging), Andrei Oișteanu
"Scriitorii români și narcoticele. Demetriade, Pillat, Minulescu"
, in '' Revista 22'', Nr. 1094, March 2011
falling for the charms of the Orient; then returning to modern life under the spell of his new slave, a fellow Romanian "working girl". The text adapted synesthesic metaphors in depicting Mahmud's suicidal torpor, induced by tobacco or
hashish Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...
. With Ioan Bacalbașa, Demetriade co-wrote a
history play History is one of the three main genres in Western theatre alongside tragedy and comedy, although it originated, in its modern form, thousands of years later than the other primary genres. For this reason, it is often treated as a subset of trage ...
, variously known as ''Asan'' or ''Frații Asan'', which was part of the National Theater program in 1898 and 1899. The work dealt with the rise of Ivan Asen, founder of the
Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1422. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
, and generally adhered to the factual narrative. However, as reviewer Ion Gorun argued, the play made Ivan seem "disagreeable", and was overall lacking in "uplifting emotions". Demetriade's other poems were rhetorical, the imagery and themes romantic and Baudelairean; their subjects included demonism, genius, spiritual ascension and melancholy ("spleen"). His more experimental pieces included the 1906 sonnet ''Sonuri și culori'' ("Sounds and Colors"), which was heavily indebted to Rimbaud's synaesthesia, assigning deeper meanings to isolated vowels. Such work, often eroticized, received a radical critique from the traditionalist intellectuals of
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 ...
: a reviewer for ''Rĕvașul'' newspaper, claiming to speak for his entire region, called Demetriade's "orgiastic" poems "an ugly torrent". According to Davidescu, Demetrescu's poetry mainly stands out for its sensuality and eroticism, "preserving the author's very character, which cannot but evoke to mind ..that tanned man, as restless as a squirrel, with his black beard and eyes, always open to new sensations, always a man of his word, at once impulsive and self-contained, and always generous". Contrarily, the literary historian Șerban Cioculescu describes Demetriade, overall, as "faint and subdued".


Final years

Demetriade continued to play the unconventional poet, well-integrated in the atmosphere of the era's literary cafes. He embraced the peculiar lifestyle of literary bohemia. Writing in 1902, Macedonski described him as a "jester" who could prove himself "bitter", also noting that Demetriade's day started "at 3 o'clock in the afternoon". Such depictions were puzzling for the reading public, who wondered whether Macedonski was not in fact mocking his disciple. However, Demetriade remained among the most loyal Macedonskians, to 1904 and beyond. The younger Symbolist Mihail Cruceanu, who met Demetriade in Macedonski's salon in 1905, recalls him as a " Mefisto", who readily imparted his erotic escapades with the ''Literatorul'' crowd. He notes: "We the young ones we were looking up to him with much curiosity and sympathy, as he appeared to us as an elegant and fortunate satyr whose astuteness we could never match. But seeing as we were fatigued by the stories' emotionalism, we left for home at midnight, leaving him alone with his complete menu, to consume till dawn. Or so they tell me, since I, the aspiring poet, always went to bed before that time." His final work in verse drama was ''Visul lui Ali'' ("Ali's Dream"). It premiered at the National Theater in autumn 1904. It was again taken up by the troupe in October 1912, and was put out in its definitive 1913 edition by nephew Eraclie Sterian. This writing was also heavily inspired by Macedonski's themes. It showed its hero, a destitute Muslim from
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, rising to the position of Caliph—or merely imagining himself a Caliph. Călinescu finds the play, and other Demetriade fairy tales, to be hampered by "poor versification"; reportedly, it was also a commercial failure. In tandem, Demetriade began writing for Constantin Ionescu-Caion's ''
Românul ''Românul'' (, meaning "The Romanian"; originally spelled ''Romanulu'' or ''Românulŭ'', also known as ''Romînul'', ''Concordia'', ''Libertatea'' and ''Consciinti'a Nationala''), was a political and literary newspaper published in Bucharest, Ro ...
'' daily, and penned his most significant critical essays for its successor, ''Românul Literar''. Caion also hosted Demetriade's translations from Jean Moréas. In tandem, Demetriade began collaborating with Macedonski at his right-wing reviews ''Forța Morală'' and ''Liga Conservatoare'', using such pen names as Ali-Baba, Demir, Dimir, and D. Mir. At the time, ''Literatorul'' called him "one of the greats of Romanian neo-Latin literature", noting that he still professed socialist principles, "but not those of the exploiting socialists". In 1906, as Mircea des Métriades, he prefaced the Parisian edition of Macedonski's novel, '' Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu''. Also that year,
Carol I 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 ...
,
King of Romania The King of Romania () or King of the Romanians () was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Romanian People's Republic following Michael I's forced abdication. ...
, awarded him the ''Bene-Merenti'' medal for his various contributions. In April 1910, Demetriade became a founding member of the Society of Theatrical Authors, and, in 1911, was employed by the National Theater as a
dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...
, correcting and updating ''Rhea Sylvia'', by Nicolae Scurtescu. Around that time, as concerned members of the
Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...
who opposed secularism, Demetriade and Sterian also joined the movement supporting Gherasim Safirin, the Bishop of Roman, in his conflict with the Romanian Synod. Both writers also shared similar ideas on heredity: Demetriade's claim that
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
could act as a "civilizing hero", by favoring intellectual traits in syphilitic descendants, prompted Sterian to construct an elaborate evolutionary theory. Demetriade's very final years brought a major chill in his relationship with Macedonski. According to one account, they were "daggers down" (''la cuțite'').Em. C. Grigoraș, "Terasa", in ''
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 ...
'', March 1, 1931, p. 3
He died on September 11, 1914, shortly after the start of World War I. His lifelong output included over fifteen hundred poems, plays, translations and articles of literary criticism (the most significant of which appeared in ''Românul Literar''), mainly uncollected in book form. He had fathered a son, Mircea Jr, who was reportedly a "guiding light of his life".


Notes


References

* Constantin Bacalbașa, **''Bucureștii de altădată. Vol. II: 1885 — 1901''. Bucharest: Editura Ziarului ''Universul'', 1928. **''Bucureștii de altă dată. Vol. IV: 1910 — 1914'', Editura Ziarului ''Universul'', 1936. *
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''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1986. *George Costescu, ''Bucureștii Vechiului Regat. Cu numeroase reproduceri fotografice documentare și două planșe cu peste 200 de portrete caricaturale ale oamenilor timpului''. Bucharest: Editura ''Universul'', 1944. * Mihail Cruceanu, ''De vorbă cu trecutul...''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1973. * N. Davidescu, ''Din poezia noastră parnasiană. Antologie critică''. Bucharest: Editura Fundațiilor Regale, 1943. * Nicolae Iorga, ''Istoria literaturii românești contemporane. II: În căutarea fondului (1890–1934)''. Bucharest: Editura Adevĕrul, 1934. * Adrian Marino, "''Literatorul'' și revistele anexă", in Șerban Cioculescu, Ovidiu Papadima, Alexandru Piru (eds.), ''Istoria literaturii române. III: Epoca marilor clasici'', pp. 507–524. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1973. * Ioan Massoff, ''Istoria Teatrului Național din București: 1877—1937''. Bucharest, Alcaly, . y. * Constantin Titel Petrescu, ''Socialismul în România. 1835 – 6 septembrie 1940''. Bucharest: Dacia Traiana, . y. *Mihail Straje, ''Dicționar de pseudonime, anonime, anagrame, astronime, criptonime ale scriitorilor și publiciștilor români''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1973. {{DEFAULTSORT:Demetriade, Mircea 1861 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian male writers 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Symbolist poets Sonneteers 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Dramaturges Romanian historical fiction writers 19th-century Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian essayists Romanian male essayists Romanian literary critics Romanian fabulists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian humorists 19th-century Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Romanian writers in French Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders 19th-century Romanian male actors People from Craiova People from Vâlcea County Romanian people of Greek descent Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian socialists Romanian Freemasons People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia