__NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) 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, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in

Zimnicea Zimnicea () is a town in Teleorman County, Romania (in the historic region of Muntenia), a port on the Danube opposite the Bulgarian city of Svishtov. Geography Zimnicea is situated on the left bank of the Danube river. It is the southernmost pla ...

Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''wild/crazy for ...

, he went to high school in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, after which he studied

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

, first in

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

and later 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 ...

, without graduating. He then enrolled at the Letters and Philosophy Department 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 ...

. A leftist in his youth (he joined the

Union of Communist Youth The Union of Communist Youth ( Romanian: '; UTC) was the Romanian Communist Party's youth organisation. Like many Young Communist organisations, it was modelled after the Soviet Komsomol. It aimed to cultivate young cadres into the party, as ...

in 1933), he wrote for many leftist papers and magazines of those days: "Cuvîntul liber", "Azi", "Facla", "Viața românească", "Era nouă", "Lumea românească", "Timpul", "Ecoul", "

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 ...

", " Scînteia", sometimes under a pen name, among them Emil Soare and Paul Scorțeanu. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he wrote many propagandistic articles, although it seems that he never became a member of the Communist Party itself. Being on friendly terms with many communist leaders from their days in the underground, including

Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic ...

Constanța Crăciun Constanța Crăciun (; 16 February 1914 – 2 May 2002) was a Romanian politician and educator. Biography She was born in Constanța. She studied literature and philosophy. She became a member of the Romanian Communist Party in 1935. She w ...

, Iosif Chișinevschi, Leonte Răutu, he was considered "invulnerable", and got away with criticizing the regime, mostly in private, when anybody else would have ended in prison for the same offence. Although he hoped, due to his antifascist past, to be given important government positions like his former comrades, he never got any, being sent instead to work for several magazines and papers. He and Sorin Toma bitterly criticized

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 ...

in 1948, accusing the latter of being a representative of "decadent,

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

art". In 1965, Paraschivescu took charge of the readers' column at the literary magazine ''Ramuri'' 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 ...

, changing it in May 1966 into a four-page literary supplement called ''Povesta vorbei'' ("The Tale of Talk"). It lasted only six numbers. He transformed it into a meeting place for a number of young avant-garde writers who had difficulty getting published by the established literary press. Among them were Leonid Dimov, Virgil Mazilescu, and Dumitru Țepeneag. Known for being sometimes a "difficult person" and a "big mouth", Paraschivescu was hospitalized at least twice in mental institutions. Somewhat of a

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...

, Paraschivescu was married five times.

Writings

*''Oameni și așezări din Țara Moților și a Basarabilor'', Craiova, 1938 *''Cântice țigănești'', București, 1941; illustrated by Marcel Chirnoagă, București, 1972 *''Pâine, pământ și țărani'', Craiova, 1943 *''Cântare României'', București, 1951 *''Laude'', București, 1953 *''Laude şi alte poeme'', București, 1959 *''Declarația patetică'', București, 1960 *''Poezii'', București, 1961 *''Declaraţia patetică. Cântice țigănești. Laude și alte poeme'', București, 1963 *''Bâlci la Râureni'', București, 1964 *''Versul liber'', București, 1965 *''Drumuri şi răspântii'', București, 1967 *''Tristele'', București, 1968 *''Scrieri, vol. I-II'', București, 1969, vol. III-IV, București, 1974–1975 *''Poeme'', București, 1971 *''Ultimele'', București, 1971 *''Poezii'', edited and afterword by Ioan Adam, București, 1973 *''Amintiri'', București, 1975 *''Journal d'un heretique, translated by Claude Jaillet, foreword by de Virgil Ierunca, Paris, 1976; edition (Jurnalul unui cobai. 1940–1954), edited by Maria Cordoneanu, foreword by Vasile Igna, Cluj Napoca, 1994 *''Povestind copiilor'', București, 1990 *''Jurnalul unui cobai'', 1994 *''Poeme'', Iaşi, 2000

Translations

* Marie-Anne Desmarest, ''Torente'', București, 1943 *

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent,Константин Михайлович Симонов // " Литературна� ...

, ''Apărarea Moscovei'', București, 1944 *

Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ( – 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, ...

, ''Istorisiri din Leningrad'', București, 1944 *

Mikhail Sholokhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...

, ''Şcoala urii'', București, 1944 * Jean Richard Bloch, ''Toulon'', București, 1945 *

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

, ''Basme...'', illustrated by Th. Kiriacoff-Suruceanu, București, 1945, Ruslan și Ludmila, București, 1951 *Translations of eight European poets, illustrated by Mircea Alitanti, București, 1946 * Claude Roy, ''Parisul răsculat'', București, 1946 *

Maxim Gorki Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an auth ...

, ''Univesităţile mele'', București, 1948 * Nikolay Nekrasov, ''Poeme alese'', București, 1953, ''Gerul, moşu cu nasu roşu'', București, 1955, ''Opere alese, I-III'', București, 1955–1959, ''Femeile ruse. Decembristele'', București, 1956 *

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

, '' Pan Tadeusz sau Ultima încălcare de pământ în Lituania'', foreword by Olga Zaicik, București, 1956, ''Poezii'', București, 1957 (with Vlaicu Bârna şi Virgil Teodorescu), ''Poezii'', București 1959 *

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...

, ''Ceasul meditării'', illustrated by Mihu Vulcănescu, București, 1962 * Giuseppe Ungaretti, ''Poezii'', București, 1963 (with Alexandru Balaci) * Andre Malraux, ''Calea regală'', București, 1971

Awards

*The

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

's "George Coșbuc" Award (1956) * Honorary citizen of Vălenii de Munte (post-mortem, 2011)

References

*Aurel Sasu, ''Dicționar biografic al literaturii române (M-Z)'', Paralela 45, Pitești, 2006, pp. 300–301 {{DEFAULTSORT:Paraschivescu, Miron Radu 1911 births 1971 deaths People from Zimnicea Romanian male poets Romanian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Romanian translators 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male essayists 20th-century Romanian essayists Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic 20th-century Romanian journalists