Pericle Martinescu (; February 11, 1911 – December 21, 2005) 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 and journalist. Born in Viișoara,

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

, he graduated from the Mircea cel Bătrân High School in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

. Martinescu studied literature and philosophy at 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 ...

. His first poems appeared in ''

Gazeta Transilvaniei ''Gazeta de Transilvania'' was the first Romanian-language newspaper to be published in Transylvania. It was founded by George Bariț in 1838 in Brașov. It played a very important role in the awakening of the Romanian national conscience in Tran ...

'', a local magazine. As a student he contributed to ''Vremea'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Revista Fundațiilor Regale'', ''Viața Literară'', ''Meșterul Manole'', and ''Dacia Rediviva''. His first novel, ''Adolescenții din Brașov'' ("The

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

Teenagers"), was published in 1936. He also translated numerous works of foreign literature, including

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

. He was, perhaps, one of the earliest followers of

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 ...

. He died 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 ...

in 2005, at age 94.

Published works

* ''Sunt frate cu un fir de iarbă'' 1941 (poems in prose) * ''Costache Negri'' 1966 (monograph) * ''Retrospecții literare'' 1973 (essays) * ''Umbre pe pânza vremii'' 1985 (memoirs) * ''Excursie în Ciclade'' 1996 (travel account)

References

* Pericle Martinescu, ''7 ani cît 70 (Diary 1948–1954)'', Editura Vitruviu, 1997, Bucharest. 1911 births 2005 deaths People from Constanța County Mircea cel Bătrân National College (Constanța) alumni University of Bucharest alumni Romanian male novelists Romanian travel writers 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male essayists 20th-century Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian male writers Romanian translators {{Romania-journalist-stub