Radu Boureanu (March 9, 1906 – September 5, 1997) 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, prose writer and translator.

Biography

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 Eugen Boureanul and his wife Jeanne (''née'' Michel), who was a schoolteacher of French origin. He studied at the

Mihai Viteazul Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599–1600). He is considered one of Rom ...

and

Matei Basarab Matei Basarab (; 1588, Brâncoveni, Olt – 9 April 1654, Bucharest) was the voivode (prince) of Wallachia from 1632 to 1654. Reign Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1 ...

high schools in his native city, and privately at Bazargic. In 1931, he graduated from the Bucharest Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, in the course taught by

Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra (25 August 1873 – 19 September 1961) was a Romanian actress and acting teacher. She is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Romanian theater. In addition to her acting career, she played ...

. His first poems appeared in ''Ritmul vremii'' in 1927. Other publications that ran his work include ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar P ...

'', ''Vremea'', ''Adevărul literar și artistic'' and ''

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 ...

''. Together with

Zaharia Stancu Zaharia Stancu (; October 7, 1902 – December 5, 1974) was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher. He was also the director of the National Theatre Bucharest, the President of the Writers' Union of Romania, and a titular memb ...

, he founded ''Azi'' magazine in 1932. His first book, the 1933 poetry collection ''Zbor alb'', drew notice from critic

Pompiliu Constantinescu Pompiliu Constantinescu (May 17, 1901 – May 9, 1946) was a Romanian literary critic. Biography He was born on May 17, 1901, in Bucharest, "''in a place where he saw the light of day for the first time, on Sabines Street no. 109, the son of J ...

. Between 1929 and 1931, he appeared as an actor on the stage of the

National Theatre Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest () is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director ...

. He resumed acting between 1945 and 1947, when he quit for good, for health reasons. From 1936 to 1940, he headed ''România'', a tourism and art magazine. For his paintings and drawings, he received the Official Salon Prize in 1942 and 1946. After the

1944 Romanian coup d'état Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

and the subsequent rise to power of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

, Boureanu was chief adviser on press matters, and editor-in-chief of ''

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. ...

'' magazine (1967-1974), where he created and directed the ''Caiet de poezie'' supplement. His poetic output was immense, and earned the

Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society () was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the early Communist Romania, communist re ...

Prize (1933, 1936, 1939, 1943) as well as the Knokke-le- Zoute International Poetry Award (1970). His writings, collected as ''Scrieri'' (vol. I-IV, 1972-1979), show his evolution from a traditionalist (''Zbor alb'', 1933; ''Golful sângelui'', 1936; ''Cai de Apocalips'', 1942) to the lyricism ascribed to a civic and social vocation (''Sângele popoarelor'', 1948; ''Cântare cetății lui Bucur'', 1959). His prose includes novels (''Enigmaticul Baikal'', 1937; ''Ceașca'', 1956; ''Frumosul Principe Cercel'', 1978), exotically-themed short stories (''Üstuné sau Colina goală'', 1965) and a romanticized biography of

Nicolae Milescu Nikolai Spathari (; 1636–1708), also known as Nicolae Milescu and Nicolae Milescu Spătaru (, first name also ''Neculai'', signing in Latin as Nicolaus Spadarius Moldavo-Laco, ), or '' Spătarul Milescu-Cârnu'' (trans.: "Chancellor Milescu t ...

(1936). His play ''Lupii'' (1952) was awarded the State Prize, while the dramatic poem ''Satul fără dragoste'' (1955) won an award from the

Romanian Writers' Union The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

. He wrote polished translations of

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

Emile Verhaeren Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

Robert Goffin Robert Goffin (21 May 1898 – 27 June 1984) was a Belgian lawyer, author, and poet, credited with writing the first "serious" book on jazz, ''Aux Frontières du Jazz'' in 1932.Epperson. Life Robert Goffin was born in Ohain, Brabant Province ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

Nguyễn Du Nguyễn Du (; 3 January 1766 – 16 September 1820), courtesy name Tố Như () and art name Thanh Hiên (), is a celebrated Vietnamese poet and musician. He is most known for having written the epic poem '' The Tale of Kiều''. Biography ...

and

József Méliusz József () is a Hungarian masculine given name. It is the Hungarian name equivalent to Joseph. Notable people bearing this name include: * József Bihari (1901–1981), Hungarian actor * József Bihari (1908–1997), Hungarian linguist * Jó ...

. Throughout his career, he contributed essays and opinion pieces. His late work, ''Frumusețile oarbe'' (1982), ''Oceanul întrebărilor'' (1985), ''Snop de fulgere'' (1985) and ''Dulce uragan'' (1989), shows him at an elevated level of artistic maturity, with a poetic sensibility that, branching out into various intellectual domains, showed itself to be, in one critic's assessment, an "enormous chronicle of human sensibility".Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 679. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boureanu, Radu 1906 births 1997 deaths Writers from Bucharest Romanian people of French descent Romanian male short story writers Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian painters Romanian male stage actors 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian translators 20th-century Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian male writers Mihai Viteazul National College (Bucharest) alumni