Spiridon Popescu (August 13, 1864 – May 8, 1933) 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 prose writer. Born in Rogojeni,

Galați County Galați () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galați, between latitude, 45°25'N and latitude, 46°10'N latitude, longitude, 27°20'E and longitude, 28°10'E longitude. It borders the counties of Vaslu ...

, his parents were the peasant Constantin Dumitrașcu al Popei and his wife Safta (''née'' Tofan). He attended seminary in

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

and at Socola Monastery in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, earning his high school degree at age 26. He studied physics and mathematics at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

and took courses at the higher normal school, earning a mathematics degree at age 31. He taught mathematics in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

Vaslui Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara. History Archaeological surveys indicate t ...

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by #Names, alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 65,624 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. It is one ...

, Galați and, from 1904, in the national capital,

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 ...

. Within the Education Ministry, Popescu was responsible for normal primary education nationwide. He was elected both to the Assembly of Deputies and to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Popescu made his literary debut in the Iași-based ''Arhiva'' in 1890. Encouraged by his brother-in-law

Constantin Stere Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea (Romanian language, Romanian; , ''Konstantin Yegorovich Stere'' or Константин Георгиевич Стере, ''Konstantin Georgiyevich Stere''; also known under his pen name ''Șărcăleanu''; ...

, he wrote for ''Evenimentul literar'', and for ''Albina''. As an active participant in the policy of village education promoted by

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

, he also contributed to ''

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. ...

'', where he published the Poporanist novellas ''Moș Gheorghe la expoziție'' (1907) and ''Rătăcirea din Stoborăni'' (1909). His first book was ''Considerațiuni psihologice din viața poporului român'' (1893), followed by ''Din povestirile unui vânător de lupi'' (1905), ''Moș Gheorghe la expoziție'' (1912) and the short story collection ''Zori de iulie'' (1912).Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 412-13. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popescu, Spiridon Place of death missing 1864 births 1933 deaths 19th-century Romanian male writers 19th-century Romanian educators 19th-century Romanian novelists 19th-century Romanian politicians 19th-century Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian educators 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian politicians 20th-century Romanian short story writers Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Romanian male novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian mathematicians Romanian schoolteachers Poporanists Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania People from Bârlad People from Galați People from Tulcea People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia People from Vaslui Writers from Budapest