Vasile Posteucă (10 September 1912, , Siret district,

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 ...

– 6 December 1972, Chicago, Illinois, USA) was a Romanian poet and a member of the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

In Romania

Posteucă was born in ,

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

(

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: Stăneștii de Jos; now Nyzhni Stanivtsi,

Kitsman Raion Kitsman Raion () was an administrative raion (district) in the northern part of Chernivtsi Oblast, in the historical region of Bukovina, in western Ukraine. The administrative center was the city of Kitsman. The raion had an area of . The raion wa ...

Chernivtsi Oblast Chernivtsi Oblast (), also referred to as Chernivechchyna (), is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, consisting of the northern parts of the historical regions of Bukovina and Bessarabia. It has an international border with Romania and Moldo ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). He completed his high school studies in

Siret Siret (; ; ; ; ) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 6,708 ...

(1924–1931), followed by a degree in literature at the University of Cernăuți (1931–1936). Posteucă began to publish poetry whilst still a university student, making his literary debut in ''Junimea Literară'', a literary magazine based in Cernăuți (now

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

, Ukraine) and edited by Ion I. Nistor. He also became involved in student politics, participating in the "Aboroasa" student union (serving as its president from 1934 to 1936) and later serving as vice-president of the Student Centre of Cernăuți (Centrul studențesc din Cernăuți), which was organised primarily around ultranationalist politics. He helped to organize the first Congress of Bukovinian Students (Congres al Studențimii Bucovinene, 1936). He was closely involved in organising the fascist Legionary Movement (or Iron Guard) in Bukovina, serving as "commandant" of

Hotin County Hotin County was a county ( ținut is Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, județ after) in the Principality of Moldavia (14th-18th centuries), the Governorate of Bessarabia (1812–1917), the Moldavian Democratic Republic (1917–1918), and the K ...

. In the 1937 Romanian general elections, he ran as a candidate for the Iron Guard in Hotin. During the interwar period he collaborated with a number of

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, and literary publications, amongst them ''Iconar'' (directed by

Mircea Streinul Mircea Streinul (2 January 1910 – 17 April 1945) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian prose writer and poet. Biography Born in Cuciurul Mare, in the Bukovina region, his parents were the Romanian Orthodox priest Gavril Streinul and his wi ...

and Liviu Russu), ''Însemnări Sociologice'' (directed by

Traian Brăileanu Traian Brăileanu or BrăileanAndrei Corbea-Hoișie, "'Wie die Juden Gewalt schreien': Aurel Onciul und die antisemitische Wende in der Bukowiner Öffentlichkeit nach 1907", in ''East Central Europe'', Vol. 39, Issue 1, 2012, p. 22 (September 14, ...

), ''

Buna Vestire ''Buna Vestire'' (English: "The Annunciation") was a far-right Romanian newspaper affiliated with, and later published by, the Iron Guard. It was published daily from 1937 to 1938, and again under the National Legionary State in 1940–1941. It ...

'' (directed by

Mihail Manoilescu Mihail Manoilescu (; December 9, 1891 – December 30, 1950) was a Romanian journalist, engineer, economist, politician and memoirist, who served as Foreign Minister of Romania during the summer of 1940. An active promoter of and contributor to ...

, later

Dragoș Protopopescu Dragoș Protopopescu (17 October 1892 – 11 April 1948) was a Romanian writer, poet, critic, philosopher, and far-right politician. He is considered by some to be greatest Anglicist from interwar Romania. Early life and education Protopopescu ...

and

Toma Vlădescu Toma or TOMA may refer to: Places *Toma, Burkina Faso, a town in Nayala province * Toma Department, a department in Nayala province * Toma, Banwa, Burkina Faso, a town * Tōma, Hokkaidō, Japan, a town **Tōma Station, its railway station *Toma, ...

), ''Falanga'', ''Glasul Bucovinei'', ''Convorbiri literare'', and ''

Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania, from 1926 to 1934, and again in 1938. It was primarily noted for progressively adopting a far-right and fascist agenda, an ...

''. Following the Legionnaires' Rebellion in January 1941, Posteucă and other Iron Guard members fled Romania to Germany. He was initially held in a camp in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, later being interned in

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

. In 1944 he was recruited by

Horia Sima Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was a ...

to a propaganda commission as part of the Romanian government-in-exile sponsored by the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

and based in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

In exile

Posteucă immigrated to Canada, where he completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1953 and his doctoral studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1962. He continued his associations with other exiled Iron Guard members, meeting with Canadian government officials and co-founding a Romanian Orthodox church in Toronto, and participating in Legionary gatherings in Detroit. He also contributed to a number of Romanian exile journals, including ''Destin'' (Madrid, Spain), ''Luceafărul'' (Paris, France), Dacia (Brazil), Arc (Montreal, Canada), ''Libertatea'' (Madrid), Cuvântul în exil (Freising, West Germany), and ''Revista Scriitorilor Români'' (Munich). He co-founded the journal ''Drum'' (1963–1972, Mexico) with Nicolae Petra. In November 1966, he began working as a professor of language arts at

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

. Posteucă was friends and kept correspondence with

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...

Later life and death

Posteucă spent several years suffering from cancer, during which he was cared for by another former Iron Guardist, Dr. Alexander Ronnett. Posteucă led a highly publicised campaign to be naturalised as a United States citizen and for his daughter, Doina Vircol, to be allowed by the communist Romanian government to travel from Bucharest to Chicago, in order to meet her before his death. Doina, who had seen her father only once since 1941, succeeded in visiting him in November 1972. Vasile Posteucă died shortly thereafter, on 6 December 1972, at the age of 60. He was buried in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...

Publications

* ''Carte de cântece românești'' (Madrid: R. Nieto, 1953) * ''Poeme fără țară'' (with N. S. Govora, Nicolae Novac) (Madrid: Editura "Carpații", 1954) * ''În marea și'n mormintele din noi'' (Madrid: Editura Revistei Drum, 1967) * ''Poeme din închisori'' (with Nicolae Novac) (Madrid: Editura Drum, 1970) * ''Desgroparea Căpitanului'' (Madrid: Editura Mișcării Legionare, 1977) * ''Icoane de dor. Poeme'' (Lugoj: Editura "Dacia Europa Noua", 1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Posteucă, Vasile 1912 births 1972 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast University of Toronto alumni Chernivtsi University alumni Romanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Romanian fascists 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Members of the Iron Guard 20th-century Romanian journalists 20th-century Romanian male writers Romanian emigrants to Canada Romanian expatriates in the United States Romanian exiles