Alexandru Depărățeanu (February 25, 1834–January 9, 1865) was a
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
n, later
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 and playwright.

Born in
Roșiorii de Vede, his parents were Petru Depărățeanu and his wife Elisabeta (''née'' Altanlâu). He studied in his native town and at
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 ...
's
Saint Sava College, after which he went to the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
from 1856 to 1858, without earning a degree. From 1860 to 1865, Depărățeanu was deputy
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect' ...
of Teleorman and Târgului
plăși, and in 1864 was a deputy to the Legislative Chamber.
Depărățeanu's contributions appeared in ''Buciumul'', ''Seculul'' and ''Naționalul''. Two books of his poetry were published in 1861: ''Ciocoii vechi și ciocoii noi'' and ''Doruri și amoruri''. These were followed by his 1864 historical drama ''Grigorie Vodă – domnul Moldovei''. Among the first translators from Spanish to Romanian, he worked with a few ''
romancero'' texts, finding convincing equivalent terms. His poetry bears all the marks of a transitional era and suffers from the lexical uncertainties of a language under the impact of French influence. Nevertheless, pre-
Eminescian and even pre-
Symbolist
Symbolism or symbolist may refer to:
*Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea
Arts
*Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea
** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
tones are dimly perceptible. As a playwright (aside from the 1864 work, he wrote a comedy in 1852, ''Don Gulică sau pantofiorii miraculoși'', that was published posthumously), he shows sufficient talent for creating scenes, even managing beautiful sequences in the Romance drama style. These are comparable to the achievements of
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (; 26 February 1838 – ) was a Romanian writer and philologist who pioneered many branches of Romanian philology and history.
Life
He was born Tadeu Hâjdeu in Cristineștii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi ...
and
Vasile Alecsandri
Vasile Alecsandri (; 21 July 182122 August 1890) was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia. He fought for the unification of the Roma ...
.
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 478. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deparateanu, Alexandru
1834 births
1865 deaths
People from Roșiorii de Vede
Saint Sava National College alumni
19th-century people from the Principality of Wallachia
Romanian civil servants
Romanian poets
Romanian dramatists and playwrights
Spanish–Romanian translators
Romanian translators
University of Paris alumni
19th-century translators
Romanian expatriates in France