Alecu (or Alexandru) Donici (; January 19, 1806 – January 21, 1865) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Cent ...

n, later

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n poet and translator.

Biography

He was the first of four children of Dimitrie Donici and wife Ileana Lambrino. He studied at the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Military Academy, and became a junior lieutenant in the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

army. He was of boyar origin.

Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

lived in the Donici family house during his exile in 1820-1823. After 1828, Donici assumed the duties of a civil servant in Chişinău, but later on he chose to resign and in 1835 settled in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionall ...

, where most of his literary career unfolded. His chief work, a two-volume book of fables titled ''Fabule'' ("Fables"), was published in Iaşi in 1840; it shows the strong influence of

Ivan Krylov Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (russian: Ива́н Андре́евич Крыло́в; 13 February 1769 – 21 November 1844) is Russia's best-known fabulist and probably the most epigrammatic of all Russian authors. Formerly a dramatist and journal ...

. He translated the works of

and

Antioch Kantemir Antiochus or Antioch Kantemir or Cantemir (russian: Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир, ''Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir''; ro, Antioh Cantemir; tr, Antioh Kantemiroğlu; french: Antioche Cantemir; 8 September 1708 – 31 Mar ...

Gallery

Image:Aleea Clasicilor Donici.jpg, Alley of Classics, Chişinău Image:MD-2006-50lei-Donici-b.png, Alecu Donici on a Moldovan coin

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donici, Alecu 1806 births 1865 deaths People from Orhei District Romanian poets Romanian male poets Moldovan writers Moldovan male writers Romanian translators 19th-century translators 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers