Costache Caragiale (; 29 March 1815 – 13 February 1877) was a

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

n actor and theatre manager who had an important role in the development of the Romanian theatre. Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, he made his stage debut in 1835 and, in 1838, organized a theatre company in Iaşi,

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 Centr ...

, which became part of the first

Romanian National Theatre The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) 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'' ("Gra ...

. He worked in many Romanian regional theatres, especially in Iaşi,

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

and Botoşani, and encouraged the usage of plays by Romanian dramatists of the day, especially those of

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 Romani ...

and

Constantin Negruzzi Constantin Negruzzi (; first name often Costache ; 1808–24 August 1868) was a Romanian poet, novelist, translator, playwright, and politician. Born in Trifești, Iași, Trifeștii Vechi, Moldavia, he studied at home with a Greek teacher. He ad ...

. Between 1852 and 1855, Costache Caragiale was the first director of the

National Theatre of Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) 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'' ("Gra ...

. He also wrote a few comedies, such as ''O repetiţie moldovenească'' – ''A Moldavian Rehearsal'' (1844) and ''O soaré la mahala'' (''A Soiree in the Neighbourhood''). He is the uncle of

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...

, a Romanian playwright. His younger brother, Iorgu Caragiale, was also an actor and theatre director.

Works

*''Scrieri a lui Costache Caragiale'', ("Writings by Costache Caragiale"), 1840 *''Epistolă către Grigore Alexandrescu'', ("Letter to Grigore Alexandrescu"), 1841 *''Leonil sau Ce produce dispreţul'', ("Leonil or What Contempt Produces"), 1841 *''O repetiţie moldovenească sau Noi şi iar Noi'', ("A Moldavian Rehearsal or We And We Again"), 1844, comedy *''O soaré la mahala sau Amestecul de dorinţi'', ("A Soirée in the Low-Life Neighborhood or The Mixture of Aspirations"), comedy *''Îngâmfata plăpumăreasă sau Cucoană sunt'' ("The Conceited Quiltmaker or A Lady I Am") *''Doi coţcari sau Feriţi-vă de răi ca de foc'' ("Two Swindlers or Avoid the Bad Ones Like Poison") *''Învierea morţilor'' ("The Resurrection of the Dead") *''Urmarea coţcarilor'' ("The Swindlers, A Sequel") *''Prologul pentru inaugurarea noului teatru din București'', ("Prologue at the Inauguration of the New Theater in Bucharest"), (1852), 1881 *''Teatrul Naţional în Ţara Românească'', ("The National Theater in Wallachia"), (1855), 1867

Translations

*''Furiosul'', ("Orlando Furioso" ?), 1840 1815 births 1877 deaths Chairpersons of the National Theatre Bucharest Romanian people of Greek descent Theatre people from Bucharest Romanian male stage actors Romanian dramatists and playwrights Romanian theatre directors 19th-century Romanian male actors 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century theatre managers {{Romania-bio-stub