Dan Simonescu (born Dan Simon, also known as Simionescu and Simon Dănescu; December 11, 1902 March 10, 1993) was a Romanian literary historian, bibliographer, folklorist, and librarian. His debut was in his late teens, when he accompanied Constantin Rădulescu-Codin during fieldwork in

Muscel County Muscel County is a former first-order administrative district of Romania. It was located in the southern central part of Greater Romania, in the northwestern part of the historic region of Muntenia. Its territory is now mostly part of Argeș County ...

, publishing his first contributions in the field of

Romanian folklore The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. A feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romanian ...

. After graduating from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

in 1925, and publishing his first book, a collection of articles, in 1926, he became an assistant professor at his alma mater, and was also employed as a librarian by the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

. Simonescu joined an editorial team headed by senior scholars

Ioan Bianu Ioan Bianu (1856 or 1857 – February 13, 1935) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian philologist and bibliographer. The son of a peasant family from Transylvania, he completed high school in Blaj, where he became a disciple of Timotei Cipariu a ...

and

Nicolae Cartojan Nicolae Cartojan (December 4, 1883–December 20, 1944) was a Romanian literary historian. Born in Uzunu, Giurgiu County, his parents were Anghel Cartojan and Maria (''née'' Petrescu). He graduated from Bucharest's Saint Sava National Colleg ...

, and, in the 1930s and 1940s, became a major contributor to the collection and publication of old

Romanian literature Romanian literature () is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language. History The development of the Romanian literature took place in parallel with that ...

; he was also Cartojan's disciple, though the two disagreed on a parallel project, namely the publication of

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on October 11, 1863, ...

's collected works, with Simonescu favoring, and eventually putting out, a topical selection of Kogălniceanu's social-themed essays. His own first major contributions were his doctoral thesis, which explored court ceremonials in the

Danubian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...

, and a paper on the emergence of

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

Early Modern Romania The Early Modern Times in Romania started after the death of Michael the Brave, who ruled in a personal union, Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldaviathree principalities in the lands that now form Romania for three months, in 1600. The three princi ...

. Having obtained a professorship at

Iași University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mi ...

during World War II, Simonescu joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in the late 1940s, and was briefly employed as a department head by the

Education Ministry An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. He became marginalized during the early stages of Romanian communism: sent to do work at the

Nicolae Iorga Institute of History The Nicolae Iorga Institute of History ( ro, Institutul de Istorie „Nicolae Iorga”; abbreviation: IINI) is an institution of research in the field of history under the auspices of the Romanian Academy. The institute is located at 1 Bulevardul A ...

and the Technical School for Librarians, he was involved in the technical aspects of bibliographic work. By 1956, he could return with more editions of Kogălniceanu, and more secretly networked with other old-regime intellectuals, including G. T. Kirileanu; they ensured the preservation and eventual resumption of cultural research that went against the official interpretation of

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various co ...

. In the 1960s, the regime allowed Simonescu to teach at the Bucharest Pedagogical Institute, and then granted him a Bucharest University chair, which he preserved to his official retirement in 1972. He is widely seen as responsible for the definitive Kogălniceanu edition, while also contributing studies of ancient literature, including romances and rhyming chronicles, with additional returns to both bibliography and folkloristics. Simonescu was additionally instrumental in the rediscovery of historical writings by Balthasar Walther, though also criticized for allowing communist censors to remove a fragment referencing

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...

's antisemitism. Organizing a specialized class for antiquarian booksellers when he was already in his late eighties, he continued to write into the early 1990s. Three years after the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

, and four months before his death, he was made an honorary member of the academy.

Biography

Beginnings and interwar

Dan Simon was born on December 11, 1902, in

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , german: Langenau, Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian)), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'', is a municipality in the Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is situated among t ...

, which was back then the seat of local government for Muscel, in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. II, p. 569. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Petrescu, p. 43 His parents, who adhered to the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

,"Colonel Constantin I. Simonescu", in ''

Universul ''Universul'' was a mass-circulation newspaper in Romania. It existed from 1884 to 1953, and was run by Stelian Popescu from 1914 to 1943 (with a two-year break during World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbrevi ...

'', January 22, 1943, p. 5 were the civil servant Ion Simon and his wife Ecaterina (née Slăvescu). The couple had eleven other children, including

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

Colonel Constantin Simonescu. The Simons, all of whom later used the name "Simonescu", had deeper ties to Muscel, with Ion being born at

Suslănești Mioarele, formerly known as Mățău, is a commune in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. Located 4 kilometers southeast of Câmpulung,Pop & Simonescu, p. 6 a local legend has it that Dan's grandfather, Simon of Suslănești, had spared the village devastation by pleading with the brigand Radu Anghel. Dan himself recalled being involved in village life from his early years, "with a sort of liberty that was rarely impinged upon by pedagogic principles." The future scholar lived out World War I and occupation by German troops in that region. In late 1916, he had boarded with the mayor of

Mioveni Mioveni () is a town in Argeș County, Romania, approximately 15 km (9 miles) north-east of Pitești. , it had a population of 31,998. The town administers four villages: Clucereasa, Colibași, Făgetu and Racovița. History It was fir ...

, witnessing first-hand the town's takeover by the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

.Nicolae Scurtu, "Restituiri. Dan Simonescu și unul dintre discipolii săi", in ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared on ...

'', Issues 25–26/2013, p. 23 He later referred to this period, which lasted down to the creation of

Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...

in 1918, as one of wanton destruction. His early education was completed in Câmpulung and

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in the historical re ...

, where, according to his own recollections, he became more disciplined and began modelling himself on his teachers, especially Alexandru Bărcăcilă and Mihai Mihăileanu, who taught him Latin. After completing Ion Brătianu High School, Simon enrolled in the University of Bucharest in September 1921. He was initially drawn by classical scholarship, in the same class as

Alexandru Graur Alexandru Graur (; July 9, 1900 – July 9, 1988) was a Romanian linguist. Born into a Jewish family in Botoșani, Graur graduated from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris (1 ...

, but was put off by professor

Dumitru Evolceanu Dumitru Evolceanu (October 1, 1865–July 28, 1938) was a Romanian literary critic. Born in Botoșani, he attended high school in his native city, followed by the literature faculty of Iași University, from which he graduated in 1889. He then ...

, whose teaching methods he regarded as superficial; he was instead impressed by Iuliu Valaori, who introduced him to

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

. According to his own recollections, in 1922 he met Constantin Rădulescu-Codin, a clerk and schoolteacher who was traveling throughout Muscel and Argeș Counties, collecting

; one such trip took them to Suslănești. Looking back in 1981, Simonescu described Muscel and Argeș as a "region ..with old, and, it seems to me, unaltered traditions." As noted by folklorist Mihail M. Robea, he was one of the young intellectuals who did much of the uncredited fieldwork, with the results of their research being effectively exploited by Codin. A fellow literary historian, G. G. Ursu, dates Simonescu's writing debut to 1923, noting his "unrelenting passion for books".G. G. Ursu, "Dan Simonescu — 75", in ''

'', Issue 50/1977, p. 9 These early contributions were published by

Arthur Gorovei Arthur Gorovei (born 19 February 1864, Fălticeni – d. 19 March 1951, Bucharest) was a Romanian writer, folklorist and ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthro ...

's specialized magazine of folkloristics, ''Șezătoarea''.Nicolae Scurtu, "Restituiri. Însemnări despre epistolograful Artur Gorovei", in ''

'', Issue 36/2014, p. 15 According to Gorovei's recollections, his first signature was ''Dan Simionescu'', with ''Simonescu'' eventually settled as his definitive surname. He sometimes alternated it with a pen name, ''Simon Dănescu''. "Student Dan I. Simonescu, originally from Câmpulung" was cited as an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

by the folklorist Ioan Aurel Candrea, referencing a Muscel legend which claimed that brigand Gheorghe Fulga had escaped from jail using a miraculous week called ''iarba fiarelor''. He also rediscovered a collection of primary sources on Câmpulung's history, attributing it to the clerk Dumitru I. Băjan. Simonescu was trained in

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...

, and in 1924–1925 held a job at the National Archives. He graduated university in 1925, when he also became a substitute high school teacher; he held a permanent position in 1929–1931. His first published volumeValeriu Nițu, "Anul Internațional al Cărții. Cu prof. univ. dr. Dan Simonescu prin lumea cărților", in '' Vatra'', Vol. II, Issue 21, December 1972, p. 19 was the 1926 ''Încercări istorico-literare'' ("Literary and Historical Essays"). Done from papers he presented at university seminars, it formulated Simonescu's identification of

Alecu Russo Alecu Russo (March 17, 1819 near Chișinău – February 5, 1859 in Iași), was a Moldavian Romanian writer, literary critic and publicist. Russo is credited with having discovered one of the most elaborate forms of the Romanian national folk ...

as the author of a

Romanian nationalist Romanian nationalism is the nationalism which asserts that Romanians are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Romanians. Its extremist variation is the Romanian ultranationalism.Aristotle KallisGenocide and Fascism: The Eliminationist Drive ...

essay, ''Cântarea României'', and presented

Udriște Năsturel Udriște Năsturel, first name also Uriil, Uril, Ioriste, or Oreste, last name also Năsturelovici (1596 or 1598 – ca. 1658), was a Wallachian scholar, poet, and statesman, the brother-in-law of Prince Matei Basarab through his sister Elena Nă ...

's translation of ''

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are legendary Christian saints. Their life story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to the legend, an Indian ...

''. A separate chapter discussed

Gheorghe Asachi Gheorghe Asachi (, surname also spelled Asaki; 1 March 1788 – 12 November 1869) was a Moldavian, later Romanian prose writer, poet, painter, historian, dramatist, engineer- border maker and translator. An Enlightenment-educated polymath and ...

's poetic debt to

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

. ''Încercări'' was followed that same year by a monograph on the Câmpulung Monastery—''Viața literară și culturală a Mănăstirii Câmpulung (Muscel) în trecut'', which was essentially his final dissertation, with scholar

as the supervisor.Pop & Simonescu, p. 7 Drawing praise from the establishment historian

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

(and, as Simonescu notes, still cited by scholars into the 1970s), it was rated as "excellent" by Ursu. Also in 1926, Simonescu arranged for print the late Rădulescu-Codin's final manuscript, a monograph of Câmpulung. Upon Bianu's recommendation, and upon finishing his mandatory military service in December 1927, Simonescu became a teaching assistant at

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 ...

's Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. He replaced

, who had been advanced to lecturer, and was originally a substitute for Iorga (to 1929). He was later accepted as a provisional (1931) and permanent (1938) assistant; from 1931, he was also a librarian at the

collections and the manuscript section of the

Central University Library Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. His first tasks were in cataloguing Teodor Burada's documentary fund. His second specialization was in

Byzantine studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...

, after attending a seminar held by philologist Demostene Russo in 1933–1934. Collaborating with senior bibliographers such as Bianu and Cartojan, who informed his approach to historiography, he became fascinated with

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

; on behalf of the academy, he was editor of the well-received third-volume of ''Bibliografia românească veche'' ("Old Romanian Bibliography"), which came out in 1936.Petrescu, p. 44Dimitrie Păcurariu, "Erudiția și rigoarea istoricului literar", in '' Luceafărul'', Vol. XXVIII, Issue 14, April 1985, p. 6 Also that year, his own literary reviews were collected into a single volume (as ''Istorie literară în recenzii''). From 1935, he also taught at a pedagogical high school in Bucharest—a stint which ended in 1938 or 1940. Researcher Nicolae Scurtu notes that Simonescu's enduring admiration for Bianu and Cartojan were "of a rare kind in the Romanian cultural space." He maintained his admiration of Cartojan throughout his life, calling him a "perfect man", as well as "just, decent, humane, ndself-effacing".Alexandru Niculescu, "Istorie literară. Un savant, o epocă", in ''

'', Issue 5/2002, p. 16 Cartojan, alongside Bianu, Russo and others whom he met at the academy, gave him living proof that "one cannot complete a thorough paper without sacrificing one's hours of leisure and entertainment, one's personal and family interests, one's health and friendships." As Cartojan's assistant at the Bucharest faculty of letters, Simonescu held two seminars—one teaching students the minutiae of the

Romanian Cyrillic alphabet 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 ...

, and the other familiarizing them with the major works of old

.Nae Antonescu, "Revista ''Cercetări Literare''", in ''Steaua'', Vol. XXXVII, Issue 2, February 1986, p. 47 Spurred on by Cartojan, he attended specialized courses at Athens and Istanbul (1934), followed by an extended stay as a visiting scholar at the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

in Paris (1937). Also in 1937, he issued a monograph called ''Dela istorie la istorie literară'', which discussed

Alexandru Lapedatu Alexandru I. Lapedatu (14 September 1876 – 30 August 1950) was Cults and Arts and State minister of Romania, President of the Senate of Romania, member of the Romanian Academy, its president and general secretary. Family Alexandru Lapedatu wa ...

's contribution as a historian. On May 16 of that year, he published in ''

Curentul ''Curentul'' is a Romanian newspaper, based in Bucharest. It was founded in January 1928 by Pamfil Șeicaru and relaunched in October 1997. Before 1944, Șeicaru had written daily the main editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or ...

'' an article which announced the first efforts to establish

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

as an independent academic domain.

Wartime and communist repression

Simonescu took a doctorate of letters in 1938, with a paper on the court ceremonial in the old

. Its starting point 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 Centr ...

n codex of 1762, compiled in Greek and identified as the work of ''

Logothete Logothete ( el, λογοθέτης, ''logothétēs'', pl. λογοθέται, ''logothétai''; Med. la, logotheta, pl. ''logothetae''; bg, логотет; it, logoteta; ro, logofăt; sr, логотет, ''logotet'') was an administrative title ...

'' Georgiaki. This had been first issued in print in the 19th century by scholar

, whose errors he was forced to correct as part of his commentary. Simonescu's first article on this subject had been published by Cartojan's ''Cercetări Literare'' magazine, which had him as a contributor into the 1940s; according to Scurtu, it was this collaboration which fully consolidated his reputation. A younger literary historian, Dimitrie Păcurariu, rates his definitive, published thesis a work of reference for the study of older Romanian literature; another scholar,

Mircea Anghelescu Mircea is a Romanian masculine given name, a form of the South Slavic name Mirče (Мирче) that derives from the Slavic word ''mir'', meaning 'peace'. It may refer to: People Princes of Wallachia * Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418), a ...

, sees it as "marking a date in Romanian medieval studies". Historian Emil Lăzărescu took a reserved view, noting that Simonescu had failed to reveal some of his sources, and that the paper contained too few direct citations from Georgiakis. He believed that the work was rather a "point of departure" for later investigations. Also in 1938, Simonescu and Emil Murcade put out an introduction to books of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

appearing in

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 ...

, followed in 1939 by their study, ''Tipar românesc pentru arabi în secolul al XVIII-lea'' ("Romanian Printing for the Arabs during the 18th Century"). Simonescu underwent further training in France during 1939. During World War II and the

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

dictatorship, Simonescu was substitute professor at the Higher School of Archives and Paleography (1939–1941; 1942–1943). In early 1941, after a brief civil war against the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...

, Antonescu and his new Education Minister,

Radu R. Rosetti Radu R. Rosetti ( – June 2, 1949) was a Romanian brigadier general, military historian, librarian, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. Biography Early years Born in Căiuți, Bacău County, he was part of the old ''boyar'' Rosetti fam ...

, proceeded with a purge of known Guardists in academia. As part of this maneuver, Giorge Pascu was forced to resign from the Bucharest University's Chair of Old Literature; Cartojan tried to get Simonescu nominated for that position, but failed to obtain relevant support. Simonescu functioned instead as a substitute professor at the Letters and Philosophy Faculty of

(1941–1942), but no longer employed by the Central Library after 1942. Alongside Ion C. Chițimia and

Alexandru Rosetti Alexandru Rosetti (October 20, 1895 – February 27, 1990) was a Romanian linguist, editor, and memoirist. Born in Bucharest, his parents were Petre Rosetti Bălănescu, a lawyer and landowner, and his wife Zoe (''née'' Cornescu), whose father wro ...

, and under Cartojan's guidance, he began publishing a corpus of old Romanian literature, of which only three volumes came out (two in 1942, and the third, namely the German Chronicle of

Stephen the Great Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 ...

's reign, in 1944).Octavian Șchiau, "Nicolae Cartojan", in ''Steaua'', Vol. XXXIV, Issue 12, December 1983, p. 14 During his tenure, Romania entered the war as an ally of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, participating in the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

. In December 1941, ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' ( Romanian: ''Literary Talks'') is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by ...

'' hosted Simonescu's homage to three of his seminar students who had since been killed on the Eastern Front; it referred to the "Eastern enemy" as "a dispenser of human misery and a persecutor of the hristiancross". In October–November 1943, he visited the

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate ( ro, Guvernământul Transnistriei) was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa and occupied from 19 Aug ...

, established by Antonescu in former Soviet territory, and lectured at

Odesa University Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...

. By then, he was also affiliated with

Victor Papacostea The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

's ''Balcania'' group, which, although well received (and budgeted) by Antonescu, conflicted with the

Greater Germanic Reich The Greater Germanic Reich (german: Großgermanisches Reich), fully styled the Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation (german: Großgermanisches Reich deutscher Nation), was the official state name of the political entity that Nazi Germany ...

by reviving

Balkan federalism The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...

. Simonescu was the first expert to investigate the collection of Romanian manuscripts that scholar

Moses Gaster Moses Gaster (17 September 1856 – 5 March 1939) was a Romanian, later British scholar, the ''Hakham'' of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation, London, and a Hebrew and Romanian linguist. Moses Gaster was an active Zionist in Romania ...

had bequeathed to the academy, publishing his results in a 1940 issue of '' Viața Romînească''. His other research at the Higher School was taken up in print with a 1943 tract on the emergence of a critical dimension in Romania's history-writing (''Spiritul critic în istoriografia veche românească''). It detailed the old chroniclers' emancipation from the standards imposed by

Constantine Manasses Constantine Manasses ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Μανασσῆς; c. 1130 - c. 1187) was a Byzantine chronicler who flourished in the 12th century during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180). He was the author of a chronicle or historic ...

, dwelling on

Grigore Ureche Grigore Ureche (; 1590–1647) was a Moldavian chronicler who wrote on Moldavian history in his ''Letopisețul Țării Moldovei'' ('' Chronicles of the Land of Moldavia''), covering the period from 1359 to 1594. Biography Grigore Ureche was th ...

and

Miron Costin Miron Costin (March 30, 1633 – 1691) was a Moldavian (Romanian) political figure and chronicler. His main work, ''Letopiseţul Ţărâi Moldovei e la Aron Vodă încoace' (''The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia Aron Vodă]'') was meant to e ...

's effort to distinguish propaganda and calumny from historical truth. Taking over as head of Iași University's Chair of Old Romanian Literature in mid-1942, Simonescu successfully proposed (though with some reservations) that

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...

become his counterpart at the Modern Literature Department. This proposal was vetoed by government overseers, who viewed Călinescu as politically suspect, and Simonescu retained that chair as well, as a substitute. Cartojan's death in 1944 left Simonescu in charge of another project, namely the publication of works by Kogălniceanu. He was also the sole editor of an addendum to (or fourth volume of) ''Bibliografia românească veche''.Nestor Camariano, "Recenzii. Bianu Ioan și Simonescu Dan, ''Bibliografia Românească Veche, 1508—1830'', tom. IV, adăogiri și îndreptări", in ''Revista Istorică Română'', Vol. XIV, Fascicle IV, 1944, pp. 522–523 The book was completed under duress, with Simonescu showing up for work at the academy throughout the air raids on Bucharest; though commended for the effort, he was criticized by classical scholar Nestor Camariano for not including a number of works, such as

Rigas Feraios Rigas Feraios ( el, Ρήγας Φεραίος , sometimes ''Rhegas Pheraeos''; rup, Riga Fereu) or Velestinlis (Βελεστινλής , also transliterated ''Velestinles''); 1757 – 24 June 1798), born as Antonios Rigas Velestinlis ( el ...

' maps of the Principalities. The turn of tides on the Eastern Front saw the scholar's brother Constantin killed in action during

Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launch ...

of late 1942. In August 1944, Antonescu was deposed by coup, and Romania was placed under a Soviet occupation. In February 1945, Simonescu was lecturing at the newly formed

Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union 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 ...

(ARLUS) of Bucharest, discussing

Dimitrie Cantemir Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir (, russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant e ...

's activity in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. That August, ARLUS'

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 traditionally ...

chapter hosted his presentation of

Nikolai Spathari Nikolai Spathari (russian: Николай Гаврилович Спафарий, Nikolai Gavrilovich Spathari; 1636–1708), also known as Nicolae Milescu and Nicolae Milescu Spătaru (, first name also ''Neculai'', signing in Latin as Nicolaus ...

, a Moldavian soldier and geographer in service to the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I i ...

. He continued to publish articles, including, in 1946, one detailing the spread of

Baltasar Gracián Baltasar Gracián y Morales, S.J. (; 8 January 16016 December 1658), better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His writings were lauded ...

's ''

El Criticón ''El Criticón'' is a Spanish novel by Baltasar Gracián. It was published in three parts in the years 1651, 1653 and 1657. It is considered his greatest work and one of the most influential works in Spanish literature, along with ''Don Quixote'' ...

'' in 18th-century Moldavia. He was elected a regional delegate of the Democratic Students' Front, and, at a congress held on June 18, 1946, joined the national executive board of the Union of Teachers' Syndicates. By October 1946, Simonescu had set up a private school for boys in Bucharest, called "Mihail Kogălniceanu High School". Exactly a year later, during the Week of Romanian–Soviet Friendship, he spoke at ARLUS' library on

Calea Victoriei CALEA may refer to: *Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, an act by the US Congress to facilitate wiretapping of U.S. domestic telephone and Internet traffic *Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a private accredit ...

about the Soviet tradition in book editing "for the masses". Also then, he and Sergiu Calmanovici co-authored and published secondary-school textbooks for both Romanian and French. During the early stages of Romanian communism, Simonescu focused mainly on his work as a bibliographer. As recalled by Anghelescu, who was at a time a student of literature, the senior scholar had been barred from teaching by the communist censors—a lesser punishment than those reserved for other specialists, whose work was entirely purged from academia.

, "Istorie literară. Un patriarh al cărții vechi românești", in ''

'', Issue 42/1992, p. 10 By January 1948, he had joined the

, and was writing for its journal, ''Viitorul Social''. From 1947, he was employed by the Education Ministry's Study Offices, and by February 1948 was collecting statistical data from the various schools. That year, a book collection put out by '' Vatra'' magazine hosted his edition of Kogălniceanu's "social writings". In his introductory study, Simonescu explained that this was a spin-off from Cartojan's own Kogălniceanu corpus, which, he argued, had neglected the Kogălniceanu's social directives. He was moved to Iași University Philology Section where, in February 1949, he and Alexandru Dima established a study circle which took inspiration from

Soviet historiography Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union (USSR). In the USSR, the study of history was marked by restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Soviet historiography i ...

. As noted in 1977 by Ursu, the "demands of the cultural revolution in our country" also led Simonescu to participate in popular education, with lectures at the Bucharest people's university. His works of the time include a May 1951 article which discussed the governing Workers' Party as depicted "in new works of folk literature". He made returns to his native area (by then included in

Argeș Region Regiunea Argeș (Argeș Region) was one of the newly established (in 1950) administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Romania, copied after the Soviet style of territorial organisation. It existed until 1952, when its territory merged wit ...

), and in 1953 stayed with teacher Vasile Marin at

Mușătești Mușătești is a Commune in Romania, commune in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Bolovănești, Costești-Vâlsan, Mușătești, Prosia, Robaia, Stroești, Valea Faurului, Valea Muscelului and Vâlsănești. Nati ...

Recovery

Simonescu was chief scientific researcher at the

from 1952 or 1953. During that same period, he was also a staff educator at the Technical School for Librarians. His position at Iași was filled by a former student, and personal friend, I. D. Lăudat. In 1955, Simonescu curated Kogălniceanu's selected works for the '' Biblioteca pentru toți'' collection, with a preface which depicted the author "as a thinker of progressive outlook, who never went down the reactionary path taken by the bourgeoisie". Simonescu also edited an edition of Kogălniceanu's literary essays and articles, which came out in 1956 as ''Despre literatură''. This contribution was noted for featuring works that had only ever seen print in their Cyrillic version. In mid-1957, he was allowed to publish in the historical magazine ''Studii și Materiale de Istorie Modernă'', earning praise for putting out Kogălniceanu's first-ever complete bibliography. Another one of his work traced Kogălniceanu's role in establishing the modern

Romanian lexis The lexis of the Romanian language (or Daco-Romanian), a Romance language, has changed over the centuries as the language evolved from Vulgar Latin, to Common Romanian, to medieval, modern and contemporary Romanian. A large proportion (about 42%) ...

. It was panned by linguist Ion Gheție, who argued that Simonescu had merely put together a collection of words which modern Romanian never adopted, such as "ill-adapted neologisms" and samples of Kogălniceanu's preference for the

Moldavian dialect The Moldavian dialect (''subdialectul / graiul moldovean / moldovenesc'') is one of several dialects of the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian). It is spoken across the approximate area of the historical region of Moldavia, now split between the Re ...

. Also according to Gheție, Simonescu was poorly familiarized with historical grammar, and "seems to confuse literary language with the Muntenian dialect". In 1958, Simonescu was in correspondence with G. T. Kirileanu, a former librarian of the royal court, who was asking him to look after books he had donated to the academy. G. T. Kirileanu, Constantin Prangati, "Inedit. Jurnal – 1958 (II)", in ''Ateneu'', Vol. 36, Issue 5, May 1999, p. 3 As argued by historian Constantin Prangati, the Kirileanu–Simonescu exchanges show that the latter formed part of a clandestine intellectual network, also including

Constantin C. Giurescu Constantin C. Giurescu (; 26 October 1901 – 13 November 1977) was a Romanian historian, member of the Romanian Academy, and professor at the University of Bucharest. Born in Focșani, son of historian Constantin Giurescu, he completed his pri ...

Traian Herseni Traian Herseni (February 18, 1907 – July 17, 1980) was a Romanian social scientist, journalist, and political figure. First noted as a favorite disciple of Dimitrie Gusti, he helped establish the Romanian school of rural sociology in the 1920s a ...

Iorgu Iordan Iorgu Iordan (; also known as ''Jorgu Jordan'' or ''Iorgu Jordan''; –September 20, 1986) was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety of t ...

Simion Mehedinți Simion Mehedinți (; October 19, 1868 – December 14, 1962) was a Romanian geographer, the founding father of modern Romanian geography, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. A figure of importance in the ''Junimea'' literary club, ...

, as well as others. These "supported national culture, defending the Romanians' language and history, while maintaining faith in the arrival of better times". Simonescu made another celebrated return in 1960, when he described the late-16th-century chronicle of Balthasar Walther, a hitherto ignored historical source on the reign of

. As noted by scholar

Andrei Oișteanu Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for h ...

, Simonescu paid service to the communist habit of avoiding discussion about

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and antisemitism in Romania. In his Walther edition, he "expunged—by replacing it with dots—the ..passage" which detailed how Michael "had all the Jews murdered, who, according to their custom, as they were wont, conducted themselves as traitors to the country."

, ''Inventing the Jew. Antisemitic Stereotypes in Romanian and Other Central East-European Cultures'', p. 27. Lincoln:

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univer ...

, 2009. This act of self-censorship caused some controversy in later decades, since reference works preserved the text in Simonescu's version. Academic Alexandru Niculescu argues that, by the mid-to-late 1960s, with the communist regime signaling an interest in "recovering the literary inheritance", Simonescu and Chițimia, as well as Iordan, Lăudat and

Alexandru Piru Alexandru Piru (August 22, 1917 – November 6, 1993) was a Romanian literary critic and historian. Born in Mărgineni, Bacău County,Alex. Ștefănescu"Al. Piru", in ''România Literară'', nr. 10/2002 his parents were Vasile, a notary, and ...

, could hope to restore Cartojan's legacy in letters. In 1961, on behalf of the academy, he and Constantin Grecescu published a critical edition of the late-17th-century chronicle known as '' Letopisețul Cantacuzinesc''. The regime awarded him recognition as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

of philological science in 1962, as well as a position on the Romanian association for

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...

. A professor at the Bucharest Pedagogical Institute from 1963 (where he also led the librarians' association), Simonescu was then granted his own chair at the university—holding it from 1968 or 1969 until retirement in 1972. He was again becoming noted for his dedication in researching old Romanian literature, including for his 1966 overview of literary contributions by

Anthim the Iberian Anthim the Iberian (Romanian: ''Antim Ivireanul'', Georgian: ანთიმოზ ივერიელი – ''Antimoz Iverieli''; secular name: ''Andria''; 1650 — September or October 1716) was a Georgian theologian, scholar, calligraphe ...

and his 1967 work in French, for the ''Studia et Acta Orientalia'', constituting an overview of Arabic and Karamanli books issued in Wallachia. Simonescu kept in touch with the Romanian-born Eric Tappe, who headed the

UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES ) is a school of University College London (UCL) specializing in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. It teaches a range of subjects, including the history, ...

in England. Tappe also put him in contact with his British student,

Dennis Deletant Dennis Deletant (born 5 March 1946) is a British-Romanian historian of the history of Romania. As of 2019, he is Visiting Ion Rațiu Professor of Romanian Studies at Georgetown University and Emeritus Professor of Romanian Studies at the UCL Sc ...

, who writes: "Dan Simonescu taught me most of what I know about early Romanian culture. Without the guidance given by both these gentlemen appe and Simonescu I would not have had the linguistic and cultural background to develop my studies." Simonescu was rated among the "prestigious researchers" by Piru, in 1970, and by bibliographer G. Pătrar as "the most reputable connoisseur of old books", in 1971.G. Pătrar, "Mircea Filip: ''Cartea românească veche în biblioteca G. T. Kirileanu''", in ''Ateneu'', Vol. VIII, Issue 1, January 1971, p. 7 His other area of expertise remained mid-19th-century literature, and in particular Kogălniceanu, whose complete works he now helped edit. As literary critic

Ion Simuț An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

cautions, Simonescu actually shared credit with a team of historians, including

Alexandru Zub Alexandru Zub (born October 12, 1934) is a Romanian historian, biographer, essayist, political activist and academic. A former professor at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, University of Iași, noted for his contribution to the study of cultural ...

and

Dan Berindei Dan Berindei (3 November 1923 – 23 December 2021) was a Romanian historian. He was a titular member of the Romanian Academy from 1992 until his death. Biography A descendant of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, he was born in Bucharest on 3 Nov ...

, but was widely regarded as a "coordinator of sorts" after prefacing the first Kogălniceanu volume, in 1974.

, "Istorie literară. Șantierul unei ediții", in ''

'', Issue 3/2006, p. 13 Zub himself credits Simonescu for at least the first volume in that collection.Zub, p. 230 Simonescu reported that the year 1963, with its "professional and didactic necessities", had forced him to prioritize "bibliological science", which he viewed as a companion to literary history. However, he returned as an anthologist that same year, publishing ''Cărțile populare'' ("Books of Folk Literature"), with Chițimia as his co-editor. This contribution was followed in 1965 by his own ''Romanul popular în literatura română medievală'' ("Folk Novels in Medieval Romanian Literature"). Here and in other works, Simonescu advanced his vision of romances such as '' Alixăndria'' and '' Esopia'' as the basis of lay Romanian literature, while also criticizing Cartojan's belief that the Principalities were always indebted and peripheral to

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...

. In that context, Simonescu was researching the work of a Greek chronicler, Matthew of Myra, as read through its Romanian translation. In a French-language article published in 1966, he posited that Matthew's translator was Axinte Uricariul, himself the author of a Romanian chronicle.

Later life

From 1965, Simonescu was welcomed into the

Writers' Union of Romania The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

(USR), a member of its Literary History and Critique Section. One year later, he wrote and published ''Cronici și povestiri românești versificate'' ("Romanian Chronicles and Stories in Verse"), which included detail on the mourning song for

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension A descendant of the Craiovești boyar family and heir through his grandfather Preda of a considerable part of Matei Ba ...

and its transition into Wallachian folklore. The 1967 collective volume ''Studii de folclor și literatură'' ("Studies in Folklore and Literature"), appearing at Editura pentru Literatură, featured his contributions, alongside those of Giurescu, Ernest Bernea,

Eugeniu Sperantia Eugeniu Sperantia ( – January 11/12, 1972) was a Romanian poet, aesthetician, essayist, sociologist and philosopher. He was born in Bucharest to folklorist Theodor Speranția and his wife Elena (''née'' Cruceanu), a relative of poet Mihail ...

Henri H. Stahl Henri H. Stahl (also known as Henry H. Stahl or H. H. Stahl; 1901 – 9 September 1991) was a Romanian Marxist cultural anthropologist, ethnographer, sociologist, and social historian. Biography Born in Bucharest to a family of Alsatian and F ...

, and Eugen Todoran. Also noted for his editorial work on manuscripts left by Constantin Cantacuzino, in 1969 he attended a colloquium at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

, presenting the results of his finds from Cantacuzino's personal book collection. His work as a bibliographer also produced a specialized textbook, put out by

Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy (Romanian: ''Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu'', in full: ''Academia de învăţămînt social-politic Ștefan Gheorghiu de pe lîngă CC al PCR'' - approx. ''Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy for Socio-Political Education in Rel ...

in 1967. In the early 1970s, Simonescu and Victor Petrescu worked on inventorying the book collections of

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște''; german: Tergowisch) is a city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița River. Târgoviște was one of the ...

, creating a catalogue for the city's Museum of Old Books. Also located there, the Romanian Association of Bibliophiles elected him as its honorary president in 1972. In 1971, Bucharest University's yearbook hosted his overview of

Constantin Karadja Prince Constantin Jean Lars Anthony Démétrius Karadja (24 November 1889 in The Hague – 28 December 1950 in Bucharest) was a Romanian diplomat, barrister-at-law, bibliographer, bibliophile and honorary member (1946) of the Romanian Academy. He ...

, who had died in 1950, and whom he introduced as a "great Romanian bibliologist"; that same year, he introduced a brochure on Kirileanu's collection of antique books. He was also focusing his attention on the Western European manuscripts preserved by the Batthyaneum of

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historical ...

, which he precisely dated. In 1973, he put out an album on the

Codex Aureus of Lorsch The ''Codex Aureus of Lorsch'' or Lorsch Gospels (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 50, and Alba Iulia, Biblioteca Documenta Batthyaneum, s.n.) is an illuminated Gospel Book written in Latin between 778 and 820, roughly coinciding with th ...

, followed in late 1976 by another such work on the Codex Burgundus. ''Romanul popular'' and ''Cronici și povestiri'' were followed in 1976 by a textbook, ''Teoria bibliografiei'' ("A Theory of Bibliography", 1976). The first book of its kind in Romania, it was followed by Simonescu's similarly pioneering biblioteconomy textbooks for high school. In 1980, Simonescu put out a complete bibliography of Cartojan's scholarship. In parallel, he directed Alexandru Chiriacescu and Dan Zamfirescu, who were contributing new editions of Cartojan's interwar books. In 1981, Simonescu and Gheorghe Buluță co-wrote ''Pagini din istoria cărții românești'' ("Pages from the History of Romanian Books"), which advanced the claim that "Romanian incunabula" existed as books printed by

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

ns or "

Dacians The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often consid ...

" active in Western Europe before 1500. Around the time of his eightieth birthday in 1982, Simonescu was active in the USR, and sent by this body as a representative in regional meetings—at Câmpulung,

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, and in various villages of

Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''crazy forest'' ...

. He was additionally a contributor to '' Manuscriptum'' journal, where, in early 1983, he defended his 1940s ''Bibliografia'' in a polemic with fellow scholar Paul Cornea. He declared his disappointment that, rather than being reprinted in Romania, this work had been reissued by a "famous American publishing house", and from

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

; he also urged the authorities to invest more resources in the literary education of Romania's high-school students. Another selection of Simonescu's various articles was published in 1984 at Editura Eminescu, as ''Contribuții: literatura română medievală'' ("Contributions: Medieval Romanian Literature"). The work received a prize from the Bucharest Writers' Association. It was noted by Păcurariu for its musings on the history of Romanian pedagogy and public speaking, as well as for its "very important study" on early Romanian prosody—with focus on rhyming chronicles by anonymous historians, seen in a "large comparativist framework". Simonescu was also involved with editing a Kogălniceanu reader for schoolchildren, which came out at Editura Albatros in 1987. In 1988–1990, Simonescu and Florin Rotaru coordinated a specialized class for antiquarian booksellers. Held at Dalles Hall of Bucharest, it had topical contributions by various guest speakers, including Buluță, artist Marcel Chirnoagă, and historian Ludovic Demény. The scholar also made a return to folkloristics with an introductory study to Rădulescu-Codin, published in 1986 as part of

Editura Minerva Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books. The company was founded in Bucharest in ...

's folk-literature reader (''Literatură populară''). He was at the time living in Bucharest, but corresponding with his various pupils and disciples. As he noted in his correspondence, his re-familiarization with Muscel's traditions required him to read the works of Mihail M. Robea; he also relied on biographical material sent to him by Ion Cruceană of

. After the

, and precisely on his ninetieth birthday (December 11, 1992), Simonescu was elected an honorary member of the academy. The day was marked by the new political establishment, with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

sending him a congratulatory message. Simonescu was still regularly writing at the time, and had prepared for print a paper on

Ovid Densusianu Ovid Densusianu (; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, chief of a poetry school, university professor a ...

; as argued by Anghelescu, his work in comparative literature had reached its peak with additional studies on 18th- and 19th-century translators, from

John Caradja Ioan Gheorghe Caragea (sometimes Anglified as John Caradja; pre-modern Romanian: ''Ioan Gheorghie Caragea'', Cyrillic: Їωан Геωргïє Караџѣ; Greek: Ἰωάννης Γεώργιος Καρατζάς, ''Ioannis Georgios Karatzas''; ...

Cezar Bolliac Cezar Bolliac or Boliac, Boliak (March 23, 1813 – February 25, 1881) was a Wallachian and Romanian radical political figure, amateur archaeologist, journalist and Romantic poet. Life Early life Born in Bucharest as the son of Anton Bogliak ...

, as well as with his opening up discussions about Western influences on 17th-century Romanian culture. Another contribution was his preface to Virgil Olteanu's handbook of bibliology, which came out later in 1992. His death, which took place on March 10, 1993, in Bucharest, interrupted his work on the Kogălniceanu corpus. It was continued on his behalf by Georgeta Penelea Filitti. Simonescu, Buluță and

Iurie Colesnic Iurie Colesnic (born 12 August 1955 in Dereneu, Călăraşi) is a technical literature corrector, former publishing director, literary historian, politician and writer of the Republic of Moldova. Biography Iurie Colesnic was born on 12 August ...

are also credited as the authors of ''Scurtă istorie a cărții românești'' ("A Short History of the Romanian Book"), put out by Editura Demiurg in 1994."Cărți primite la redacție", in ''

'', Issue 17/1995, p. 6. See also Petrescu, p. 44

Notes

References

*Emil Lăzărescu, "Comptes rendus. Dan Simonescu, ''Literatura românească de ceremonial. Cronica lui Gheorghiaki, 1762. Studiu și text''", in ''Revue Historique du Sud-Est Européen'', Vol. XVIII, 1941, pp. 264–268. *Victor Petrescu, "Remember. Dan Simonescu. Cartea, crezul unei existențe", in ''Curier. Revistă de Cultură și Bibliologie'', Vol. XIX, Issue 1, 2013, pp. 43–44. *Marius Pop, Dan Simonescu, "Scriitorii trebuie să simtă activ necesitatea contactului cu lumea...", in ''Argeș'', Vol. XVII, Issue 9, December 1982, pp. 6–7. *Dan Simonescu, "Din istoria folclorului și folcloristicii. Folcloristul C. Rădulescu-Codin (1875—1926)", in ''Revista de Folclor'', Issue 4/1957, pp. 91–121. *Gabriel Ștrempel, introduction and notes to

, ''Opere''. Bucharest:

, 1972. *

Pavel Țugui Pavel Țugui (1 November 1921 – 20 September 2021) was a Romanian communist activist and literary historian. Born in Vicovu de Jos, Rădăuți County (now part of Suceava County), he graduated from high school in Cernăuți, after which he becam ...

, "G. Călinescu la Universitate și la Academia română. Precizări și adăugiri (II)", in ''Revista de Istorie și Teorie Literară'', Issues 1–4/2009, pp. 69–114. *

, "Posteritatea lui Kogălniceanu", in ''Zargidava'', Vol. XVI, 2017, pp. 226–231. {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonescu, Dan 1902 births 1993 deaths Honorary members of the Romanian Academy 20th-century Romanian historians Romanian literary historians Romanian palaeographers Historians of printing Romanian classical scholars Romanian medievalists Romanian Byzantinists Slavists Comparative literature academics 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists Romanian male essayists Romanian folklorists Scholars of epic poetry Romanian bibliographers Library science scholars Romanian editors Romanian book publishers (people) Romanian anthologists Romanian textbook writers 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Romanian male biographers Romanian writers in French Romanian archivists Romanian librarians Romanian schoolteachers Founders of Romanian schools and colleges Heads of schools in Romania 20th-century Romanian civil servants Romanian trade union leaders Romanian Social Democratic Party (1927–1948) politicians Romanian anti-communists Romanian dissidents People from Câmpulung Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian people of World War I Romanian people of World War II University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Censorship in Romania