Dumitru Popovici (October 25, 1902–December 6, 1952) was a
Romanian literary historian.
Born in
Dăneasa
Dăneasa is a commune in Olt County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Berindei, Cioflanu, Dăneasa, Pestra and Zănoaga.
Natives
* Dumitru Popovici
Dumitru Popovici (October 25, 1902–December 6, 1952) was a Romanian lit ...
,
Olt County, his parents were Ioan Popovici, a teacher, and his wife Ioana (''née'' Popescu). After attending primary school in nearby
Șerbănești
Șerbănești is a commune in Olt County, Muntenia, 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 ...
from 1909 to 1914, he studied at
Radu Greceanu High School in
Slatina from 1914 to 1923. Popovici then went to the literature faculty of
Bucharest University from 1923 to 1927, earning a doctorate there in 1935. From 1924 to 1926, he was honorific teaching assistant to
Dumitru Caracostea Dumitru Caracostea (March 10, 1879–June 2, 1964) was a Romanian folklorist, literary historian and critic.
Biography Origins and early career
He was born in Slatina, Olt County to Nicolae Caracostea, a magistrate of Aromanian descent, and h ...
. He taught high school in Slatina (1927-1930) and
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 ...
(1930-1936). From 1936 until his death, he was a professor in the literature faculty of
Cluj University
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
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, subdivision_type1 = County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Status
, subdivision_name2 = County seat
, settlement_type = City
, le ...
. From 1930 to 1934, he audited the Modern Greek courses of
André Mirambel in Paris. He also took classes with
Daniel Mornet,
Fernand Baldensperger
Fernand is a masculine given name of French name, French origin. The feminine form is Fernande.
Fernand may refer to:
People Given name
* Fernand Augereau (1882–1958), French cyclist
* Fernand Auwera (1929–2015), Belgian writer
* Fernand Ba ...
,
Paul Hazard and
Mario Roques, shifting toward studies of comparative literature and working as a lecturer on the Romanian language at the Sorbonne and the
École nationale des langues orientales vivantes.
Popovici published his first articles of literary history in the Slatina magazine ''Oltul'' in 1928. His proper debut as a critic took place in 1929 in ''
Viața Românească'', with the study ''Poezia lui Cezar Bolliac''. He took part in founding (1935) and leading (1935-1936) ''Atheneum'' magazine in Iași. Popovici's first published book was his doctoral thesis, the 1935 ''Ideologia literară a lui I. Heliade-Rădulescu''; this was followed later the same year by an expanded study, ''"Santa Cetate". Între utopie și poezie''. During World War II, he lived in
Sibiu, having withdrawn there after the
Second Vienna Award granted
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...
, including Cluj, to
Hungary. While there in 1942, he founded ''Studii literare'' magazine, which ran until 1948. He also held courses on the history of literary ideology and of modern Romanian literature, published a volume of studies (''Cercetări de literatură română'') and put together critical editions of the works of
Dimitrie Bolintineanu
Dimitrie Bolintineanu (; 14 January 1819 (1825 according to some sources), Bolintin-Vale – 20 August 1872, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, though he wrote in many other styles as well, diplomat, politician, and a participant in the revoluti ...
(''Scrieri alese'', 1942) and
Ion Heliade Rădulescu
Ion Heliade Rădulescu or Ion Heliade (also known as ''Eliade'' or ''Eliade Rădulescu''; ; January 6, 1802 – April 27, 1872) was a Wallachian, later Romanian academic, Romanticism, Romantic and Classicism, Classicist poet, essayist, mem ...
(''Opere'', vol. I-II, 1939 and 1943). He made plans for a wide-ranging history of modern Romanian literature, of which he managed to publish just the first volume, ''La Littérature roumaine a l’époque des Lumières'' (1945). He prepared a lithographed course book, ''Literatura română în epoca "Luminilor" și Literatura română modernă. Tendința de integrare în ritmul cultural occidental''. Unedited fragments of this literary history were preserved as manuscript (''Romantismul românesc'') or lithographed courses (''Eminescu în critica și istoria literară română''; ''Poezia lui Mihai Eminescu''). There remain in manuscript from his last years a series of literary projects and attempts: a partial translation of
Dante Alighieri's ''
Inferno''; the poetry cycle ''Aur legendar''; the opening of a novel with satirical elements, ''Într-o vară, la moșie''; and numerous comedies, of which ''Bucătarul de la Salamandra'' (1946) and ''Regele din Propontide'' (1948-1950) were completed.
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 418. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ]
He married Elvira Chiffa, also a professor; the couple's daughter,
Ioana Em. Petrescu Ioana or Oana is a female given name of Romanian origin. It is the equivalent of the English name Joan, and the male version John, all of which derive from the Hebrew name Yohanan. A common diminutive is Ionela.
People with this name include:
*Io ...
, herself became a literary historian and critic.
[Sasu, ''op. cit.'', p. 348]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovici, Dumitru
1902 births
1952 deaths
People from Olt County
University of Bucharest alumni
BabeÈ™-Bolyai University faculty
Romanian literary historians
Romanian magazine founders
Romanian magazine editors
Romanian schoolteachers
Comparative literature academics