Gheorghe Cardaș (1899 – 1983) 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 literary historian. Born in Drăgușeni, Suceava County, his parents were Gheorghe Cardaș and his wife Amalia (''née'' Camondo), and he came from an intellectual family. He attended primary school in his native village and the nearby rural localities Topile and Siliștea. Cardaș then attended high school at

Fălticeni Fălticeni (; ''german: Foltischeni; hu, Falticsén;'' he, פלטיצ'ן yi, פאלטישאן) is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia. Fălticeni is the second largest urba ...

(1913-1915),

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 ...

(1915-1916) and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

(1917-1921). In 1924, he obtained a degree from the literature and philosophy faculty of

Bucharest University 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 Princely ...

. He later took specialized courses on the history of Romanian literature at Bucharest and in comparative literature at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

from 1926 to 1927. A high-level clerk at the

Romanian Academy Library 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 ...

from 1921 to 1933, he was a teaching assistant at Bucharest University from 1932 to 1943 and a scientific researcher at 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 ...

's history institute from 1950 to 1953; also a Member of 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 ...

. From 1958 to 1964, under the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, Cardaș was imprisoned at

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as '' ...

and

Gherla Gherla (; hu, Szamosújvár; german: Neuschloss) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 20,203. Three villages are a ...

. Cardaș' first published work consisted of folkloric texts that appeared in the

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret, the other skirting th ...

magazine ''Ion Creangă'' in 1916. He was an editor at ''Mișcarea literară'' (1924-1925), ''Albina'' (1921-1941) and the Buftea ''Revista Liceului Internat'' (1934-1939). His contributions appeared in ''Adevărul literar și artistic'', ''Boabe de grâu'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Cugetul românesc'', ''Făt-Frumos'', ''Manuscriptum'', ''Mitropolia Olteniei'', ''Neamul românesc pentru popor'', ''Prietenii istoriei literare'', ''Revista de etnografie și folclor'', ''Revista istorică'', ''Revista macedo-română'', ''Universul literar'', ''Vestitorul satelor'' and ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

''. Cardaș authored a compendium on the history of Romanian literature. He put together numerous anthologies with good judgment and philological rigor, prefacing them with detailed studies. He devoted a good part of his activity to document-based literary history. He was the first to publish two works by

Ion Budai-Deleanu Ion Budai-Deleanu (January 6, 1760 – August 24, 1820) was a Romanian scholar, philologist, historian, poet, and a representative of the Transylvanian School. He was born in Csigmó (today Cigmău), a village in the town of Algyógy (today Geoa ...

: the second variant of ''Țiganiada'' in 1925, and the poem ''Trei viteji'' in 1928. He supervised publication of document collections, alone (''Documente literare'', vol. I, 1971; vol. II, 1973) or together with I. E. Torouțiu (''Studii și documente literare'', vol. I, 1931). He also published collections featuring poems by

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 the tales of Ion Creangă and

Petre Ispirescu Petre Ispirescu (; January 1830 – 21 November 1887) was a Romanian editor, folklorist, printer, and publicist. He is best known for his work as a gatherer of Romanian folk tales, recounting them with a remarkable talent. Career Petre Ispiresc ...

.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 277-78. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardas, Gheorghe 1899 births 1984 deaths People from Suceava County University of Bucharest alumni Romanian literary historians Romanian anthologists Inmates of Gherla prison Romanian prisoners and detainees