Ioan I. Mironescu (pen name of Eugen I. Mironescu; June 13, 1883 – July 22, 1939) was a Romanian prose writer and physician. A native of the Moldavia region, he headed a dermatology clinic and taught medicine at

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 ...

, while also publishing several volumes of short humorous tales.

Biography

Born in Tazlău, Neamț County to the teacher Ioan Mironescu and his wife Sofia (''née'' Honcu), he attended primary school in his native village from 1889 to 1894. In

, where his schooling was often interrupted due to his frequent illnesses, he attended the National College in 1894, followed by the

Boarding High School A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in 1896 and from 1900 to 1904. In the latter school, where he studied at the classical section, one of his teachers was Garabet Ibrăileanu. In the summer of 1904, he worked as a medical orderly in the Bacău area, and was then enlisted into an infantry regiment based at

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; german: Kreuzburg an der Bistrița (Siret), Bistritz; hu, Karácsonkő) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its privileged location in the Easter ...

. Zenaida Petrescu, "Eugen I. Mironescu", in Eugen Târcoveanu, Constantin Romanescu, Mihai Lițu (eds.), ''125 de ani de învăţământ medical superior la Iași'', pp. 230–231. Ed. Gr. T. Popa, Iași, 2004, From 1905 to 1911, he attended the medical faculty of

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 ...

; following graduation, he went to the University of Berlin, where he audited courses in medicine and surgery. Back in Iași, he obtained a doctorate in 1912, the topic being leukocytosis in

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

and its treatment. Beginning in 1912, he worked as a physician at Iași, Roznov,

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

and

Slănic-Moldova Slănic-Moldova, formerly Băile Slănic, is a town and a spa resort in Bacău County, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, S ...

, and also authored medical texts. In the Second Balkan War, despite his medical training, he served as an ordinary soldier, but once hostilities were over, spent several months as head of a floating clinic meant to fight cholera in the

Zimnicea Zimnicea () is a town in Teleorman County, Romania (in the historic region of Muntenia), a port on the Danube opposite the Bulgarian city of Svishtov. Geography Zimnicea is situated on the left bank of the Danube river. It is the southernmost pla ...

- Caracal area. He then returned to Iași, went to Berlin for further studies, but hurried back as Germany entered World War I. From 1914 to 1916, he held a position at a therapeutic laboratory. While Romania was in the war from 1916 to 1918, he worked at an infectious disease hospital as a combat medic, himself contracting influenza and a recurring fever that left him with a weakened heart. Among his awards were the

Military Virtue Medal The Military Virtue Medal ( ro, Medalia "Virtutea Militară") is a Romanian military decoration, instituted on April 8, 1872, by King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I. A previous version, called ''Pro Virtute Militari'', was establis ...

and a knighthood in the Order of the Crown. A specialist in dermatology,''Anuarul Universității Mihăilene din Iași, 1930–1935''
, pp. 229–30. Editura Universității Mihăilene, Iași, 1936 he became a professor at the Iași medical faculty's pharmacology department in 1921, but in 1923 was transferred to serve as dermatology clinic director and professor, remaining until his death. He belonged to a number of scientific organizations. Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, pp. 125–26. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Mironescu also sat in the Assembly of Deputies. He died in his native village at the age of fifty-six. Mironescu made his literary debut in 1906, publishing the sketch ''La cumătrie'' in '' Viața Românească'', of which he was a founding member and recurring contributor. His writings also appeared in ''Însemnări ieșene'' and ''Însemnări literare''. His published volumes (''Sandu Hurmuzel'', 1916; ''Oameni și vremuri'', 1920; ''Într-un "colț de rai"'', 1930; ''Catiheții de la Humulești'', 1938) include several sketches marked by an authentic folk humor. This bears echoes of Mironescu's talent as a teller of tales, largely in oral fashion, as recalled by contemporaries.

Bibliography

* ''Sandu Hurmuzel'' (short stories), Bucharest, 1916 * ''Oameni și vremuri'' (tales), Iași, 1920 * ''Într-un "colț de rai"'' (tales), Bucharest, 1930 * ''Catiheții de la Humulești'', Iași, 1938 * ''Tulie Radu Teacă'', Bucharest, 1940 (revised edition, 1944) * ''Scrieri alese'', Bucharest, 1953 * ''Oameni și vremuri'' (anthology), Bucharest, 1959 * ''Furtună veteranul'', Bucharest, 1961 * ''Scrieri'', Bucharest, 1968 * ''Tulie Radu Teacă'', Iași, 1987

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mironescu, I. I. 1883 births 1939 deaths People from Neamț County Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Romanian dermatologists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian science writers Romanian humorists Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian Land Forces personnel Knights of the Order of the Crown (Romania)