Iacob C. Negruzzi (December 31, 1842 – January 6, 1932) 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, later

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 poet and prose writer. Born in

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 ...

, he was the son of

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 ...

and his wife Maria (''née'' Gane). Living in Berlin between 1853 and 1863, he attended high school, followed by the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, from which he obtained a doctorate in 1863. He was a professor at the

University of Iași 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 Mih ...

from 1864 to 1884, and at 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 ...

from 1885 until his retirement in 1897. He was elected to the Assembly of Deputies in 1870, and later joined the

Romanian Senate ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...

. He was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1881, was later its general secretary, and served three terms as Academy president: 1893-1894, 1910-1913 and 1923-1926.Președinți ai Academiei Române (1901-1959)
at the Romanian Academy site Negruzzi was among the founders of ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...

'', and became its secretary in 1868. He played a very significant role as editor of ''

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 ...

'', ensuring the magazine's regular appearance by investing an immense amount of energy and making significant sacrifices, including material ones. He continued as editor for ten years after moving to

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 ...

in 1885. He wrote reviews and notes in ''Convorbiri''; published selections from ''Copii de pe natură'' (which appeared in book form in 1874), as well as the novel ''Mihai Vereanu'' (which appeared in 1873); and initiated a column called "Corespondență", probably the country's first true

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...

section. His press debut came in 1866, with a one-act play that appeared in ''Foaia Soțietății pentru Literatura și Cultura Română în Bucovina''; his first book was the 1872 ''Poezii''. Although written starting in 1889, ''Amintirile din "Junimea"'' was only published in 1921. He translated several plays by

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

(''

The Robbers ''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play ''Julius of Taranto''. It wa ...

'', '' Fiesco'' and ''

Intrigue and Love ''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'' or ''Luise Miller'' (german: Kabale und Liebe, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, ...

'' appeared in book form in 1871; '' The Maid of Orleans'' in ''Convorbiri Literare'' in 1883; ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedri ...

'' and '' Mary Stuart'' in the last of his six-volume complete works that came out between 1893 and 1897). Other translations included Romantic poetry, both French (

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

) and German (Schiller and

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

), published in ''Poezii''.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 208. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. His wife was Maria Rosetti.Octav George Lecca, ''Familiile boerești române: istoric și genealogie dupe isvoare autentice'', p. 363. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1899.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negruzzi, Iacob 1842 births 1932 deaths Politicians from Iași Romanian expatriates in Germany Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty University of Bucharest faculty Romanian poets Romanian novelists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Romanian translators Romanian magazine editors Junimists Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Presidents of the Romanian Academy 20th-century translators 19th-century translators