Ion Chinezu (August 15, 1894 – December 10, 1966) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

-born

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 critic and translator.

Biography

Born in

Sântana de Mureș Sântana de Mureș ( hu, Marosszentanna, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Sankt Anna an der Mieresch) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania, composed of four villages: History Ancient times The Sântana de Mureș-Che ...

, Mureș County, in the

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 ...

region, his parents Ion Chinezu and Ana (''née'' Hosu) were peasants. After attending high school in his native village, he entered the Catholic high school in nearby Târgu Mureș. A member of the

Romanian Greek-Catholic Church The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic ( la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae; ro, Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the ...

, he studied theology in its spiritual center of Blaj. He subsequently studied literature at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

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 ...

universities. In 1920, following the

union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a national holiday in Romani ...

, he obtained a degree in Romanian and Romance philology from the latter institution. From 1920 to 1925, he taught Romanian language at Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School in Târgu Mureș, and from 1925 to 1940 at George Barițiu High School in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

. He contributed to a few projects undertaken by the Museum of the Romanian Language in the latter city: ''Dicționarul limbii române'', ''Atlasul lingvistic al României'' and the bibliographies of ''Dacoromania''. In 1930, he obtained a doctorate from

Cluj University ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

with a thesis that dealt with aspects of Hungarian literature in Transylvania from 1919 to 1929. From 1930 to 1932, he studied on a scholarship at the Sorbonne. Together with Victor Papilian, he edited ''Darul vremii'' magazine in 1930, and between 1935 and 1940 was head of the most prestigious interwar Transylvanian magazine, ''Gând românesc''. He also initiated a series of conferences about "Transylvanian energies". He was honorary teaching assistant in the department of Romanian cultural history at Cluj, created in 1931 for Octavian Goga. In 1940, 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 ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, he moved to

. Entering the diplomatic service, he was sent to the Romanian embassy in

. Toward the end of 1944, the Nazi German troops who had occupied Hungary during Operation Margarethe deported Chinezu to Germany. He returned to Romania in 1945, and focused on translation work. From 1949 to 1964, during the first phase of the communist regime, he translated a large number of short stories, novels and plays from both classical and contemporary Hungarian literature, signing with the pen names P. Mureșanu, Andrei Aldea and Alexandru Aldea. His contributions appeared in ''Mureșul'', ''Dacoromania'', '' Erdélyi Helikon'', ''Societatea de mâine'', ''Boabe de grâu'' and ''

Revista Fundațiilor Regale ''Revista Fundațiilor Regale'' ("The Review of Royal Foundations") was a monthly literary, art and culture magazine published in Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern ...

''. A skilled critic of Romanian and foreign literature, he sought to raise the literary prominence of Pavel Dan and of the younger interwar Transylvanian writers. He was particularly involved in promoting relations between Romanian and Hungarian authors.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 322. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinezu, Ion 1894 births 1966 deaths Romanian literary critics Romanian translators Romanian diplomats Romanian magazine editors Romanian schoolteachers People from Mureș County Romanian Greek-Catholics Romanian Austro-Hungarians University of Bucharest alumni 20th-century translators Eastern Catholic writers