Lucia Mantu (pen name of Camelia Nădejde; September 22, 1888 – November 1971) was a Romanian 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 ...
, her parents were
Gheorghe Nădejde Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to:
Given name
* Gheorghe Adamescu
* Gheorghe Albu
* Gheorghe Alexandrescu
* Gheorghe Andriev
* Gheorghe Apostol
...
and his wife Ecaterina (''née'' Băncilă); she was a niece of
Ioan
Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...
and
Sofia Nădejde
Sofia Nădejde (born Sofia Băncilă; September 14, 1856 – June 11, 1946) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, translator, journalist, women's rights activist and socialist.
Born in Botoșani, her parents were merchant Vasile Băncilă-Gheor ...
, as well as of
Octav Băncilă
Octav Băncilă (; 4 February 1872 – 3 April 1944) was a Romanian realist painter and left-wing activist. He was the brother of Sofia Nădejde, a feminist journalist, and the brother-in-law of Ioan Nădejde (an atheist and socialist think ...
.
[Baciu, p. 111] The couple's second child, she began her education at home under her older brother's supervision, and was privately educated until completing high school in 1907.
[Baciu, pp. 111–12] Although she had shown an inclination toward literature, she entered the natural sciences 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 ...
, attracted by prestigious faculty members who included
Paul Bujor
Paul Bujor (born Pavel Bujor;Mărghitan & Mancaș, p. 43 August 2, 1862 – May 17, 1952) was a Romanian zoologist, physiologist and marine biologist, also noted as a socialist writer and politician. Hailing from rural Covurlui County, he studied ...
and
Ion Th. Simionescu
Ion Th. Simionescu (born Ion Gheorghiu; 10 July 1873—7 January 1944) was a Romanian geologist, paleontologist and naturalist.
Born in Hemeiuș, Fântânele, Bacău County, his parents Maria and Toader Gheorghiu died when he was a young child. He ...
.
[Baciu, p. 112] She graduated in 1911,
and in 1914, she became a science teacher at Oltea Doamna girls' high school in Iași.
In 1913, her brother, a combat medic in the
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
, had accidentally drowned, sending their mother into shock. She henceforth required diligent care, which Camelia took on, precluding a possible university career. In 1916, shortly after Romania entered World War I, her fiancé was sent to the front, where he was killed; she chose to remain celibate afterwards, in spite of her legendary beauty.
However, she was briefly involved with writer
George Topîrceanu
George Topîrceanu (; March 20, 1886 – May 7, 1937) was a Romanian poet, short story writer, and humourist.
Biography
He was born in Bucharest, the son of Ion Topîrceanu, a furrier and his wife, Paraschiva (née Cosma), a carpet weaver. Th ...
,
[ Oana Bugeac]
"Iubirea lui Topîrceanu"
in '' Ieșeanul'', May 10, 2005 and was acquainted with
Garabet Ibrăileanu
Garabet Ibrăileanu (; May 23, 1871 – March 11, 1936) was a Romanian-Armenians in Romania, Armenian Literary criticism, literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, University of Iași professor ...
and
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; November 5, 1880 – October 19, 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communis ...
.
[Baciu, p. 114]
In March 1944, with Soviet troops rapidly approaching as part of the
Uman–Botoșani Offensive of World War II, the school was evacuated, and Nădejde, together with her gravely ill mother, withdrew to the national capital
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 ...
. However, due to the
bombing of Bucharest, they went to the rural area of
Fundeni, remaining until October. At that point, she and her mother moved into the Bucharest home of Camelia's cousin, the widow of
Nicolae N. Beldiceanu. They did not return to Iași, as the house there was almost entirely destroyed by bombardments. Until her retirement in 1947, she worked as a proofreader at two publishing houses, work she probably secured through Sadoveanu's help.
Her final quarter-century was monotonous: her mother died in 1950, and she would occasionally visit the Sadoveanus, especially in winter, as her home was poorly heated. She derived particular joy when former students passing through the capital would drop by her house. Nădejde died in 1971, and was buried alongside her parents in
Eternitatea cemetery
Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania.
Notable interments
* Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist
* Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician
* Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer
* Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...
.
[Baciu, p. 116]
She made her debut in 1920 in ''
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.
Th ...
'', with sketches titled ''Pagini răzlețe''.
Mantu's true identity was a well-kept secret: not even the magazine editors knew who she was until Sadoveanu recognized an anecdote he had told her in one of her submissions.
She also wrote for ''Adevărul literar'' and ''Însemnări literare''. Her short prose was published as ''Miniaturi'' (1923), ''Umbre chinezești'' (1930) and ''Instantanee'' (1945). Her 1924 novel ''Cucoana Olimpia'' appeared in Italian in 1932 as ''Gente moldava''. She translated numerous works from Russian, including ones by
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
,
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
and
Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (, also ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his ...
. In 1923, she was awarded the
Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society ( ro, Societatea Scriitorilor Români) was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the e ...
prize in 1923.
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 592. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ] George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
characterized her as being talented in "miniatures, moments, little observations, often delicate," capable of shedding light on "the provincial soul, indiscreet, malicious in its perseverance and hypocrisy". A more generous
Mihai Ralea
Mihai Dumitru Ralea (also known as Mihail Ralea, Michel Raléa, or Mihai Rale;Straje, p. 586 May 1, 1896 – August 17, 1964) was a Romanian social scientist, cultural journalist, and political figure. He debuted as an affiliate of Poporanism, the ...
asserted that her "every impression, every phrase is deeply refined, chiseled, reworked not just for maximum effect, but up to the highest expression of perfection".
[Baciu, p. 115]
Notes
References
* Gheorghe Baciu
"Camelia Nădejde – profesoara scriitoare de la Liceul 'Oltea Doamna' din Iași" in ''Dacia literară'', nr. 3–4, 2014, pp. 110–117
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantu, Lucia
1888 births
1971 deaths
Writers from Iași
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni
Romanian schoolteachers
Romanian women short story writers
Romanian short story writers
20th-century Romanian novelists
Romanian translators
Burials at Eternitatea cemetery
20th-century translators
20th-century short story writers
20th-century Romanian women writers