Maria Cunțan (February 7, 1862–November 23, 1935) was an Imperial Austrian-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 poet.

Biography

Born in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, her father Dimitrie, originally from Dobârca, was a Romanian Orthodox priest, composer and professor of liturgical music and

Typicon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite off ...

at the city's seminary. The family was artistically inclined, and Maria's two younger sisters pursued musical careers. She attended primary school and the foreign languages institute in her native city,Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 437. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. making her debut in ''Tribuna'' in 1891.Dubenschi, p. 9 In this period, she was devoted to the early work of George Coșbuc, holding literary and musical soirées at her home where she would read his poems. Among the participants was the then-student

Ilarie Chendi Ilarie Chendi (November 14, 1871 – June 23, 1913) was a Romanian literary critic. Born in Darlac, Kis-Küküllő County, now Dârlos, Sibiu County, in Transylvania, his father Vasile was a Romanian Orthodox priest, while his mother Eliza ( ...

, who helped launch her career. Various magazines published Cunțan's work both in her native country, which had become

Austria-Hungary 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 ...

, and in the Romanian Old Kingdom. These include ''

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 ...

'', ''Curierul literar'', ''Foaia poporului'', ''Flacăra'', '' Luceafărul'', ''Revista noastră'', ''Revista scriitoarei'', ''

Sămănătorul ''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian for "The Sower") was a literary and political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță and George Coșbuc, it is primarily remembered as a tribune ...

'', ''Sburătorul'' and ''Viața literară și artistică''. She sometimes used the pen names Liliac and Rim. Some of her compositions imitated

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 ...

and Nikolaus Lenau; she also translated

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 ...

's '' Maid of Orleans'' in 1909. Her original work appeared in three books: ''Poezii'' (1901), ''Poezii'' (1905) and ''Din caierul vremii'' (two volumes, 1916). In 1909, she joined the new

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 ...

as one of four female members, out of a total 47. Her father died the following year, plunging her into grief. Cunțan settled in the Old Kingdom capital of

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 1915, working as a charity nurse during World War I. She continued publishing for some years after the war, but eventually stopped, living out her days in the sunless room of an almshouse. Cunțan died in 1935, her funeral attended by a small group of friends that included Nicolae Iorga.Dubenschi, p. 13 During her life and in the decades that followed, critical opinion of her work was divided, with Chendi, Iorga,

Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France and Germany, he was ...

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...

, Garabet Ibrăileanu and

Radu Gyr Radu Gyr (; pen name of Radu Ștefan Demetrescu ; March 2, 1905, Câmpulung-Muscel – 29 April 1975, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, essayist, playwright and journalist. Biography Early life Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan "Coco" Dumitres ...

viewing it with varying degrees of favorability, while

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 ...

and

Eugen Lovinescu Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the u ...

tended to be dismissive.Dubenschi, p. 6-7

Notes

References

* Gabriela Dubenschi
"Maria Cunțan"
Seria Personalia, nr. 13, Biblioteca Judeţeană ASTRA, Sibiu, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuntan, Maria 1862 births 1935 deaths People from Sibiu Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian Austro-Hungarians 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian translators 20th-century translators Romanian women poets 20th-century Romanian women writers