Matilda Cugler-Poni (April 2, 1851 – September 9, 1931) was a

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. 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 Carol von Cugler, an architect of Austrian origin, and his wife Matilda (''née'' Hefner), of Czech origin. She had a careful education under the guidance of private tutors; this included extensive readings in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Romanian literature. She was the first woman who was actively involved in a literary circle in Romania, the prestigious ''

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 ...

''.Sanda Golopenția, "Sofia Cocea", in Katharina M. Wilson (ed.), ''An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers'', Vol. 1, p. 283. Taylor & Francis, 1991, Her first published work was the poem "Unei tinere fete" ("To a Young Girl"), which appeared in 1867 in ''

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 ...

'', ''Junimeas journal, which went on to run her verses until 1893. She also submitted writings for '' Familia'', ''Columna lui Traian'', ''Albina'', ''Tribuna'' and ''

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 ...

''. Cugler-Poni belonged to the first group of ''convorbirist'' poets, who authored sentimental verses. A representative work was the 1874 book ''Poezii''. Together with

Veronica Micle Veronica Micle (born Ana Câmpeanu; 22 April 1850 – 3 August 1889) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian poet, whose work was influenced by Romanticism. She is best known for her love affair with the poet Mihai Eminescu, one of the most impo ...

, she was a modest precursor of feminine lyricism. Romantic in the fashion of

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 Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (13 August 1802 – 22 August 1850), a German-language Austrian poet. Biography He was born at Csatád (Schadat), Kingdom of Hungary, now Lenauheim, Banat, then p ...

, her poems speak of longing, abandonment and betrayal. She also authored naturalist short stories that dealt with suburban tramps, craftsmen or small merchants from a moralist viewpoint. In 1881, she published a two-act comedy, ''Un tutor''. Her first husband was the philologist Vasile Burlă; she later married chemist

Petru Poni Petru Poni (4 January 1841 – 2 April 1925) was a Moldavian (later Romanian) chemist and mineralogist. Born into a family of ''răzeși'' (free peasants) in Săcărești, Iași County, he attended primary school in Târgu Frumos. In 1852, he enro ...

.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 433. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cugler-Poni, Matilda 1851 births 1931 deaths Writers from Iași People of the Principality of Moldavia Romanian people of Austrian descent Romanian people of Czech descent 19th-century Romanian poets Romanian women short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian dramatists and playwrights Junimists Romanian women poets 19th-century women writers