Mihail Petroveanu (October 28, 1923–March 4, 1977) 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 literary critic and historian. Born in

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 ...

, his parents were Jean Petroveanu and his wife Maria (''née'' Algazi). He attended primary school and the first six grades of secondary school at Saint Andrew High School in his native city from 1930 to 1940. From 1940 to 1942, he studied at and graduated from the theoretical high school where

Alexandru Graur Alexandru Graur (; July 9, 1900 – July 9, 1988) was a Romanian linguist. Born into a Jewish family in Botoșani, Graur graduated from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris (1 ...

was principal. In 1944, Petroveanu enrolled in the French-Romanian section of the University of Bucharest's literature faculty, graduating in 1947. During this time, his first work was published; this consisted of literary news that appeared in ''Studentul român'' in 1945. Right after completing university, he was hired as an editor for ''

Contemporanul ''Contemporanul'' (The Contemporary) is a Romanian literary magazine published in Iaşi, Romania from 1881 to 1891. It was sponsored by the socialist circle of the city. A new magazine ''Contimporanul ''Contimporanul'' (antiquated spelling of ...

''. He was then a teaching assistant at the aesthetics department of the Institute of Theater, Fine Arts and Music (1949-1950); editor for the literary programs of

Romanian Radio The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company ( ro, Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune), informally referred to as Radio Romania ( ro, Radio România), is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates FM broadcasting, FM and AM broadcasting, ...

(1948–1952); chief department editor and overall adjunct editor at Editura de Stat pentru Literatură și Artă (1950–1955); editor and adjunct editor-in-chief at ''

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 ...

'' (1955–1956) and ''Gazeta literară'' (1956–1961); principal editor for a four-language publication meant for foreign audiences, ''Revue roumaine – Roumanian Review – Rumänische Rundschau – Румынская литература'' (1962–1977). By 1958, Petroveanu was already a name frequently met in the country's main literary magazines. That year, he published his first book, ''Pagini critice'', a collection of articles and reviews he had written for ''Studentul român'', '' Flacăra'', ''Contemporanul'', ''Viața Românească'', ''Steaua'', '' Scînteia'' and ''Gazeta literară'' between 1947 and 1957. His later studies appeared in ''Profiluri lirice contemporane'' (1963), ''Studii literare'' (1966) and ''Traiectorii lirice'' (1974); he also authored two monographs, ''Tudor Arghezi, poetul'' (1961) and ''George Bacovia'' (1969; second edition, 1972). In collaboration, he supervised an excellent edition of George Bacovia's works, which appeared as ''Opere'' in 1978. He translated

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's '' In Search of the Castaways''. Petroveanu was involved in supervising critical editions of Ion Luca Caragiale (1950, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1973), Aleksandr Chakovsky (1950),

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

(1950),

Mateiu Caragiale Mateiu Ion Caragiale (; – January 17, 1936), also credited as Matei or Matheiu, or in the antiquated version Mateiŭ,Sorin Antohi"Romania and the Balkans. From Geocultural Bovarism to Ethnic Ontology" in ''Tr@nsit online'', Institut für die ...

(1957), Nicolae Velea (1960),

Platon Pardău Platon may refer to: People * Plato (Πλάτων, romanized as ''Plátōn''), Greek philosopher * Plato (comic poet) (fl. 420–391 BCE) * Plato of Bactria (2nd century BCE), Greco-Bactrian king * Plato (exarch) (fl. 645–653), Byzantine exar ...

(1963),

Anatol E. Baconsky Anatol E. Baconsky (; June 16, 1925 – March 4, 1977), also known as A. E. Bakonsky, Baconschi or Baconski, was a Romanian modernist poet, essayist, translator, novelist, publisher, literary and art critic. Praised for his late approach to poetry ...

(1964),

Demostene Botez Demostene Botez (July 2, 1893 – March 18, 1973) was a Romanian poet and prose writer. Born in Trușești (then called ''Hulub''), Botoșani County, his parents were Anghel Botez, a Romanian Orthodox priest, and his wife Ecaterina (''née'' Chi ...

(1964),

Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the modernist scene during his teens—his poetic wo ...

(1964), Adrian Maniu (1965), Sașa Pană (1966),

Agatha Bacovia Agatha Bacovia (born Agatha Grigorescu; March 8, 1895 – October 12, 1981) was a Romanian poet. Biography Born in Mizil, her parents were Șerban Grigorescu and his wife Maria (''née'' Anastasiu). Her mother died shortly after giving birth, a ...

(1967), and

Ion Caraion Ion Caraion (pen name of Stelian Diaconescu; May 24, 1923–July 21, 1986) was a Romanian poet, essayist and translator. Born in Rușavăț, Buzău County, he attended primary school at Râmnicu Sărat from 1930 to 1934, followed by Bogdan P ...

(1978).Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 355. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. He was married to poet

Veronica Porumbacu Veronica Porumbacu (pen name of Veronica Schwefelberg; October 24, 1921 – March 4, 1977) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and translator. Born into a Jewish family in Bucharest, her parents were Arnold Schwefelberg and his wife Betty (''né ...

; the couple died in the

1977 Vrancea earthquake The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5, making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 Novemb ...

while on a visit to Baconsky.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petroveanu, Mihail 1923 births 1977 deaths Writers from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni Romanian literary critics Romanian literary historians Romanian translators Romanian magazine editors Romanian radio people Victims of the 1977 Vrancea earthquake 20th-century translators