Mihail Sorbul (pen name of Mihail Smolsky; October 16 (or 19), 1885 – December 20, 1966) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n playwright and novelist. Born in Botoșani, his parents were Anton Smolsky, a Polish

uhlan Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...

lieutenant, later a shareholder in a petroleum company, and his wife Maria (''née'' Moscovici). He attended high school in Iași,

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commune ...

, 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 ...

, graduating in 1905. From 1905 to 1906, he briefly took courses at the law faculty of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, followed by Constantin Nottara's class at the Dramatic Arts Conservatory from 1906 to 1907. His debut was the 1906 play ''Eroii noștri'', published under is real name; the tragicomedy deals with the corrupted turn of the century youth. Also under his birth name, '' Convorbiri Critice'' published the plays ''Vânt de primăvară'' (1908), ''Poveste banală'' (later ''Poveste studențească''), ''Înviere'' and ''Două credințe'' (all 1909). Between 1910 and 1911, he published ''Scena'' magazine with

Liviu Rebreanu Liviu Rebreanu (; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist. Life Born in Felsőilosva (now Târlișua, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania), then part of the Kingd ...

. In 1913, he was literary secretary of Marioara Voiculescu's acting company. His dramatic sketch ''Săracul popă!'', his tragicomedy ''Praznicul calicilor'' (both published in ''Convorbiri Critice'' in 1909, under the pen name Sorbul suggested by magazine chief

Mihail Dragomirescu Mihail Dragomirescu (March 22, 1868 – November 25, 1942) was a Romanian aesthetician, literary theorist and critic. Born in Plătărești, Călărași County, he completed primary school in his native village in 1881, followed by Bucharest's G ...

) and his 1914 drama ''Letopiseți'' introduced a prosaic-realist, anti-romantic vision into the Romanian historical drama. The tragicomedy called ''Amoruri anormale'' in its first version (1908–1909) premiered in 1916 as ''Patima roșie'', with

Elvira Popescu Elvira Popescu (; in French, Elvire Popesco; 10 May 1894 – 11 December 1993) was a Romanian-French stage and film actress and theatre director. During the 1930s and 1940s, she starred in a number of French comedy films. Life and career Pop ...

in the role of Tofana. Teatrul Mic performed the play in its Paris tour of 1923, and the local press compared its heroine to ''

Phèdre ''Phèdre'' (; originally ''Phèdre et Hippolyte'') is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Composition and premiere Wit ...

''. Sorbul's tragicomedy Dezertorul (1917) and his drama ''Răzbunarea'', a sequel to ''Patima roșie'', were staged at Iași. He headed ''Săgetătorul'' magazine from 1921 to 1922. In 1923, he was a founding member of the Society of Romanian Dramatic Authors, serving as its president from 1927. In 1931, he was chairman of the Cluj National Theatre. The 1933 novel ''O iubești?'', endowed with an atmosphere of

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

, features a protagonist without special abilities who, fascinated by a friend's creative talent, assumes his identity. ''Mângâierile panterei'' (1934) is an epic novelization of the 1921 drama ''Prăpastia'', in which the heroine is haunted by a past crime. ''Adevărul și numai adevărul'' (1936) is a detective novel, while ''Glasul nevesti-mi'' (1938) is a collection of humorous sketches. He won the national prize for theatre in 1937. Sorbul died in Bucharest.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 582-83. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. A street and a park in

Mioveni Mioveni () is a town in Argeș County, Romania, approximately 15 km (9 miles) north-east of Pitești. , it had a population of 31,998. The town administers four villages: Clucereasa, Colibași, Făgetu and Racovița. History It was firs ...

bear his name.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorbul, Mihail 1885 births 1966 deaths People from Botoșani Romanian people of Polish descent Saint Sava National College alumni Romanian theatre managers and producers Romanian humorists Romanian magazine editors 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights