Mihail Șerban (August 18, 1911 – July 9, 1994) was a
Romanian prose writer.
Born in
Fălticeni, his parents were Gheorghe Șerban, a clerk, and his wife Elena (''née'' Verner). After attending the local
Nicu Gane High School from 1923 to 1930, he studied at the law 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 ...
from 1930 to 1932. He then abandoned his studies and entered journalism, coming to
Bucharest upon the encouragement of
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 ...
. Sequentially or simultaneously, he held a number of jobs: librarian and secretary's assistant at
Mihai Viteazul High School Mihai () is a Romanian given name for males or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Michael. A variant of the name is Mihail. Its female form is Mihaela.
As a given name
*Mihai I of Romania (1921–2017), King of Romania until 1947
*Miha ...
(1934-1937), contributor and editor at ''
Adevărul
''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...
'' and ''Dimineața'' newspapers (1935-1938), editor at
Cezar Petrescu
Cezar Petrescu (; December 1, 1892–March 9, 1961) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, and children's writer.
He was born in Hodora, Iași County, the son of Dimitrie Petrescu, an engineer and a teacher. After attending elementary school ...
's ''România'', civil servant at the State Sub-secretariate for Propaganda (1938-1947), inspector at the theatre directorate and then the literary directorate of the Arts and Information Ministry (1947-1948), editor of ''Călăuza bibliotecarului'' and ''Îndrumătorul cultural'' (1949-1957), bibliographer at the
Central State Library (until 1967). He was active in the ''
Sburătorul'' literary circle.
Șerban's published debut took the form of poems and prose that appeared in ''Gazeta noastră'' in 1930. He also contributed to ''Adevărul literar și artistic'', ''Vremea'', ''
Viața Românească'', ''
Revista Fundațiilor Regale'', ''Cuvântul liber'' and ''Reporter''. He wrote numerous volumes of short stories (''Nunta de argint'', 1938; ''Câinii'', 1939; ''Cântecul uitat'', 1942; ''Furtuna'', 1948; ''Când doarme pământul'', 1948) and novels (''Idolii de lut'', 1935; ''Infirmii'', 1936; ''Grădina lui Dumnezeu'', 1939; ''Sanda'', 1941; ''Casa amintirilor'', 1942; ''Fete bătrâne'', 1946; ''Pâinea inimii'', 1949; ''Pământ și oameni'', 1957; ''Circul'', 1972). Some appeared in several editions, while others were given awards: the Young Writers' Society Prize for ''Infirmii'' in 1936 and for ''Nunta de argint'' in 1939; the Arts Ministry granted him the Brătescu-Voinești Prize in 1942 for ''Casa amintirilor''. His 1969 memoir, ''Amintiri'', features his recollections of important interwar writers, including
Ionel Teodoreanu,
Damian Stănoiu and
. Although his themes are not rural, Șerban's prose, due to its lyrical tone and passivity in the face of one's environment, features within the late ''
Sămănătorist'' tradition.
[Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 653. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serban, Mihail
1911 births
1994 deaths
People from Fălticeni
Romanian novelists
Romanian male short story writers
Romanian short story writers
Romanian memoirists
Romanian newspaper editors
Romanian magazine editors
Adevărul editors
Romanian civil servants
Romanian librarians
20th-century memoirists