Mircea Gesticone (May 3, 1902 – August 5, 1961) 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 novelist and poet. 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 ...

, he was the fifth child of Filip Gesticone and his wife Zamfira (''née'' Ursachi). His father, a lawyer, came from a family of

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 commu ...

merchants. His mother was descended from a family of small-scale leaseholders from

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Western Moldavia, Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. ...

and was friends with

Sofia Nădejde Sofia Nădejde (born Sofia Băncilă; September 14, 1856 – June 11, 1946) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, translator, journalist, women's rights activist and socialist. Born in Botoșani, her parents were merchant Vasile Băncilă-Gheor ...

. Gesticone's education took place in his native city: Dinicu Golescu elementary school, the lower form of Mihai Viteazul High School, the upper form of Gheorghe Lazăr High School. At seventeen, he was admitted to the

Bucharest Conservatory The National University of Music Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Naţională de Muzică București, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in ...

as a fourth-year student, but abandoned the study of music. He attended 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 ...

from 1922 to 1926, meanwhile taking courses at the Italian Institute of Culture. From 1923 to 1954, he was a clerk at Banca Românească. His first published poem, "Apotheose", appeared in ''La Roumanie nouvelle'' magazine in 1929. His first novel, ''Războiul micului Tristan'', came out in 1937, and he was awarded the

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 ...

prize the same year. After his wife died in a tramway accident in 1948, he lived a withdrawn existence and abandoned writing.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 639-40. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gesticone, Mircea 1902 births 1961 deaths Writers from Bucharest University of Bucharest alumni 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male novelists Romanian male poets