Panait Cerna (;
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
: Панайот Черна, ''Panayot Cherna'', born Panayot Stanchov or Panait Staciov; August 26 or September 25, 1881 – March 26, 1913) 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, philosopher, literary critic and translator. A native speaker of Bulgarian, Cerna nonetheless wrote in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
, and developed a traditionalist style which was connected with
classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
and
neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
. Praised by the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
literary society ''
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 ...
'', he was promoted by its leader
Titu Maiorescu
Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...
, as well as by Maiorescu's disciples
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
Simion Mehedinţi
Simion is a Romanian-language masculine given name. Notable people with this name include:
*Simion Bărnuțiu
*Simion Bughici
* Simion Coman
*Simion Cuciuc
*Simion Cuţov
* Simion Furdui
* Simion Galeţchi
*Simion Ghimpu
*Simion Grişciuc
* Simion ...
. Cerna became the group's main representative during its decline, contributing to both major Junimist magazines, ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Convorbiri Critice''. He also contributed pieces to the traditionalist magazine ''
Sămănătorul
''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian for "The Sower") was a literary and political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță and George Coșbuc, it is primarily remembered as a tribune ...
'', and was briefly affiliated with other literary journals.
A graduate 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 ...
, Cerna completed his studies in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. There, he attended the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
and the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
, befriending the self-exiled Romanian dramatist
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...
and the literary critic
Paul Zarifopol
Paul Zarifopol (November 30, 1874 – May 1, 1934) was a Romanian literary and social critic, essayist, and
literary historian. The scion of an aristocratic family, formally trained in both philology and the sociology of literature, he emerge ...
. Cerna died in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
at the age of thirty-one, after a long battle with
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.
Along with various love poems, Panait Cerna's writings also evince his intellectual pursuits. This intellectual characteristic earned him a dedicated following, but was criticized by many of his peers, who found it artificial and outdated.
Biography
Early life
![RO TL Casa Panait Cerna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/RO_TL_Casa_Panait_Cerna.JPG)
Cerna's early name, rendered in Bulgarian as Панайот Станчов, was commonly
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
into Romanian as ''Panait Stanciov'', ''Stancov'', ''Stanciof'' or ''Stancioff''. The poet's preferred name alluded to
Cerna
Cerna may refer to:
Populated places
* Cerna, Croatia, Vukovar-Syrmia County, Croatia
* Černá (Žďár nad Sázavou District), Czech Republic
* Černá, Semily District, Czech Republic
* Cerna, Tulcea, Romania
* A village in Vaideeni Commune, V ...
, his birthplace in
Tulcea County
Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube.
Demographics
In 2011, Tulcea Cou ...
,
Northern Dobruja
Northern Dobruja ( ro, Dobrogea de Nord or simply ; bg, Северна Добруджа, ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in the south ...
.
[Călinescu, p.651]
Panait Cerna's father was an
ethnic Bulgarian schoolteacher, also named Panayot Stachov (Panait Stanciov).
He settled in Cerna and married Maria Taşcu. The daughter of local peasants,
she was of
Aromanian[ Mirela Stîngă]
"Panait Cerna, poetul meleagurilor dobrogene"
in '' Ziua de Constanţa'', April 8, 2008 or of Bulgarian origin. Shortly before Maria gave birth to their son, Romanian administration began taking over in previously
Ottoman-ruled Northern Dobruja. Stanchov, who was a Bulgarian
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, refused to accept this change and left for the
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
After the Russo-Turkish War ende ...
, leaving his family behind. Consequently, Cerna never met his father.
By Cerna's own account, his childhood was marked by acute poverty and social isolation: "
wastold to tutor and learn in cold, unfriendly rooms. For a long time, we lived in a house on the outskirts, which was avoided by other men, since a rumor had spread that ghosts haunted its rooms. Can you imagine living in the middle of winter, without a fire on, with doors that barely close, with windows that are glued with paper? A person made of iron would still feel cold down to the bone."
Although his links to
Bulgarian culture
A number of ancient civilizations, including the Thracians, ancient Greeks, Scythians, Celts, ancient Romans, Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths), Slavs (East and West Slavs), Varangians and the Bulgars have left their mark on the culture, histo ...
were weakened by his father's departure, Cerna, who was baptized in the
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ( bg, Църква на съединените с Рим българи; la, Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Bulgarica), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the Bulgarian Byzantine Catholic ...
, became fluent in Bulgarian.
According to literary critic
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
, he always had some difficulties conversing in Romanian, but could write it with ease.
[Călinescu, p.651, 652]
After completing primary school in his native village, he graduated from
a high school in the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
port of
Brăila
Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila.
According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...
, then enrolled at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy 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 also attending lectures at the Faculty of Chemistry and Physics.
Cerna debuted as a poet in 1897, at the age of sixteen, when his ''Trecutul'' ("The Past")—an adaptation of a piece by
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 ...
—was published in
George Coşbuc's ''Foaia Interesantă'' magazine.
["Panait Cerna"]
biographical note i
''Cronologia della letteratura rumena moderna (1780–1914)'' database
at the University of Florence
The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
History
The first universi ...
's Department of Neo-Latin Languages and Literatures; retrieved April 18, 2008 His first original poem, ''Orientale'' ("Orientals"), saw print two years later in the magazine ''Carmen''.
''Junimea'' years
Soon after reaching the capital, Cerna became involved in political debates and the literary environment. These early activities are recorded in a 1904 series of articles in the student paper ''Tipuri şi Ticuri'', where a ''P. Stanciov'' is the object of
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
.
By that time, he was discovered by ''Junimea'', and began collaborating with ''Convorbiri Literare'', a magazine led by
Simion Mehedinţi
Simion is a Romanian-language masculine given name. Notable people with this name include:
*Simion Bărnuțiu
*Simion Bughici
* Simion Coman
*Simion Cuciuc
*Simion Cuţov
* Simion Furdui
* Simion Galeţchi
*Simion Ghimpu
*Simion Grişciuc
* Simion ...
.
[Ornea, p.78; Vianu, Vol.II, p.11] After 1903, Cerna contributed to ''
Sămănătorul
''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian for "The Sower") was a literary and political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță and George Coșbuc, it is primarily remembered as a tribune ...
'',
and his poems also appeared sporadically in other publications, including ''Floare Albastră'' and ''Revista Modernă''.
Despite ongoing financial difficulties, Cerna graduated from university in 1906.
His thesis was passed with a ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
'' qualifier.
He was by then seriously ill with tuberculosis, and sought a change in climate.
[Călinescu, p.652] Cerna spent much of this period traveling through the
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
, and several times visited regions of the
Southern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ro, Carpații Meridionali ; hu, Déli-Kárpátok) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the P ...
, in particular the area of
Rucăr
Rucăr is a commune in the north-eastern part of Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. At the 2011 census, the population of the commune was 5,752. It is composed of two villages, Rucăr and Sătic. Located on the Rucăr-Bran Pass, it is popular with ...
, the
Bucegi Mountains
The Bucegi Mountains (Romanian: ''Munții Bucegi'' ) are located in central Romania, south of the city of Brașov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains. At , '' Omu'' is its highest point.
To the east, the ...
, and the
Jiu Valley
The Jiu Valley ( ro, Valea Jiului ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and th ...
.
As Călinescu notes, he had bought himself a horse from a Rucăr local on credit, and failed to deliver the promised sum on time.
Cerna's love of rural life, together with what Călinescu describes as a "social preoccupation", made him an outspoken opponent of the way in which the authorities handled the
peasant uprising of 1907.
That year, as
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 ...
parted with Mehedinţi to establish ''Convorbiri Critice'', which advertised a ''Junimist'' agenda while standing against ''Convorbiri Literare'', Cerna became one of his main collaborators. The group of ''Convorbiri Critice'' writers also included
D. Nanu
Dumitru G. Nanu (October 26, 1873 – February 12, 1943) was a Romanian poet and translator.
Born in Câmpulung to Gheorghe Nanu and his wife Zoia (''née'' Hristodos), he attended primary school in his native town, followed by Matei Basara ...
,
Corneliu Moldovanu
Corneliu Moldovanu (pen name of Corneliu Vasiliu; 15 August 1883 – 2 September 1952) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and playwright.
Born in Bârlad, his parents were Dumitrache Vasiliu, a merchant, and his wife Ruxandra (''née'' Rășca ...
,
Emil Gârleanu
Emil Gârleanu ( 4/5 January 1878 – 2 July 1914) was a Romanian prose writer.
Born in Iași, his parents were Emanoil Gârleanu, a colonel in the Romanian Army, and his wife Pulcheria (''née'' Antipa). He began high school in his native c ...
,
and
Gheorghe Vâlsan Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to:
Given name
* Gheorghe Adamescu
* Gheorghe Albu
* Gheorghe Alexandrescu
* Gheorghe Andriev
* Gheorghe Apostol
* G ...
.
[Ornea, p.137] In 1908, he decided to continue his studies in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. The decision was influenced and encouraged by ''Junimea'' and its leader
Titu Maiorescu
Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...
, who, as
Minister of Education granted him a
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
.
Călinescu describes this as a sign of late ''Junimist''
elitism
Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructi ...
, a view which implied that all literary men should be academics.
[Călinescu, p.602] This, he argues, was one of the few areas in which ''Junimea'' still differed from ''Sămănătorul'', which was more open to less elitist environments.
Cerna visited the
University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
, but, following the advice of Maiorescu, decided in favor of the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
, where he studied Philosophy,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
German language literature
German literature () comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a les ...
(1908–1910).
Around 1909, he first came into contact with the Caragiales, and, according to the dramatist's own testimony, tutored his son, the future poet
Luca Caragiale
Luca Ion Caragiale (; also known as Luki, Luchi or Luky Caragiale; 3 July 1893 – 7 June 1921) was a Romanian poet, novelist and translator, whose contributions were a synthesis of Symbolism, Parnassianism and modernist literature. His career, ...
, providing his "scientific education".
Ion Luca Caragiale described Cerna as "a distinguished scientist and a great lover of music".
The two writers met a second time in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
, in 1910, when Cerna declared himself captivated by Caragiale, whom he described as "one of the richest intelligent minds to have ever been produced by our nation."
Two years later, Cerna enthusiastically welcomed the literary debut of Caragiale's other son,
Mateiu.
Studies abroad and death
From late 1910 to early 1912, Cerna was at the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
, where he attended courses held by the philosophers and psychologists
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...
,
Eduard Spranger
Eduard Spranger (27 June 1882 – 17 September 1963) was a German philosopher and psychologist. A student of Wilhelm Dilthey, Spranger was born in Berlin and died in Tübingen. He was considered a humanist who developed a philosophical pe ...
and
Hans Volkelt.
Wundt left an enduring impression on his Romanian student. In a letter home, Cerna described his modest appearance, which he claimed recalled that of "decrepit"
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
members of the
Romanian Jewish community, adding: "But I do love this decrepit exterior beyond measure ..."
Volkelt guided Cerna's research in the scientific field, and coordinated his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
thesis of 1913, ''Die Gedankenlyrik'' (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for "Contemplative Poetry").
According to Călinescu, Cerna's work stated the primacy of "natural ideas" over
reasoning
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...
, and concluded that "ideas have the purpose of signaling the problematic tensions of the soul."
Zarifopol wrote that Cerna was upset over having himself parted with writing poetry, and came to be preoccupied by Maiorescu's German-language dictum: ''In der Poesie ist der Gedanke ein verfluchtes Ding'' ("An idea is a damned thing when it comes to poetry").
[ ]Paul Zarifopol
Paul Zarifopol (November 30, 1874 – May 1, 1934) was a Romanian literary and social critic, essayist, and
literary historian. The scion of an aristocratic family, formally trained in both philology and the sociology of literature, he emerge ...
''Artişti şi idei literare române: Poezie filozofică''
(wikisource) Panait Cerna's first volume of collected poetry was published at home in 1910, and, two years later, resulted in the author being made a co-recipient of the
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its byl ...
's
Vasile Adamachi Award.
Some of his new poems were still being published by ''Convorbiri Literare'' in 1911.
[ ]Ilarie Chendi
Ilarie Chendi (November 14, 1871 – June 23, 1913) was a Romanian literary critic.
Born in Darlac, Kis-Küküllő County, now Dârlos, Sibiu County, in Transylvania, his father Vasile was a Romanian Orthodox priest, while his mother Eliza ( ...
"Vieaţa literară în 1911 (o privire generală)"
in '' Luceafărul'', Nr. 3/1912, p.62 (digitized by the Babeş-Bolyai Universitybr>Transsylvanica Online Library
Panait Cerna died in Leipzig, shortly after receiving his diploma.
Zarifopol was present when Cerna succumbed, and recorded that Maiorescu's views on poetry where preoccupied his friend even on his deathbed.
The poet was buried in the German city, and later exhumed for burial in Bucharest's
Bellu Cemetery
Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania.
It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...
.
Literary contribution
Cerna was a traditionalist poet, listed by Călinescu among the contributors to
Romanian literature
Romanian literature () is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language.
History
The development of the Romanian literature took place in parallel with that ...
whose work "steers toward
classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
", as do those of Dragomirescu, Mehedinţi,
Henri Sanielevici,
D. Nanu
Dumitru G. Nanu (October 26, 1873 – February 12, 1943) was a Romanian poet and translator.
Born in Câmpulung to Gheorghe Nanu and his wife Zoia (''née'' Hristodos), he attended primary school in his native town, followed by Matei Basara ...
,
Ion Trivale
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electric charge, electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be po ...
,
Cincinat Pavelescu
Cincinat Pavelescu ( – November 30, 1934) was a Romanian poet and playwright.
Born in Bucharest, his parents were the engineer Ion Pavelescu and his wife Paulina (''née'' Bucșan). He attended school in his native city, followed by the law ...
,
Corneliu Moldovanu
Corneliu Moldovanu (pen name of Corneliu Vasiliu; 15 August 1883 – 2 September 1952) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and playwright.
Born in Bârlad, his parents were Dumitrache Vasiliu, a merchant, and his wife Ruxandra (''née'' Rășca ...
,
Mihail Codreanu
Mihai Codreanu (; July 25, 1876 – October 23, 1957) was a Romanian poet, particularly noted for his sonnets. A native and lifelong resident of Iași, he published his first volume of verse in 1901, followed by another two years later that solidif ...
,
Alexandru Davila
Alexandru Davila (; February 12, 1862 – October 19, 1929) was a Romanian dramatist, diplomat, public administrator, and memoirist.
Biography
The son of Carol Davila, a distinguished military physician of French origin, and Ana Racoviţă (a de ...
and
George Murnu
George Murnu (; rup, Ioryi Murnu; 1 January 1868, Veria, Salonica Vilayet, Ottoman Empire, now in Greece – 17 November 1957, Bucharest) was a Romanian university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator, and poet of Aromanian origin. ...
. In this account, Cerna is one in a group of "conceptual" poets, all of whom were connected with Dragomirescu. For part of his life, Cerna was also formally committed to
Symbolism
Symbolism or symbolist may refer to:
Arts
* Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism
** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries
** Russian sy ...
and the
local Symbolist movement, whose aesthetic ideals he merged with his lyrical style, and sought to recover part of the
Romantic legacy.
He was thus known as the translator of works by Romantic poets, as well as for adopting a
Messianic and
Humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
perspective on life (notably present in his poems ''Floare şi genune'', "Flower and Chasm"; ''Zile de durere'', "Days of Sorrow"; and ''Plânsetul lui Adam'', "
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
's Sobbing").
[Lovinescu, p.84]
Literary historian
Tudor Vianu
Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary criticism, literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Literature of Roma ...
notes the influence exercised on Cerna and other traditionalists by
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...
, Romania's major mid-19th-century classicist and ''Junimist'' poet.
Modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
theorist
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 ...
also believes that the "matter in which
ernaworked" was largely "dominated by Eminescu."
He also cautions that there is a major difference between the two: Cerna is an
optimist, while Eminescu most often projected a
pessimistic
Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empt ...
attitude.
[Lovinescu, p.85] According to Zarifopol, the poet considered himself an "improved follower" of Eminescu.
[ ]Paul Zarifopol
Paul Zarifopol (November 30, 1874 – May 1, 1934) was a Romanian literary and social critic, essayist, and
literary historian. The scion of an aristocratic family, formally trained in both philology and the sociology of literature, he emerge ...
''Artişti şi idei literare române: Geniul neprihănit''
(wikisource) Cerna was also a late admirer of
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
, a main figure of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Romanticism, and translated from his ''
Childe Harold
''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' is a long narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. The poem was published between 1812 and 1818. Dedicated to " Ianthe", it describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man, who is disi ...
''.
[ Émile Turdeanu, ''Études de littérature roumaine et d'écrits slaves et grecs des principautés roumaines'', ]Brill Publishers
Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...
, Leiden, New York & Köln, 1985, p.397. One of Cerna's poems was an
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
piece inspired by the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
, where Adam confronts God. Titled ''Plânsetul lui Adam'', it builds on themes which recalled Byron's 1821 play ''
Cain
Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...
'', and constituted an interrogation of
divine law
Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or godsin contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically ...
s.
In ''Plânsetul lui Adam'' and various other pieces, Panait Cerna (called a "reflexive poet" by contemporary critic
Ilarie Chendi
Ilarie Chendi (November 14, 1871 – June 23, 1913) was a Romanian literary critic.
Born in Darlac, Kis-Küküllő County, now Dârlos, Sibiu County, in Transylvania, his father Vasile was a Romanian Orthodox priest, while his mother Eliza ( ...
)
sought to reconcile poetry and philosophy, thus creating a hybrid form of conceptual poetry. Eugen Lovinescu proposed that, although praised by Cerna's contemporaries, this goal was "mediocre", and that the literature it produced "does not express and does not suggest profound spiritual states, but, on the contrary, it expresses by means of
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
al
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
not only that which can be expressed, but also that which can be proven."
Paul Zarifopol, who notes that Cerna particularly treasured the classicist poets
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
,
Louise-Victorine Ackermann
Louise-Victorine Ackermann (''née'' Choquet) (30 November 1813 – 2 August 1890) was a French Parnassianism, Parnassian poet.
Life
Ackermann was born in Paris, but spent her younger days in more rural surroundings near Montdidier, Somme, ...
and
Jean-Marie Guyau
Jean-Marie Guyau (28 October 1854 – 31 March 1888) was a French philosopher and poet.
Guyau was inspired by the philosophies of Epicurus, Epictetus, Plato, Immanuel Kant, Herbert Spencer, and Alfred Fouillée, and the poetry and literature of ...
, as well as the
Parnassian Sully Prudhomme
René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme (; 16 March 1839 – 6 September 1907) was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901.
Born in Paris, Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, bu ...
,
recounted their disagreement when it came to Caragiale, whom Cerna enjoyed only for his power of "observation", but whom he argued lacked "concepts".
For Zarifopol, this statement, made with "a fanatical and dogmatic pathos", evidenced a moment of "academic foolishness" in Cerna's career.
Călinescu, who criticizes the poet for his difficulties with the language, describes him as "not accomplished".
Elaborating on this, he states: "
erna isdeclamatory, banal and dry in his use of metaphors, although he displays a touch of the sublime here and there."
Lovinescu thought many of the expressions Cerna used in his poetry to be "unacceptable", and argued that they were characterized by banality. This assessment was itself contested by Călinescu, who argued that the lyrics in questions are "actually the acceptable ones", and that the awkward wordings "are entirely lost in lyrical fluency." Among the writings forming the subject of this disagreement was Cerna's ''Din depărtare'' ("From Far Away"), which Lovinescu believed was marked by the use of repetitive and banal poetic images:
The subject of
unrequited love
Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dic ...
was one of the major ones in Cerna's
lyric poems
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
and, Călinescu argues, it evoked his actual experience with women, as "the regret of not having lived through the great mystery of love."
These pieces, the critic notes, point to the influence of classicist authors such as Eminescu,
Dante Aligheri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
, and
Giacomo Leopardi
Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (, ; 29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. He is considered the greatest Italian poet of the nineteenth century and one of ...
(the latter poet had also been quoted in Cerna's ''Die Gedankenlyrik'').
One of the pieces, written from the perspective of a man who has once failed to gain the object of his affection, features the lyrics:
While rejecting Cerna's conceptual approach, Lovinescu admired his style, for "the amplitude through which
he sentimentis laid out in vast chimes and compact constructions of rhetorical stanzas."
Such features, he concluded, surpassed "everything ever written in our country".
For George Călinescu, Cerna's "euphoric thirst for life" recalled the work of Parnassian and Symbolist author
Alexandru Macedonski
Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in hi ...
, but was tempered by "the mellow
anemia
Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
of the phthisic."
One of his better-known pieces from the series of love poems read:
Cerna's protest over the violent repression of the
1907 revolt was lyricized in several contexts. In one such indignant piece, Cerna called on Peace not to arrive until the social issue would be solved.
In ''Zile de durere'', he appeals to the Sun to wash out the blood of peasant victims:
Legacy
Panait Cerna's lifetime success and literary fame made him the target of adulation among his fellow traditionalists, a camp which united various ''Junimea'' affiliates and ''Sămănătorul'' contributors. According to Călinescu, this group saw him as Romania's answer to Schiller and
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
.
''Junimea'' saw in him one of its most important members of the early 20th century, while several historians note that he was so only because, at that stage, the literary society was declining.
Mehedinţi's 1914 account of the ''Junimist'' promotion of the "original manifestations of Romanian culture" listed Cerna alongside
Alexandru G. Florescu and other minor writers.
[Ornea, p.78] Literary historian
Z. Ornea
Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
argues that this evidenced not just a decline in standards, but also Mehedinţi's "tastelessness".
Also according to Ornea, the association with Dragomirescu was also characteristic for the ''Junimist'' twilight, given that this circle had failed to impose "a new literary direction", and was tributary to the legacy of various traditionalist groups.
At the same time, both Dragomirescu and his disciple
Ion Trivale
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electric charge, electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be po ...
upheld him as a model to follow, equating him with the mid-19th century classicist
Grigore Alexandrescu
Grigore Alexandrescu (; 22 February 1810, Târgovişte – 25 November 1885 in Bucharest) was a nineteenth-century Romanian poet and translator noted for his fables with political undertones.
He founded a periodical, ''Albina Româneascǎ'' ...
. Zarifopol deplores Cerna's submission to traditionalist and classicist goals, arguing that it eventually ruined Cerna as a poet and made him unhappy.
The poet's adoption of a mainstream approach to poetry also pleased his public, and, Călinescu notes, schoolbooks of the day celebrated him as a Romanian classic while completely ignoring more controversial
Symbolists
Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
such as Macedonski and
Dimitrie Anghel
Dimitrie Anghel (; July 16, 1872 – November 13, 1914) was a Romanian poet.
Anghel was of Aromanian descent from his father. His first poem was published in ''Contemporanul'' (1890). His debut editorial ''Traduceri din Paul Verlaine'' was publi ...
.
His contributions have helped shaped the style of 20th-century poets with traditionalist tendencies from different schools. Among them are the
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
Alexandru Toma
Alexandru Toma (occasionally known as A. Toma, born Solomon Moscovici; February 11, 1875 – August 15, 1954) was a Romanian poet, journalist and translator, known for his communist views and his role in introducing Socialist Realism to Romanian li ...
, later known as an official poet of
Communist Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...
, and ''Sămănătorul''s
Ion Sân-Giorgiu, whose career later took him through an
Expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
stage and eventually to
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
politics.
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 ...
, another author to have been influenced by Cerna's style, dedicated his mentor a poem which read:
In his essay ''Din registrul ideilor gingaşe'' ("From the Register of Gentle Ideas"), where he satirizes the Romanian public's reception of literature, Zarifopol looks into the problems faced by Cerna in satisfying his readers. Using one of Cerna's own accounts as the basis for this analysis, he notes that a group of his young "female admirers" where unpleasantly surprised to find out that their idol was "short, pudgy, wide-necked and ruddy-faced."
[ ]Paul Zarifopol
Paul Zarifopol (November 30, 1874 – May 1, 1934) was a Romanian literary and social critic, essayist, and
literary historian. The scion of an aristocratic family, formally trained in both philology and the sociology of literature, he emerge ...
''Din registrul ideilor gingaşe: Neînţelegeri inocente între public şi artişti''
(wikisource) He writes: "the girls ... were thus in full agreement with the philosophical tradition which, since the old days, has set as a supreme ideal a mosaic of perfections that is naive and unlikely."
Like Lovinescu, other advocates of
modernist literature
Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented ...
rejected most of Cerna's contributions. One of the first to have done so is
Ovid Densusianu
Ovid Densusianu (; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, chief of a poetry school, university professor a ...
, who stated his belief that an artist's work should be separated from his life. Lovinescu, who commented on Densusianu and his thoughts on Cerna, opined that Densusianu had a tendency to reject all poets who registered popular success, and that he treated Dimitrie Anghel's work in much the same way.
The poet's house in Cerna is presently a museum, dedicated in part to his memory, and also housing a permanent exhibit dedicated to the traditional arts and crafts of
Tulcea County
Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube.
Demographics
In 2011, Tulcea Cou ...
.
[''Casa memorială Panait Cerna'']
, at the
Tulcea Institute for Environmental Studies and Museology
; retrieved April 17, 2008 It also features a bust of the poet.
The county library in
Tulcea
Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city.
Names
Th ...
city is named after him,
as are a high school in
Brăila
Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila.
According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...
The Panait Cerna High School
''School Map''
entry; hosted by the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research and Youth; retrieved April 17, 2008 and streets in Bucharest, Brăila, Bistriţa, Hunedoara
Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș ...
, Lugoj
Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" ...
and Petroşani. The local authorities in Tulcea County organize an annual Panait Cerna National Poetry and Essay Contest.
Notes
References
*George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini până în prezent'', Editura Minerva
Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books.
The company was founded in Bucharest in ...
, Bucharest, 1986
*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 ...
, ''Istoria literaturii române contemporane'', Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1989.
*Z. Ornea
Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, ''Junimea şi junimismul'', Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998.
*Tudor Vianu
Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary criticism, literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Literature of Roma ...
, ''Scriitori români'', Vols. II-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971.
External links
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