Păstorel Teodoreanu
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Păstorel Teodoreanu, or just Păstorel (born Alexandru Osvald (Al. O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 – March 17, 1964), was a Romanian humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer
Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu (born Maria Ștefana Lupașcu, also credited as Ștefania Velisar or Lily Teodoreanu; October 17, 1897 – May 30 or 31, 1995) was a Romanian novelist, poet and translator, wife of the writer Ionel Teodoreanu. Encouraged ...
. He worked in many genres, but is best remembered for his parody texts and his
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s, and less so for his
Symbolist 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 ...
verse. His roots planted in the regional culture of Western Moldavia, which became his main source of literary inspiration, Păstorel was at once an opinionated columnist, famous wine-drinking bohemian, and decorated war hero. He worked with the influential literary magazines of the 1920s, moving between ''
Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar Petr ...
'' and '' Viața Românească'', and cultivated complex relationships with literary opinion-makers such as George Călinescu. After an unsuccessful but scandalous debut in drama, Teodoreanu perfected his work as a satirist, producing material which targeted the historian-politician Nicolae Iorga and the literary scholar Giorge Pascu, as well as food criticism which veered into fantasy literature. As an affiliate of ''
Țara Noastră ''Ţara'' ( en, The Country) was a magazine from the Republic of Moldova founded on August 15, 1990 as a newspaper of the Popular Front of Moldova. Ţara was the successor of Deşteptarea. Ştefan Secăreanu was the editor in chief and Sergiu Bu ...
'', he favored a brand of Romanian nationalism which ran against Iorga's own. Corrosive or contemplative, Păstorel's various sketches dealt with social and political issues of the interwar, continuing in some ways the work of Ion Luca Caragiale. In the 1930s, inspired by his readings from Anatole France and
François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
, he also published his celebrated "Jester Harrow" stories, mocking the conventions of
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
s and
Renaissance literature Renaissance literature refers to European literature which was influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies associated with the Renaissance. The literature of the Renaissance was written within the general movement of the Renaissance, ...
. His career peaked in 1937, when he received one of Romania's most prestigious awards, the National Prize. Teodoreanu was employed as a propagandist during World War II, supporting Romania's participation on the Eastern Front. From 1947, Păstorel was marginalized and closely supervised by the communist regime, making efforts to adapt his style and politics, then being driven into an ambiguous relationship with the Securitate secret police. Beyond this facade conformity, he contributed to the emergence of an underground, largely oral,
anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
literature. In 1959, Teodoreanu was apprehended by the communist authorities, and prosecuted in a larger
show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
of Romanian intellectual resistants. He spent some two years in prison, and reemerged as a conventional writer. He died shortly after, without having been fully rehabilitated. His work was largely inaccessible to readers until the
1989 Revolution The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
.


Biography


Early life

The Teodoreanu brothers were born to Sofia Muzicescu, wife of the lawyer Osvald Al. Teodoreanu. The latter's family, originally named Turcu, hailed from Comănești; Osvald's grandfather had been a Romanian Orthodox priest. Constantin Ostap
"Păstorel Teodoreanu, reeditat in 2007"
in ''
Ziarul de Iași ''Ziarul'' was a daily newspaper in Romania, published 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 th ...
'', February 6, 2007
Sofia was the daughter of Gavril Muzicescu, a famous composer from Western Moldavia. Mihai Haivas
"Personalități dorohoiene: Alexandru Oswald Teodoreanu (Păstorel) fiu al Dorohoiului (1)"
in ''Dorohoi News'', March 15, 2014
Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 7 Vasile Iancu

in ''
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 Ti ...
'', May 2011
When Păstorel was born, on July 30, 1894, she and her husband were living at Dorohoi. Ionel (''Ioan-Hipolit Teodoreanu'') and Puiuțu (''Laurențiu Teodoreanu'') were his younger siblings, born after the family had moved to
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, the Moldavian capital city. Osvald's father, Alexandru T. Teodoreanu, had previously served as City Mayor, Gina Popa
"Se stinge 'ulița copilăriei' "
, in '' Evenimentul'', March 31, 2010
while an engineer uncle, also named Laurențiu, was the first manager of the original Iași Power Plant. The Teodoreanus lived in a townhouse just outside Zlataust Church. They were neighbors of poet Otilia Cazimir and relatives of novelist Mărgărita Miller Verghy. From 1906, Alexandru Osvald attended the National High School Iași, in the same class as the film critic and economist
D. I. Suchianu Dumitru Ion Suchianu (September 2, 1895–April 17/18, 1985) was a Romanian essayist, translator, film theorist and political economist. Born in Iași, his parents were Hanes-Ogias Suchianu, a professor of Armenian origin, and his wife Lelia ( ...
.Ostap (2012), p. 54 Young Păstorel had a vivid interest in literary activities and, critics note, acquired a solid
classical culture Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...
. The final two years of his schooling were spent at
Costache Negruzzi National College The Costache Negruzzi National College (''Colegiul Național „Costache Negruzzi”'') in Iași is one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. Founded in 1895 as the ''Boarding High School of Iași'', it was named after the writer and p ...
, where he eventually graduated.Ciobanu, p. 244 He became friends with a future literary colleague,
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'' C ...
, with whom he shared lodging at the
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
. Years later, in one of his reviews for Botez's books, Teodoreanu confessed that he once used to steal wine from Botez's own carboy. In 1914, just as World War I broke out elsewhere in Europe, he was undergoing military training at a Moldavian
cadet school A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
, leading him to graduate from the Artillery School of Bucharest in 1916. Over the following months, Osvald Teodoreanu became known for his support of prolonged neutrality, which set the stage for a minor political scandal. When, in 1916, Romania joined the Entente Powers, Alexandru was mobilized, a
Sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
in the 24th artillery regiment, Romanian Land Forces. He had just published his first poem, a
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
of unrequited love, uncharacteristic for his signature writing. As he recalled, his emotional father accompanied him as far west as the army would allow.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 8 The future writer saw action in the Battle of Transylvania, then withdrew with the defeated armies into besieged Moldavia. His fighting earned him the Star of Romania and the rank of
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. Meanwhile, Puiuțu Teodoreanu volunteered for the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...
and died in April 1918. During the same interval, Ionel, still in Iași, fell in love with Ștefana "Lily" Lupașcu, who became his wife. Cornelia Pillat
"Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu. Corespondență inedită: scrisori din roase plicuri"
in '' România Literară'', Issue 20/2001
She was half French, and, through her, the Teodoreanus became cousins in law of Cella and
Henrieta Delavrancea Henrieta Delavrancea (1897–1987) was a Romanian architect and one of the first female architects admitted to the Superior School of Architecture in Bucharest, but because of the suspension of her classes during World War I, she was not the first ...
(orphaned daughters of writer
Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea ; pen name of Barbu Ștefan; April 11, 1858 in Bucharest – April 29, 1918 in Iași) was a Romanian writer and poet, considered one of the greatest figures in the National awakening of Romania. Early life and s ...
); and of
Stéphane Lupasco Stéphane Lupasco (born Ştefan Lupaşcu; 11 August 1900 – 7 October 1988) was a Romanian philosopher who developed non-Aristotelian logic. Early years Stéphane Lupasco was born in Bucharest on 11 August 1900. His family belonged to the old M ...
, the French philosopher. In 1919, upon demobilization, Alexandru returned to Iași. Like Ionel, he became a contributor to the magazines ''Însemnări Literare'' and ''Crinul'',Tudor Opriș, ''Istoria debutului literar al scriitorilor români în timpul școlii (1820–2000)'', p. 135. Bucharest: Aramis Print, 2002. and also proofread for the former. He took a
law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
from
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 ...
, and, in 1920, moved to the opposite corner of Romania, employed by the Turnu Severin Courthouse. He only spent a few months there. Before the end of the year, he relocated to Cluj, where
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 schoo ...
employed him as a staff writer for his literary magazine, ''
Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar Petr ...
''.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9 The group's activity was centered on Cluj's New York Coffeehouse. Constantin Coroiu
"Mitul cafenelei literare"
, in ''Cultura'', Issue 302, December 2010
Together with another ''Gândirea'' author, Adrian Maniu, Teodoreanu wrote the fantasy play ''Rodia de aur'' ("Golden Pomegranate"). It was published by the Moldavian cultural tribune, '' Viața Românească'', and staged by the
National Theater Iași National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
in late 1920. Some months later, Teodoreanu was co-opted by theatrologist
Ion Marin Sadoveanu Ion Marin Sadoveanu (born Iancu-Leonte Marinescu; June 15, 1893, Bucharest – February 2, 1964) was a Romanian playwright. Biography He started his education at a grammar school in Constanţa, where his father practiced medicine. He continued ...
into the ''Poesis'' literary salon, whose members militated for modernism. In short while, Al. O. Teodoreanu became a popular presence in literary circles, and a famous '' bon viveur''. The moniker ''Păstorel'', candidly accepted by Teodoreanu, was a reference to these drinking habits: he was said to have "tended" (''păstorit'') the rare wines, bringing them to the attention of other culinary experts. His first contribution to food criticism was published by '' Flacăra'' on December 31, 1921, with the title ''Din carnetul unui gastronom'' ("From a Gastronomer's Notebook").Pîrjol, pp. 19, 25 Teodoreanu integrated with the bohemian society in several cities, leaving written records of his drunken dialogues with linguist Alexandru Al. Philippide.
Bogdan Crețu Bogdan or Bohdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in all Slavic countries as well as Romania and Moldova. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog/Boh'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning " god", and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...

"Corespondența lui Păstorel"
in '' Ziarul Financiar'', October 22, 2009
At Iași, the Teodoreanus, including Ștefana, tightened their links with ''Viața Românească'', and with novelist Mihail Sadoveanu; Păstorel greatly admired the group's doyen, critic Garabet Ibrăileanu. A visitor, modernist poet-critic
Felix Aderca Felix Aderca (; born Froim-Zelig roim-ZeilicAderca; March 13, 1891 – December 12, 1962),
, reported seeing Păstorel at ''Viața Românească'', "plotting" against the
National Theater Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional " Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' (" ...
, because, unlike the nationalist theatrical companies of Iași, it only rarely staged Romanian plays. Aderca's antagonistic remarks, published in '' Sburătorul'', reflected growing tensions between the modernist circles in Bucharest and the cultural conservatives in Iași.


''Țara Noastră'' period

Teodoreanu's only solo work as a playwright was the one-act comedy ''V-a venit numirea'' ("Your Appointment Has Been Received"), written in 1922. In 1923, he published his "Inscriptions on a Coffeehouse Table" in the satirical magazine ''Hiena'', which was edited by ''Gândirea''s
Pamfil Șeicaru Pamfil is a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Pamfil Polonic (1858–1943), Romanian archaeologist and topographer * Pamfil Yurkevich (1826–1874), Ukrainian philosopher * Radu Pamfil Radu Pamfil (21 Augus ...
. While receiving his first accolades as a writer, Păstorel was becoming a sought-after public speaker. Together with ''Gândirea''s other celebrities, he toured the country and gave public readings from his works (1923). He also made an impact with his welcome speech for Crown Princess Ileana and her "Blue Triangle" Association of Christian Women. The address culminated in a polite pun: "I finally understood that the Blue Triangle is not a circle, but a sum of concentric circles, whose center is Mistress Ileana, and whose radius reaches into our hearts." Teodoreanu was also involved in the cultural and political quarrels of postwar Greater Romania, taking the side of newcomers from Transylvania, who criticized the country's antiquated social system; they proposed an " integral" version of Romanian nationalism. In January 1925, Păstorel began writing for the Transylvanian review ''
Țara Noastră ''Ţara'' ( en, The Country) was a magazine from the Republic of Moldova founded on August 15, 1990 as a newspaper of the Popular Front of Moldova. Ţara was the successor of Deşteptarea. Ştefan Secăreanu was the editor in chief and Sergiu Bu ...
'' and became, together with Octavian Goga and Alexandru "Ion Gorun" Hodoș, its staff polemicist. In the mid-1920s, Păstorel's satire had found its main victim: Nicolae Iorga, the influential historian, poet and political agitator. According to Goga and Hodoș, Iorga's older brand of nationalism was unduly self-serving, irresponsible, and confusing. Teodoreanu followed up with satirical pieces, comparing the omnipresence of Iorga "the demigod" with the universal spread of novelty Pink Pills. He also ridiculed Iorga's ambitions in poetry, drama, and literary theory: "Mr. Iorga doesn't get how things work, but he is able to persuade many others: he is dangerous." Teodoreanu was courted by the modernist left-wing circles, which were hostile to Iorga's traditionalism, and was a guest writer for a (formerly radical) art magazine, '' Contimporanul''. Păstorel's editorial debut came only later. In 1928,
Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint o ...
publishers issued his parody
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
, titled ''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'' ("The Chronicle of Jester Harrow"). His ''Trei fabule'' ("Three Fables") were taken up by '' Bilete de Papagal'', an experimental literary newspaper managed by poet Tudor Arghezi.Călinescu, p. 1020 While Teodoreanu expected ''Hronicul'' to be an inside joke for him and his friends, it was a national best-seller. It also earned him a literary award sponsored by the Romanian Academy. Teodoreanu made frequent appearances in Bucharest, for instance participating at the Romanian Writers' Society functions—in November 1926, he attended the banquet honoring Rabindranath Tagore, who as visiting Romania. In 1929 the National Theater, chaired by Liviu Rebreanu, staged a new version of ''Rodia de aur''. The event brought Păstorel into collision with the modernists: at '' Cuvântul'', theatrical reviewer Ion Călugăru ridiculed ''Rodia de aur'' as a backward, "childish", play. Dumitru Hîncu
"Acum optzeci de ani — Bătaie la ''Cuvântul''"
in '' România Literară'', Issue 44/2009
The verdict infuriated Teodoreanu, who, according to press reports, visited Călugăru at his office, and pummeled him in full view. According to '' Curentul'' daily, he threatened onlookers not to intervene, brandishing a revolver. At Casa Capșa, where he was residing ca. 1929, Păstorel was involved in another publicized squabble, throwing cakes at a table where Rebreanu sat together with the modernists
Camil Baltazar Camil Baltazar (; pen name of Leibu Goldenstein or Leopold Goldstein; August 25, 1902 in Focşaniaccording to some sourcehe was born in Moara, Putna county- April 27, 1977 in Bucharest) was a Romanian-Jewish poet A poet is a person who studi ...
,
Ion Theodorescu-Sion Ion Theodorescu-Sion (; also known as Ioan Theodorescu-Sion or Teodorescu-Sion; January 2, 1882 – March 31, 1939) was a Romanian painter and draftsman, known for his contributions to modern art and especially for his traditionalist, primitivist, ...
and Ilarie Voronca. At the time, the Ilfov County tribunal received a legal complaint from Călugăru, who accused Teodoreanu of assault and repeated death threats. History does not record whether Teodoreanu was ever brought to court. ''Contimporanul'' also took its distance from Teodoreanu, who received negative reviews in its pages.Cernat (2007), p. 152 Păstorel returned to food criticism, with chronicles published in ''Lumea'', a magazine directed by literary historian George Călinescu, in ''Bilete de Papagal'', and in the left-wing review '' Facla''. He was involved in the dispute opposing Ibrăileanu to philologist Giorge Pascu, and, in December 1930, published in ''Lumea'' two scathing articles against the latter. Pascu sued him for damages. Also in 1930, he joined the National Theater Iași directorial staff, where he supported the production of plays by Ion Luca Caragiale;Ciobanu, p. 245 his colleagues there were Moldavian intellectuals from the ''Viața Românească'' group: Sadoveanu, Demostene Botez,
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 ...
, Iorgu Iordan.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 10 Like Sadoveanu and Codreanu, he was inducted into the Romanian Freemasonry's Cantemir Lodge. The formal initiation had an embarrassing twist: Teodoreanu turned up inebriated, and, during the qualifying questionnaire, stated that he was "damned well pleased" to become a Mason.
Constantin Țoiu Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konstant ...

"Întâmplări cu Păstorel"
in '' România Literară'', Issues 51–52/2008


''Gastronomice'' years

The volume ''Strofe cu pelin de mai pentru/contra Iorga Neculai'' ("Stanzas in May
Wormwood Wormwood may refer to: Biology * Several plants of the genus ''Artemisia'': ** ''Artemisia abrotanum'', southern wormwood ** '' Artemisia absinthium'', common wormwood, grande wormwood or absinthe wormwood ** ''Artemisia annua'', sweet wormwood o ...
for/against Iorga Neculai") was published in 1931, reportedly at the expense of Păstorel's friends and allies, since it had been refused "by all of the nation's publishing houses". However, bibliographies list it as put out by a ''Viața Românească'' imprint. The book came out just after Iorga had been appointed Prime Minister. According to one anecdote, the person most embarrassed by the ''Strofe'' was Osvald Teodoreanu, who had been trying to relaunch his public career. Osvald is said to have toured the Iași bookstores on the day ''Strofe'' came out, purchasing all copies because they could reach the voters. Rodica Mandache
"Boema. La Capșa cu Ion Barbu, Păstorel, Șerban Cioculescu"
in '' Jurnalul Național'', May 12, 2012
Bianca Tănase
Teodoreanu, de la umor la conflict''"
in ''Historia'' (online edition)
Iorga sued Păstorel for defamation, but gave up on his claim for compensation.Ioan Stoica, "Insolitul ospăț al unui devorator de arhive", in ''Bucureștiul Literar și Artistic'', Vol. VIII, Issue 5, May 2018, pp. 14–15 More officially, Teodoreanu published two sketch story volumes: in 1931, ''Mici satisfacții'' ("Small Satisfactions") with Cartea Românească; in 1933, with Editura Națională Ciornei—Rosidor, ''Un porc de câine'' ("A Swine of a Dog"). Eventually, Teodoreanu left Moldavia behind, and moved to Bucharest, where he rented a Grivița house. With help from the cultural policy-maker, General
Nicolae M. Condiescu Nicolae M. Condiescu (October 2, 1880 – June 15, 1939) was a Romanian novelist and soldier. Born in Craiova, his parents were Matei Condiescu, an officer in the Romanian Army, and his wife Maria (''née'' Panu). He attended primary school ...
, he was employed as a book reviewer for The Royal Foundations Publishing House, under manager
Alexandru Rosetti Alexandru Rosetti (October 20, 1895 – February 27, 1990) was a Romanian linguist, editor, and memoirist. Born in Bucharest, his parents were Petre Rosetti Bălănescu, a lawyer and landowner, and his wife Zoe (''née'' Cornescu), whose father wro ...
. He also became a professional food critic for the literary newspaper ''
Adevărul Literar și Artistic ''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 ...
'', with a column he named ''Gastronomice'' ("Gastronomics"), mixing real and imaginary recipes.Pîrjol, pp. 19–20 It was in Bucharest that he met and befriended Maria Tănase, Romania's leading female vocalist."Păstorel toarnă la Securitate"
in '' Jurnalul Național'', June 25, 2007
Still indulging in his pleasures, Teodoreanu was living beyond his means, pestering Călinescu and Cezar Petrescu with requests for loans, and collecting from all his own debtors. Ibrăileanu, who still enjoyed Teodoreanu's capers and appreciated his talent, sent him for review his novel, ''Adela''. Păstorel lost and barely recovered the manuscript, then, in his drunken escapades, forgot to review it, delaying its publication. A collection of Al. O. Teodoreanu's lampoons and essays, of which some were specifically directed against Iorga, saw print in two volumes (1934 and 1935). Published with Editura Națională Ciornei, it carries the title ''Tămâie și otravă'' ("Frankincense and Poison"), and notably includes Teodoreanu's thoughts on social and cultural policies. The two books were followed in 1935 by another sketch story volume, eponymously titled ''Bercu Leibovici''. In its preface, Teodoreanu announced that he refused to even classify this work, leaving classification to "morons and rubberneckers".Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 14 The following year, the prose collection ''Vin și apă'' ("Wine and Water") was issued by Editura Cultura Națională. Also in 1936, Teodoreanu contributed the preface to Romania's standard
cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...
, assembled by Sanda Marin. Osvald Teodoreanu and his two living sons participated in the grand reopening of Hanul Ancuței, a roadside tavern in Tupilați, relocated to Bucharest. The other members and guests were literary, artistic and musical celebrities: Arghezi, D. Botez, Cezar Petrescu, Sadoveanu,
Cella Delavrancea Cella Delavrancea (15 December 1887 – 9 August 1991) was a Romanian pianist, writer and teacher of piano, eldest daughter of writer Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, sister of architect Henrieta Delavrancea-Gibory, Niculina Delavrancea and "Bebs" ...
, George Enescu, Panait Istrati, Milița Petrașcu,
Ion Pillat Ion Pillat (31 March 1891 – 17 April 1945) was a distinguished Romanian poet. He is best known for his volume ''Pe Argeș în sus'' (''Upstream on the Argeș'') and ''Poeme într-un vers'' (''One-line poems''). His maternal grandfather ...
and
Nicolae Tonitza Nicolae Tonitza (; April 13, 1886 – February 27, 1940) was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernis ...
. Păstorel tried to reform the establishment into a distinguished wine cellar, and wrote a code of conduct for the visitors.Călinescu, p. 778 The pub also tried to engender a literary society, dedicated primarily to the reformation of Romanian literature, and, with its profits, financed young talents. The Hanul Ancuței episode ended when Teodoreanu was diagnosed with liver failure. Sponsored by the Writers' Society, he treated his condition at
Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...
, in Czechoslovakia. The experience, which meant cultural isolation and a teetotal's diet, led Teodoreanu to declare himself an enemy of all things Czechoslovak. During his stays in Karlovy Vary, he corresponded with his employer, Rosetti, keeping with the events in Romania, but wondering if Romanians still remembered him. Păstorel was a recipient of the 1937 National Prize for Prose. The jury comprised other major writers of the day: Rebreanu, Sadoveanu, Cezar Petrescu,
Victor Eftimiu Victor Eftimiu (; 24 January 1889 – 27 November 1972) was a Romanian poet and playwright. He was a contributor to '' Sburătorul'', a Romanian literary magazine. His works have been performed in the State Jewish Theater of Romania. Efti ...
. Teodoreanu was especially proud about this achievement: in his own definition, the National Prize was an endorsement "worth its weight in gold". He impressed the other literati at the celebratory dinner, where he was "dressed to the nines" and drank with moderation. After the event, Teodoreanu turned his attention to his poetry writing: in 1938, he published the booklet ''Caiet'' ("Notebook"). The same year, Ionel joined his older brother in Bucharest.


World War II and communist takeover

The Teodoreanu brothers were public supporters of the
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
regime instituted, in 1938, by King Carol II, contributing to the government propaganda. The king returned the favor and, also in 1938, Păstorel was made a Knight of '' Meritul Cultural'' Order, 2nd Class. From autumn 1939, when the start of World War II left Romania exposed to foreign invasions, Teodoreanu was again called under arms. Stationed with his 24th artillery regiment in the garrison of Roman,Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 15 he put on hold his regular food chronicles. However, his military duties quickly dissolved into wine-drinking meals. This was attested by Corporal
Gheorghe Jurgea-Negrilești 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 * ...
, an aristocrat and memoirist, who served under Teodoreanu and remained his friend in civilian life. In 1940, Teodoreanu worked with Ion Valentin Anestin, writing the editorial "Foreword" to Anestin's satirical review, ''Gluma'', and published a series of aphorisms in '' Revista Fundațiilor Regale''. Returning to Bucharest, he stayed at Carlton Tower, until the building was destroyed in the November 10 earthquake; for a while, Teodoreanu himself was presumed dead. By then, Romania, under '' Conducător''
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...
, became an ally of Nazi Germany. In summer 1941, the country joined in the German attack on the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa). Teodoreanu took employment as an Antonescu regime propagandist, publishing, in the newspaper '' Universul'', a panegyric dedicated to pilot Horia Agarici. ''Țara'' newspaper of Sibiu hosted his scathing
anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
poem, ''Scrisoare lui Stalin'' ("A Letter to Stalin"). His brother and sister in law followed the same line, the former with novels which had anti-Soviet content. A second edition of ''Bercu Leibovici'' came out in 1942, followed in 1934 by a reprint of ''Caiet''. Still living in Bucharest, Teodoreanu kept company with Jurgea-Negrilești. According to the latter, Păstorel had friendly contacts with novelist Paul Morand, who was the diplomatic representative of Vichy France in Bucharest. The story shows a high-strung Teodoreanu, who defied wartime restriction to obtain a bowler hat and gloves, and dressed up for one of Morand's house-parties. In mid-1944, at the peak of Allied bombing raids, Teodoreanu had taken refuge in
Budești Budești (Romani: ''Budeshti'') is a small provincial town in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Aprozi, Buciumeni, and Gruiu. It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rur ...
, a rural commune south of the capital. He was joined there by Maria Tănase and her husband of the time. After the King Michael's Coup broke apart Romania's alliance with the Axis Powers, Teodoreanu returned to regular journalism. His food criticism was again taken up by ''Lumea'', and then by the general-interest ''Magazin''. Lacking a stable home, he was hosted at The Royal Foundations Publishing House, and could be seen walking about its library in a red housecoat. G. Pienescu
"Al. O. Teodoreanu"
in '' România Literară'', Issue 27/2007
Teodoreanu's contribution to wartime propaganda made him a target for retribution in the
Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...
press. Already in October 1944, '' România Liberă'' and '' Scînteia'' demanded for him to be excluded from the Writers' Society, noting that he had "written in support of the anti-Soviet war". Ionel and his wife also faced persecution for sheltering wanted anti-communists
Mihail Fărcășanu Mihail Fărcășanu (November 10, 1907 – July 14, 1987) was a Romanian journalist, diplomat and writer. He was president of the ''National Liberal Youth'' from 1937 to 1946. Pursued by the authorities due to his anti-communist actions, he ma ...
and Pia Pillat-Fărcășanu. Păstorel's career was damaged by the full imposition, in 1947, of a Romanian communist regime. In May 1940, Teodoreanu had defined humor as "the coded language that smart people use to understand each other under the fools' noses". Resuming his food writing after 1944, he began inserting subtle jokes about the new living conditions, even noting that the widespread practice of rationing made his texts seem "absurd". Traditionally, his cooking recommendations had been excessive, and recognized as such by his peers. He firmly believed that '' cozonac'' cake required 50 eggs for each
kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...
of flour (that is, some 21 per pound). The communists were perplexed by the Păstorel case, undecided about whether to punish him as a dissident or enlist him as a
fellow traveler The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...
. Păstorel was experiencing financial ruin, living on commissions, handouts and borrowings. He tried to talk Maria Tănase into using his poems as song lyrics, and stopped seeing her altogether when her husband refused to lend him money. In 1953, aged 58 or 59, he married Marta Poenaru, daughter of the renowned surgeon Constantin Poenaru Căplescu and more distantly descended from architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant. Păstorel's brother Ionel died suddenly in February 1954, leaving Păstorel devastated. He compensated for the loss by keeping company with other intellectuals of the anti-communist persuasion. His literary circle, hosted by the surviving Bucharest locales, included, among others, Jurgea-Negrilești, Șerban Cioculescu, Vladimir Streinu,
Aurelian Bentoiu Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
, and Alexandru Paleologu.Pîrjol, pp. 21, 25


Censorship and show trial

By 1954, Teodoreanu was being called in for questioning by agents of the Securitate, the communist secret police. Pressure was put on him to divulge his friends' true feelings about the political regime. He avoided a direct answer, but eventually informed Securitate about Maria Tănase's apparent disloyalty. While harassed in this manner, Teodoreanu was already earning a leading place in underground counterculture, where he began circulating his new anti-communist compositions. According to literary critic Ion Simuț, the clandestine poetry of Păstorel,
Vasile Voiculescu Vasile Voiculescu (, literary pseudonym V. Voiculescu; 27 November 1884 – 26 April 1963) was a Romanian poet, short-story writer, playwright, and physician. Biography Early life and education Voiculescu was born in Pârscov, Buzău Cou ...
and Radu Gyr is the only explicit negation of communism to have emerged from 1950s Romania. Ion Simuț
"A existat disidență înainte de Paul Goma?"
in '' România Literară'', Issue 22/2008
As other Securitate records show, the public was aware of Teodoreanu's visits to the Securitate, but distinguished between him, who was "called over" to confess, and those who made voluntary denunciations. Adrian Neculau
"O zi din viața lui Conu Sache"
in ''
Ziarul de Iași ''Ziarul'' was a daily newspaper in Romania, published 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 th ...
'', November 6, 2010
In trying to salvage his career, Teodoreanu was forced to diversify his literary work. In 1956, his literary advice for debuting authors was hosted by the gazette ''Tînărul Scriitor'', an imprint of the Communist Party School of Literature. He also completed and published translations from Jaroslav Hašek ('' Soldier Švejk'') and
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
('' Taras Bulba''). In 1957, he prefaced the collected sonnets of
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 ...
, and issued, with
Editura Tineretului This is a list of publishers of works in Romanian. A * Editura Academiei * Editura Adevărul * Editura Albatros * Editura Aldine * Editura ALFA * Editura ALL * Grupul Editorial AMALTEA * Amco Press * Editura Anastasia * Editura Antim Ivi ...
, a selection of his own prose, ''Berzele din Boureni'' ("The Storks of Boureni"). Samples of his communist-era works were read out at the Bucharest Literary Week in December of that year. With Călinescu, Teodoreanu worked on ''La Roumanie Nouvelle'', the French-language communist paper, where he had the column ''Goutons voir si le vin est bon'' ("Let's Taste the Wine and See if It's Good").Pîrjol, p. 22 From 1957 to 1959, Teodoreanu resumed his food chronicles in ''Magazin'', while also contributing culinary reviews in '' Glasul Patriei'' and other such communist propaganda newspapers. According to researcher Florina Pîrjol: "the scion of bourgeois intellectuals, with his liberal values and his aristocratic spirit, unsuitable for political "taming", Al. O. Teodoreanu had a rude awakening into a world where, perceived as a hostile element, he was unable to exercise his profession".Pîrjol, p. 21 According to literary reviewer G. Pienescu, who worked with Teodoreanu in the 1960s, the ''Glasul Patriei'' collaboration was supposed to grant Păstorel a "certificate of good citizenship". Under pressure from communist censorship, Teodoreanu was reconfiguring his literary profile. Dropping all references to
Western cuisine European cuisine comprises the cuisines of Europe "European Cuisine."agitprop slogans about "goodwill among men", before adopting in full the communists' wooden tongue. Although the country was still undernourished, Păstorel celebrated the public self-service chain, ''Alimentara'', as a "structural transformation" of the Romanian psyche. Meanwhile, some anti-communist texts, circulated by Teodoreanu among the underground dissidents, were intercepted by the authorities. Those who have documented Teodoreanu's role in the development of underground humor note that he paid a dear price for his contributions."Gheorghe Grigurcu în dialog cu Șerban Foarță"
in '' România Literară'', Issues 51–52/2007
On October 30, 1959, he was arrested, amidst a search for incriminating evidence. The Securitate relied on reports from its other informers, one of whom was Constantin I. Botez, the psychologist and academic. His manuscripts, including draft translations from William Shakespeare and a novel, were confiscated. The writer became one of 23 intellectuals implicated in a
show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
, whose main victims were writer Dinu Pillat and the philosopher Constantin Noica. Although grouped together, these men and women were accused of a variety of seditious deeds, from engaging in "hostile conversations" to keeping company with Western visitors. One thing they had in common was their relationship with Noica: they had all attended meetings in Noica's home, listening to his readings from the letters of a banished philosopher, Emil Cioran. In Teodoreanu's specific case, the authorities also recovered a fable of his from the 1930s, where he was ridiculing communism as the rally-call of rebellious donkeys. His newer poems were also recovered through the testimonies of some who had heard them. The presiding judge, Adrian Dumitriu, asked Teodoreanu why he ever felt the need to contribute such works. Păstorel noted that it was impossible for him to stop: "chickens lay eggs, and I compose epigrams"; he also added: "if there's nothing else we can do or our country let's at least suffer for her sake."


Prison term, illness, and death

Teodoreanu received a sentence of six years in "correctional prison", with three years of loss of rights, and permanent confiscation of his assets. Communist censors took over his manuscripts, some of which were unceremoniously burned. These circumstances forced Marta Teodoreanu to work nights as a street sweeper. Held in confinement at
Aiud prison Aiud Prison is a prison complex in Aiud, Alba County, located in central Transylvania, Romania. It is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during World War II under the rule of Ion Antonescu, and later under the Commu ...
, Păstorel reportedly complained of having been brutalized by one of the guards. While in
Gherla prison Gherla Prison is a penitentiary located in the Romanian city of Gherla, in Cluj County. The prison dates from 1785; it is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during the Communist regime. In Romanian slang the generic wo ...
, Teodoreanu filed an appeal: he admitted to having ridiculed communism, and to having distanced himself from Socialist Realism, but asked to be allowed a second chance, stating his usefulness in writing "propaganda". Reportedly, the Writers' Union, whose President was Demostene Botez, made repeated efforts to obtain his liberation. Teodoreanu was not informed of this, and was shocked to encounter Botez, come to plead in his favor, in the prison warden's office. He was ultimately granted a reprieve on April 30, 1962, together with many other political prisoners, and allowed to return to Bucharest. Later that year, he paid his friends in Iași what would be his final visit, the memory of which would trouble him to his death. Teodoreanu returned to public life, but was left without the right of signature, and was unable to support himself and Marta. In this context, he sent a letter to the communist propaganda chief, Leonte Răutu, indicating that he had "redeemed his past", and asking to be allowed back into the literary business. Păstorel made his comeback with the occasional column, in which he continued to depict Romania as a land of plenty. Written for Romanian diaspora readers, just shortly after the peak of food restrictions, these claimed that luxury items ( Emmental, liverwurst, Nescafé, Sibiu sausages) had been made available in every neighborhood shop. His hangout was the Hotel, where he befriended an eccentric communist, poet Nicolae Labiș. Helped by Pienescu, he was preparing a collected works edition, ''Scrieri'' ("Writings"). The communist censors were adverse to its publishing, but, after Tudor Arghezi spoke in Teodoreanu's favor, the book was included in the "fit for publishing" list of 1964. Păstorel was entering the terminal stages of lung cancer, receiving palliative care at his house on Vasile Lascăr Street, in Bucharest's Armenian Quarter. Teodoreanu's friend and biographer, Alexandru Paleologu, calls his "an exemplary death". According to Paleologu, Teodoreanu had taken special care to render his suffering bearable for those around him, being "lucid and courteous". Jurgea-Negrilești was present at one of the group's last meetings, recalling: "At the very last drop
f wine F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hi ...
he got up on his feet... there was gravitas about him, a greatness that I find hard to explain. In a voice that his pain had made hoarse, he asked that we leave him alone". Teodoreanu died at home, on March 17, 1964, just a day after Pienescu brought him news that censorship had been bypassed; in some sources, the date of death is given as March 15. He was buried, alongside Ionel Teodoreanu, in the Delavrancea crypt at Bellu cemetery. Six hundred people were in attendance, but, owing to Securitate surveillance, the funeral remained a quiet affair. The Writers' Union was only represented by two former ''Gândirea'' contributors, Maniu and Nichifor Crainic. They were not mandated to speak about the deceased, and kept silent, as did the Orthodox priest who was supposed to deliver the service. The writer had left two translations ( Anatole France's ''Chronicle of Our Own Times''; Prosper Mérimée's ''Nouvelles''), first published in 1957. As Pienescu notes, he had never managed to sign the contract for ''Scrieri''. Without children of his own, he was survived by his sister in law Ștefana and her twin sons, and by cousin Alexandru Teodoreanu, himself a former, pardoned, detainee.Ostap (2012), pp. 53–54 Ștefana lived to age 97, and continued to publish as a novelist and memoirist, although from ca. 1982 she withdrew into near-complete isolation at Văratec Monastery. The last-surviving of her sons died without heirs in 2006.


Work


Jester Harrow


Common themes

Culturally, Teodoreanu belonged to the schools of
interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
nationalism, be they conservative (''
Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar Petr ...
'', ''
Țara Noastră ''Ţara'' ( en, The Country) was a magazine from the Republic of Moldova founded on August 15, 1990 as a newspaper of the Popular Front of Moldova. Ţara was the successor of Deşteptarea. Ştefan Secăreanu was the editor in chief and Sergiu Bu ...
'') or
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
('' Viața Românească''). Some exegetes have decoded proof of patriotic attachment in the writer's defense of
Romanian cuisine Romanian cuisine () is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been mainly influenced by Turkish and a series of European cuisines in partic ...
, and especially his ideas about Romanian wine. Șerban Cioculescu once described his friend as a "wine nationalist" and George Călinescu suggested that Păstorel was entirely out of his element when discussing French wine. On one hand, Păstorel supported illusory claims of Romanian precedence (including a story that caviar was discovered in Romania); on the other, he issued loving, if condescending, remarks about Romanians being a people of " grill cooks and '' mămăligă'' eaters". However, Teodoreanu was irritated by the contemplative traditionalism of Moldavian writers, and, as Cioculescu writes, his vitality clashed with the older schools of nationalism: Nicolae Iorga's '' Sămănătorul'' circle and "its Moldavian pair", Poporanism. Philosophically, he remained indebted to
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
and the aestheticists. The
frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'' is, to at least some degree, an echo of "national specificity" guidelines, as set by ''Viața Românească''. It is however also remembered as a most atypical contribution to Romanian literature, and, critics argue, "one of his most valuable books", a "masterpiece". Nevertheless, the only commentator to have been impressed by the totality of ''Hronicul'', and to have rated Păstorel as one of Romania's greatest humorists, is the aestheticist Paul Zarifopol. His assessment was challenged, even ridiculed, by the academic community. The consensus is nuanced by critic
Bogdan Crețu Bogdan or Bohdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in all Slavic countries as well as Romania and Moldova. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog/Boh'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning " god", and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...
, who writes: "Păstorel may well be, as far as some care to imagine, peripheral in literature, but ..he is not at all a minor writer." According to Călinescu, ''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'' parallels Balzac's '' Contes drôlatiques''. Like the ''Contes'', Jester Harrow's tale reuses, and downgrades, the conventions of medieval historiography—in Păstorel's text, the material for parody is Ion Neculce's ''Letopisețul țărâi Moldovei''. As both the writer and his reviewers have noted, Teodoreanu mixed the subversive "counterfeiting" of Neculce's history into his own loving homage to the Moldavian dialects and their verbal clichés. Archaic Moldavian, he explained in a 1929 interview, was highly distinct from officialese; he related to it as "the language I used to speak, but forgot", the voicing of one's "deep melancholy". He specified his models: the Moldavian chroniclers, Neculce and
Miron Costin Miron Costin (March 30, 1633 – 1691) was a Moldavian (Romanian) political figure and chronicler. His main work, ''Letopiseţul Ţărâi Moldovei e la Aron Vodă încoace' (''The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia Aron Vodă]'') was meant to e ...
; the modern
pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
s, Balzac's ''Contes'' and Anatole France's ''Merrie Tales of Jaques Tournebroche''. In addition, literary historian Eugen Lovinescu believes, Teodoreanu was naturally linked to the common source of all modern parodies, namely the fantasy stories of
François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
. Păstorel's "so very Rabelaisian" writing has a "thick, big, succulent note, that will saturate and overfill the reader". A narrative experiment, ''Hronicul'' comprises at least five parody "historical novels", independent of each other: ("Iancu's Confession"), ''Inelul Marghioliței'' ("Marghiolița's Ring"), ("The Captain's Purebred"), ("Trașcă the Terrible, of the Dracula Clan"), and ("Kostakel ye Tireleſs"). In several editions, they are bound together with various other works, covering several literary genres. According to biographer Gheorghe Hrimiuc, the latter category is less accomplished than the "chronicle". It notably includes various of Teodoreanu's attacks on Iorga.


Particular episodes

Although the presence of anachronisms makes it hard to even locate the stories' time-frame, they seem to be generally referencing the 18th- and 19th-century Phanariote era, during which Romanians adopted a decadent, essentially anti-heroic, lifestyle. A recurrent theme is that of the colossal banquet, in most cases prompted by nothing other than the joy of company or a ''
carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work ''Odes'' (23 BC). Translation is the second-person singular present active imperative of '' carpō'' "pick or pluck" used by Horace t ...
'' mentality, but so excessive that they drive the organizers into moral and material bankruptcy. In all five episodes, Păstorel disguises himself as various unreliable narrators. He is, for instance, a decrepit General Coban (''Pursângele căpitanului'') and a retired courtesan (''Inelul Marghioliței''). In ''Neobositulŭ Kostakelŭ'', a "
found manuscript A false document is a technique by which an author aims to increase verisimilitude in a work of fiction by inventing and inserting or mentioning documents that appear to be factual. The goal of a false document is to convince an audience that what ...
", he has three narrative voices: that of the writer, Pantele; that of the skeptic reviewer, Balaban; and that of the concerned "philologist", with his absurd critical apparatus (a parody of scientific conventions). The
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
, "Harrow", is only present (and mentioned by name) in the rhyming ''Predoslovie'' ("Foreword"), but is implicit in all the stories. Also in ''Neobositulŭ Kostakelŭ'', Teodoreanu's love for role-playing becomes a study in intertextuality and candid stupidity. Pantele is a reader of Miron Costin, but seemingly incapable of understanding his literary devices. He reifies metaphoric accounts about a Moldavian Princedom "flowing with milk and honey": "Had this been in any way true, people would be glued to fences, like flies". Even the protagonist, Kostakel, is a writer, humorist and parodist, who has produced his own chronicle of "obscenities" with the stated purpose of irritating Ion Neculce (who thus makes a brief appearance ''within'' Harrow's "chronicle"). The deadpan critical apparatus accompanying such intertextual dialogues is there to divert attention from Teodoreanu's narrative tricks and anachronisms. Hrimiuc suggests that, by pretending to read his own "chronicle" as a valid historical record, Păstorel was sending in "negative messages about how not to decode the work". ''Neobositulŭ Kostakelŭ'' and ''Pursângele căpitanului'' comprise some of Păstorel's ideas about the Moldavian ethos. The locals have developed a strange mystical tradition, worshiping Cotnari wine, and regarding those who abstain from it as "enemies of the church". The author also highlights the
Moldavian boyars The boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia were the nobility of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The title was either inherited or granted by the Hospodar, often together with an administrative function.Djuvara, p.131 The boyars he ...
' loose sexual mores: weak husbands are resigned cuckolds, Romani slaves are used for staging sexual farces; however, as Zarifopol argues, this type of prose does not seek to be "aphrodisiac". The scenes of merrymaking are played out for a melancholy effect. In ''Neobositulŭ Kostakelŭ'', the
antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...
is Panagake, an outsider ( Graeco-Romanian) and usurper of tradition. Although he suffers defeat and ridicule, he is there to announce that the era of joy is coming to a conclusion. As critic Doris Mironescu notes, characters experience an "entry into time", except "theirs is not Great history, but a minor one, that of intimate disasters, of homemaking tragedies and the domestic hell." ''Hronicul'' satirizes the conventions of Romanian neoromanticism and of the commercial adventure novel, or penny dreadful, particularly so in ''Cumplitul Trașcă Drăculescul''. The eponymous hero is a colossal and unpredictable hajduk, born with the necessary
tragic flaw The term ''hamartia'' derives from the Greek , from ''hamartánein'', which means "to miss the mark" or "to err". It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. The term is often said to depic ...
. He lives in continuous erotic frenzy, pushing himself on all available women, "without regard as to whether they were virgins or ripe women, not even if they had happened to be his cousins or his aunts". Still, he is consumed by his passion for the nubile Sanda, but she dies, of "chest trouble", on the very night of their wedding. The broken Trașcă commits suicide on the spot. These events are narrated with the crescendo of romantic novels, leading to the unceremonious punch line: "And it so happened that this Trașcă of the Draculas was ninety years of age."


Caragialesque prose

Teodoreanu's ''Mici satisfacții'' and ''Un porc de câine'' echo the classical
sketch stories A sketch story, literary sketch or simply sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The genre was invented after the 16th century in England, as a result of increasing public ...
of Ion Luca Caragiale, a standard in
Romanian humor Romanian humour, like many other Romanian cultural aspects, has many affinities with four other groups: the Latins (namely the French and Italians), the Balkan people (Greeks, the Slavs, and Turks), the Germans and the Hungarians. Characters ...
. Like him, Păstorel looks into the puny lives and "small satisfactions" of Romania's '' petite bourgeoisie'', but does not display either Caragiale's malice or his political agenda. His own specialty is the open-ended, unreliably-narrated, depiction of mundane events: the apparent suicide of a lapdog, or (in ''Berzele din Boureni'') an "abstruse" dispute about the flight patterns of storks. ''Un porc de câine'' pushed the jokes a little further, risking to be branded an obscene work. According to critic Perpessicius, "a witty writer can never be an obscene writer", and Păstorel had enough talent to stay out of the pornographic range. Similarly, Cioculescu describes his friend as an artisan of "libertine humor", adverse to didactic art, and interested only in "pure comedy". In his narrator's voice, Păstorel mockingly complains that the banal was being replaced by the outstanding, making it hard for humorists to find subject matters. Such doubts are dispelled by the intrusion of a blunt, but inspirational, topic: "Can it be true that
mayweed Mayweed is a common name for two different species of flowering plants and also a name commonly used for several genera of the tribe Anthemideae whose species are currently in a flux of renaming: Species with the common name of mayweed: :''Anthemis ...
is an aphrodisiac?" In fact, ''Un porc de câine'' expands Teodoreanu's range beyond the everyday, namely by showing the calamitous, entirely unforeseeable, effects of an erotic farce. The volume also includes a faux
obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
, honoring the memory of one Nae Vasilescu. This stuttering tragedian, whose unredeemed ambition was to play
Shylock Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the ...
, took his revenge on the acting profession by becoming a real-life usurer—an efficient if dishonorable way to earning the actors' fear and respect. Critics have rated Teodoreanu as a Caragialesque writer, or a "Moldavian", "thicker", more archaic Caragiale. Hrimiuc suggests that Caragiale has become an "obligatory" benchmark for Teodoreanu's prose, with enough differences to prevent Păstorel from seeming an "epigone". Hrimiuc then notes that Teodoreanu is entirely himself in the sketch ''S-au supărat profesorii'' ("The Professors Are Upset"), fictionalizing the birth of the
National Liberal Party-Brătianu National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland ...
with "mock dramaticism", and in fact poking fun at the vague political ambitions of Moldavian academics. As a Caragiale follower, Teodoreanu remained firmly within established genre. Doris Mironescu describes his enrollment as a flaw, placing him in the vicinity of "minor" Moldavian writers (
I. I. Mironescu Ioan I. Mironescu (pen name of Eugen I. Mironescu; June 13, 1883 – July 22, 1939) was a Romanian prose writer and physician. A native of the Moldavia region, he headed a dermatology clinic and taught medicine at Iași, while also publishing sev ...
,
Dimitrie D. Pătrășcanu Dimitrie D. Pătrășcanu (October 8, 1872–November 4, 1937) was a Romanian prose writer and dramatist. Born in Tomești, Iași County, his parents were Dimitrie Pătrășcanu, a farmer, and his wife Maria (''née'' Vicol). He attended pri ...
),Mironescu (2008), p. 16 and noting that his "obvious model" was the memoirist
Radu Rosetti Radu Rosetti (Francization, Francized ''Rodolphe Rosetti''; September 14, 1853 – February 12, 1926) was a Moldavian, later Romanian, politician, historian, and novelist, father of General Radu R. Rosetti, and a prominent member of the Rosetti fa ...
. The other main influence, as pinpointed by literary critics, remains Teodoreanu's personal hero, Anatole France. In ''Tămâie și otravă'', Teodoreanu is, like France, a moralist. However, Călinescu notes, he remains a "jovial" and "tolerable" one.


Symbolist poetry

Păstorel had very specific tastes in poetry, and was an avid reader of the first-generation
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 ...
. Of all Symbolist poets, his favorite was Paul Verlaine,Hrimiuc, p. 293 whose poems he had memorized to perfection, but he also imitated Henri de Régnier, Albert Samain and Jean Richepin. Like Verlaine, Teodoreanu had mastered classical prosody, so much so that he believed it was easier, and more vulgar, for one to write in verse—overall, he preferred prose. He was entirely adverse to Romania's modernist poetry, most notably so when he ridiculed the work of
Camil Baltazar Camil Baltazar (; pen name of Leibu Goldenstein or Leopold Goldstein; August 25, 1902 in Focşaniaccording to some sourcehe was born in Moara, Putna county- April 27, 1977 in Bucharest) was a Romanian-Jewish poet A poet is a person who studi ...
; even in his lyrical work of the 1930s, Teodoreanu recovered older, consecrated Symbolist
synaesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who rep ...
and lyrical tropes, such as the arrival of autumn and the departure of loved ones. In ''Caiet'', he is also a poet of the macabre, honoring the ghoulish genre invented by his Romanian Symbolist predecessors. According to critics such as CălinescuCălinescu, p. 779 and Alexandru Paleologu, his main reference is Alexandru Macedonski, the Romanian Symbolist master. Paleologu notes that Păstorel is the more "lucid" answer to Macedonski's unlimited " Quixotism". Together with the ''
carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work ''Odes'' (23 BC). Translation is the second-person singular present active imperative of '' carpō'' "pick or pluck" used by Horace t ...
'' invitation in ''Hronicul'', ''Caiet'' is an implicit celebration of life: Teodoreanu's contribution to Romanian poetry centers on an original series, ''Cântecèle de ospiciu'' ("Tiny Songs from a Hospice"), written from the perspective of the dangerously insane. As Călinescu notes, they require "subtle humor" from the reader. For instance, some veer into delirious monologues:


Scattered texts and apocrypha

As a poet of the mundane, Teodoreanu shared glory with the other ''Viața Românească'' humorist, George Topîrceanu. If their jokes had the same brevity, their humor was essentially different, in that Topîrceanu preserved an innocent worldview. In this class of poetry, Teodoreanu had a noted preference for orality, and, according to interwar essayist
Petru Comarnescu __NOTOC__ Petru Comarnescu (born 23 November 1905, Iași - d. 27 November 1970, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator. Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop Veniamin Costache, he studi ...
, was one of Romania's "semi-failed intellectuals", loquacious and improvident. As an impish journalist, he always favored the ephemeral. Păstorel's work therefore includes many scattered texts, some of which were never collected for print. Gheorghe Hrimiuc assessed that his aphorisms, "inscriptions" and self-titled "banal paradoxes" must number in the dozens, while his
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
production was "enormous". In his attacks on Nicolae Iorga, the epigrammatist Păstorel took the voice of Dante Aligheri, about whom Iorga had written a play. Teodoreanu's Dante addressed his Romanian reviver, and kindly asked to be left alone. Anti-Iorga epigrams abound in ''Țara Noastră'' pages. Attributable to Teodoreanu, they are signed with various irreverent pen names, all of them referencing Iorga's various activities and opinions: Iorgu Arghiropol-Buzatu, Hidalgo Bărbulescu, Mița Cursista, Nicu Modestie, Mic dela Pirandola. On the friendly side, the fashion of exchanging epigrams was also employed by Teodoreanu and his acquaintances. In one such jousting, with philosopher Constantin Noica, Teodoreanu was ridiculed for overusing the
apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...
(and
abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
) to regulate his prosody; Teodoreanu conceded that he could learn "writing from Noica". Other short poems merely address the facts of life in Iași or Bucharest. His first ever
quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...
, published in ''Crinul'', poked fun at the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, whose soldiers were still stationed in Moldavia. A later epigram locates the hotspot of prostitution in Bucharest: the "maidens" of Popa Nan Street, he writes, "are beautiful, but they're no maidens". In 1926, '' Contimporanul'' published his French-language calligram and "
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
", which recorded in writing a couple's disjointed replies during the sexual act. Teodoreanu's artistic flair was poured into his regular letters, which fictionalize, rhyme and dramatize everyday occurrences. These texts "push into the borders of literature" (Hrimiuc), and are worthy of a "list of great epistolaries" (Crețu). Călinescu believes that such works should be dismissed, being "without spirit", "written in a state of excessive joy, that confuses the writer about the actual suggestive power of his words". Urban folklore and communist prosecutors recorded a wide array of anti-communist epigrams, attributed (in some cases, dubiously) to Al. O. Teodoreanu. In early 1947, the outlawed National Peasants' Party (PNȚ) was putting out leaflets featuring political satires of the new regime; PNȚ man Liviu Tudoraș argues that two such works were by Teodoreanu. Păstorel the purported author of licentious comments about communist writer
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 ...
and her vagina, and about the "arselicking" communist associate, Petru Groza.Pîrjol, p. 25 The latter is also ridiculed in one piece which is more generically about government policies after the Soviet occupation of Romania: Other epigrams ridiculed the intellectual abilities of Groza's cabinet members, and especially the Minister of Agriculture, : Elsewhere, Păstorel asks listeners to answer him a riddle: who has failing grades for conduct in school "but holds sway over the country"? The prize for respondents is "20 years behind bars." One other piece, written after the Tito–Stalin split of 1949, alleges that
Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...
had been murdered by the Soviets. Tradition also credits him with the corrosive joke about the Statue of the Soviet Liberator, a monument which towered over Bucharest from 1946: Elsewhere, Teodoreanu derided the communists' practice of enrolling former members of the
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 ...
Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...
, nominal enemies, into their own Workers' Party. His unflattering verdict on this unexpected fusion of the political extremes was mirrored by co-defendant Dinu Pillat, in the novel ''Waiting for the Last Hour''. Teodoreanu's famous stanza is implicitly addressed to "Captain" Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the Guard's founder and patron saint: The political epigrams also record Teodoreanu's reception of the " Secret Speech", which marked the onset of
De-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
:


In cultural memory

With his constant networking, Păstorel Teodoreanu made a notable impact in the careers of other writers, and, indirectly, on visual arts. Some of his works came with original drawings: illustrations by
Ion Sava An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net 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 positive by convent ...
(for ''Strofe cu pelin de mai''); a portrait of the writer, by
Ștefan Dimitrescu Ștefan Dimitrescu (January 18, 1886 – May 22, 1933) was a Romanian Post-impressionist painter and draftsman. Biography Born in Huși into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his hometown. In 1903, deciding ...
(''Mici satisfacții''); and graphics by Ion Valentin Anestin (''Vin și apă''). One of the first to borrow from ''Hronicul'' was
George Lesnea George Lesnea (born George Glod; March 25, 1902 – July 6, 1979) was a Romanian poet and translator. Born in Iași, his parents were the cart driver Iosif Glod and his wife Maria. His education consisted of primary school in his native city. ...
, the author of humorous poems about Moldavia's distant past, and a recipient of the Hanul Ancuței literary prize. A young author of the 1940s, Ștefan Baciu, drew inspiration from both ''Gastronomice'' and ''Caiet'' in his own humorous verse. In the late 1960s, when liberalization touched Romanian communism, most restrictions on Teodoreanu's work were lifted. In July 1969, the Prosecutor General filed appeals for both Teodoreanu and Vladimir Streinu, effectively ensuring their rehabilitation; during this procedure, the authorities claimed that Teodoreanu's epigrams had been burned in 1960, and, as such, that any definitive evidence of wrongdoing had been lost before the author's prosecution.
Editura Tineretului This is a list of publishers of works in Romanian. A * Editura Academiei * Editura Adevărul * Editura Albatros * Editura Aldine * Editura ALFA * Editura ALL * Grupul Editorial AMALTEA * Amco Press * Editura Anastasia * Editura Antim Ivi ...
had by then published a volume called ''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'', which in fact sampled much of his lifetime work, while leaving out most of the mock-historical texts. Scholar Marcel Duță gave a poor review to this "minuscule anthology", noting that it had failed to underscore Păstorel's cultural relevance. 1972 was a breakthrough year in Teodoreanu's recovery, with a selection of his poems and a new edition of ''Hronicul''; the latter was to become "the most readily reedited" Teodoreanu work, down to 1989. Prefacing the former,
D. I. Suchianu Dumitru Ion Suchianu (September 2, 1895–April 17/18, 1985) was a Romanian essayist, translator, film theorist and political economist. Born in Iași, his parents were Hanes-Ogias Suchianu, a professor of Armenian origin, and his wife Lelia ( ...
noted with pessimism that "those who understood eodoreanuare all pretty much dead"; at the time, Păstorel's political works were still not publishable, and a full corpus of writings was therefore impossible. Later communism only brought a bibliophile edition of his ''Gastronomice'', with drawings by Done Stan, and a selection of food criticism, ''De re culinaria'' ("On Food"). In 1988, at Editura Sport-Turism, critic Mircea Handoca published a travel account and literary monograph: ''Pe urmele lui Al. O. Teodoreanu-Păstorel'' ("On the Trail of Al. O. Teodoreanu-Păstorel"). Since 1975, Iași has hosted an epigrammatists' circle honoring Teodoreanu's memory. Known as "Păstorel's Free Academy", it originally functioned in connection with ''Flacăra Iașului'' newspaper, and was therefore controlled by the communist authorities. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989 lifted communist restrictions, it became possible for exegetes to investigate the totality of Teodoreanu's contributions. From 1994, he was periodically honored in his native city by the Vasile Pogor literary society. His anti-communist apocrypha have been featured in a topical volume, edited by Gheorghe Zarafu and Victor Frunză in 1996, but remain excluded from the standard Teodoreanu collections (including one published by Rodica Pandele at Humanitas). Also, under the new regime, food writing was again a profession, and Păstorel became a direct inspiration for gastronomes such as Radu Anton Roman or
Bogdan Ulmu Bogdan Ștefan Ghiță Ulmu (April 29, 1951 – May 20, 2016), known as Bogdan Ulmu, was a Romanian theatre director, writer, and opinion journalist. Biography Bogdan Ulmu was born in 1951 in Bucharest, the son of the accountant Vasile ...
, who wrote "''à la Păstorel''". As such, Doris Mironescu suggests, Teodoreanu made it into "a ''sui-generis'' national pantheon" of epigrammatists, with Lesnea, Cincinat Pavelescu, and
Mircea Ionescu-Quintus Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (; 18 March 1917 – 15 September 2017) was a Romanian politician who served as a senator and Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency ...
. Formal public recognition came in 1997, when the
Museum of Romanian Literature A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...
honored the Teodoreanu brothers' memory with a plaque, unveiled at their childhood home in Iași. A street in the industrial part of the city was also named after him. However, the Zlataust building was partly demolished by its new owners in 2010, a matter which fueled political controversies.Ostap (2012), p. 56


Notes


References

* Lucian Boia, ''Capcanele istoriei. Elita intelectuală românească între 1930 și 1950''. Bucharest: Humanitas, 2012. * George Călinescu, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1986. * Paul Cernat, ''Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val''. Bucharest:
Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint o ...
, 2007. *Claudia Ciobanu, "Contextualizări cromatice în lirica lui Al. O. Teodoreanu", in ''Asachiana. Revistă de Biblioteconomie și de Cercetări Interdisciplinare'', Vol. 2–3, 2014–2015, pp. 243–252. *Claudia Costin, "Alexandru O. Teodoreanu, ''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'' – între 'specificul național' și modernism", in ''Asachiana. Revistă de Biblioteconomie și de Cercetări Interdisciplinare'', Vols. 2–3, 2014–2015, pp. 253–267. *Ileana Ghemeș, "Drumul revistei ''Țara Noastră'' în 1925", in the December 1 University of Alba Iulia ''Philologica Yearbook'', 2002, pp. 66–75. *Gheorghe Hrimiuc, postface and notes to Al. O. Teodoreanu, ''Hronicul Măscăriciului Vălătuc'', pp. 292–334. Iași: Editura Junimea, 1989. * Eugen Lovinescu, ''Istoria literaturii române contemporane''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1989. *Doris Mironescu, "''Craii'' lui Păstorel. De la ''savoir vivre'' la ''savoir mourir''", in '' Timpul'', Issue 9/2008, pp. 16–17. *Constantin Ostap, "Cu gândul la "Teodoreni"...", in '' Dacia Literară'', Issues 3–4/2012, pp. 53–57. *Florina Pîrjol, "Destinul unui formator de gusturi. De la savoarea "pastilei" gastronomice la gustul fad al compromisului", in ''Transilvania'', Issue 12/2011, pp. 16–26. *
Alexandru Piru Alexandru Piru (August 22, 1917 – November 6, 1993) was a Romanian literary critic and historian. Born in Mărgineni, Bacău County,Alex. Ștefănescu"Al. Piru", in ''România Literară'', nr. 10/2002 his parents were Vasile, a notary, an ...
, ''Viața lui G. Ibrăileanu''. Bucharest: Fundația Regală pentru Literatură și Artă, 1946. * Mircea Popa
"Ștefan Baciu - colaborări și versuri uitate"
in ''Steaua'', Issues 10–11, October–November 2011, pp. 90–93. *Păstorel Teodoreanu, Alexandru Ruja, ''Tămâie și otravă''. Timișoara: Editura de Vest, 1994. *Liviu Tudoraș, "Umor din spațiul concentraționar comunist românesc. Păstorel Teodoreanu și Petre Țuțea", in ''Memoria. Revista Gândirii Arestate'', Issues 45–46, 2003, pp. 175–186. {{DEFAULTSORT:Teodoreanu, Pastorel 1894 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Sonneteers Romanian epigrammatists Romanian fabulists Symbolist poets 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian historical novelists Romanian male novelists 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Aphorists Romanian propagandists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Romanian fantasy writers Romanian humorists Romanian food writers Restaurant critics Oenologists Romanian erotica writers 20th-century essayists Male essayists Romanian essayists Romanian columnists 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Translators from Czech Translators from Russian Translators of William Shakespeare Romanian writers in French Adevărul writers Contimporanul writers Gândirea People from Dorohoi Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian Freemasons Costache Negruzzi National College alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni 20th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian Land Forces officers Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian dissidents Romanian anti-communists Romanian nationalists Securitate informants People detained by the Securitate Inmates of Aiud prison Inmates of Gherla prison Censorship in Romania Deaths from cancer in Romania Deaths from lung cancer Burials at Bellu Cemetery Socialist Republic of Romania rehabilitations