Tinerimea Artistică'' salon of March 1906. His former wife Marioara went on to marry another epigrammatist,
Ion Ionescu-Quintus, who was also a provincial leader of the
National Liberal Party; their son,
Mircea Ionescu-Quintus, would also take up poetry in the genre, and eventually become party leader. Rosetti remained close friends with the family, and visited them in their home. He was at the time married to Lucreția Cristescu-Coroiu, who spent 20 of their 21 years together bedridden with illness.
Rosetti himself became an incessant traveler ("the most well-traveled Romanian writer", as he himself claimed).
His first journeys throughout Europe, taking him to
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
at a time when few Romanians had even heard of the place,
Romulus Dianu
Romulus Dianu (born Romulus Dima; March 22, 1905–August 25, 1975) was a Romanian prose writer, journalist and translator.
Biography
Born in Bucharest, his parents were ''Căile Ferate Române'' worker Gheorghe Dima, a relative of composer ...
, "Ancheta printre scriitorii noștri. Politica noastră culturală. Răspunsul d-lui Radu D. Rosetti", in '' Rampa'', November 18, 1925, p. 1 were recorded in accounts which doubled as travel guides.
Some of these were first collected, alongside
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 ...
, in the volume ''Printre Picăturĭ'' ("Between Drops", 1903).
["Salon: Literatură. ''Printre Picăturĭ''", in '' Familia'', Issue 44/1903, pp. 526–527] As argued by Călinescu, they are entirely devoid of "acuteness of perception and artistic preparation."
By contrast, Drăgulănescu contrarily finds these to be the "most enduring part" of Rosetti's literary output, a "mixture of rigor and fantasy, of gossip, but also of pensive solitude".
Rosetti "does not 'instruct us' about the countries, roads, ships, but about the secret of traveling as a unique, fundamental experience."
In autumn 1906, he traveled to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
—coincidentally at the same time as other Romanian intellectuals, including
Timoleon Pisani and
Constantin Istrati
Constantin I. Istrati (7 September 1850 – 17 January 1919) was a Romanian chemist and physician. He was president of the Romanian Academy between 1913 and 1916.
He was born in 1850 in Roman, Moldavia (now in Neamț County, Romania). He studied ...
. Both Istrati and Rosetti left notes of their journeys, which are some of the earliest Romanian impressions of Egypt; Rosetti, who reached
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
and
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...
, displayed his pity for the ''
fellah
A fellah ( ar, فَلَّاح ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". ...
een'' he met along the way.
A 1904 volume of verse, ''Din toate'' ("Some of Everything") was panned by the Symbolist
Emil Isac
Emil Isac (; May 27, 1886 – March 25, 1954) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian poet, dramatist, short story writer and critic. Noted as one of the pioneers of Symbolism and modernist literature in his native region of Transylvania, he was in ...
in ''Familia'': Isac argued that they announced Rosetti's death as a poet. However, as noted by the same ''Familia'', Rosetti remained "one of the most widely read authors" in the
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom ( ro, Vechiul Regat or just ''Regat''; german: Regat or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia ...
, his style being "accessible".
By 1908, he was a regular contributor to ''
Convorbiri Critice'', put out by the traditionalist
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 to the tourism magazine ''Printre Hotare''. He was also recovered in the 1910s by the nationalist historian
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...
, who viewed Rosetti's marginalization as unfair, and published his "lively" travelogues in ''
Neamul Românesc'' review. He sketched out a work of
verse drama
Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portio ...
about
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, publishing fragments of it in a 1910 issue of ''
Noua Revistă Română''.
He was still working on it in 1925;
according to a 1938 article, a "religious-themed play" by Rosetti had been banned "back in the day".
In April 1911, the Romanian Theatrical Society elected Rosetti on its first Steering Committee, alongside Ranetti,
George Diamandy
George Ion Diamandy or Diamandi, first name also Gheorghe or Georges (February 27, 1867 – December 27, 1917), was a Romanian politician, dramatist, social scientist, and archeologist. Although a rich landowner of aristocratic background, he was o ...
,
A. de Herz
Adolf Edmund George de Herz, commonly shortened to A. de Herz, also rendered as Hertz and Herț (December 15, 1887 – March 9, 1936), was a Romanian playwright and literary journalist, also active as a poet, short story author, and stage actor. He ...
, and
Paul Gusty. With Diamandy, Rosetti also organized a Literary Circle at Comoedia Theater, and as such also a February 1912 festival honoring Caragiale. In March, as a delegate of the Society, he welcomed to Richepin to Bucharest and spoke at his banquet. His work appeared alongside that of Symbolist poets in the magazines ''Ilustrația'' and ''Noi Pagini Literare'', but was shunned by the more radical Symbolists and socialists at ''
Facla''. Here, Rosetti was listed alongside
Constantin Banu
Constantin Gheorghe Banu (March 20, 1873 – September 8, 1940) was a Romanian writer, journalist and politician, who served as Arts and Religious Affairs Minister in 1922–1923. He is remembered in literary history as the founder of ''Flacăra'' ...
,
Petre Locusteanu and
Maica Smara as a "triumphant mediocrity", a literary "
street organ
A street organ (french: orgue de rue or ''orgue de barbarie''; german: Straßenorgel) played by an organ grinder is a French-German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most co ...
".
Rosetti had a lengthy career as a defense lawyer, an experience that informed certain of his literary output, including memoirs such as ''Din sala pașilor pierduți'' ("From the Hall of Wasted Pacing", 1922).
As both Călinescu and Eftimiu note, he was one of several Romanian orators inspired by the style and social-justice ideology of
François Coppée
François Edouard Joachim Coppée (26 January 1842 – 23 May 1908) was a French poet and novelist.
Biography
Coppée was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war and won ...
(whom Rosetti had met, and whom he "uncanningly resembled physically").
Rosetti would often take no pay for his lawyer's services, or would charge his more destitute clients ''
ad libitum
In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation.
The r ...
'' ("whatever you can afford; if you can't spare anything, that's not a problem").
[Horia Oprescu, "Un bătrîn poet a murit", in '' Gazeta Literară'', Vol. XI, Issue 46, November 1964, p. 7] A dean of the Bar in
Ilfov County
Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...
, he was especially involved in pleading for left-wing activists prosecuted by the state—or, as he put it, "trials which allowed me to act against social injustice."
He and
Petre Grădișteanu obtained acquittal for
Vasile Kogălniceanu, who had been arrested as an instigator of the
1907 Peasants' Revolt.
In 1909, he and Mille failed to obtain an acquittal for
I. C. Frimu,
Gheorghe Cristescu
Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in Copaciu, Giurgiu County – November 29, 1973 in Timișoara) was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" ("The Blanket Maker"), he is also occasionally ...
and
Panait Istrati
Panait Istrati (; sometimes rendered as ''Panaït Istrati''; August 10, 1884 – April 16, 1935) was a Romanian working class writer, who wrote in French and Romanian, nicknamed ''The Maxim Gorky of the Balkans''. Istrati appears to be the ...
, who had been charged with sedition. Rosetti was featured in the first-ever issue of Banu and Locusteanu's ''
Flacăra
''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania.
History and profile
''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and ...
'' with a piece titled ''Revoltă'' ("Revolt"), described by
Zaharia Stancu
Zaharia Stancu (; October 7, 1902 – December 5, 1974) was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher. He was also the director of the National Theatre Bucharest, the President of the Writers' Union of Romania, and a titular memb ...
, the left-wing novelist and cultural promoter, as a political statement.
Rosetti also represented himself in his conflicts with the literary magazine ''
Viața Romînească'' after its columnist
Constantin Stere
Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea (Romanian; russian: Константин Егорович Стере, ''Konstantin Yegorovich Stere'' or Константин Георгиевич Стере, ''Konstantin Georgiyevich Stere''; also known u ...
ridiculed Rosetti's poetry; as Rosetti notes, this review was unfair, since it focused mainly on poems he had published as a teenager. The case was heard before the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, which ruled in Rosetti's favor. Another leading cause for him was the advocacy of
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
, on which he spoke at the
Romanian Atheneum
The Romanian Athenaeum ( ro, Ateneul Român) is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall and ...
in March 1913. As a result, newspapers reported (probably exaggerating) that some 3,000 people had joined the "cremationist" movement. The speech fed satirical commentary by
Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi (; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer, best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to ''Argesis'', th ...
and Ranetti, the latter in particular noting that Rosetti was planning to strip funeral artists, undertakers and florists of their business. He responded in Ranetti's ''
Furnica'' with an ironic piece, in which he informed readers that they could still bury their ashes to maintain the funeral trade. A figure of importance in the "cremationist" trend, which openly challenged the funeral customs of the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
, Rosetti would later shun moderates such as
Constantin Dissescu—who, Rosetti claimed, had betrayed the cause.
[Rotar, p. 77]
World War I and interwar scandals
![RO B Tineretului Park crematorium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/RO_B_Tineretului_Park_crematorium.JPG)
Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, with Romania
still neutral territory, the
Francophile
A Francophile, also known as Gallophile, is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, French history, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, language, cuisin ...
Rosetti campaigned for Romania to join the
Entente Powers
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
, and tackled the issue during debates at the
Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society ( ro, Societatea Scriitorilor Români) was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the e ...
. However, he earned recognition for his court defense of
Hasan Tahsin
Hasan Tahsin was the code name of Osman Nevres (1888 – 15 May 1919), a Turkish nationalist, patriot, and journalist of Dönmeh descent.
Hailed as a Turkish war hero, his name has been given by the Turkish Armed Forces to the Information ...
, would-be assassin of the pro-Entente campaigners
Noel and
Charles Buxton
Charles Buxton (18 November 1822 – 10 August 1871) was an English brewer, philanthropist, writer and member of Parliament.
Personal life and architectural legacy
Buxton was born on 18 November 1822 in Cromer, Norfolk, the third son of Sir Tho ...
.
In the end, Romania
joined the Entente, and Rosetti was called under arms. Unexpectedly, he was moved to a
horse artillery
Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to t ...
unit, but was shielded from active service by General
Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being ''inter ...
, and only assigned to give patriotic speeches to his troops on the front line.
During the subsequent
siege of Bucharest, Rosetti was at
Periș
Periș is a commune in the far northwestern corner of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. The commune is composed of three villages: Bălteni, Buriaș and Periș. It used to include Brătulești and Cocioc villages, until these were absorbed by othe ...
with the staff of
Constantin Prezan
Constantin Prezan (January 27, 1861 – August 27, 1943) was a Romanian general during World War I. In 1930 he was given the honorary title of Marshal of Romania, as a recognition of his merits during his command of the Northern Army and of the ...
—
Ion G. Duca
Ion Gheorghe Duca (; 20 December 1879 – 29 December 1933) was Romanian politician and the Prime Minister of Romania from 14 November to 29 December 1933, when he was assassinated for his efforts to suppress the fascist Iron Guard movement.
...
, who joined him there, recalled that he "made himself look important". His subordinates included
Cristache Ciolac, famous in civilian life as a ''
Lăutar'' performer, and honored by Rosetti with a sonnet.
The Army headquarters eventually withdrew 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 ...
, with Rosetti assigned to write for the military propaganda magazine, ''România''.
In January 1918, while the
Moldavian Democratic Republic
The Moldavian Democratic Republic (MDR; ro, Republica Democratică Moldovenească, ), also known as the Moldavian Republic, was a state proclaimed on by the ''Sfatul Țării'' (National Council) of Bessarabia, elected in October–Novembe ...
began its
process of unification with Romania, Rosetti signed his name to a manifesto calling for the cultural unification of all Romanian-inhabited regions; other signers included Minulescu,
Ion Agârbiceanu
Ion Agârbiceanu (first name also Ioan, last name also Agărbiceanu and Agîrbiceanu; September 12, 1882 – May 28, 1963) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian writer, journalist, politician, theologian and Greek-Catholic priest. Born among the ...
,
Nichifor Crainic
Nichifor Crainic (; pseudonym of Ion Dobre ; 22 December 1889, Bulbucata, Giurgiu County – 20 August 1972, Mogoșoaia) was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theology, theologian famed for his traditionalist activities. Crai ...
,
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; November 5, 1880 – October 19, 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communis ...
, and
Mihail Sorbul. Rosetti eventually returned to Bucharest following the
November 1918 Armistice. In 1919, he and Mille were part of a defense team that represented the leadership of the
Socialist Party of Romania
The Socialist Party of Romania ( ro, Partidul Socialist din România, commonly known as ''Partidul Socialist'', PS) was a Romanian socialist political party, created on December 11, 1918 by members of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) ...
, tried for their role in a
general strike of the previous December. He was an independent candidate for the Ilfov seat in the
Assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
in the
election of November 1919, but only took 5,234 votes.
Rosetti remained generally opposed to the ''Viața Romînească'' circle, but remained on friendly terms with its editor
Mihail Sevastos; from 1925, the two were working together at ''Adevărul'' and ''
Dimineața''. The collaboration ended abruptly when Rosetti asked to have his picture published next to that of historian
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 ...
, in hopes of discouraging the persistent confusion between them. Sevastos refused to have ''Adevărul'' turned into a "shop window", prompting the angered poet to withdraw from the enterprise and switch to a rival newspaper, ''
Universul
''Universul'' was a mass-circulation newspaper in Romania. It existed from 1884 to 1953, and was run by Stelian Popescu from 1914 to 1943 (with a two-year break during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbrevi ...
''. In the 1920s, Rosetti had some of his writing appearing in ''Viața Romînească'', as well as in newspapers and magazines throughout
Greater Romania
The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea.
As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...
—including ''
Îndreptarea'', ''
Rampa'', ''
Ziarul Științelor și Călătoriilor'', ''Cele Trei Crișuri'', ''Di Granda'', ''Foaia Tinerimii'', ''Ilustrația'', ''Izbânda'', ''Lumea Copiilor'', ''Lumea Ilustrată'', ''Poetul'', ''Sănătatea'', ''Săptămâna Muncii Intelectuale și Artistice'', and ''Viața Studențească''. By 1930, his work was also featured in ''
Omul Liber'', ''Basarabia'', ''Brazda'', ''Ecoul'', ''Propilee Literare'', ''Revista Politică'', and ''Revista Subofițerilor''. He also published translations in ''Orizontul'', as well as legal literature in ''Curierul Judiciar'', ''Revista Penală'', and later in ''Palatul de Justiție'' and ''Poliția Modernă''.
In 1923, Rosetti rallied with the left-leaning League of Human Rights, founded by
Constantin Costa-Foru
Constantin Gheorghe Costa-Foru (26 October 1856 - 15 August 1935) was a Romanian journalist, lawyer and human rights activist.
He was born in Bucharest on 26 October 1956, in a wealthy family. His father, Gheorghe Costa-Foru (1820–1876), was a ...
and
Vasile Stroescu
Vasile Vasilievici Stroescu (russian: Василий Васильевич Строеско, ''Vasily Vasilyevich Stroesko''; November 11, 1845 – April 13, 1926), also known as Vasile de Stroesco,"Vasile de Stroesco" and ""Scrisoarea dlui V. de ...
. In March, alongside the forensic scientist
Mina Minovici
Mina Minovici (; April 30, 1858 – April 25, 1933) was a Romanian forensic scientist, known for his extensive research regarding cadaverous alkaloids, putrefaction, simulated mind diseases, and criminal anthropology.
Studies
He was born in Bră ...
and the politician
Grigore Trancu-Iași Grigore, the equivalent of Gregory, is a Romanian-language first name. It may refer to:
*Grigore Alexandrescu (1810–1885), Romanian poet and translator
*Grigore Antipa (1866–1944), Romanian Darwinist biologist, ichthyologist, ecologist, oceano ...
, he founded Nirvana Society (later ''Cenușa'', "The Ash"), which operated the Bucharest Crematorium. However, when his wife died in 1926, she was conventionally buried at
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 ...
.
[Gheorghe G. Bezviconi, ''Necropola Capitalei'', p. 240. Bucharest: ]Nicolae Iorga Institute of History
The Nicolae Iorga Institute of History ( ro, Institutul de Istorie „Nicolae Iorga”; abbreviation: IINI) is an institution of research in the field of history under the auspices of the Romanian Academy. The institute is located at 1 Bulevardul A ...
, 1972 In December 1923, he also returned at the Atheneum to advocate cremation, and boasted 6,000 new recruits, although his interest in the matter continued to fuel ridicule and provided subject matter to the epigrammatist
N. Crevedia
Nicolae Crevedia (born Niculae Ion Cârstea; December 7, 1902 – November 5, 1978) was a Romanian journalist, poet and novelist, father of the writer-politician Eugen Barbu. Of Muntenian peasant roots, which shaped his commitment to agrarian and ...
. It was also met with protests from Orthodox leaders such as
Iuliu Scriban Iuliu is a Romanian male given name derived from Latin ''Iulius''. The female form is Iulia. In other cases Iuliu is the Romanianized form of the Hungarian name Gyula.
People named Iuliu:
*Iuliu Barasch
*Iuliu Baratky
*Iuliu Bodola
*Iuliu Coroi ...
and Dumitru Popescu-Moșoaia, who noted, in public disputations with Rosetti, that Nirvana was channeling public funds; however, most clergymen were by then passively reconciled with the practice. A more serious challenge came from religious-right newspapers such as ''
Curentul
''Curentul'' is a Romanian newspaper, based in Bucharest. It was founded in January 1928 by Pamfil Șeicaru and relaunched in October 1997. Before 1944, Șeicaru had written daily the main editorial
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or ...
'', ''
Cuvântul
''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It ...
'', and ''Glasul Monahilor'', who backed priest Marin C. Ionescu, sued for slander by Minovici. Rosetti was the latter's lawyer, himself accused by the Orthodox lobby of consciously lying to promote his client's interests.
Journalist
Romulus Dianu
Romulus Dianu (born Romulus Dima; March 22, 1905–August 25, 1975) was a Romanian prose writer, journalist and translator.
Biography
Born in Bucharest, his parents were ''Căile Ferate Române'' worker Gheorghe Dima, a relative of composer ...
, who visited Rosetti in 1925, noted that the cases he handled of the time were mostly penal, with "defendants
ho were
Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to:
People Language and ethnicity
* Ho people, an ethnic group of India
** Ho language, a tribal language in India
* Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam
* Hiri Mo ...
mostly freed on bail."
Publishing volumes of his wartime memoirs—''Remember'' (1921) and ''Obolul meu'' ("My Contribution", 1922)—, Rosetti joined
Emil Cerbu in compiling an anthology of modern love verse, ''Cartea dragostei'' ("The Book of Love", 1922).
[Călinescu, p. 1008; Drăgulănescu, p. 691] He followed up with definitive collections of his scattered prose and poetry: ''Poezii'' ("Poems", 1926), ''Eri'' ("Yesterday", 1931), ''Pagini alese'' ("Selected Pages", 1935), ''Vechituri'' ("Old Things", 1936), and ''Instantanee turistice'' ("A Tourist's Highlights", 1939).
Of these, ''Vechituri'' drew notice with its adoring portrait of
Queen Marie, seen by Rosetti as responsible for Romania's diplomatic victory at the end of the world war. His work in travel writing was complemented by his 1935 introduction to
Mihai Tican Rumano's account of life in the
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
. It underscored Rosetti's admiration for Tican Rumano, who had "braved unimaginable exhaustion", "unaided by any 'Officialdom' or private sponsor". In May of the same year, Rosetti was feted at the Atheneum upon the initiative of his friend, Trancu-Iași. Contributors to the ceremony included
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 ...
,
Ionel Perlea
Ionel Perlea (13 December 190029 July 1970) was a Romanian conductor particularly associated with the Italian and German opera repertories.
Biography
Born Ionel Perlea to a Romanian father, Victor Perlea, and a German mother, Margarethe Haberl ...
, and
Ion Sân-Giorgiu.
His own memoirs, appearing in book form and in other formats, were treasured by the reading public, and were featured in
Romanian Radio
The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company ( ro, Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune), informally referred to as Radio Romania ( ro, Radio România), is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates FM broadcasting, FM and AM broadcasting, ...
broadcasts. As noted by Eftimiu, they conserved the universe of the more senior readers, who bought the books to regain contact with the prewar world. Writing in 1931, Isac also saluted in them the return of the old 1890s poet, who, although "belated", offered "a compendium of civilization, affection, and true Romanianism." Rosetti himself was avowedly backward-looking and uninterested in
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 ...
. He told Dianu that
Futurism
Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...
was already dead by 1925, and that "the orientation in Romanian literature has returned to following the right path".
In a 1935 interview with
Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist.
Life
Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After c ...
of ''Rampa'', Rosetti argued that
Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
and Futurism were "here today, gone tomorrow", declaring that he only read works by his own generation colleagues. He continued to causes other than cremation. Prior to the
election of 1931, he represented Averescu in a civil lawsuit against journalist
Bazil Gruia, who had referred to the general as an "assassin of the peasants", for his role in the 1907 revolt. Although, as he noted, he regarded himself as Averescu's political adversary, he agreed to defend the "great commander who had led our troops to victory".
By 1936, Rosetti was also interested in the biography of four-wars veteran
Peneș Curcanul, traveling to
Vaslui
Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara.
History
Archaeological surveys indicate ...
in hopes of acquiring his unpublished letters.
Final decades
During World War II, Rosetti was an occasional contributor to ''Universul'', where, in 1940, he published a piece romanticizing the history of
Moșilor
Moșilor (literally, ''Elders'') is a residential quarter in Bucharest's Sector 2. It houses the Foișorul de Foc and Silvestru Church. Its name derives from the main avenue Calea Moșilor which in turn is named after a well-known fair held in Ob ...
quarter. Around that time, the fascist
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by ...
resumed the attacks on the "cremationist" movement: by 1941,
Education Minister Traian Brăileanu was proposing to disestablish the Bucharest Crematorium, describing it as anti-Christian. In June 1941, under the new government formed by
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 ...
, Rosetti contributed to a ''
Vremea'' special issue commemorating
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...
, killed by the
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 ...
the previous year. In June 1942,
Editura Cugetarea issued a final volume of his recollections, ''Odinioară'' ("Once"); literary scholar
Șerban Cioculescu
Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist, who held teaching positions in Romanian literature at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, as well as m ...
curated the edition.
It features chapters on the more picturesque figures who had crossed the author's path, for instance Macedonski,
Claymoor,
Nicolae Fleva
Nicolae Fleva (; also known as Nicu Fleva, Correspondent"Scrisoare din București" in ''Românul (Arad)'', Nr. 14/1912, p.4 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai Universitybr>Transsylvanica Online Library Francized ''Nicolas Fléva'';[Alceu Urechia Alceu may refer to:
Given name
* Alceu Amoroso Lima (1893–1983), Brazilian
* Alceu Ribeiro (1919–2013), Uruguayan painter and sculptor
* Alceu Collares (born 1927), Brazilian politician and lawyer
* Alceu Valença (born 1946), Brazilian sin ...]
, and
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești (; born Alexandru Bogdan, also known as Ion Doican, Ion Duican and Al. Dodan; June 13, 1870 – May 12, 1922) was a Romanian Symbolism (arts), Symbolist poet, essayist, and art and literary critic, who was also known as ...
. Much of the work was dedicated to deriding historical urban policies, and in particular to the memory of
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
s.
At the time of its publishing, ''Odinioară'' won praise from Dianu in ''
Curentul
''Curentul'' is a Romanian newspaper, based in Bucharest. It was founded in January 1928 by Pamfil Șeicaru and relaunched in October 1997. Before 1944, Șeicaru had written daily the main editorial
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or ...
'', who saw it as equal to memoirs by Coppée,
Ion Ghica
Ion Ghica (; 12 August 1816 – 7 May 1897) was a Romanian statesman, mathematician, diplomat and politician, who was Prime Minister of Romania five times. He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president many times (1876–1882, ...
and
Iacob Negruzzi
Iacob C. Negruzzi (December 31, 1842 – January 6, 1932) was a Moldavian, later Romanian poet and prose writer.
Born in Iași, he was the son of Constantin Negruzzi and his wife Maria (''née'' Gane). Living in Berlin between 1853 and 1863, he at ...
. Dianu concludes: "
osetti isa man of yesteryear, who honors his life, a type of man that is unfortunately no longer produced." Literary chronicler
George Sbârcea shortlisted ''Odinioară'' and
George Ciprian
George Ciprian (; born Gheorghe Pană Constantin ; June 7, 1883 – 8 May 1968) was a Romanian actor and playwright. His writings make him a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd.
Biography
Born in Buzău to a Greek baker's family, he attended ...
's ''Cutia cu maimuțe'' as the two best works of autobiography to have appeared in 1942.
As noted by Cioculescu, one of Rosetti's critics was Mica Bogdan-Pitești, who resented her late husband's portrayal in the book, noting that Rosetti had once "scrounged off" Alexandru's wealth.
For different reasons, Rosetti's book was censured by the far-right ''
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 Pet ...
''. Its literary reviewer Nicolae Roșu saw Rosetti as "despondent and washed-out, pining for a useless world", "superficial and gelatinous", his ink "drenched in mothballs". He also denounced the memoirist as a "
Knight of Malta, that is to say a
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
." The characters in the book, Roșu claimed, were tinged by "adultery and concubinage", their luxury made possible by "millions of peasant slaves, toiling in sorrow"; the work itself was "addressed to those few fossils to have survived the great social uplift." Some of these statements were formally retracted by the editor, Crainic—to whom Rosetti had sent a letter of protest. Clarifications included a note according to which Rosetti "is not a Freemason, his name absent from all lists that have ever been made public."
Rosetti's other work under Antonescu included the preface to
Mircea Ionescu-Quintus' debut volume, ''Haz de necaz'', which appeared in 1943. The
August 1944 coup briefly restored democracy to Romania. In its aftermath, Rosetti returned as a satirist, with contributions to
Sergiu Milorian's magazine, ''Papagalul''. In the late 1940s, he also resumed his polemic with the modernists, being criticized in ''Rampa'' as "a sausage-maker that has stumbled into a
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
exhibit late one evening"; according to ''Rampa'' he resented the avant-garde because it "has and is cutting off his own flower tendrils as they were shooting up toward that sky of (what else but) blue". Similar ridicule followed the establishment of a
Romanian communist regime in 1948. In 1950, critic
Paul Georgescu
Paul Georgescu (; November 7, 1923 – October 15, 1989) was a Romanian literary critic, journalist, fiction writer and communist political figure. Remembered as both a main participant in the imposition of Socialist Realism in its Romanian form ...
included Rosetti's ''Duioase'' on a list of obsolete works: "The bourgeoisie was reading and growing enthusiastic about books that no one today would even dare to open." Rosetti lived those years in isolation. Largely forgotten by the public, he inhabited a
garret
A garret is a habitable attic, a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building, traditionally, small, dismal, and cramped, with sloping ceilings. In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a bu ...
in Bucharest, where he kept an urn destined for his ashes, leaving only the date of his death to be completed by the engraver. In the 1950s, he was frequenting the literary parties held at Ion Larian Postolache's home, on Dobroteasa Street, alongside former rival Crevedia,
Virgil Carianopol,
Ion Buzdugan
Ion Alion Buzdugan ( Romanian Cyrillic and russian: Ион Буздуган, born Ivan Alexandrovici Buzdâga;Onisifor Ghibu, "Trei luni din viața Basarabiei", in '' Societatea de Mâine'', Nr. 13/1924, p. 283Constantin Poenaru, "Viața bucovine ...
, and Crevedia's son
Eugen Barbu
Eugen Barbu (; 20 February 1924 – 7 September 1993) was a Romanian modern novelist, short story writer, journalist, and correspondent member of the Romanian Academy. The latter position was vehemently criticized by those who contended tha ...
. His daughter by Bacaloglu was also living in Bucharest, and had a government job before being sacked.
During the late 1950s, there was a revival of the epigram, with Rosetti being recognized as a "classic of the genre".
[George Corbu, "Alb-negru. 'Reeditări'", in '' Gazeta Literară'', Vol. XII, Issue 16, April 1965, p. 2] In a 1957 piece in ''
Gazeta Literară'', Cioculescu drew attention to Rosetti as the only living source who could explain mysterious details in Caragiale's biography; he also called Rosetti an "evergreen octogenarian, who records his epigrams with the same success as ever". Epigrammatist George Corbu notes that Rosetti's contributions from the 1920s were now plagiarized by younger authors, but also that Rosetti himself was plagiarizing from C. Ilea in one piece for ''
Urzica
Urzica is a commune in Olt County, Oltenia, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the we ...
'' magazine.
Rosetti published another work of recollections, ''Spicuiri'' ("Gleanings"), in 1958. It included an overview of his various interviews with Ciolac. That year, in an interview with G. Cristobald, he announced his planning of five other books, including one about an intended journey into the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Afflicted by blindness during his last years, Rosetti agreed to dictate scenes from his literary life to Horia Oprescu.
As noted in 1971 by Stancu, the elderly satirist
Alexandru Cazaban "pretended to have a feud with the poet Radu D. Rosetti. Each one claimed to be older than the other." Rosetti died in his garret
in late 1964—this was announced by Oprescu in November, by means of ''Gazeta Literară''; Oprescu defined his friend as: "A destitute youth who became a scholar; an assiduous worker; a traveler always enamored with new horizons; an honest newspaperman. And, above all — a good man!" Oprescu also noted that he himself was not sure of Rosetti's precise age, but that he seemed youthful and serene to his last moment.
Shortly before, his contributions to medical humor had been featured in a best-selling anthology, put out by N. Tofan. According to his wish, he was cremated.
His urn was deposed in Lucreția's tomb at Bellu.
Writing in 1968, critic Remus Zăstroiu referred to Rosetti as "all but forgotten". Though he viewed Rosetti as less relevant than other authors of his age, he pleaded for a contextual understanding, in terms of his "social and cultural framework".
[Remus Zăstroiu, "Aspecte ale criticii literare românești dintre 1880—1900", in ''Anuar de Lingvistică și Istorie Literară'', Vol. 19, 1968, pp. 99–100]
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosetti, Radu D.
1874 births
1964 deaths
19th-century male writers
20th-century Romanian male writers
19th-century Romanian poets
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Decadent literature
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Adevărul people
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Radu D.
Writers from Bucharest
Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film alumni
University of Bucharest alumni
Homeless people
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