Victor Crăsescu (October 16, 1849–1918) was an

Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

-born

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n prose writer. Born in Kishinev (Chișinău), capital of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

's Bessarabia Governorate, he studied at the local theological seminary until 1872, and then at Odessa University. He later graduated from the medical faculty of Bucharest University. Crăsescu took part in anarchist and

narodnik The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...

circles inspired by Mikhail Bakunin. In response, he was exiled to Switzerland in 1872, and then traveled to the United States. After returning to Russia, Crăsescu was among the founders of a narodnik circle in his native city. Arrested in 1879, he disappeared, probably during the judicial inquiry, settling in the Romanian Old Kingdom. He was among the founding members of the Prutul Society, as was

Nicolae Zubcu-Codreanu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Nicolao Civitali ...

. As a writer, he entered the group surrounding ''

Contemporanul ''Contemporanul'' (The Contemporary) is a Romanian literary magazine published in Iaşi, Romania from 1881 to 1891. It was sponsored by the socialist circle of the city. A new magazine ''Contimporanul ''Contimporanul'' (antiquated spelling of ...

'' magazine, where his first published work appeared; this was the 1883 sketch ''Legea lui Lynch''. He sometimes used the pen name Ștefan Băssărăbeanu. In 1891, he became director of ''Amicul copiilor'', rising to editor in his final year there, 1895. He contributed to the socialist press (''Drepturile omului'', ''Dezrobirea'' and ''Lumea nouă''), as well as to ''Revista nouă'' and ''Viața literară''. His sketches and short stories appeared in four volumes during 1893 as ''Schițe și nuvele''; the novel ''Ovreiul'' followed in 1899. Realist in style, Crăsescu's work is characteristic of the prose found in ''Contemporanul''. He died in

Slănic Slănic () is one of the 12 towns of Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania, historically and currently known as a salt extraction center, as well as a spa town, with salt lakes. Two villages, Groșani and Prăjani, are administered by the town. E ...

. His son was the writer Sergiu Cujbă.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 412. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crasescu, Victor 1849 births 1918 deaths Fugitives wanted by Russia Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Romania Writers from Chișinău People from Kishinyovsky Uyezd Narodniks Russian exiles Romanian magazine editors Romanian novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian anarchists Romanian socialists University of Bucharest alumni