Ion Grămadă (January 3, 1886—August 27, 1917) was an Austro-Hungarian-born

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 west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n writer, historian and journalist. A native of Bukovina, he joined the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

and died in battle during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Biography

Born in Zaharești (now in Suceava County, Romania), he was registered at Czernowitz University and afterwards at the Universität in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he studied History and Geography. Grămadă received his PhD in those fields with a thesis about the contribution of Romanians at the Siege of Vienna (presented in 1913). He also published many stories and some historical studies of Bukovina in numerous literary magazines. Upon returning to his native region, Ion Grămadă founded the news magazine ''Deșteptarea'' ("The Awakening") in

Czernowitz Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...

in 1907, and also worked as an editor at the local paper ''Viața Nouă'' ("The New Life"). In 1916, as soon as Romania entered World War I on the Entente side, he enlisted in the

, and specifically asked to be sent to fight to the front line. Grămadă was placed in command of an Elite Hunter (

Vânători de Munte Vânători may refer to several places: Romania * Vânători, Galați, a commune in Galați County * Vânători, Iași, a commune in Iaşi County * Vânători, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi County * Vânători, Mureș, a commune in Mureș Co ...

) platoon fighting on difficult mountain terrain during the Romanian Campaign, when the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

fended off Romanian incursions and took fighting into Romanian territory. He was shot down during an assault on August 27, 1917, on the heights of Cireșoaia, now part of

Slănic-Moldova Slănic-Moldova, formerly Băile Slănic, is a town and a spa resort in Bacău County, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the s ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

Style and legacy

Ion Grămadă, who was of the most interesting writers of Bukovina, authored short stories which, in his lifetime, were only published sporadically in various literary magazines. They reveal a beautiful prose, with sensitive tension and mystery, specific to the literary trends of

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

, and with psychological technique and remarkable skills of portrayal.

Writings

* ''Din Bucovina de altădată. Schițe istorice'', Editura Institutului de Arte Grafice C. Sfetea, Bucharest, 1911 * ''Anteil der Rumänen an der Belagerung Wiens'' - his unpublished thesis * ''Scrieri literare'', Institutul de Arte Grafice și Editură "Glasul Bucovinei", prefaced by Constantin Loghin, "Studiu asupra vieții şi operei lui", Cernăuți, 1924 * ''O broşură umoristică. Câteva reflexiuni la "Habsburgii şi Românii" părintelui Victor Zaharovschi'', Editura Societatea tipografică bucovineană, Cernăuți, 1909 * ''Societatea academică socială literară "România Jună" din Viena: 1871-1911, monografie istorică'', Cernăuți, 1912 * ''M. Eminescu. Contribuţii la studiul vieţii și operei sale'', Heidelberg, 1914 * ''Cartea sângelui'', Editora Mușatinii, Suceava, 2002, coordinated by Ion Drăgușanul

External links

Commemorative site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gramada, Ion 1886 births 1917 deaths People from Suceava County People from the Duchy of Bukovina Romanian Austro-Hungarians Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Romania Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Austro-Hungarian writers 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century short story writers Austro-Hungarian people of World War I Romanian Land Forces officers Romanian military personnel killed in World War I University of Vienna alumni Chernivtsi University alumni 20th-century Romanian historians