Nicolae Gane (February 1, 1838 – April 16, 1916) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

n, later

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 prose writer, poet and politician. Born in

Fălticeni Fălticeni (; ''german: Foltischeni; hu, Falticsén;'' he, פלטיצ'ן yi, פאלטישאן) is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia. Fălticeni is the second largest urba ...

, his family were '' boyars'' of small and medium importance; his parents were ''

postelnic ''Postelnic'' (, plural: ''postelnici,'' from the Slavic ''postel'', "bed"; cf. Russian '' postelnichy'') was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of '' chamberlain''. I ...

'' Matei Gane and his wife Ruxandra (''née'' Văsescu). He began his education at the primary school founded in his native town by Neofit Scriban, followed by Louis Jourdan's French boarding school in Iași. Gane intended to study fine arts in Paris, but encountering opposition from his family, opted instead for a government career. Thanks to his connections, he obtained a position in Iași as secretary and translator for Moldavia's director of prisons. He resigned after a day and returned to Fălticeni, where he was named a member of the Suceava County tribunal. He was dismissed during demonstrations backing the union of the Principalities in 1857, and restored in 1860, following the union, as president of the same tribunal. Over the next several years, he alternated jobs in the magistracy with administrative ones, migrating through several Moldavian towns in the process; his positions included

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of Suceava County (1863) and later of

Dorohoi County Dorohoi County, with its seat at Dorohoi, was a subdivision of the Kingdom of Romania and located in the region of Moldavia. Geography The county was located in the northeastern part of Greater Romania, in the north-eastern extremity of the Moldav ...

. In 1864, he joined the

Focșani Focșani (; yi, פֿאָקשאַן, Fokshan) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population () of 79,315. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Cur ...

appeals court, but the following year, transferred to a similar position at Iași, where he settled for the remainder of his life. A member of the Romanian Freemasonry, he attained the rank of Master Mason in 1866. His appeals court colleague

Vasile Pogor Vasile V. Pogor ( Francized ''Basile Pogor''; August 20, 1833 – March 20, 1906) was a Moldavian, later Romanian poet, philosopher, translator and liberal conservative politician, one of the founders of ''Junimea'' literary society. Raised in t ...

and the brothers Iacob and Leon C. Negruzzi introduced Gane to the recently founded ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost pers ...

'' society, of which he remained a leading member, even though in 1883 he joined its political rival, the National Liberal Party (PNL). His lengthy political career included two stints as

of Iași County (1870, 1901), five terms as mayor of Iași (1872-1876; 1881; 1887-1888; 1896-1899; 1907-1911), a seat in the Assembly of Deputies in nearly every PNL-controlled legislature, and, from November 1897 to April 1899, the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of the Senate. In March 1888, when PNL leader Ion C. Brătianu reshuffled the cabinet in a moment of crisis, he named two new ministers. One of them was Gane, who received the Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and Domains portfolio; the government went on to serve for three weeks. During Gane's time as mayor, his city acquired paved roads and gas lighting, as well as a new building for the

Iași National Theatre The Iași National Theatre (or Vasile Alecsandri National Theater; in Romanian: Teatrul Național Vasile Alecsandri) in Iași, Romania, is the oldest national theatre and one of the most prestigious theatrical institutions in Romania. In 1956, ...

in 1896. Gane made his literary debut in ''Junimeas ''

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 ...

'' in 1867, with the short story "Fluierul lui Ștefan". Over the years until 1886, the same magazine published the writings he managed to put together during his time off, periodically published in book form (''Novele'', I-II, 1880; ''Novele'', I-III, 1886). He also tried his hand at poetry (''Poezii'', 1873; ''Poezii'', 1886), but was more successful as a prose writer; his sentimental and nostalgic stories were widely read in his day and appreciated by later authors. In addition, he wrote several memoiristic accounts. Ciprian Teodorescu
''Academicieni ieșeni''
p. 159-60, at the Gheorghe Asachi Iași County library site After 1906, he preferred to publish in ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

''. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1882, he rose to titular member in 1908, was president of its literary section in 1912, and vice president of the Academy from 1912 to 1913. In 1906, he published a translation of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

'', written in imperfect

tercet A tercet is composed of three lines of poetry, forming a stanza or a complete poem. Examples of tercet forms English-language haiku is an example of an unrhymed tercet poem. A poetic triplet is a tercet in which all three lines follow the same ...

s.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 617. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. His wife Sofia was the daughter of Pavel Stoianovici, a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

who had arrived from Bessarabia around 1827, and of Pavel's wife, the daughter of a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

rakia-maker at

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Curtea Veche Curtea Veche (the Old Princely Court) was built as a palace or residence during the rule of Vlad III Dracula in 1459. Archaeological excavations started in 1953, and now the site is operated by the ''Muzeul Municipiului București'' in the histor ...

. The couple had five daughters and three sons; two became magistrates and one a cavalry officer, and all the children who married took spouses from among the Moldavian ''boyar'' families. Three Gane-related sites in Iaşi are listed as

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

s by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs: his early 19th-century house, now a museum; his 1943 bust, located in Copou Park; and his grave in

Eternitatea cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

. Nicu Gane National College in Fălticeni bore his name from 1923 to 1948, and has again done so since 1970.Istoric
at the Nicu Gane National College site File:Nicu Gane with top hat.jpg, Gane as a younger man File:Bustul lui Nicolae Gane din Iaşi.jpg, Bust in Copou Park

Notes

References

*Mihai Sorin Rǎdulescu, ''Elita liberală românească, 1866-1900''. Bucharest: Editura All, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gane, Nicolae 1838 births 1916 deaths People from Fălticeni People of the Principality of Moldavia Romanian nobility National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Romanian Ministers of Agriculture Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Presidents of the Senate of Romania Prefects of Romania Mayors of Iași Romanian Freemasons Junimists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian poets Romanian memoirists Romanian translators 19th-century Romanian judges 20th-century translators 19th-century translators 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers 20th-century Romanian male writers Titular members of the Romanian Academy Burials at Eternitatea cemetery 20th-century Romanian judges