Alice Ștefania Stănescu Călugăru (

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Alice Orient; July 4, 1886 – 1924) was a French-born

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n poet.

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, her parents were Ștefan Stănescu Călugăru, an officer in the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

, and his wife Maria (''née'' Carabella). She attended high school in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, where she was classmates with

George Topîrceanu George Topîrceanu (; March 20, 1886 – May 7, 1937) was a Romanian poet, short story writer, and humourist. Biography He was born in Bucharest, the son of Ion Topîrceanu, a furrier and his wife, Paraschiva (née Cosma), a carpet weaver. The f ...

, and graduated in 1907. She began publishing verses at an early age, in ''

Sămănătorul ''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian language, Romanian for "The Sower") was a Literary magazine, literary and Political journalism, political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță ...

'' (1903) and ''Dumineca'' (1905). The only poetry book she put out was ''Viorele'' (1905). Other magazines that ran her work include ''Analele literare, politice, științifice'', ''Viața literară'', '' Luceafărul'', ''Ramuri'', ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' () 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 Titu Maiorescu in 1867. The ma ...

'' and ''

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. ...

''. She moved to Paris after 1908, marrying journalist Louis Constant Edgar Müller in 1921. In France, she signed her work with the pen name "Alice Orient". In 1914, she entered her poem "Les perles" into the Femina literary competition, winning second prize. She and her husband traveled in Belgium and South America. She died of consumption, probably in Switzerland. A mysterious personality with a tragic destiny, she can be identified with the adventurous Lilis from the partly autobiographical 1924 novel ''La tunique verte''. Her lyricism, modern sensibility, sensual sharpness and the character of her imagery anticipate interwar poetry.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 299. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calugaru, Alice 1886 births 1924 deaths Poets from Paris Romanian women poets 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian women writers Tuberculosis deaths in Switzerland Romanian expatriates in France Romanian expatriates in Switzerland