Anișoara Odeanu (28 May 1912 – 1 September 1972), also known as Doina Stella Grațiana Peteanu, was a Romanian journalist, poet, and prose writer during the interwar period. She was born in

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of ...

, the daughter of a well known folklorist. Her friend and mentor was the celebrated Romanian author

Camil Petrescu Camil Petrescu (; 9/21 April 1894 – 14 May 1957) was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. Life Petrescu was born in B ...

Career

Odeanu began writing as a child; her first poem was published at the age of 9 in her hometown. From 1929 to 1933, she studied at the Faculty of Letters in Bucharest. After graduation, she began studying law at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princ ...

and graduated in 1936. Her debut novel was published in 1934 and was favourably reviewed by Romanian critics;

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the m ...

referred to her as the first ingenue of female Romanian literature. During the war, she wrote for the Romanian propaganda division.

Later years

Eventually her writing fell out of fashion; her work was rehabilitated in 1965 and her first novel, , was republished. In 1972, she committed suicide the day after her husband's death.

Legacy

The Anișoara Odeanu Memorial House was inaugurated on 25 August 2020 in

Pădureni, Timiș Pădureni (until 1965 Lighed; hu, Temesliget; german: Paduren; uk, Гусарька; tr, Erdevik) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Pădureni. It was part of Jebel commune before being split off in 20 ...

Selected works

* (''In a Young Ladies' Boardinghouse'', 1934) * (''Traveller on Christmas Eve,'' 1937)

References

{{Reflist Female suicides Suicides in Romania Romanian women writers Romanian women journalists 1972 deaths 1912 births