Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea; pen name of Barbu Ștefan; April 11, 1858 – April 29, 1918) was a

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 writer and poet, considered one of the greatest figures in the National awakening of Romania.

Early life and studies

He was born on April 11, 1858, in Delea Nouă, then a village in

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

, now a suburb of

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 ...

. He was the ninth child of Ștefan Tudorică Albu and Iana (Ioana). His father originated from

Vrancea County Vrancea () is a county (județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov (Siret), Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, 2 ...

. Assigned to Sohatu,

, he left Vrancea for

and became guildmaster of carters transporting grain from the scaffolds of

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; ; ) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the op ...

and

Oltenița Oltenița () is a Municipiu, city in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, on the left bank of the river Argeș (river), Argeș, where its waters flow into the Danube. Geography The city is located in the southwestern part of the county; it sta ...

. Barbu's mother was the daughter of widow Stana from Postovari, on the Filipescu estate. Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea spent the first years of life with his father, then learned to read and write with deacon Ion Pestreanu from New St. George Church. In 1866, he enrolled in the Boys' School no. 4 directly in the second grade. Educator Spirache Dănilescu added the father's surname suffix "-escu", and thus the future writer bore the name Barbu Ștefănescu. In 1867 he transferred to the Royal School, where he followed the third and fourth classes. He attended the first class of high school at Gheorghe Lazăr, and the other seven classes at

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

. In 1878 he enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

. After graduating in 1882, he went for specialization 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 ...

, but failed to obtain his doctorate.

Literary activity

In 1912 Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea became a titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. He worked as a substitute teacher at the Faculty of Letters of the

, journalist, lawyer (notable is the ''Caion'' trial, filed to

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179–184 – 9 June 1912), commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale, was a Romanians, ...

in conjunction with the paternity of

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

''The Scourge'', when in the courtroom, to listen to the arguments of lawyers, was entered only upon invitation), and writer (novelist and playwright). His publicistic activity consisted in collaboration with several newspapers, including ''

România Liberă Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, 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 the east, and the Black Sea t ...

'' and ''Epoca'' (from 1884), whose editor he was. In 1887 he led, for a short period, ''Lupta Literară'', and the following year he became editor of Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu's magazine ''Revista Nouă'' and a collaborator to ''Democrația'' and ''Voința națională''. In 1893 he started working with ''Literatura și știința'' of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea. Other publications to which he contributed were: ''Revista Literară'', ''Familia'', and ''Românul''. His literary debut occurred in 1877 with the patriotic poem ''Stante'', part of the volume ''Poiana lungă'', signed Barbu. In 1883 he debuted as a novelist with ''Sultănica'', followed by ''Bunicul'', ''Bunica'', ''Domnul Vucea'', and especially, ''Hagi Tudose'' (1903). In the following year he published under the pseudonym "Delavrancea". Drawing on Romanian folklore, he published several tales: ''Neghiniță'', ''Palatul de cleștar'', ''Dăparte, dăparte'', ''Moș Crăciun'', etc. Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea is widely known especially for his historical trilogy, ''Apus de soare'' (1909), ''Viforul'' (1910), and ''Luceafărul'' (1910), works full of romantic breath.

As politician

As a politician, he held the following offices: *

Mayor of Bucharest The mayor of Bucharest (), sometimes known as the general mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...

(June 1899 – February 1901). * Vice President of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

(elected 1899). * Minister of Public Works (December 29, 1910 – March 27, 1912). * Minister of Industry and Commerce (from July 10, 1917 – January 28, 1918).

Personal life

He married Maria Delavrancea, with whom he had four children, including Cella Delavrancea and Henrieta Delavrancea. He died in 1918 in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and was buried in the city's Eternitatea Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanescu Delavrancea, Barbu 1858 births 1918 deaths People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia Writers from Bucharest Romanian male poets Romanian dramatists and playwrights Romanian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian poets 19th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian male writers Titular members of the Romanian Academy Mayors of Bucharest Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Ministers of public works of Romania Ministers of industry and commerce of Romania Burials at Eternitatea cemetery