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Constantin Gheorghe Banu (March 20, 1873 – September 8, 1940) 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, journalist and politician, who served as
Arts and Religious Affairs Minister in 1922–1923. He is remembered in literary history as the founder of ''
Flacăra'' review, which he published in two editions, alongside
Petre Locusteanu,
Ion Pillat
Ion Pillat (31 March 1891 – 17 April 1945) was a distinguished Romanian poet. He is best known for his volume ''Pe Argeș în sus'' (''Upstream on the Argeș'') and ''Poeme într-un vers'' (''One-line poems''), and for his embryonic love f ...
,
Adrian Maniu
Adrian Maniu (February 6, 1891 – April 20, 1968) was a Romanian poet, prose writer, playwright, essayist, and translator.
Born in Bucharest, his father Grigore, a native of Lugoj, was a jurist and professor of commercial law at the University o ...
, and, later,
Vintilă Russu-Șirianu. A best-selling magazine for its time, it functioned as a launching pad for several writers of the
Romanian Symbolist movement.
Banu was an affiliate and orator of the
National Liberal Party, which he served continuously for 30 years, as a political journalist, public polemicist, and member of
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. His contribution as an essayist, lampoonist, and aphorist reflected his
progressive approach to labor and productive life, his critique of conservatism, as well as his concept of civilized political mores.
Banu's career in politics reached the international level during World War I, when he took refuge from
German-occupied Romania to campaign for the Romanian cause in Paris. Subsequently, during his term as minister, he focused on negotiating a Romanian
Concordat
A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 and normalizing relations with the Catholic Church. In his final years in politics, he was an affiliate of the National Liberal Party-Brătianu"> ...
and normalizing relations with the Catholic Church. In his final years in politics, he was an affiliate of the National Liberal Party-Brătianu. These activities, like much of his vast (but fragmentary) work in print, or his speeches, endured as the focus of political controversy.
Biography
Early years and political debut
Born in Bucharest, his father was a Gheorghe N. Banu, and his mother a Smaranda (or Coralia) Banu. He was French on his mother's side, but his exact lineage is unclear. According to Banu himself, his French grandmother led a mysterious life in Bucharest and died at ''Așezămintele Brâncovenești'' Hospital in September 1848. Her husband was a
Greek-Romanian known as Koronidy, who may have been a shipbuilder or a schoolteacher from a shipbuilding family.
[Stavinschi, p. 18] On his father's side, Banu was probably descending from a clan of Romanian shepherds.
[Iorga (1967), p. 380] His grandfather or great-grandfather was reportedly a ''
Staroste'' of the furriers' guild in
Galați
Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...
.
Baptized
Romanian Orthodox
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...
, Banu completed secondary education at
Saint Sava National College
The Saint Sava National College (Romanian: ''Colegiul Național Sfântul Sava''), Bucharest, named after Sabbas the Sanctified, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. It was founded in 1694, under the name of th ...
, a classmate of writer
Ioan A. Bassarabescu, actor
Ion Livescu, and lawyer-politician
Scarlat Orăscu. Influenced by their teacher, classical scholar
Anghel Demetriescu, they formed their own literary club, which held its meetings in the Saint Sava basement, putting out the
polygraphed magazine ''Armonia'', then the bi-monthly ''Studentul Român''. Banu was also in a mathematics class taught by Ștefan Popescu. By his own recollection, he was a struggling student, and had much trouble learning
trigonometry
Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and side lengths of triangles. In particular, the trigonometric functions relate the angles of a right triangle with ratios of its side lengths. The fiel ...
from the textbook of
Spiru Haret
Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...
—his future political mentor and employer.
Banu graduated from the literature and philosophy faculty 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 ...
in 1895, and from the law faculty in 1900.
[«Rotonda 13: Constantin Banu şi Revista Flacăra», la MNLR]
Agenția de Carte As he himself noted in 1936: "Although not a literary professional, I always had a soft spot for literature."
[Mihail Șerban, "Cu d. Const. Banu, evocând trecutul. După 25 de ani dela apariția revistei ''Flacăra'', fostul ei director ne vorbește despre începuturi, colaboratori și drumul parcurs", in '']Adevărul
(; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...
'', June 27, 1928, p. 3 He also had an enduring passion for history, as noted by his professor
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...
, who recommended him for a teacher's chair.
During a stint as a novice teacher in
Brăila
Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila.
According to the 2021 Romanian ...
, he had his "second encounter" with Haret, who, as
Education Minister
An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...
, was personally inspecting the local schools. He equated listening to Haret's speech as a personal revelation about the sheer force of one's creative energies.
Returning to Bucharest, Banu began working as a history professor at
Matei Basarab High School in 1898,
part of a teaching staff which came to include
Dimitrie D. Pătrășcanu,
Emanoil Grigorovitza,
Theodor Speranția,
Alexandru Toma, and
Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the ...
. One of his students was the poet
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 ...
.
Banu later transferred to the Nifon Mitropolitul Seminary.
In this environment, he founded a literary-and-theatrical society, with contributions from pupil
Petre Locusteanu, who later became his friend and close associate.
His debut in letters came in 1900, with a brochure criticizing the textbook author Serafim Ionescu and the teaching of
Romanian history.
[Stavinschi, p. 19] At the time, Banu also took up work as a promoter of public literacy, joining
Ioan Kalinderu
Ioan Lazăr Kalinderu (born Calenderoglu, Nicolae Iorga, "Molière și Romînii. Comunicație comemorativă la Academia Romînă", in ''Revista Istorică'', Nr. 1–3/1922, p. 5 also known as Iancu Kalinderu, Ioan Kelenderu, Ioanŭ Calenderu, or ...
and
Barbu Știrbey
Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey (; 4 November 1872 – 24 March 1946) was 30th Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania in 1927.
Early life and ancestry
Born into the prestigious Știrbei, House of Știrbey, he was ...
's Steaua Association, which had as its object "the strengthening of education among regular folk through moral, patriotic and useful publications".
In 1900, Banu's former professor, folklorist
G. Dem. Teodorescu, died. Attending his funeral, Banu gave a rousing speech exhorting the values of
work ethic
Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the i ...
. His political articles that appeared in ''Secolul XX'' starting in 1899, as well as his oratorical talent, drew the attention of Haret's own National Liberal Party (PNL).
Around 1903, he was a functionary in the upper echelons of Education Ministry, Chief Inspector of the Private Schools under Minister Haret, in which capacity he first met and encouraged the novelist (and aspiring politician)
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; 5 November 1880 – 19 October 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting President of Romania, head of st ...
. Upon moving to Bucharest, he took over a villa on Parfumului Street, where he lived with his wife Aneta (or Ioana). She came from a
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
family of
Western Moldavia
Western Moldavia (, ''Moldova de Apus'', or , also known as Moldavia, is the core historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1878, the P ...
, and owned an estate at
Hălăucești.
Their two sons, Nicolae and Ioan, were respectively born in 1907 and 1908.
As noted by memoirist
Constantin Kirițescu
Constantin Kirițescu (September 3, 1876 – August 12, 1965) was a Romanian zoologist, educator and historian. Born and schooled in Bucharest, he occupied successive posts in the Education Ministry, with education being a running theme of his d ...
, Banu quit the education system when his job became "a nuisance, a hindrance to his rise."
[Stavinschi, p. 21] Working for the liberal press, he was editor-in-chief of ''
Voința Națională'' from 1903 and director of ''
Viitorul'' from 1907,
part of a team that also comprised future PNL leader
Ion G. Duca
Ion Gheorghe Duca (; 20 December 1879 – 29 December 1933) was a Romanian liberal politician, diplomat, and lawyer who briefly served as Prime Minister from November to December 1933. A leading figure in the National Liberal Party, Duca hel ...
and scholar
Henric Streitman. At ''Voința Națională'', Banu inaugurated a literary supplement, which put out ''
feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...
s'' by Sadoveanu,
Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești,
Ilarie Chendi,
Nicolae Gane, and
Ion Bentoiu.
Under his auspices, ''Voința Națională'' also featured commentary on literature, theater and painting.
Under the pen name Teofil, he wrote the column ''Una-alta'' ("This and That") in a literary style, focusing on politics, but also outlining his belief in the
didactic value of art.
It was also at this paper that he resumed his close collaboration with Locusteanu.
''Flacăra'' creation
Meanwhile, Banu's radical politics collided with the agenda of the
Conservative Party and its
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
,
Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino
Prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (22 September 1833 – 22 March 1913), was a Romanian politician and lawyer, one of the leading Conservative Party policymakers. Among his political posts were minister of public instruction in Romania, presid ...
. During the
peasants' revolt of early 1907, Iorga and Banu's Bucharest homes were searched by police, who confiscated "a great number of letters and important papers." The riots were repressed with much violence; in the aftermath, Banu asked his students at Nifon Mitropolitul to submit anonymous essays on the "peasant question and the recently quelled peasant uprising." This investigation showed that these rural students generally detested the upper class of "
boyars
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russian nobility, Russia), Boyars of Moldavia and Wallach ...
" for their "enormous wealth", which they saw as exploiting the
sharecropper
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...
's toil.
In his late years, Banu still recalled the impression left on him by the revolt, "this free-riding daughter of Nature": "I have seen pillars of fire roaming the villages, setting train stations alight, and crackling among the ruins."
In the
election of May, running on PNL lists in
Ialomița County
Ialomița County () is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.
Demographics
In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2.
Romanians make up 95.6% of the population, t ...
,
[Stavinschi, p. 20] Banu took a seat in the
Assembly of Deputies. He was its Secretary from 1907 to 1911. Banu impressed his audience, including the Conservative adversary
Alexandru Marghiloman
Alexandru Marghiloman (4 July 1854 – 10 May 1925) was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 (March–October) as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.
Early career
Born in Bu ...
, with his oratorical skill. In 1910, he was among the jurors who condemned to prison Gheorghe Stoenescu-Jelea, the would-be assassin of Prime Minister
Ion I. C. Brătianu
Ion Ionel Constantin Brătianu (, also known as Ionel Brătianu; 20 August 1864 – 24 November 1927) was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on seve ...
. Upon the Conservatives' return to power, he failed to win a seat in the 2nd College
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 ...
in the
February 1911 election, running on a coalition anti-Conservative list headed by
Nicolae Fleva.
On October 22, 1911, Banu and Locusteanu printed the first issue of ''
Flacăra'', a weekly literature and current events magazine. When asked what motivated him to launch his own magazine, Banu referred to his literary passion, and also noted that the magazine (or "literary newspaper") was "of some use to my
iberalparty"—"Duca understood this from the very start, and so he was happy to inaugurate the magazine with an article of his own".
The name, literally "Flame", was chosen in oblique reference to the "pillars of fire" of 1907. These, Banu argued, could be turned into constructive fires of "purification".
With its "people's agenda", ''Flacăra'' had a regular circulation of 15,000,
peaking at 30,000, which was unusually high for the demographic and literacy standards of the
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...
. This was largely because of Locusteanu's contribution in publicity, but also, according to Banu, to the talents featured in its pages. Also according to Banu, the magazine owed its survival to Locusteanu and, secondly, to
Spiru Hasnaș.
It had unparalleled success among the urban middle classes, particularly with its exposure of literary scandals.
[Călinescu, p. 713] One such series described in detail the suicide attempt, agony, and death of a poet,
Dimitrie Anghel
Dimitrie Anghel (; July 16, 1872 – November 13, 1914) was a Romanian poet.
Anghel was of Aromanian descent from his father. His first poem was published in '' Contemporanul'' (1890). His debut editorial ''Traduceri din Paul Verlaine'' was publ ...
. Anghel's estranged wife,
Natalia Negru, was enraged by the coverage, and speculated that Anghel had been left to die in order to benefit Banu's circulation. She also contended that Banu and Duca together ran a "liberal mafia".
''Flacăra'' was also disliked by professional critics. Reviled for its alleged eclecticism and lack of aesthetic discernment, the magazine became involved in polemics, mainly written by Banu,
who also personally interviewed his featured writers.
The magazine set out as a mainstream review, hosting established talents such as
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, ...
and
Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea
Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea; pen name of Barbu Ștefan; April 11, 1858 – April 29, 1918) was a Romanian writer and poet, considered one of the greatest figures in the National awakening of Romania.
Early life and studies
He was born on April ...
; its most nonconformist contributors were "moderate"
Romanian Symbolists:
Ion Minulescu,
Caton Theodorian, and
Victor Eftimiu
Victor Eftimiu (; 24 January 1889 – 27 November 1972) was a Romanian poet and playwright. He was a contributor to ''Sburătorul'', a Romanian literary magazine. His works have been performed in the State Jewish Theater of Romania.
Eftimi ...
,
later joined by
Barbu Nemțeanu,
[Cernat, pp. 107–108] and sometimes by
Nicolae Budurescu,
Alexandru Dominic, and
Eugen Titeanu. Most of Banu's own writings appeared in ''Flacăra''; these included poems, aphorisms and literary, cultural and political articles. He also signed his work as Glaucon and Mefisto, and sometimes used Al. Șerban, Const. Paul and Cronicarul Dâmboviței, pen names he shared with Locusteanu.
His journalistic work, also carried in
George Diamandy's ''Revista Democrației Române'', sought to express political objectivity and sincerity. Some of his socially themed texts, conceived as sketches or little scenes, denounced parasitism, lack of patriotism, arrogance and aggressive stupidity; his ideology veered toward
producerism
Producerism is an ideology which holds that those members of society engaged in the production of tangible wealth are of greater benefit to society than, for example, aristocrats who inherit their wealth and status.
History
Robert Ascher trac ...
.
According to literary historian
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) 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 most important Romani ...
, such works are without stylistic value: "C. Banu shows up in his aphorisms as a grieving but trite
Guicciardini, of no humanistic worth".
At the time of their publishing, Banu's texts were derided by a rival modernist,
Tudor Arghezi
Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature.
Biography
Early life
He graduated from Sai ...
, who, by one estimate, wrote half of his lampoons entirely against Banu or ''Flacăra''.
In Arghezi's magazine ''
Facla'', Banu and Locusteanu were viewed as "triumphant mediocrities" and "
street organ
A street organ ( or ) played by an organ grinder is a French automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most commonly seen types are the smaller German and the larger Dutch street or ...
s", on the same artistic level as
Radu D. Rosetti and
Maica Smara. Nevertheless, with
Ion Pillat
Ion Pillat (31 March 1891 – 17 April 1945) was a distinguished Romanian poet. He is best known for his volume ''Pe Argeș în sus'' (''Upstream on the Argeș'') and ''Poeme într-un vers'' (''One-line poems''), and for his embryonic love f ...
and
Adrian Maniu
Adrian Maniu (February 6, 1891 – April 20, 1968) was a Romanian poet, prose writer, playwright, essayist, and translator.
Born in Bucharest, his father Grigore, a native of Lugoj, was a jurist and professor of commercial law at the University o ...
as caretakers of the literary pages, ''Flacăra'' also turned to more radical forms of modernism. Pillat, Maniu, and
Horia Furtună also "conspired" to relaunch here the disgraced Symbolist mentor,
Alexandru Macedonski
Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism (arts ...
, serializing his novel ''
Thalassa
Thalassa (; ; Attic Greek: , ''thálatta'') was the general word for 'sea' and for its divine female personification in Greek mythology. The word may have been of Pre-Greek origin and connected to the name of the Mesopotamian primordial sea godde ...
''; and helped launch the career of
George Bacovia
George Bacovia (; the pen name of Gheorghe Vasiliu ; – 22 May 1957) was a Romanian symbolist poet. While he initially belonged to the local Symbolist movement, launched as a poet by Alexandru Macedonski with the poem and poetry collection (" ...
, publishing his plaquette ''
Plumb''. Symbolist
N. Davidescu took over as the literary reviewer, pushing an aesthetic ideal that was inspired by readings from
Remy de Gourmont
Remy de Gourmont (4 April 1858 – 27 September 1915) was a French symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on Blaise Cendrars and Georges Bataille. The spelling ''Rémy'' de Go ...
; the other staff reviewer was Hasnaș who, Călinescu notes, merely wrote "earnestly".
The magazine also published illustration by, among others, the debuting avant-garde draftsman,
Marcel Janco
Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian language, Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading ...
.
World War I
In the years before World War I, returned to the Assembly, Banu debated major national issues with the Conservative Party doctrinaires. Responding to
Constantin C. Arion's call for national unity after the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...
, he argued that such internal peace could never be achieved with "an aggrieved peasantry as the basis of our State". A
land reform
Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution.
Lan ...
, he contended, could even make Romania into a great regional power. Nevertheless, Banu was also critical of the populist currents undermining the PNL, and thus picked sides against Iorga and his
Democratic Nationalists. His ''Flacăra'' articles, Iorga noted at the time, supported anti-nationalist causes such as
Jewish emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It included efforts withi ...
, while his parliamentary speeches expressed worries against the rise of Romania's insurrectionist "
Boulangisme". Banu hoped to appease Conservatives who viewed land reform as proof of socialism, contending that "increasing property" was the best method to curb left-wing agitation and promote "social conservation". He also campaigned for
election reform, insisting that it could solve the "periodic convulsions" in Romanian society, and criticizing the Conservatives' electoral ideal as a
Potemkin village
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (Russian: ) is a construction (literal or figurative) whose purpose is to provide an external façade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it actually is. The term ...
.
By 1914, Banu was also writing for the ''Flacăra'' satellite ''Semnalul'', for the PNL paper ''Democrația'', and for the literary bimonthly ''Văpaia''. In July, days after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Sarajevo assassination, Banu was selected on a panel of deputies, headed by Mihail G. Orleanu, which proposed democratic reforms to the 1866 Constitution of Romania, 1866 constitution. Other members included Iorga, Constantin Stere, Nicolae Romanescu, and Vintilă Brătianu. Romania kept neutral during the first two years of war, but an intellectual battle divided Romanian society, between "Francophilia, Francophiles", who supported the Allies of World War I, Entente, and "Germanophilia, Germanophiles", who looked to the Central Powers. Banu and the National Liberals leaned toward the Entente Francophiles. In October 1914, he directed a rally of university students who vandalized the offices of ''Ziua'', a Germanophile daily put out by Ioan Slavici, and chanted threats against Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino, owner of the Germanophile ''Seara (newspaper), Seara''.
Although, as historian Lucian Boia writes, it remained "without jarring partisanship", ''Flacăra''s Ententist-and-populist tinges were ridiculed and parodied in ''Chemarea'', the radical-left Symbolist review put out by Ion Vinea.
Banu's 1916 book ''Sub mască'' ("Under the Mask"), signed Mefisto, included poems initially published in ''Flacăra''s ''Gazeta rimată'' column. Their subjects received varying treatment, with tones that ranged from humor and pamphleteering jokes to invective;
Banu himself acknowledged that such pieces were "sometimes mean and often unfair".
As critics note, his critical virulence and moralizing intent were balanced by a certain literary talent, itself subsumed by the categorical nature of polemic.
Also published that year, the brochure ''Trăiască viața!…'' ("Long Live Life!…") is a collection of articles, some of them distinctly autobiographical.
Honoring its Treaty of Bucharest (1916), secret commitment to the Entente, Romania entered the war in August 1916. ''Flacăra'' closed down with a final issue on November 13 of that year, as Bucharest prepared for Battle of Bucharest, the German siege. Banu later escaped to Paris, where, from January 1918, he joined the directorial staff of ''La Roumanie'' journal (with Emil Fagure and Constantin Mille), campaigning in French for the cause of Greater Romania. He intervened directly to obtain statements of solidarity with beleaguered Romania from Ernest Lavisse, Lucien Poincaré, and other French academics, while trying in vain to prevent the Romanian government from negotiating a Treaty of Bucharest (1918), separate peace with the Central Powers.
With the turn of tides, Banu formed part of the Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference in 1919, attending as co-director of ''La Roumanie''.
He was reelected to the Assembly 1919 Romanian general election, in November 1919, ensuring his political survival into the era of universal suffrage: although imposed on the Ialomița voters by the PNL leadership, he overcame both stiff opposition by the Peasants' Party (Romania), Peasants' Party and factional disputes inside his own caucus. From his position as deputy, he made overtures toward Iorga and the Democratic Nationalists in power, moderating his party's attacks against them. In March 1920, when the anti-PNL coalition was toppled by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I, Iorga proposed that Banu and Matei B. Cantacuzino form a technocratic government of national reconciliation; the monarch preferred a cabinet headed by Alexandru Averescu. Banu found himself toppled by his Ialomița constituents during the 1920 Romanian general election, election of May 1920.
[Vișan, p. 294]
Banu put out two more editions of ''Flacăra'' between December 10, 1921, and June 1923, with
Vintilă Russu-Șirianu as his second, contributions from old regulars such as Minulescu and Macedonski,
[Desa ''et al.'', p. 209] and food chronicles by Păstorel Teodoreanu. Banu who wrote regularly for ''Cuget Românesc'' monthly during that interval,
had no say in ''Flacăra''s management, which went to Pillat, Furtună, and then Minulescu. Despite their "great efforts", he noted, the magazine failed commercially—"such were the times."
Ministerial office and later life
Still in the Assembly following the 1922 Romanian general election, 1922 election, Banu served as
Arts and Religious Affairs Minister under Prime Minister Brătianu, from January 19, 1922, to October 30, 1923; he was also ''ad interim'' Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration (Romania), Minister of Public Works on January 19–22, 1922.
During that time, he involved himself in negotiating a
Concordat
A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 [1 ...
, in the hope of normalizing Holy See–Romania relations, relations with the Holy See. The 1923 Constitution of Romania, 1923 constitution gave special recognition to the Orthodox and Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, Greek Catholic Church, but Banu satisfied the former when he stripped state representatives of their right to elect bishops. According to memoirist and PNL man Ion Rusu Abrudeanu, he erred in keeping by his side the Greek Catholic functionary Zenovie Pâclișanu, who stood accused of undermining the PNL and of leaking the Concordat draft to the Catholic press in Transylvania. Reportedly, Pâclișanu also sabotaged Banu's investigation into allegations of church art smuggling by Catholic clergymen who migrated to Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46), Hungary.
Banu's accomplishments as minister include his successful promotion of Intellectual property in Romania, Romania's first copyright law, on January 15, 1923. He also founded an Inspectorate of Romanian Museums, under Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș, but withheld its financing later on. The two politicians negotiated for a reciprocal exchange of coveted cultural goods between, on one hand, Romania and, on the other, Weimar Germany and the First Austrian Republic, Austrian Republic. They only managed to obtain the Cucuteni Treasure from Berlin.
By late 1923, Banu was noted for his opposition to the new PNL establishment, whose most prominent figure was Vintilă Brătianu; unlike his colleagues, he did not believe in the goal of "crushing" the opposition, at the time led by the Peasants' Party (Romania), Peasants' Party. Resigning from the Ministry in November, to be replaced by Alexandru Lapedatu, Banu still served in the Senate of Romania, Senate,
but largely withdrew from public life. His articles and musings were being still published in ''
Adevărul
(; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...
'', ''Convorbiri Literare'', and ''Cele Trei Crișuri''.
In 1927, celebrating the golden jubilee of Romanian War of Independence, Romanian Independence with conferences at the Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest Atheneum, Banu outlined his liberal critique of the conservative ethos, turning against "reactionary" cultural figures such as Caragiale, Mihail Eminescu, and the ''Junimea'' circle. Such themes were also explored in his lectures, recorded by Radio Romania in 1929 and 1933.
As Caragiale scholar Șerban Cioculescu noted at the time, Banu's "effete phraseology" and "cliche vocabulary" encased his resentments against conservative intellectuals, who had exposed and satirized the "characteristics of practical liberalism".
Between 1927 and 1930, the PNL polarized into competing factions: one led by Vintilă Brătianu and the other, the "Georgists", by Gheorghe Brătianu. Banu was on the side of the former, and also expressed his faction's sympathy for King Carol II of Romania, Carol II, who had returned from exile to reclaim his throne. By December 1933, with Vintilă dead and Duca, his one-time colleague at ''Viitorul'', in charge of the party, Banu had embraced Georgism and defected to the PNL's seceded wing, the "National Liberal Party-Brătianu". He and Artur Văitoianu were the most notorious PNL assets to follow Gheorghe Brătianu on this venture. This move was also a sign of Banu's opposition to the politically ambitious Carol II: Banu, Brătianu, and Constantin C. Giurescu were working on a proclamation against Carol, his ''camarilla'', and Duca, the acting PNL Prime Minister. A year later, after Duca's unexpected assassination by the Iron Guard, a National Peasants' Party administration intervened to stop Banu, Brătianu, P. P. Negulescu and others from coordinating massive opposition rallies. The Iron Guard also took notice, and Banu's name appeared on an enemies' list, alongside those of Aristide Blank, Alexandru C. Constantinescu, Wilhelm Filderman, and Gheorghe Gh. Mârzescu.
According to Kirițescu, Banu reached the "forefront of politics", but failed to preserve his position—overall, he lacked "the faculty which allows one to wiggle through, to engage in transactions".
Banu's final book appeared in 1937 as ''Grădina lui Glaucon sau Manualul bunului politician'' ("Glaucon's Garden or A Textbook for Good Politicians"). Here, he uses his political and artistic experience to analyze his peers in 757 sections (aphorisms, words of advice and morality sketches). Through these, he shows his ethical leanings, irony, and skepticism, formulating concise general judgments.
Banu spent his final years away from the capital, at his wife's home in
Hălăucești.
He died in 1940 at a hospital in Roman, Romania, Roman,
and was buried in Plot 21 of Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest. His former mentor and adversary Iorga paid homage to him with an obituary in ''Neamul Românesc'', emphasizing that Banu, the "unusual figure" among his peers, belonged to an older era of "dignity and decency, when people were held up by talent and merit".
Banu's oratory was of "great formal restraint, unjarring."
[Iorga (1967), p. 381]
Aneta Guțulescu-Banu survived her husband for decades, dying in 1970.
Their first-born Nicolae "Bob", who lived to 1985, was married to the actress Lucia, a member of the Rosetti family and niece of the composer George Enescu. Ioan, his brother, died in 2001. Constantin and Aneta's other child was a daughter, Ana-Irina "Nazica", who married the engineer Nicolae Cristofor.
The villa built by the Banus' on Parfumului Street was Nationalization in Romania, nationalized by the Communist Romania, communist regime, and assigned to an army institution. In 1987, at the height of the Ceaușima campaign, it was demolished.
Notes
References
*George Baiculescu, Georgeta Răduică, Neonila Onofrei, ''Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. II: Catalog alfabetic 1907–1918. Supliment 1790–1906''. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1969.
*C. Banu, "Cum l-am cunoscut pe Spiru Haret", in ''Almanachul Societății Scriitorilor Români'', 1913, pp. 169–175.
*Lucian Boia, ''"Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial''. Bucharest: Humanitas publishing house, Humanitas, 2010.
*
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899 – 12 March 1965) 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 most important Romani ...
, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent''. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1986.
*Paul Cernat, ''Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val''. Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 2007.
*Șerban Cioculescu, ''Caragialiana''. Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1974.
*Ileana-Stanca Desa, Dulciu Morărescu, Ioana Patriche, Adriana Raliade, Iliana Sulică, ''Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. III: Catalog alfabetic 1919–1924''. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1987.
*
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...
,
**''Memorii, Vol. II: (Însemnări zilnice maiu 1917–mart 1920). Războiul național. Lupta pentru o nouă viață politică''. Bucharest: Editura Națională Ciornei, 1930.
**''Memorii. Vol. IV: Încoronarea și boala regelui''. Bucharest: Editura Națională Ciornei, 1939.
**''Oameni cari au fost'', Vol. II. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1967.
*I. Peltz, ''Amintiri din viața literară''. Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 1974.
*C. Popescu-Cadem, ''Document în replică''. Bucharest: Mihail Sadoveanu City Library, 2007.
*Ion Rusu Abrudeanu,
**''România și războiul mondial: contribuțiuni la studiul istoriei războiului nostru''. Bucharest: Editura Socec, 1921.
**''Păcatele Ardealului față de sufletul Vechiului Regat. Fapte, documente și facsimile''. Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 1930.
*Magda Stavinschi, "Chipuri uitate. Constantin Banu", in ''Magazin Istoric'', February 2012, pp. 18–21.
*Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș, ''Scrieri despre arta românească''. Bucharest: Editura Meridiane, 1987.
*Marian-Alexandru Vișan, "Ialomița", in Bogdan Murgescu, Andrei Florin Sora (eds.), ''România Mare votează. Alegerile parlamentare din 1919 "la firul ierbii"'', pp. 286–294. Iași: Polirom, 2019.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banu, Constantin
1873 births
1940 deaths
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