Dan Petrașincu (; born Angelo Moretta, ; 2 June 1910 – 1997) was an Italian-Romanian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

, writer and translator. He was born in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

from an Italian father and a Romanian mother. In the aftermath of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, when he was ten years old, the family fled to Romania, where he went to high school in

Râmnicu Sărat Râmnicu Sărat (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Sărat'', , or ''Rebnick''; ) is a municipiu, city in Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It was first attested in a document of 1439, and raised to the rank of ''municipiu'' in ...

and

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 worked as a copy-editor for "Rampa”, "Adevărul”, "Reporter”, "Lumea românească”, "

România literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...

”. Together with Mihai Șerban and Ieronim Sârbu he published the magazine "Discobolul" (1932-1933). He translated from

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

Gaston Baty Gaston Baty (; 26 May 1885 – 13 October 1952), whose full name was Jean-Baptiste-Marie-Gaston Baty, was a French playwright and theatre director. He was born in Pélussin, Loire, France. Career In 1921, Baty formed his own company ''Les Compa ...

Wanda Wasilewska Wanda Wasilewska (), also known by her Russian name Vanda Lvovna Vasilevskaya () (21 January 1905 – 29 July 1964), was a Polish and Soviet novelist and journalist and a left-wing political activist. She was a socialist who became a devoted com ...

, etc. After 1950 he lived in Italy, and died in Rome in 1997.

Works

*''Sângele'', Bucharest, 1935 (for which he was given the "Dimineața” newspaper's Prose Award) *''Omul gol'', Bucharest, 1936 (re-written as ''Omul și fiara'', Bucharest, 1941) *''Monstrul'', București, 1937; (re-written as ''Copilăria cu umbre''), Bucharest, 1944; Bucharest, 1994 *''Miracolul'', Bucharest, 1939 *''Junglă'', Bucharest, 1940 *''Edgar Poe, iluminatul'', Bucharest, 1942 *''Cora și dragostea'', Bucharest, 1943 *''Timpuri împlinite'', Bucharest, 1947 *''Un mare poet al libertății: Alexandru Sergheevici Pușkin'', Bucharest, 1949 *''La resa dei conti'', Rome, 1957 *''Lo spirito dell'India'', Rome, 1960 Romanian edition: ''Spiritul Indiei'' (București, 1993) *''Gli dei dell'India'', Milan, 1966; ''I miti indiani'' edition, Milano, 1982; Romanian edition: ''Mituri indiene'' (Bucharest, 1998) *''Il pensiero Vedanta, Rome'', 1968; Romanian edition: ''Gândirea Vedanta'', (Bucharest, 1996) *''La parola e il silenzio'', Rome, 1970; Romanian edition: ''Cuvântul și tăcerea. O posibilă reconstituire a Logosului cu ajutorul conceptului de Sabda-Sphoța din lingvistica indiană'' (Bucharest, 1994) *''Il Daimon e il superuomo'', Rome, 1972; Romanian edition: ''Daimon și supraom'' (Bucharest, 1994) *''Aurobindo e il futuro dell'uomo'', Rome, 1974 *''Il Quinto millennio'', Milan, 1979 *''I miti delle antiche civilta messicane'', Milan, 1984; Romanian edition: ''Miturile vechilor civilizații mexicane'' (Bucharest, 1998) *''Miti antichi e mito del progresso. Antropologia del sacro dal paleolitico al nucleare'', Genoa, 1990; Romanian edition: ''Mituri antice și mitul progresului. Antropologia sacrului din paleolitic până în era nucleară'' (Bucharest, 1994) *''7 miti maya e aztechi e delle antiche civilta messicane'', Milan, 1996

References

*Aurel Sasu, ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, M-Z'', Ed. Paralela 45, Pitești, 2006, pp. 340–341 {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrasincu, Dan 1910 births 1997 deaths Romanian novelists Romanian male writers Italian male novelists Romanian essayists Romanian translators Italian essayists Italian orientalists Italian anthropologists Romanian emigrants to Italy Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Romania Writers from Odesa 20th-century translators 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian male writers Italian male essayists Romanian male essayists 20th-century essayists Italian male non-fiction writers 20th-century anthropologists