Horia Furtună (June 21, 1888 – March 8, 1952) 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 poet, playwright and prose writer. Born in

Focșani Focșani (; ) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. , it has a population of 66,719. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...

, his father Ioan Ștefănescu was inspector general of the veterinary service; his mother was Speranța-Plautina (''née'' Vasiliu). In 1883, his father formally changed his surname to Furtună. Horia studied law at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, graduating in 1909 and earning a doctorate in 1915; his thesis dealt with legal remedies for insurers faced with risk created by third parties to contracts. From 1915, he practiced law at the

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 ...

bar, and then directed the theatre service of Radiodifuziunea Română from 1934 to 1948. Together 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 ...

, he headed '' Flacăra'' magazine in 1916. He and Pillat founded the ''Cărțile albe'' collection, which put out

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 ...

's '' Flori sacre'' in 1912. From 1916 to 1918, he fought in World War I, being taken prisoner and interned at

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

. His literary debut took place in the ''

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 ...

'' supplement in 1902, and involved the comic-heroic tale "Iarba fiarelor". He sometimes used the pen names Aghiuță, Ariel, Spiriduș, Licurici and Henri Loria. In 1919, he joined the

Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society () was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the early Communist Romania, communist re ...

, and formed part of the leadership for a time; he was also vice president of the Dramatic Authors' Society, and as such took part in several international congresses. He was elected to the Assembly of Deputies. His work ran in ''Noi pagini literare'', ''Flacăra'', ''Cugetul românesc'', ''Adevărul literar și artistic'', ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar P ...

'', ''Rampa'', ''Viața literară'', ''

Revista Fundațiilor Regale ''Revista Fundațiilor Regale'' ("The Review of Royal Foundations") was a monthly literary, art and culture magazine published in Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and ...

'' and ''Mișcarea literară'' magazines; his humorous output was published in ''Papagalul'' and ''Gluma''. He translated Waldemar Bonsels, Edvard Robert Gummerus and Georg Trakl, as well as opera librettos. A gifted orator, he had an erudite, captivating and persuasive style, imbued with a caustic pathos. He held frequent conferences, his speeches subsequently appearing in brochures. He left three plays in manuscript form: ''Nicolae Bălcescu'', ''O seară la teatru'' and ''Băieți buni''. Furtună introduced classical touches to various themes, his work being a synthesis of intellect and craftsmanship. He won the Romanian Writers' Society Prize in 1934.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 608. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Furtuna, Horia 1888 births 1952 deaths People from Focșani University of Paris alumni 20th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian male poets Romanian male short story writers Romanian humorists Romanian magazine editors Romanian radio people Romanian military personnel of World War I World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian translators 20th-century Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian male writers Romanian expatriates in France