Ieronim Șerbu (pen name of Aron Hers Erick; December 1, 1911 – December 8, 1972) 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 prose writer. Born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

, his parents were Avram Moise Erick and his wife Frieda Ruhla (''née'' Segal). He attended

Gheorghe Lazăr High School Gheorghe is a Romanian and Aromanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu (1869–1942), Romanian literary historian and bibliographer * Ghe ...

in the national capital

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 ...

. From 1932 to 1943, he was a participant in the literary circle surrounding ''

Sburătorul ''Sburătorul'' was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging f ...

'' magazine. His first published work appeared in 1932 in ''Discobolul'', a magazine he founded with Dan Petrașincu. He also wrote for ''Azi'', ''Lumea'', ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. ...

'', ''

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 ''Gazeta literară'', early on using the pen name Aron Ciuntu. Șerbu's first book was the 1940 short story collection ''Dincolo de tristețe''. Two further story collections followed: ''Oamenii visează pâine'' (1945) and ''Vițelul de aur'' (1949), as well as the novels ''Rădăcinile bucuriei'' (1954) and ''Podul amintirilor'' (1963). An interesting memoir, ''Vitrina cu amintiri'', appeared posthumously in 1973. His articles on literary themes were collected as ''Itinerarii critice'' (1971). Șerbu's early prose was analytical; after 1945 and the country's turn toward socialist realism, he adopted social and ethical themes. Despite rewriting texts subjected to various pressures, Șerbu did not manage to produce an artistically fulfilled body of work.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 658. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbu, Ieronim 1911 births 1972 deaths People from Botoșani Jewish Romanian writers Romanian novelists Romanian short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian literary critics Romanian magazine founders