Maria Cunțan (February 7, 1862–November 23, 1935) was an

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

-born

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.

Biography

Born in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, her father Dimitrie, originally from Dobârca, was a

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 ...

priest, composer and professor of liturgical music and

Typicon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; , "that of the prescribed form"; Church Slavonic: ') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite office and variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy. Historical de ...

at the city's seminary. The family was artistically inclined, and Maria's two younger sisters pursued musical careers. She attended primary school and the foreign languages institute in her native city,Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 437. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. making her debut in ''Tribuna'' in 1891.Dubenschi, p. 9 In this period, she was devoted to the early work of

George Coșbuc George Coșbuc (; 20 September 1866 – 9 May 1918) was a Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist, best remembered for his verses describing, praising and eulogizing rural life, its many travails but also its occasions for joy. In 19 ...

, holding literary and musical soirées at her home where she would read his poems. Among the participants was the then-student Ilarie Chendi, who helped launch her career. Various magazines published Cunțan's work both in her native country, which had become

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, and in the

Romanian Old Kingdom The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...

. These include ''

Convorbiri literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' () is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by Titu Maiorescu in 1867. The ma ...

'', ''Curierul literar'', ''Foaia poporului'', ''Flacăra'', '' Luceafărul'', ''Revista noastră'', ''Revista scriitoarei'', ''

Sămănătorul ''Sămănătorul'' or ''Semănătorul'' (, Romanian language, Romanian for "The Sower") was a Literary magazine, literary and Political journalism, political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță ...

'', ''Sburătorul'' and ''Viața literară și artistică''. She sometimes used the pen names Liliac and Rim. Some of her compositions imitated

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

and

Nikolaus Lenau Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (13 August 1802 – 22 August 1850), a German-language Austrian poet. Biography He was born at Csatád (Schadat), Kingdom of Hungary, now Lenauheim, Banat, then p ...

; she also translated

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's '' Maid of Orleans'' in 1909. Her original work appeared in three books: ''Poezii'' (1901), ''Poezii'' (1905) and ''Din caierul vremii'' (two volumes, 1916). In 1909, she joined the new

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 ...

as one of four female members, out of a total 47. Her father died the following year, plunging her into grief. Cunțan settled in the Old Kingdom capital 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 ...

in 1915, working as a charity nurse during World War I. She continued publishing for some years after the war, but eventually stopped, living out her days in the sunless room of an almshouse. Cunțan died in 1935, her funeral attended by a small group of friends that included

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 ...

.Dubenschi, p. 13 During her life and in the decades that followed, critical opinion of her work was divided, with Chendi, Iorga,

Sextil Pușcariu Sextil Iosif Pușcariu (4 January 1877 – 5 May 1948) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian linguist and philologist, also known for his involvement in administrative and party politics. A native of Brașov educated in France ...

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Culture of Romania, Romanian culture in ...

Garabet Ibrăileanu Garabet Ibrăileanu (; May 23, 1871 – March 11, 1936) was a Romanian-Armenian literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, University of Iași professor (1908–1934), and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, fo ...

and

Radu Gyr Radu Gyr (; pen name of Radu Ștefan Demetrescu ; March 2, 1905 – 29 April 1975) was a Romanian poet, essayist, playwright, journalist and fascist activist. Biography Early life Born in Câmpulung-Muscel, Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan ...

viewing it with varying degrees of favorability, while

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 ...

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 ...

tended to be dismissive.Dubenschi, p. 6-7

Notes

References

* Gabriela Dubenschi
"Maria Cunțan"
Seria Personalia, nr. 13, Biblioteca Judeţeană ASTRA, Sibiu, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuntan, Maria 1862 births 1935 deaths People from Sibiu Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian Austro-Hungarians 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian translators 20th-century translators Romanian women poets 20th-century Romanian women writers Poets from Austria-Hungary