Mihail Drumeș (born Mihail V. Dumitrescu; November 26, 1901–February 27, 1982) was an Ottoman-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 prose writer and playwright. He was born into an Aromanian family in

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

, a city that formed part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Manastir vilayet The Vilayet of Manastir () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, created in 1874, dissolved in 1877 and re-established in 1879. The vilayet was occupied during the First Balkan War in 1912 and divided between t ...

and is now in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. His parents were Vasile Dimitrie (later Dumitrescu), a bucket-maker, and his wife Despina (''née'' Gero). The family emigrated to

Balș Balș () is a town in Olt County, Oltenia, Romania. The town administers three villages: Corbeni, Româna, and Teiș. Geography The town is situated on the Wallachian Plain and lies on the banks of the river Olteț. It is located in the northwe ...

, in the

Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...

region of 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 ...

. Mihail attended primary school there, followed by high school in

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

and

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, belatedly taking his degree in 1925. He studied at 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 ...

, graduating in 1928. For a time, he was a high school teacher, later moving on to the university system. His first published work appeared in the Craiova magazine ''Flamura'' in 1922. His first book, the 1927 ''Capcana'', included short stories and sketches. From 1938 to 1948, he headed Editura Bucur Ciobanu. Drumeș achieved unusual popularity through the novels ''Sfântul Părere'', first published in 1930, retitled ''Cazul Magheru'' from the second printing and running for eighteen; and ''Invitați.e. la vals'' (1939; 34 printings). His work appeared in ''

Ramuri ''Ramuri'' ("Twigs" or "Branches") is a Romanian literary magazine put out from Craiova, the regional center of Oltenia region. Its first edition appeared from December 1905, and was closely tied to Nicolae Iorga's ''Sămănătorul'', published i ...

'', ''Adevărul literar și artistic'', ''Rampa'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Vremea'', ''Falanga'', and . Drumeș also published theatrical plays: ''Năluca'' (1940) and (1940). Later in life, he wrote historical novels such as ''Se revarsă apele'' (1961) and ''Codrul Vlăsiei'' (1966), in an attempt to rework his style and epic manner. His output is melodramatic, erotic, and has vague social implications. He left behind in manuscript form several plays, radio and television screenplays, dramatizations, and memoirs.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 526. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drumes, Mihail 1901 births 1982 deaths People from Ohrid Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire Romanian people of Aromanian descent Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Romania University of Bucharest alumni Aromanian writers Romanian erotica writers Romanian novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Aromanian schoolteachers Romanian schoolteachers