Theodor Șerbănescu (; December 29, 1839 – July 2, 1901) was a

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

n-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 army officer and poet.

Early life

Șerbănescu was born in

Tecuci Tecuci () is a city in Galați County, Romania, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. It is situated among wooded hills, on the right bank of the Bârlad River, and at the junction of railways from Galați, Bârlad, and Mărășești. ...

in 1839. His father Eni Șerban (later Șerbănescu) was a '' paharnic'' (cup-bearer) and a member of the minor ''

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

'' nobility; his mother was named Smaranda, and the couple had eighteen children. Theodor attended primary school in his native town, followed by high school at Academia Mihăileană in the capital

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and then the military school in the same city. A distinguished student throughout, he entered the army as a second lieutenant of the military engineers.

Military career

Having reached the rank of captain in 1869, he resigned. He re-entered the army in 1877, participating in the Romanian War of Independence as an officer with the general staff. He then worked at the War Ministry, rising to colonel and holding command posts in several garrisons ( Bacău,

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

). He left the army for good in 1893 and mainly lived at his Vameș estate in

Covurlui County Covurlui County is one of the historic counties of Moldavia, Romania. The county seat was Galați. In 1938, the county was disestablished and incorporated into the newly formed Ținutul Dunării, but it was re-established in 1940 after the fall of ...

. He served as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of Cahul County in 1876, but failed to make further inroads into political life. In 1868, Șerbănescu joined '' Junimea'', and in 1891 was elected a corresponding member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. He died in Brăila.

Writing

His first published journalism appeared in ''Steaua Dunării'', while his first verses ran in ''Ateneul Român'' in 1861. Other publications that ran his work include ''Albina Pindului'', '' Convorbiri Literare'' (which championed him), ''Literatură și artă română'', ''Oltul'', ''Perseverența'' and ''Revista contimporană''. Much of Șerbănescu's relatively ample poetic output remains in the magazines' pages or in manuscript form as letters and albums. His first book, ''Poesii'', appeared posthumously in 1902. ''Poesii alese'' (1927) was edited by Eugen Lovinescu, while ''Poesii'' (1941) received commentary from his great-nephew Ion Petrovici and from Nicolae Cartojan. A polyglot, he translated poems by

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 ...

, Alphonse de Lamartine, Alfred de Musset,

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 Ada Negri; these feature in the 1902 volume. In 1894, he and Dimitrie C. Ollănescu-Ascanio translated Frédéric Damé's ''Le Rêve de Dochia, poème dramatique''. He sometimes used the pen name Dornescu.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. II, p. 656. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbanescu, Theodor 1839 births 1901 deaths People from Tecuci Romanian nobility 19th-century Romanian poets People from the Principality of Moldavia Romanian translators Prefects of Romania Junimists Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Romanian military personnel of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Romanian Land Forces officers