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Vasile Alecsandri
Photo: Constantin Daniel Stahi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons13

Vasile Alecsandri

Romanian poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat (1821–1890)

Vasile Alecsandri (Romanian pronunciation: [vaˈsile aleksanˈdri]; 21 July 1821 – 22 August 1890) was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Vasile Alecsandri (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 2, 1821, died Sep 3, 1890.1

About

He fought for the unification of the Romanian Principalities, writing "Hora Unirii" in 1856 and giving up his candidacy for the title of prince of Moldavia, in favor of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He became the first minister of foreign affairs of Romania and was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy. Alecsandri was a prolific writer, contributing to Romanian literature with poetry, prose, several plays, and collections of Romanian folklore, being considered, alongside Mihai Eminescu, which admired and was inspired by the writings of Alecsandri, as one of the most important Romanian writers in the second half of the 19th century.

From Wikipedia’s article on Vasile Alecsandri, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Origins and childhood

Alecsandri was born in the Moldavian town of Bacău and he was of Greek origin. His parents were Vasile Alecsandri, a middle-ranking nobleman, from the noble Greek family of Alecsandri, and Elena Cozoni, a Romanianized Greek woman. They had seven children, of which three survived: one daughter, Catinca, and two sons, Iancu — a future army colonel – and Vasile.

The family prospered in the lucrative business of salt and cereals trade. In 1828, they purchased a large estate in Mircești, a village near Siret River. The young Vasile spent time there studying with a devout monk from Maramureș, Gherman Vida, and playing with Vasile Porojan, a Gypsy boy who became a dear friend. Both characters would later appear in his work.

Adolescence and youth

Between 1828 and 1834, he studied at the Victor Cuenim "pensionnat", an elite boarding school for boys in Iași. He moved to Paris in 1834, where he dabbled in chemistry, medicine, and law, but soon abandoned all in favor of what he called his "lifelong passion", literature. He penned his first literary essays in 1838 in French, which he had mastered to perfection during his stay in Paris. After a brief return home, he left for Western Europe again, visiting Italy, Spain, and southern France.

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Romantic interest

A year later, Alecsandri attended a party celebrating the name day of Costache Negri, a family friend. He there fell in love with Negri's sister. The 21-year-old and not long divorced Elena Negri responded enthusiastically to the 24-year-old youngster's love declarations. Alecsandri began writing love poems until a sudden illness forced Elena to head abroad to Venice. He met her there, where they shared two torrid months.

They cruised to Austria, Germany, and to Alecsandri's former romping grounds, France. Elena's chest illness aggravated in Paris, and after a brief stint in Italy, they both boarded a French ship to return home 25 April 1847. Tragedy struck on the ship, when Elena died in her lover's arms. Alecsandri channeled his mourning into a poem, "Steluța" (Little Star). Later, he dedicated his "Lăcrimioare" (Little Tears) collection of poems to her.

From Wikipedia’s article on Vasile Alecsandri (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: folklorist, playwright, diplomat, writer, poet, politician.6

  • Date not recordedFounded Dacia Literară3
  • Date not recordedFounded Romanian Academy4
  • Date not recordedMinister of Foreign Affairs of Romania5

Personal life

  • BornAug 2, 1821, Bacău7
  • DiedSep 3, 1890, Mircești8
  • CitizenshipPrincipality of Moldavia, United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Kingdom of Romania9
  • SpousePaulina Alecsandri10

Politics

Political involvement

In 1848, he became one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement based in Iași. He wrote a widely read poem urging the public to join the cause, "Către Români" (To Romanians), later renamed "Deșteptarea României" (Romania's Awakening). Together with Mihail Kogălniceanu and Costache Negri, he wrote a manifesto of the revolutionary movement in Moldavia, "Dorințele partidei naționale din Moldova" (Wishes of the National Party of Moldavia).

However, as revolution failed, he fled Moldavia through Transylvania and Austria, moving on to Paris, where he continued to write political poems.

Political fulfilment

Alecsandri found satisfaction in the advancement of those political causes he had long championed. The two Romanian provinces united and he was appointed minister of External Affairs by Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He toured the West, pleading to some of his friends and acquaintances in Paris to acknowledge the newly formed nation and support its emergence in the turbulent Balkan area.

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Alecsandri had an important political career. He was one of the supporters of slave emancipation. He was allegedly antisemitic, although, according to some Romanian historians (including Neagu Djuvara), he had distant Jewish roots.

The appearance of the literary stereotype of the "Polish Jew," or Ostjude, in Romanian literature was largely due to Vasile Alecsandri, the most important and most popular writer of the time. The Jew was depicted with sidecurls, and caftan, he used characteristic jargon and was portrayed as having "typical" personality traits — he was an unscrupulous cheat, a profit–hungry usurer, an exploiter and "poisoner" of the peasant.

From Wikipedia’s article on Vasile Alecsandri (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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