Vasile Alecsandri
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Vasile Alecsandri, (21 July 1821-22 August 1890) was a Romanian poet, playwright and politician. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the Romanian cultural identity in 19th century Romania, as well as one of the leaders of the movement for the union of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Early life
Origins & childhood
He was born in the Moldavian town Bacău, in a family of small landowners. His parents, Vasile and Elena Cozoni, daughter of a Greek Romanian merchant, had seven children of which only three survived: one daughter, Catinca, and two sons, Iancu - a future colonel - and Vasile.The family prospered in the lucrative business of salt and cereals trade. In 1828, they purchased a large estate in Mirceşti, a village near the Siret River. The young Vasile spent time studying here with a profoundly devout monk from Maramureş, Gherman Vida, and played with Vasile Porojan, a Gypsy boy who became a beloved friend. Both would later appear in his work.
Adolescence and youth
Between 1828 and 1834, he studied at the V. Cuenim pension. He moved to Paris in 1834, where he dabbled in chemistry, medicine and law but abandoned all in favor of what he would later call his "lifelong passion", literature. He penned his first literary essays in 1838 in French, which he has mastered during his stay in Paris to perfection. After a brief return home, he left for Western Europe again, visiting Italy, Spain and the southern parts of France.In 1840, he became one of the directors of the National Theatre of Iaşi. He produced his first play, "Farmazonul din Hârlău", and then in 1844, his second, the comedy "Iorga de la Sadagura". Both saw the stage to mild acclaim. He contributed to Dacia literară, the first Romanian language literary magazine, founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu, as well as to Albina Românească, the first Romanian language newspaper in Moldavia.
Romantic interest
A year later, Vasile attended a party celebrating the name day of Costachi Negri, a family friend. He there falls in love with the celebrated's sister, the 21-year old Elena Negri who, not long divorced, responded enthusiastically to the love declarations of the 24 years old young. He began writing love poems until a sudden bout of illness forced Elena head abroad to Venice. Vasile met her there, and they share a torrid two months.They cruised around Europe to Austria, Germany and back to Vasile's former romping grounds, France. Elena's chest illness aggravated in Paris, and after a brief stint back in Italy, both board a French ship to return to Romania on 25 April 1847. Tragedy stroke on the ship: Elena died in the arms of her lover. Vasile channels his mourning into literary output, writing "Steluţa" (Little Star) to commemorate his affair and later dedicated the "Lăcrimioare" (Little Tears) cycle of poetry to her.
Midlife
Political involvement
In 1848, he became one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement based in Iaşi. He wrote a widely read poem urging the populace to join the cause, "Către Români" (To Romanians) later renamed "Deşteptarea României" (Romania's Awakening) and together with Mihail Kogălniceanu and Costache Negri he wrote the manifest of the revolution in Moldavia, "Dorinţele partidei naţionale din Moldova" (The Wishes of the National Party of Moldavia).However, as the revolution failed, he fled Moldavia through Transylvania and Austria, moving to Paris, where he continued to write political poems.
Literary achievements
He returned after two years to a triumphant staging of his new comedy, "Chiriţa în Iaşi". He toured the Moldavian countryside collecting, reworking and arranging a vast array of Romanian folklore, which he published in two installments in 1852 and 1853. The poems included in these two enormously popular collections become the cornerstones of the emerging Romanian identity, especially the "Mioriţa" ballad but also pieces like "Toma Alimoş", "Mânăstirea Argeşului" and "Novac şi Corbul." He published a volume of his original poetry, "Doine şi Lăcrămioare", further cementing his reputation.Broadly revered in Romanian cultural circles, he oversaw the establishment of "România Literară" to which contributed both Moldavian and Wallachian writers. He was one of the most vocal supporters of the union the two Romanian provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1856, he published in Steaua Dunării, the poem "Hora Unirii", which became the anthem of the unification movement.
New love interest
The end of 1855 saw Vasile pursuing a new love interest in spite of promises made to Elena Negri on her death bed. Already 35 years old, the now renowned poet and public commentator fell in love with the young Paulina Lucasievici, the daughter of an innkeeper. The romance moved at a lightning pace: they moved in together to the Alecsandri estate in Mirceşti and on November 31857, their daughter, Maria, was born.Political fulfilment
Along with the happy developments in his personal life, Alecsandri also found satisfaction in the advancement of the political causes he long championed. The two Romanian provinces unite and Vasile is commissioned External Affairs Minister. He tours the West, pleading to some of his former acquaintances in Paris to acknowledge the newly formed nation and support its emergence in the turbulent Balkan area. He was named External Affairs Minister by the Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza and pleaded in the West for the recognition of the Union.Retirement to Mirceşti
The diplomatic tours tired him. In 1860, he settled down in Mirceşti for what would be the rest of his life. He married Paulina more than a decade and a half later, on 3 October 1876.Between 1862 and 1875, he wrote a cycle of 40 lyrical poems, including among others "Miezul Iernii," "Serile la Mirceşti, "Iarna," "La Gura Sobei", "Oaspeţii Primăverii" and "Malul Siretului." He also dabbled in epic poems, collected under the "Legende" volume, and then dedicated a new series of poems to the soldiers who participate in the Romanian War of Independence.
In 1879, his "Despot-Vodă" drama received the award of the Romanian Academy. He continued to be a prolific writer well into his later years, finishing a fantastic comedy, "Sânziana şi Pepelea," in 1881 and two dramas, "Fântâna Blanduziei" and "Ovidiu" in 1883 and 1885 respectively.
In 1881, he wrote Trăiască Regele (Long Live the King), which was the national anthem of the Kingdom of Romania until the abolition of monarchy in 1947.
Long suffering from cancer, he died in 1890 at the Alecsandri estate of Mirceşti.
Further reading
- G. C. Nicolescu, "Viaţa lui Vasile Alecsandri" Bucharest, 1975
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