Donar Munteanu

Donar Munteanu (born Dimitrie Munteanu;[1][2] June 26, 1886 – ?) was a Romanian poet, representing the provincial wing of Romanian Symbolism. Professionally, he was active as a magistrate and prison inspector.

Born in Răcari, Dâmbovița County, Munteanu was of Transylvanian roots: his father, a schoolteacher,[1] was a first-generation immigrant to the Kingdom of Romania.[3] Making his publishing debut in Alexandru Macedonski's Forța Morală in 1901,[1] and subsequently joining the Symbolist writing club at Literatorul, he enlisted at the University of Bucharest. He was a member of the Pahuci student fraternity, inviting Macedonski to its sessions,[4] before graduating with a degree in law.[1] Additionally, his work was hosted in Caion's Românul Literar.[2] Macedonski held him in high esteem as "the incomparable maestro", but, according to literary historian George Călinescu, this should not dissuade from the fact that Munteanu was "minuscule" as a poet.[5]

In 1904, he published the Symbolist magazine Pleiada, which ran for two editions,[1] usually signing his pieces there as Donar.[2] In 1908, Munteanu was also co-opted by Ion Minulescu at the radical Symbolist review, Revista Celor L'alți. His contribution there was noted by the anti-Symbolist traditionalist Nicolae Iorga, who believed Munteanu to be "a good versifier".[6] A regular at Mihail Dragomirescu's Convorbiri Critice magazine (from 1907), Munteanu's first book was the 1909 Aripi negre ("Black Wings").[1] Dragomirescu, introducing him as an "idyllic poet from the Macedonski school", proposed that his piece Țiganii ("The Gipsies") should be considered "a descriptive, colorful, masterpiece".[7]

From 1911 to 1916, Munteanu was a contributor to Flacăra.[2] He served as a magistrate at Piatra Neamț, Iași, Bazargic, Câmpulung, Brăila, Sibiu, Odorhei, Deva and ultimately Chișinău.[1] During his stay in Bessarabia, he began contributing to the literary review Teatrul, put out by Cincinat Pavelescu,[8] and also had samples of his work featured in Transylvania's Gândirea (from 1930).[1] In 1931, he married the Bessarabian Maria Niță, a teacher of Russian.[3] In the few books that he published at significant intervals (Aripi fantastice, 1925; Simfonia vieții, 1943; Bisericuța neamului, 1943), Romantic echoes are found alongside Symbolist motifs, while well-drawn images are eclipsed by an ample tendency toward grandiloquence.[1] His sonnets, reviewer Ion Șiugariu notes, were conventional and prosaic, echoing both Sămănătorul and Parnassianism; although not "a great poet", Munteanu was "earnest", without the "obscurities" of modernist literature.[9]

From 1937 to 1938,[1] answering to Justice Minister Vasile P. Sassu, Munteanu worked as general director of penitentiaries. He was on hand to investigate the July 1937 prison riots at Târgu Ocna.[10] Subsequently, he was a Permanent Councilor to the Legislative Council until June 1945, when he was ordered to retire.[3] Munteanu survived the establishment of a Romanian communist regime, and, in 1956, was visiting fellow poet Dumitru Iov at his home in Bucharest.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Aurel Sasu (ed.), Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, vol. II, p. 155. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mihail Straje, Dicționar de pseudonime, anonime, anagrame, astronime, criptonime ale scriitorilor și publiciștilor români, p. 464. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1973. OCLC 8994172
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Călinescu, p. 1023
  4. ↑ Nicolae Baboeanu, Dedesubturi..., pp. 29–31. Bucharest: Poporul, 1910
  5. ↑ Călinescu, p. 523
  6. ↑ Nicolae Iorga, Istoria literaturii românești contemporane. II: În căutarea fondului (1890-1934), pp. 148–149. Bucharest: Editura Adevĕrul, 1934
  7. ↑ Mihail Dragomirescu, Semănătorism, poporanism, criticism, p. 150. Bucharest: Editura Noului Institut de Literatură, 1934
  8. ↑ G. Bezviconi, Profiluri de ieri și de azi. Articole, p. 297. Bucharest: Editura Librăriei Universitare I. Cărăbaș
  9. ↑ Ion Șiugariu, "Viața poeziei", Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Nr. 11/1943, pp. 445–447
  10. ↑ "Anchetă în legătură cu revolta deținuților de la Tg.-Ocna", Adevărul, July 29, 1937, p. 7
  11. ↑ (Romanian) Eugen Dimitriu, "Dimitrie Iov către Leca Morariu. Scrisori inedite", Convorbiri Literare. Almanah 2002

References

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