Haralamb Lecca
Haralamb G. Lecca (February 23 [O.S. February 10] 1873–March 9, 1920) was a Romanian poet, playwright and translator.
Born in Caracal, his parents were George Lecca and his wife Zoe (née Mănăstiriceanu); his grandfather was the painter Constantin Lecca. He attended primary school in his native town and high school in Craiova, following which he studied medicine in Paris and law at the University of Bucharest. He worked as deputy director of theatres, director of the Iași National Theatre and inspector general of theatres, and was also a director and amateur actor. His first published poem, "În cimitir", appeared in Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu's Revista nouă. Other magazines that ran his work include Vatra, Convorbiri Literare, Flacăra, Viața literară, Falanga, Rampa and Scena. His main body of work consists of poems and plays. His collections of poetry (Prima, 1896; Cinci poeme, 1897; Secunda, 1898; Sexta, 1901; Octava, 1904; A noua, 1904; Poezii, 1911), clearly influenced by French writers, in particular the Symbolists, featured verses that were "odiously interpreted" and with numerous "trivialities", per George Călinescu. The series of plays he authored contain little of artistic value, are based on characters with unclear psychological states and feature plots not always sufficiently endowed with motive (Tertia. Casta diva, 1899; Quarta. Jucătorii de cărți, 1900; Quinta. Suprema forță, 1901; Septima. Câinii, 1902; Cancer la inimă, 1907). He also wrote short stories, collected as Crăngi in 1914. He translated William Shakespeare, Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Théodore de Banville, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Maurice Maeterlinck, Giovanni Boccaccio, Alphonse Daudet and Arthur Conan Doyle. He won the Romanian Academy's V. Adamachi Prize in 1898.[1]
Notes
- ↑ Aurel Sasu (ed.), Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, vol. I, p. 842. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7