Liviu Rebreanu
Encyclopedia
Liviu Rebreanu (ˈlivju reˈbre̯anu; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romania
n novelist, playwright
, short story
writer
, and journalist
.
(currently Bistrița-Năsăud County
), Transylvania
, then part of Austria-Hungary
, he was the second of thirteen children born to Vasile Rebreanu, a schoolteacher, and Ludovica Diuganu, descendants of peasants. His father had been a classmate of George Coșbuc
's and was an amateur
folklorist
. Liviu Rebreanu went to primary school in Maieru
(where he was taught by his father), and then in Năsăud
and Bistrița
, to military school at Sopron
and then to the military academy
in Budapest
. He worked as an officer in Gyula but resigned in 1908, and in 1909 illegally crossed the Transylvanian Alps into Romania, and lived in Bucharest
.
He joined several literary circles, and worked as a journalist for Ordinea, then for Falanga literară şi artistică. At the request of the Austro-Hungarian government, he was arrested and extradited
in 1910. Rebreanu was incarcerated in Gyula, being freed in August; he returned to Bucharest. In 1911-1912 he was secretary for the National Theater in Craiova
, where he worked under the direction of short story writer Emil Gârleanu. He got married to actress Fanny Rădulescu.
His first published in 1912 with a volume of novella
s gathered under the title Frământări ("Troublings"). During World War I
Rebreanu was a reporter for Adevărul
, and he continued publishing short stories: Golanii ("The Hooligans") and Mărturisire (Confession) in 1916 and Răfuială ("Resentfullness") in 1919. After the war, he became an important collaborator at the literary society Sburătorul
led by the literary critic Eugen Lovinescu
.
In 1920 Rebreanu published his novel Ion, the first modern Romanian novel, in which he depicted the struggles over land ownership in rural Transylvania. For Ion, Rebreanu received a Romanian Academy
award - he became a full member of the institution in 1939. Between 1928 and 1930 he was chairman of the National Theatre of Bucharest, and from 1940 to 1944 he was President of the Romanian Writers' Society.
In 1944, aged 59, he died of a lung disease in his country house in Valea Mare
, Argeș County
.
The novel Ion introduces us in the life of the peasants and intellectuals of Transylvania before the war. The action takes place in Pripas village and in the little town Amaradia. Ion Pop al Glanetașului, industrious son of poor parents, has a passion for land. He fixes his eyes on Ana, rich man Vasile Baciu's, daughter. But the rich man does not want him as his son-in-law. He dishonours Ana, to force the father to give him his daughter and the fortune. He reaches his goal, as Ana really falls in love with him. Ion, the master of the lands, is now satisfied. He hisses the gained land, but beats Ana, now his wife.
Suddenly, Ion is ruled by a love for the beautiful Florica, old sympathy, now married. Florica answers to Ion's wild passion.
Ana understands the cruel reality. Beaten by her husband and by her father she hangs herself. Their child dies too. The quarrel between Ion and his father-in-law begins again.
In the end, Ion does not stop his passion for Florica, and in a night the two are caught by Florica's husband who kills Ion.
Padurea spânzuraților is the artistical transfiguration of his brother Emil's case. The hero of the novel is Apostol Bologa, son of a Romanian lawyer from Transylvania. In the Hungarian schools he gets an education contradictory to his Romanian soul. He becomes a conscientious Austrian officer, he even contributes (by his vote in court) at the sentencing to death of a Czech officer, who had deserted the Austro-Hungarian army.
Follows his soul metamorphosis, under the influence of the Czech officer Klapka, who seeded in his heart the hatred against the Austrian empire and the love for the Romanian nation. Sent on the Romanian front, in the Oriental Carphatians, the thought of desertation becomes an obsession for him. Being forced again to take part in a mility tribunal, to judge a Romanian peasant for espionage, Apostol Bologa starts in the night towards the Romanian lines, to get to his blood brothers. He is caught and hanged, in much the same way as the Czech that he had helped condemn.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n novelist, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Life
Born in TârlișuaTârlisua
Târlişua is a commune in Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania. It is composed of ten villages: Agrieş, Agrieşel, Borleasa, Cireaşi, Lunca Sătească, Molişet, Oarzina, Răcăteşu, Şendroaia and Târlişua.-Natives:*Liviu Rebreanu , novelist...
(currently Bistrița-Năsăud County
Bistrita-Nasaud County
Bistrița-Năsăud is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Bistrița.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 311,657 and the population density was 58/km².*Romanians – 90.3%*Hungarians – 5.9%*Roma – 3.6%...
), Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, then part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, he was the second of thirteen children born to Vasile Rebreanu, a schoolteacher, and Ludovica Diuganu, descendants of peasants. His father had been a classmate of George Coșbuc
George Cosbuc
George Coşbuc was a Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist, best remembered for his verses describing, praising and eulogizing rural life, its many travails but also its occasions for joy....
's and was an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
folklorist
Folkloristics
Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore. The term derives from a nineteenth century German designation of folkloristik to distinguish between folklore as the content and folkloristics as its study, much as language is distinguished from linguistics...
. Liviu Rebreanu went to primary school in Maieru
Maieru
Maieru is a commune in Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Anieş and Maieru.- People :* Octavian Utalea...
(where he was taught by his father), and then in Năsăud
Nasaud
Năsăud is a town in Bistriţa-Năsăud County in Romania located in the historical region of Transylvania. The town administers two villages, Liviu Rebreanu and Luşca.The name Năsăud is possibly derived from the Slavic nas voda, meaning "near the water"...
and Bistrița
Bistrita
Bistrița is the capital city of Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistriţa River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda, Sărata, Sigmir, Slătiniţa, Unirea and Viişoara.-History:The earliest sign of...
, to military school at Sopron
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
and then to the military academy
Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. He worked as an officer in Gyula but resigned in 1908, and in 1909 illegally crossed the Transylvanian Alps into Romania, and lived in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
He joined several literary circles, and worked as a journalist for Ordinea, then for Falanga literară şi artistică. At the request of the Austro-Hungarian government, he was arrested and extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
in 1910. Rebreanu was incarcerated in Gyula, being freed in August; he returned to Bucharest. In 1911-1912 he was secretary for the National Theater in Craiova
Craiova
Craiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
, where he worked under the direction of short story writer Emil Gârleanu. He got married to actress Fanny Rădulescu.
His first published in 1912 with a volume of novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s gathered under the title Frământări ("Troublings"). During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Rebreanu was a reporter for Adevărul
Adevarul
Adevărul is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in 1871 and reestablished in 1888, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform and universal suffrage...
, and he continued publishing short stories: Golanii ("The Hooligans") and Mărturisire (Confession) in 1916 and Răfuială ("Resentfullness") in 1919. After the war, he became an important collaborator at the literary society Sburătorul
Sburatorul
Sburătorul was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging from a new wave of Romanian Symbolism to an urban-themed...
led by the literary critic Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the Sburătorul literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the uncle of Horia Lovinescu, Vasile Lovinescu, and Anton Holban...
.
In 1920 Rebreanu published his novel Ion, the first modern Romanian novel, in which he depicted the struggles over land ownership in rural Transylvania. For Ion, Rebreanu received a Romanian Academy
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 acting members who are elected for life....
award - he became a full member of the institution in 1939. Between 1928 and 1930 he was chairman of the National Theatre of Bucharest, and from 1940 to 1944 he was President of the Romanian Writers' Society.
In 1944, aged 59, he died of a lung disease in his country house in Valea Mare
Valea Mare
Valea Mare may refer to several places in Romania:* Valea Mare, a commune in Covasna County* Valea Mare, a commune in Dâmboviţa County* Valea Mare, a commune in Olt County* Valea Mare, a commune in Vâlcea County...
, Argeș County
Arges County
Argeș is a county of Romania, in Wallachia, with the capital city at Pitești.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 652,625 and the population density was 95/km².*Romanians – 96%*Roma , and other.-Geography:...
.
Short stories and novellas
- Catastrofa ("The Catastrophe") (1921)
- Norocul ("The Fate") (1921)
- Cuibul visurilor ("Nest of Dreams") (1927)
- Cântecul lebedei ("The Swan Song") (1927)
- Ițic Ștrul dezertor ("Iţic Ştrul as a Deserter") (1932)
Novels on social issues
- Ion (1920)
The novel Ion introduces us in the life of the peasants and intellectuals of Transylvania before the war. The action takes place in Pripas village and in the little town Amaradia. Ion Pop al Glanetașului, industrious son of poor parents, has a passion for land. He fixes his eyes on Ana, rich man Vasile Baciu's, daughter. But the rich man does not want him as his son-in-law. He dishonours Ana, to force the father to give him his daughter and the fortune. He reaches his goal, as Ana really falls in love with him. Ion, the master of the lands, is now satisfied. He hisses the gained land, but beats Ana, now his wife.
Suddenly, Ion is ruled by a love for the beautiful Florica, old sympathy, now married. Florica answers to Ion's wild passion.
Ana understands the cruel reality. Beaten by her husband and by her father she hangs herself. Their child dies too. The quarrel between Ion and his father-in-law begins again.
In the end, Ion does not stop his passion for Florica, and in a night the two are caught by Florica's husband who kills Ion.
- Crăișorul (approx. "The Little King") (1929)
- Răscoala ("The Revolt") (1932)
- Gorila ("The Gorilla") (1938)
Psychological novels
- Pădurea spânzuraților ("Forest of the Hanged" - a frequent translation title, although the Romanian version translates as "The Forest of the Hanged") (1922)
Padurea spânzuraților is the artistical transfiguration of his brother Emil's case. The hero of the novel is Apostol Bologa, son of a Romanian lawyer from Transylvania. In the Hungarian schools he gets an education contradictory to his Romanian soul. He becomes a conscientious Austrian officer, he even contributes (by his vote in court) at the sentencing to death of a Czech officer, who had deserted the Austro-Hungarian army.
Follows his soul metamorphosis, under the influence of the Czech officer Klapka, who seeded in his heart the hatred against the Austrian empire and the love for the Romanian nation. Sent on the Romanian front, in the Oriental Carphatians, the thought of desertation becomes an obsession for him. Being forced again to take part in a mility tribunal, to judge a Romanian peasant for espionage, Apostol Bologa starts in the night towards the Romanian lines, to get to his blood brothers. He is caught and hanged, in much the same way as the Czech that he had helped condemn.
- Adam şi Eva ("Adam and Eve") (1925)
- Ciuleandra (1927)
- Jar (1934)
Plays
- Cadrilul ("The Quadrille") (1919)
- Plicul ("The Envelope") (1923)
- Apostolii ("The Apostles") (1926)