Costache Caragiale

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Costache Caragiale (March 29, 1815—February 13, 1877) was a Romanian actor and theatre manager who had an important role in the development of the Romanian theatre.

Born in Bucharest, Wallachia, he made his stage debut in 1835 and, in 1838, organized a theatre company in Iaşi, Moldavia. He worked in many Romanian regional theatres, especially in Iaşi, Craiova and Botoşani, and encouraged the usage of plays by Romanian dramatists of the day, especially those of Vasile Alecsandri and Constantin Negruzzi. Between 1852 and 1855, Costache Caragiale was the first director of the National Theatre of Bucharest.

He also wrote a few comedies, such as O repetiţie moldovenească - "A Moldavian Rehearsal" (1844) and O soaré la mahala ("A Soiree in the Neighbourhood").

His nephew, Ion Luca Caragiale is widely considered the best Romanian playwright. His younger brother, Iorgu Caragiale was also an actor and theatre director.