Ion Luca Caragiale

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The statue of Ion Luca Caragiale in front of the Bucharest National Theatre

Ion Luca Caragiale (January 30, 1852 - July 9, 1912) was a Romanian playwright and short story writer.

He was born in Haimanale, Wallachia. The name of the locality, which is now situated in Dambovita County, Romania, has been changed to I. L. Caragiale.

Caragiale began his career as a writer by publishing a series of poems in the magazine Ghimpele ("The Thorn"). He became one of the leading members of the most important literary movement of his time, Junimea, movement which launched great names of Romanian literature, such as Ion Creangă and Mihai Eminescu.

His plays are characterised by a classical construction and a very acute observation of the social realities of the time, always mixed with a fine sense of irony.

His most influential works are :

D-l Goe
O noapte furtunoasă ("A Stormy Night")
O scrisoare pierdută ("A Lost Letter")
Conu Leonida faţă cu reacţiunea ("Mr. Leonida Faces the Reaction")
Năpasta ("The Calamity")
D-ale carnavalului ("Carnival Adventures")

Through his polemic works, Caragiale entered in conflict with influential literary and political figures of the time. His career suffered, and in 1906, Caragiale moved with his family to Berlin. He frequently visited Romania and contributed to Romanian periodicals. For his 60th birthday in 1912 friends in Romania wished to organise a jubilee, but he refused. In the spring of the same year he had the pleasure of seeing a series of remarkable poems by Mateiu Caragiale (his illegitimate son, with whom his relationship was often tense) published in Viaţa Romanească.

Ion Luca Caragiale died in Berlin on June 9, 1912 of arteriosclerosis. He was buried in Bucharest, Romania, in the Bellu cemetery.

Portrait of Caragiale on the old 1,000,000 lei note.

As a founding figure of Romanian literature, Caragiale is portrayed on the old 1,000,000 lei note issued in December 2003 and also on the new 100 lei banknote issued after the denomination process in late 2005.