Ionel Teodoreanu
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Ionel Teodoreanu (January 6, 1897 - February 3, 1951) was a Romanian novelist and lawyer who lived between the two World Wars. He is mostly remembered for his books on childhood and adolescence themes.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Iaşi into a family of intellectuals, Teodoreanu followed his father (Osvald Teodoreanu) and older brother (Păstorel Teodoreanu, himself a well-known writer) in studying law and becoming a lawyer. After graduating the National Highschool in Iaşi, he obtained his Law degree in 1919. Although he worked as a lawyer, he was more attracted to literature.
In 1920, he married Ştefana Lupaşcu (who was also a writer, under the pen name of Ştefana Velisar).
[edit] Literary activity
He made his debut in 1919, with the Bunicii ("The Grandparents") sketch, in the review Însemnări literare. His editorial debut was represented by the short story volume Uliţa copilăriei ("Childhood Lane", 1923). Like his brother Păstorel - a renowned epigrammatist - he was linked to the Viaţa Românească group led by Garabet Ibrăileanu (who considered Ionel Teodoreanu to be one of the most promising writers of the generation following World War I).
In Iaşi, under Ibrăileanu's leadership, he took active part in one of the most vibrant cultural movements in Romania between the two World Wars. In this environment, Ionel Teodoreanu published his classic novel trilogy La Medeleni ("In Medeleni") (1925 - 1927); its publishing was welcomed by Ibrăileanu with an enthusiastic review.
[edit] La Medeleni
Ionel Teodoreanu has written around 20 books, but his greatest success, especially with children and young people, was La Medeleni. The critics emphasised the writer's fresh depiction of childhood and the exuberant teen age.
La Medeleni's three volumes include several autobiographical episodes, and, on a universal level, constitute a subtle analysis of the human soul. The author created several memorable characters, among which the two heroines (Olguţa and Monica). Despite George Călinescu's objections - he expressed his belief that Teodoreanu's style was too laden with metaphors and rather baroque - it could also be said that the novel relies on lively depictions of the adolescent soul and its poetry, aiming to envelop the reader in an accomplished rendition of the adolescent universe.
The universe of La Medeleni reflects the upper-middle-class environment in Romania during the early decades of the 20th century. It depicts the innocence of childhood which the ravages of the World War and its aftermath would soon shatter. Although Teodoreanu did not write it as an autobiography, his experience of having grown up in such a family in Moldavia during this time did serve as the basis for the book.
Teodoreanu abandoned the childhood theme in most of his later literary works and never again reached the same level of success.
[edit] Selected published novels
- La Medeleni ("In Medeleni")
- Bal mascat ("Masquerade Ball")
- Fata din Zlataust (The Girl of Zlataust)
- Lorelei
- Golia
- Turnul Milenei ("Milena's Tower")
- Iarbă ("Grass")
[edit] Autobiographical prose
- În casa bunicilor ("My Grandparents' House")
- Masa umbrelor ("Table of Shadows")
[edit] References
- Kurt W. Treptow. Introduction to One Moldavian Summer by Ionel Teodoreanu
[edit] External links
- Ionel Teodoreanu (in Romanian)
- Ionel Teodoreanu (in French)
