Ion Minulescu
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| Ion Minulescu | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 6, 1881 Bucharest |
| Died | April 11, 1944 (aged 63) Bucharest |
| Pen name | I. M. Nirvan Koh-i-Noor |
| Occupation | poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, literary critic, journalist, civil servant |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Writing period | 1904–1944 |
| Genres | lyric poetry, drama, memoir, satire |
| Literary movement | Symbolism Avant-garde Sburătorul |
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Ion Minulescu (January 6, 1881 – April 11, 1944) was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist, literary critic, and playwright. Often publishing his works under the pseudonyms I. M. Nirvan and Koh-i-Noor (the latter being derived from the famous diamond), he journeyed to Paris, where he was heavily influenced by the growing Symbolist movement and Parisian Bohemianism. He had a major influence on modern literature in Romania, and was among the first local poets to use free verse.[1]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Born in Bucharest to the widow Alexandrina Ciucă (the daughter of a shoemaker in Slatina, she was 20 at the time),[2] he was the posthumous child of Tudor Minulescu (a leather salesman who had died on New Year's Eve, probably as a result of a stroke).[3] Originally, Minulescu was meant to be born in Slatina, but bad weather prevented his mother from leaving the capital city.[4] Adopted by Ion Constantinescu, a Romanian Army officer who married Alexandrina Ciucă, he lived much of his childhood in Slatina and completed his primary and most of his medium studies in Piteşti.[5][6] He was a colleague of Al. Gherghel, who would also become known as a Symbolist writer: the two edited the school magazine Luceafărul, which only published a few issues before being closed down by the headmaster.[6]
He published his first verses in 1897, while still in high school (at the time, his attempt to publish a literary magazine was considered intolerable by his teachers).[7] He left for Bucharest later in the same year, being signed up for a private school and completing two grades in one year.[8]
[edit] Paris sojourn and return to Bucharest
Between 1900 and 1904, Minulescu studied Law at the University of Paris, during which period he was an avid reader of Romantic and Symbolist literature[9] (works by Gérard de Nerval, Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, Aloysius Bertand, Jehan Rictus, Emil Verhaeren, Tristan Corbière, Jules Laforgue, Maurice Maeterlinck, and the Comte de Lautréamont).[10]
At the time, Minulescu began exploring his talents as a causeur, engaging in long and entertaining conversations which were to consolidate his fame in Bucharest nightlife.[11] He also became close to Romanian artists present in Paris — Gheorghe Petraşcu, Jean Alexandru Steriadi, Cecilia Cuţescu-Storck, and Camil Ressu, as well as to the actors Maria Ventura and Tony Bulandra.[12] Among the key moments of his life in Paris was meeting, through the intervention of Demetrios Galanis, the poet Jean Moréas — according to Minulescu, Moréas urged him to write his poetry in French.[13]
Upon his return, he was briefly employed by the Administration of Royal Domains in Constanţa, and began cultivating relations with the local art dealer Krikor Zambaccian and the painter Nicolae Dărăscu.[14] At the time, he drew attention to himself by wearing colorful Bohemian outfits,[15]