Dan DeÈ™liu (August 31, 1927 â€" September 4, 1992) was a Romanian
poet.Born in Bucharest, his parents were Ștefan Deșliu, an
accountant at the Bulandra theatre company and later administrator of
the Workers' Theatre, and his wife Elena (née Săndulescu). He began
secondary school at Matei Basarab Lyceum in his native city, followed
by the MediaÈ™ aeronautics school and the Bucharest industrial and
building high school. He then attended the Dramatic Arts Conservatory
under Maria Filotti. From 1946 to 1948, he appeared as an actor at
Petroșani and Bucharest, also working as an editor for Flacăra
magazine. He was later an editor at Scînteia and, between 1961 and
1962, was editor-in-chief at Luceafărul. His first published work was
the sonnet "Paseri", which appeared in George Călinescu's Lumea in
1945; his first book was the 1949 Goarnele inimii. He won the State
Prize in 1949, 1950 and 1951, and in 1974 was awarded the Romanian
Writers' Union Prize for his book Cetatea de pe aer. In 1978, he took
the same prize for Un haiduc pe bicicletă. Together with Eugen
Frunză, he composed the lyrics for "Te slăvim, Românie", which
served as Romania's national anthem from 1953 to 1975.During the 1940s
and '50s, he quickly came to the literary forefront as a
representative poet of his era, much lauded for his militant socialist
realist poetry that enthusiastically chronicled the events of the day.
This was embodied by his first book as well as the ones that followed
across the next decade: Lazăr de la Rusca (1949), Minerii din
Maramureș (1951), Cântec de ruină (1957) and Ceva mai greu (1958).
Afterwards, he attempted a shift toward a skeptically elegiac,
obsessive lyricism that dealt with regret and lack of fulfillment
(Cercuri de copac, 1962; Drumul spre Dikson, 1969; Cetatea de pe aer,
1974).Starting in 1962 and particularly from 1970, he began to
criticize the policies of the Romanian Communist Party, and as a
result was placed under thorough surveillance by the Securitate secret
police. In the 1980s, he turned toward open dissidence, repudiating
his "revolutionary" past, quitting the party in 1980 and directly
criticizing dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, whom he accused of behaving
as if he were "the owner of Romania". In March 1989, he sent an open
letter to Radio Free Europe decrying the domestic situation in his
country, prompting his placement under house arrest. An excellent
swimmer, Deșliu drowned at Neptun nearly three years after the
Romanian Revolution; it is unknown whether his death was accidental or
deliberate. After a thorough search covering the 20 km between
Costinești and Vama Veche, his intact body was found after eight days
beside the dock of Ceaușescu's former villa in Neptun. A diary of
his, likely written in 1990-1991, appeared in 2001.
poet.Born in Bucharest, his parents were Ștefan Deșliu, an
accountant at the Bulandra theatre company and later administrator of
the Workers' Theatre, and his wife Elena (née Săndulescu). He began
secondary school at Matei Basarab Lyceum in his native city, followed
by the MediaÈ™ aeronautics school and the Bucharest industrial and
building high school. He then attended the Dramatic Arts Conservatory
under Maria Filotti. From 1946 to 1948, he appeared as an actor at
Petroșani and Bucharest, also working as an editor for Flacăra
magazine. He was later an editor at Scînteia and, between 1961 and
1962, was editor-in-chief at Luceafărul. His first published work was
the sonnet "Paseri", which appeared in George Călinescu's Lumea in
1945; his first book was the 1949 Goarnele inimii. He won the State
Prize in 1949, 1950 and 1951, and in 1974 was awarded the Romanian
Writers' Union Prize for his book Cetatea de pe aer. In 1978, he took
the same prize for Un haiduc pe bicicletă. Together with Eugen
Frunză, he composed the lyrics for "Te slăvim, Românie", which
served as Romania's national anthem from 1953 to 1975.During the 1940s
and '50s, he quickly came to the literary forefront as a
representative poet of his era, much lauded for his militant socialist
realist poetry that enthusiastically chronicled the events of the day.
This was embodied by his first book as well as the ones that followed
across the next decade: Lazăr de la Rusca (1949), Minerii din
Maramureș (1951), Cântec de ruină (1957) and Ceva mai greu (1958).
Afterwards, he attempted a shift toward a skeptically elegiac,
obsessive lyricism that dealt with regret and lack of fulfillment
(Cercuri de copac, 1962; Drumul spre Dikson, 1969; Cetatea de pe aer,
1974).Starting in 1962 and particularly from 1970, he began to
criticize the policies of the Romanian Communist Party, and as a
result was placed under thorough surveillance by the Securitate secret
police. In the 1980s, he turned toward open dissidence, repudiating
his "revolutionary" past, quitting the party in 1980 and directly
criticizing dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, whom he accused of behaving
as if he were "the owner of Romania". In March 1989, he sent an open
letter to Radio Free Europe decrying the domestic situation in his
country, prompting his placement under house arrest. An excellent
swimmer, Deșliu drowned at Neptun nearly three years after the
Romanian Revolution; it is unknown whether his death was accidental or
deliberate. After a thorough search covering the 20 km between
Costinești and Vama Veche, his intact body was found after eight days
beside the dock of Ceaușescu's former villa in Neptun. A diary of
his, likely written in 1990-1991, appeared in 2001.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.