Lucia Aurora Demetrius (February 16, 1910â€"July 29, 1992) was a
Romanian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.Born in Bucharest,
her parents were the writer Vasile Demetrius and his wife Antigona
(née Rabinovici). Her beloved father had attended Saint Sava High
School, where one of his classmates was Ion G. Duca, who would become
Lucia's godfather. Her mother was a baptized Jew; she had numerous
siblings and the family was very poor. She attended the elite Maria
Brâncoveanu central school from 1921 to 1928; its director, to whom
she grew close, was the widow of Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. This
was followed by the University of Bucharest, where she earned degrees
in literature (1931) and philosophy (1932). A student at the Dramatic
Arts Conservatory from 1928 to 1931, she had Ion Manolescu as a
professor. She formed part of the Sburătorul literary circle. Asking
Ion Marin Sadoveanu for help in finding a job, he sent her to act at
Cernăuți, and would also appear at Brașov and Bucharest, invariably
in minor roles.Demetrius made her theatrical debut with the 13+1
company, founded by George Mihail Zamfirescu, for whom she developed
an unrequited love. Too affected in her style to realize her ambition
of becoming a successful actress, she left the stage after performing
one last role in a play by Ferdinand Bruckner. In 1934, she began
studying aesthetics in Paris, where she intended to take a doctorate
under Charles Lalo, but returned home not long after. A promised
scholarship had not arrived and she lacked the means to support
herself, and was also disillusioned and ill. From 1936 to 1941 she was
a clerk at the offices of Nicolae Malaxa, who facilitated a trip to
Italy for her. During World War II and the attendant anti-Jewish laws,
she feared persecution due to her background. Although her name was
removed from a theatrical poster where she was listed as translator,
she was allowed to join a large group of writers attending the
inauguration of the Romanian theatre in Odessa, capital of the
Transnistria Governorate. Over the course of the war, she worked as a
nurse at a hospital for wounded soldiers, located in her former high
school building; the activity would later draw criticism from the
Romanian Communist Party. From 1944 to 1949, she taught at the
workers' conservatory, was first secretary for the press at the
Information Ministry between 1946 and 1949, and worked as a theatre
director at Sibiu, Brașov and Bacău from 1950 to 1952.Her writing
debut came in 1933, with articles and literary fragments in Rampa and
Adevărul literar și artistic. She submitted work for Vremea and for
left-wing publications such as Cuvântul liber, and reviewed plays for
Rampa and Evenimentul. Her first novel was the 1936 Tinerețe.
Published thanks to the help of an encouraging Camil Petrescu, it was
favorably reviewed by Eugen Lovinescu but received a categorically
negative note from George Călinescu. This was followed by Marea fugă
(1938), Primăvara pe Târnave (vol. I-II, 1960-1963) and Lumea
începe cu mine (1968). Her first play, Turneu în provincie, appeared
in 1946. She would become among the most prolific Romanian playwrights
of her day, with Cumpăna (1949), Vadul nou (1951), Premiera (1952),
Oameni de azi (1952), Trei generații (1956) and Vlaicu și feciorii
lui (1959), among others, as well as a large number of one-act works.
A leading practitioner of socialist realism, she was much appreciated
by the communist regime. Her short story collections include Destine
(1939), Album de familie (1945), Oglinda (1957), Nunta Ilonei (1960),
Făgăduielile (1964), La ora ceaiului (1970), Întoarcerea la miracol
(1974), Te iubesc, viață (1984) and Plimbare în parcul liniștit
(1987); she also authored the 1971 volume of travel notes Acuarele.
Authors whom she translated include William Shakespeare, Charles
Perrault, Gustave Flaubert, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre
Dumas, Ivan Turgenev, Guy de Maupassant, Konstantin Stanislavski,
Marcel Achard, Vitaly Bianki, Ivan Bunin, Julien Green and Louis
Bromfield. She won the Femina prize in 1936 and the State Prize in
1951. Her memoirs, which she wrote intermittently between 1975 and
1991, cover over 500 pages, and appeared in 2005.
Romanian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.Born in Bucharest,
her parents were the writer Vasile Demetrius and his wife Antigona
(née Rabinovici). Her beloved father had attended Saint Sava High
School, where one of his classmates was Ion G. Duca, who would become
Lucia's godfather. Her mother was a baptized Jew; she had numerous
siblings and the family was very poor. She attended the elite Maria
Brâncoveanu central school from 1921 to 1928; its director, to whom
she grew close, was the widow of Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. This
was followed by the University of Bucharest, where she earned degrees
in literature (1931) and philosophy (1932). A student at the Dramatic
Arts Conservatory from 1928 to 1931, she had Ion Manolescu as a
professor. She formed part of the Sburătorul literary circle. Asking
Ion Marin Sadoveanu for help in finding a job, he sent her to act at
Cernăuți, and would also appear at Brașov and Bucharest, invariably
in minor roles.Demetrius made her theatrical debut with the 13+1
company, founded by George Mihail Zamfirescu, for whom she developed
an unrequited love. Too affected in her style to realize her ambition
of becoming a successful actress, she left the stage after performing
one last role in a play by Ferdinand Bruckner. In 1934, she began
studying aesthetics in Paris, where she intended to take a doctorate
under Charles Lalo, but returned home not long after. A promised
scholarship had not arrived and she lacked the means to support
herself, and was also disillusioned and ill. From 1936 to 1941 she was
a clerk at the offices of Nicolae Malaxa, who facilitated a trip to
Italy for her. During World War II and the attendant anti-Jewish laws,
she feared persecution due to her background. Although her name was
removed from a theatrical poster where she was listed as translator,
she was allowed to join a large group of writers attending the
inauguration of the Romanian theatre in Odessa, capital of the
Transnistria Governorate. Over the course of the war, she worked as a
nurse at a hospital for wounded soldiers, located in her former high
school building; the activity would later draw criticism from the
Romanian Communist Party. From 1944 to 1949, she taught at the
workers' conservatory, was first secretary for the press at the
Information Ministry between 1946 and 1949, and worked as a theatre
director at Sibiu, Brașov and Bacău from 1950 to 1952.Her writing
debut came in 1933, with articles and literary fragments in Rampa and
Adevărul literar și artistic. She submitted work for Vremea and for
left-wing publications such as Cuvântul liber, and reviewed plays for
Rampa and Evenimentul. Her first novel was the 1936 Tinerețe.
Published thanks to the help of an encouraging Camil Petrescu, it was
favorably reviewed by Eugen Lovinescu but received a categorically
negative note from George Călinescu. This was followed by Marea fugă
(1938), Primăvara pe Târnave (vol. I-II, 1960-1963) and Lumea
începe cu mine (1968). Her first play, Turneu în provincie, appeared
in 1946. She would become among the most prolific Romanian playwrights
of her day, with Cumpăna (1949), Vadul nou (1951), Premiera (1952),
Oameni de azi (1952), Trei generații (1956) and Vlaicu și feciorii
lui (1959), among others, as well as a large number of one-act works.
A leading practitioner of socialist realism, she was much appreciated
by the communist regime. Her short story collections include Destine
(1939), Album de familie (1945), Oglinda (1957), Nunta Ilonei (1960),
Făgăduielile (1964), La ora ceaiului (1970), Întoarcerea la miracol
(1974), Te iubesc, viață (1984) and Plimbare în parcul liniștit
(1987); she also authored the 1971 volume of travel notes Acuarele.
Authors whom she translated include William Shakespeare, Charles
Perrault, Gustave Flaubert, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre
Dumas, Ivan Turgenev, Guy de Maupassant, Konstantin Stanislavski,
Marcel Achard, Vitaly Bianki, Ivan Bunin, Julien Green and Louis
Bromfield. She won the Femina prize in 1936 and the State Prize in
1951. Her memoirs, which she wrote intermittently between 1975 and
1991, cover over 500 pages, and appeared in 2005.
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