Al. T. Stamatiad (common rendition of Alexandru Teodor Maria
Stamatiad, or Stamatiade; May 9, 1885 â€" December 1955) was a
Romanian Symbolist poet, short story writer, and dramatist. A late
arrival on the local Symbolist scene, he was primarily active as a
literary promoter and, in 1918, editor of Literatorul review.
Discovered and praised by Alexandru Macedonski and Ion Minulescu, he
combined his presence in radical Symbolist circles with stints on more
culturally conservative ones, crossing between the extremes of
Romanian literature. By 1911, he had established himself in cultural
and social circles as an exotic and vocal, sometimes violent, cultural
debater.Stamatiad's parallel career as a schoolteacher took him to the
city of Arad, where he lived at two distinct intervals, animating
cultural life in the Romanian circles. Beyond his own poetry and
prose, which received mixed reviews, Stamatiad worked on popularizing
foreign literature, translating Symbolists such as Maurice Maeterlinck
and Charles Baudelaire, but also more traditional works of Omar
Khayyám and Li Bai, and experimenting with genres such as haiku. He
was generally considered an authority on, and imitator of, Oscar
Wilde.At the center of controversies with Macedonski, and later with
the youth at Sburătorul circle, Stamatiad sided with the
anti-modernist side of Romanian Symbolism, folding back on
conservatism. He faded into relative obscurity during World War II,
and lived in isolation and poverty after the establishment of a
Romanian communist regime.Born in Bucharest, Stamatiad(e) was the
illegitimate son of Maria Stamatiade and of Lieutenant-Colonel Theodor
Pallady. Painter Theodor Iancu Pallady and actress Lucia
Sturdza-Bulandra were cousins of his, while Alexandrina Cantacuzino,
the feminist campaigner, was a half-sister.[1][2] Through his paternal
grandmother, Alexandru Teodor descended from the prestigious Ghica
family, and, according to literary historian George Călinescu, was
always overly preoccupied with his origins and his illegitimacy.[3]
Stamatiad, or Stamatiade; May 9, 1885 â€" December 1955) was a
Romanian Symbolist poet, short story writer, and dramatist. A late
arrival on the local Symbolist scene, he was primarily active as a
literary promoter and, in 1918, editor of Literatorul review.
Discovered and praised by Alexandru Macedonski and Ion Minulescu, he
combined his presence in radical Symbolist circles with stints on more
culturally conservative ones, crossing between the extremes of
Romanian literature. By 1911, he had established himself in cultural
and social circles as an exotic and vocal, sometimes violent, cultural
debater.Stamatiad's parallel career as a schoolteacher took him to the
city of Arad, where he lived at two distinct intervals, animating
cultural life in the Romanian circles. Beyond his own poetry and
prose, which received mixed reviews, Stamatiad worked on popularizing
foreign literature, translating Symbolists such as Maurice Maeterlinck
and Charles Baudelaire, but also more traditional works of Omar
Khayyám and Li Bai, and experimenting with genres such as haiku. He
was generally considered an authority on, and imitator of, Oscar
Wilde.At the center of controversies with Macedonski, and later with
the youth at Sburătorul circle, Stamatiad sided with the
anti-modernist side of Romanian Symbolism, folding back on
conservatism. He faded into relative obscurity during World War II,
and lived in isolation and poverty after the establishment of a
Romanian communist regime.Born in Bucharest, Stamatiad(e) was the
illegitimate son of Maria Stamatiade and of Lieutenant-Colonel Theodor
Pallady. Painter Theodor Iancu Pallady and actress Lucia
Sturdza-Bulandra were cousins of his, while Alexandrina Cantacuzino,
the feminist campaigner, was a half-sister.[1][2] Through his paternal
grandmother, Alexandru Teodor descended from the prestigious Ghica
family, and, according to literary historian George Călinescu, was
always overly preoccupied with his origins and his illegitimacy.[3]
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