Ștefan Petică (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃteˈfan ˈpetikə];
January 20, 1877 â€" October 17, 1904) was a Romanian Symbolist poet,
prose writer, playwright, journalist and socialist activist. Born in
the countryside of Tecuci, he early displayed a voracious appetite for
literature and philosophy. After high school, he made his way to the
national capital Bucharest, where university studies soon gave way to
low-paid newspaper work. Petică published one volume of poetry before
his premature death, and left his mark as one of the first exponents
of the domestic Symbolist movement.Born in Bucești, Galați County,
his parents were the free peasants (răzeși) Ianache and Catinca
Petică. He attended primary school in nearby Liești, followed by the
D. A. Sturdza gymnasium in Tecuci (1888â€"1892) and the Nicolae
Bălcescu High School in Brăila (1892â€"1896). Petică obtained his
high school degree in Bucharest in 1898. He enrolled at the University
of Bucharest's literature and philosophy faculty,[1] but did not
graduate due to a lack of funds that led him to become a prolific but
poorly paid journalist.[1][2] Although he was a good science student
in high school, he was more interested in literature, gaining fluency
in French, German and English and keeping current with contemporary
European writers.[1] His reading of foreign authors was done in the
original language, the three aforementioned as well as Spanish and
Italian; he also acquired some knowledge of Russian.[2] He was also
interested in philosophy and sociology, which he read widely and with
care.[1][2] He and a classmate reportedly preferred a study of Herbert
Spencer to lunch, and a poem by Walt Whitman to supper.[2]In spite of
his perpetual poverty, Petică's omnivorous intellect led him to Greek
and Roman classics, a commentary on the Quran, verses by Ferdowsi in
German, Copernican astronomy, Spanish romances, Franz Miklosich's
study of Romanian philology, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's aesthetics;
works by Wilhelm Wundt, Arthur Schopenhauer, Arthur de Gobineau and
Spencer's First Principles; the archaeological findings of Johann
Joachim Winckelmann and Stefan George's magazine Blätter für die
Kunst [de]. Others who entered his radius include Théodore Aubanel,
Frédéric Mistral, Stendhal, Ernest Renan, Ugo Foscolo, Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Alexander Herzen. His
critical references from 1900 to 1903 show that he not only knew
Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Jean Moréas,
Albert Samain, Emile Verhaeren and Maurice Maeterlinck, but was also
serious about art history. His commentary used studies of Greek art by
Winckelmann and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, as well as aesthetic
arguments by John Ruskin.[2]
January 20, 1877 â€" October 17, 1904) was a Romanian Symbolist poet,
prose writer, playwright, journalist and socialist activist. Born in
the countryside of Tecuci, he early displayed a voracious appetite for
literature and philosophy. After high school, he made his way to the
national capital Bucharest, where university studies soon gave way to
low-paid newspaper work. Petică published one volume of poetry before
his premature death, and left his mark as one of the first exponents
of the domestic Symbolist movement.Born in Bucești, Galați County,
his parents were the free peasants (răzeși) Ianache and Catinca
Petică. He attended primary school in nearby Liești, followed by the
D. A. Sturdza gymnasium in Tecuci (1888â€"1892) and the Nicolae
Bălcescu High School in Brăila (1892â€"1896). Petică obtained his
high school degree in Bucharest in 1898. He enrolled at the University
of Bucharest's literature and philosophy faculty,[1] but did not
graduate due to a lack of funds that led him to become a prolific but
poorly paid journalist.[1][2] Although he was a good science student
in high school, he was more interested in literature, gaining fluency
in French, German and English and keeping current with contemporary
European writers.[1] His reading of foreign authors was done in the
original language, the three aforementioned as well as Spanish and
Italian; he also acquired some knowledge of Russian.[2] He was also
interested in philosophy and sociology, which he read widely and with
care.[1][2] He and a classmate reportedly preferred a study of Herbert
Spencer to lunch, and a poem by Walt Whitman to supper.[2]In spite of
his perpetual poverty, Petică's omnivorous intellect led him to Greek
and Roman classics, a commentary on the Quran, verses by Ferdowsi in
German, Copernican astronomy, Spanish romances, Franz Miklosich's
study of Romanian philology, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's aesthetics;
works by Wilhelm Wundt, Arthur Schopenhauer, Arthur de Gobineau and
Spencer's First Principles; the archaeological findings of Johann
Joachim Winckelmann and Stefan George's magazine Blätter für die
Kunst [de]. Others who entered his radius include Théodore Aubanel,
Frédéric Mistral, Stendhal, Ernest Renan, Ugo Foscolo, Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Alexander Herzen. His
critical references from 1900 to 1903 show that he not only knew
Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Jean Moréas,
Albert Samain, Emile Verhaeren and Maurice Maeterlinck, but was also
serious about art history. His commentary used studies of Greek art by
Winckelmann and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, as well as aesthetic
arguments by John Ruskin.[2]
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.