Păstorel Teodoreanu, or just Păstorel (born Alexandru Osvald (Al.
O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 â€" March 17, 1964), was a Romanian
humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel
Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu.
He worked in many genres, but is best remembered for his parody texts
and his epigrams, and less so for his Symbolist verse. His roots
planted in the regional culture of Western Moldavia, which became his
main source of literary inspiration, Păstorel was at once an
opinionated columnist, famous wine-drinking bohemian, and decorated
war hero. He worked with the influential literary magazines of the
1920s, moving between Gândirea and Viața Românească, and
cultivated complex relationships with literary opinion-makers such as
George Călinescu.After an unsuccessful but scandalous debut in drama,
Teodoreanu perfected his work as a satirist, producing material which
targeted the historian-politician Nicolae Iorga and the literary
scholar Giorge Pascu, as well as food criticism which veered into
fantasy literature. As an affiliate of Țara Noastră, he favored a
brand of Romanian nationalism which ran against Iorga's own. Corrosive
or contemplative, Păstorel's various sketches dealt with social and
political issues of the interwar, continuing in some ways the work of
Ion Luca Caragiale. In the 1930s, inspired by his readings from
Anatole France and François Rabelais, he also published his
celebrated "Jewster Harrow" stories, mocking the conventions of
historical novels and Renaissance literature. His career peaked in
1937, when he received one of Romania's most prestigious awards, the
National Prize.Teodoreanu was employed as a propagandist during World
War II, supporting Romania's participation on the Eastern Front. From
1947, Păstorel was marginalized and closely supervised by the
communist regime, making efforts to adapt his style and politics, then
being driven into an ambiguous relationship with the Securitate secret
police. Beyond this facade conformity, he contributed to the emergence
of an underground, largely oral, anti-communist literature. In 1959,
Teodoreanu was apprehended by the communist authorities, and
prosecuted in a larger show trial of Romanian intellectual resistants.
He spent some two years in prison, and reemerged as a conventional
writer. He died shortly after, without having been fully
rehabilitated. His work was largely inaccessible to readers until the
1989 Revolution.The Teodoreanu brothers were born to Sofia Muzicescu,
wife of the lawyer Osvald Al. Teodoreanu. The latter's family,
originally named Turcu, hailed from Comănești; Osvald grandfather
had been a Romanian Orthodox priest.[1] Sofia was the daughter of
Gavril Muzicescu, a famous composer from Western Moldavia.[2][3] When
Păstorel was born, on July 30, 1894, she and her husband were living
at Dorohoi. Ionel (Ioan-Hipolit Teodoreanu) and Puiuțu (Laurențiu
Teodoreanu) were his younger siblings, born after the family had moved
to Iași, the Moldavian capital city.[2] Osvald's father, Alexandru T.
Teodoreanu, had previously served as City Mayor,[4] while an engineer
uncle, also named Laurențiu, was the first manager of the original
Iași Power Plant.[5] The Teodoreanus lived in a townhouse just
outside Zlataust Church. They were neighbors of poet Otilia Cazimir[3]
and relatives of novelist Mărgărita Miller Verghy.[6]
O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 â€" March 17, 1964), was a Romanian
humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel
Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu.
He worked in many genres, but is best remembered for his parody texts
and his epigrams, and less so for his Symbolist verse. His roots
planted in the regional culture of Western Moldavia, which became his
main source of literary inspiration, Păstorel was at once an
opinionated columnist, famous wine-drinking bohemian, and decorated
war hero. He worked with the influential literary magazines of the
1920s, moving between Gândirea and Viața Românească, and
cultivated complex relationships with literary opinion-makers such as
George Călinescu.After an unsuccessful but scandalous debut in drama,
Teodoreanu perfected his work as a satirist, producing material which
targeted the historian-politician Nicolae Iorga and the literary
scholar Giorge Pascu, as well as food criticism which veered into
fantasy literature. As an affiliate of Țara Noastră, he favored a
brand of Romanian nationalism which ran against Iorga's own. Corrosive
or contemplative, Păstorel's various sketches dealt with social and
political issues of the interwar, continuing in some ways the work of
Ion Luca Caragiale. In the 1930s, inspired by his readings from
Anatole France and François Rabelais, he also published his
celebrated "Jewster Harrow" stories, mocking the conventions of
historical novels and Renaissance literature. His career peaked in
1937, when he received one of Romania's most prestigious awards, the
National Prize.Teodoreanu was employed as a propagandist during World
War II, supporting Romania's participation on the Eastern Front. From
1947, Păstorel was marginalized and closely supervised by the
communist regime, making efforts to adapt his style and politics, then
being driven into an ambiguous relationship with the Securitate secret
police. Beyond this facade conformity, he contributed to the emergence
of an underground, largely oral, anti-communist literature. In 1959,
Teodoreanu was apprehended by the communist authorities, and
prosecuted in a larger show trial of Romanian intellectual resistants.
He spent some two years in prison, and reemerged as a conventional
writer. He died shortly after, without having been fully
rehabilitated. His work was largely inaccessible to readers until the
1989 Revolution.The Teodoreanu brothers were born to Sofia Muzicescu,
wife of the lawyer Osvald Al. Teodoreanu. The latter's family,
originally named Turcu, hailed from Comănești; Osvald grandfather
had been a Romanian Orthodox priest.[1] Sofia was the daughter of
Gavril Muzicescu, a famous composer from Western Moldavia.[2][3] When
Păstorel was born, on July 30, 1894, she and her husband were living
at Dorohoi. Ionel (Ioan-Hipolit Teodoreanu) and Puiuțu (Laurențiu
Teodoreanu) were his younger siblings, born after the family had moved
to Iași, the Moldavian capital city.[2] Osvald's father, Alexandru T.
Teodoreanu, had previously served as City Mayor,[4] while an engineer
uncle, also named Laurențiu, was the first manager of the original
Iași Power Plant.[5] The Teodoreanus lived in a townhouse just
outside Zlataust Church. They were neighbors of poet Otilia Cazimir[3]
and relatives of novelist Mărgărita Miller Verghy.[6]
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