Vintilă Russu-Șirianu (April 20, 1897â€"?) was an
Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian journalist, memoirist and
translator.Born in Arad, his father was journalist and activist Ioan
Russu-Șirianu. After attending high school in his native city, he
left for Bucharest, capital of the Romanian Old Kingdom. He enrolled
in the Conservatory and at Bucharest University's medical faculty, but
completed neither. He took part in World War I as an officer in the
Romanian Army; in the temporary capital of Iași, while visiting the
homes of Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, Nicolae Iorga, Take Ionescu
and Osvald Teodoreanu, he became acquainted with Robert de Flers, whom
he later assisted in Paris. After the end of the war and his native
province's union with Romania, he returned to Bucharest, completing
the literature and philosophy faculty. He was technical secretary at
the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, librarian for the
Romanian Academy, editor at Flacăra, secretary to Octavian Goga and
an opinion journalist. From 1923 to 1924, he was secretary of the
Romanian Writers' Union, in which capacity he organized a number of
tournaments and soirées.[1]He made his literary debut in 1919, and
then sporadically contributed poems and articles to Flacăra,
Gândirea, Cugetul românesc, Adevărul literar, Cuvântul liber and
Rampa. In 1927, he left for Paris, where he edited the monthly Revue
Franco-Roumaine magazine. While there, he not only became acquainted
with nearly the entire French literary establishment, but also with
local Romanian émigrés (including George Enescu, Constantin
Brâncuși, Panait Istrati, Elena Văcărescu, Marthe Bibesco, Ilarie
Voronca, Nicolae Titulescu and Marioara Ventura). His 1969 memoir,
Vinurile lor..., features lively, finely drawn recollections of these
individuals. With Alexandru Băbeanu, he wrote the play Biruitorul,
which was staged at the National Theatre Bucharest in 1924. After the
King Michael Coup of 1944, he and Cezar Petrescu dramatized the
latter's novel Ochii strigoiului and wrote Mânzul nebun. In 1947 and
under the imminent rise of the communist regime, he penned plays for
workers and local cultural stages. These are thoroughly obsolete
today, as are his poems, anthologized in 1972 as ÃŽmi amintesc de
aceste versuri with the assistance of Mihai Gafița. He capably
translated Honoré de Balzac (Gobseck) and Roger Martin du Gard (The
Thibaults). Pen names he used include V. R. Ș., Ion Dacu and D.
Dinu.[1]
Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian journalist, memoirist and
translator.Born in Arad, his father was journalist and activist Ioan
Russu-Șirianu. After attending high school in his native city, he
left for Bucharest, capital of the Romanian Old Kingdom. He enrolled
in the Conservatory and at Bucharest University's medical faculty, but
completed neither. He took part in World War I as an officer in the
Romanian Army; in the temporary capital of Iași, while visiting the
homes of Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, Nicolae Iorga, Take Ionescu
and Osvald Teodoreanu, he became acquainted with Robert de Flers, whom
he later assisted in Paris. After the end of the war and his native
province's union with Romania, he returned to Bucharest, completing
the literature and philosophy faculty. He was technical secretary at
the Cultural League for the Unity of All Romanians, librarian for the
Romanian Academy, editor at Flacăra, secretary to Octavian Goga and
an opinion journalist. From 1923 to 1924, he was secretary of the
Romanian Writers' Union, in which capacity he organized a number of
tournaments and soirées.[1]He made his literary debut in 1919, and
then sporadically contributed poems and articles to Flacăra,
Gândirea, Cugetul românesc, Adevărul literar, Cuvântul liber and
Rampa. In 1927, he left for Paris, where he edited the monthly Revue
Franco-Roumaine magazine. While there, he not only became acquainted
with nearly the entire French literary establishment, but also with
local Romanian émigrés (including George Enescu, Constantin
Brâncuși, Panait Istrati, Elena Văcărescu, Marthe Bibesco, Ilarie
Voronca, Nicolae Titulescu and Marioara Ventura). His 1969 memoir,
Vinurile lor..., features lively, finely drawn recollections of these
individuals. With Alexandru Băbeanu, he wrote the play Biruitorul,
which was staged at the National Theatre Bucharest in 1924. After the
King Michael Coup of 1944, he and Cezar Petrescu dramatized the
latter's novel Ochii strigoiului and wrote Mânzul nebun. In 1947 and
under the imminent rise of the communist regime, he penned plays for
workers and local cultural stages. These are thoroughly obsolete
today, as are his poems, anthologized in 1972 as ÃŽmi amintesc de
aceste versuri with the assistance of Mihai Gafița. He capably
translated Honoré de Balzac (Gobseck) and Roger Martin du Gard (The
Thibaults). Pen names he used include V. R. Ș., Ion Dacu and D.
Dinu.[1]
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