Vasile Alecsandri

Vasile Alecsandri (Romanian pronunciation: [vasile aleksandri]; 21 July 1821 22 August 1890)
was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs
and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural
identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia.
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Early life
Origins and childhood
Alecsandri was born in the Moldavian town of Bacu, to a family of landowners. His parents
were Vasile Alecsandri and Elena Cozoni, and his mother was the daughter of a Greek Romanian
merchant. His parents had seven children, of which three survived: one daughter, Catinca, and
two sons, Iancu a future army colonel and Vasile.
The family prospered in the lucrative business of salt and cereals trade. In 1828, they purchased a
large estate in Mirceti, a village near Siret River. The young Vasile spent time there studying
with a devout monk from Maramure, Gherman Vida, and playing with Vasile Porojan, a Gypsy
boy who became a dear friend. Both characters would later appear in his work.

Rumanian Stamp, Vasile Alecsandri, 1965
.........
Adolescence and youth
Between 1828 and 1834, he studied at the Victor Cuenim 'pensionnat', an elite boarding school
for boys in Iai. He moved to Paris in 1834, where he dabbled in chemistry, medicine, and law,
but soon abandoned all in favor of what he called his "lifelong passion", literature. He penned his
first literary essays in 1838 in French, which he had mastered to perfection during his stay in
Paris. After a brief return home, he left for Western Europe again, visiting Italy, Spain, and
southern France.
Romantic interest
A year later, Alecsandri attended a party celebrating the name day of Costache Negri, a family
friend. He there fell in love with Negri's sister. The 21-year old and not long divorced Elena
Negri responded enthusiastically to the 24-year old youngster's love declarations. Alecsandri
began writing love poems until a sudden illness forced Elena to head abroad to Venice. He met
her there, where they shared two torrid months.
They cruised to Austria, Germany, and to Alecsandri's former romping grounds, France. Elena's
chest illness aggravated in Paris, and after a brief stint in Italy, they both boarded a French ship
to return home 25 April 1847. Tragedy struck on the ship, when Elena died in her lover's arms.
Alecsandri channeled his mourning into a poem, "Stelua" (Little Star). Later, he dedicated his
"Lcrimioare" (Little Tears) collection of poems to her.
Midlife
Political involvement
In 1848, he became one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement based in Iai. He wrote a
widely read poem urging the public to join the cause, "Ctre Romni" (To Romanians), later
renamed "Deteptarea Romniei" (Romania's Awakening). Together with Mihail Koglniceanu
and Costache Negri, he wrote a manifesto of the revolutionary movement in Moldavia,
"Dorinele partidei naionale din Moldova" (Wishes of the National Party of Moldavia).
However, as revolution failed, he fled Moldavia through Transylvania and Austria, moving on to
Paris, where he continued to write political poems.
Literary achievements

Ion Ghica (seated) and Vasile Alecsandri, photographed in Istanbul (1855)
After two years, he returned to a triumphant staging of his new comedy, "Chiria n Iai". He
toured the Moldavian countryside, collecting, reworking, and arranging a vast array of Romanian
folklore, which he published in two installments, in 1852 and 1853. The poems included in these
two enormously popular collections became the cornerstone of the emerging Romanian identity,
especially the ballads "Mioria", "Toma Alimo", "Mnstirea Argeului", and "Novac i
Corbul." His volume of original poetry, "Doine i Lcrmioare", further cemented his reputation.
Broadly revered in Romanian cultural circles, he oversaw the establishment of "Romnia
Literar", to which writers from both Moldavia and Wallachia contributed. He was one of the
most vocal unionists, supporting the union the two Romanian provinces, Moldavia and
Wallachia. In 1856, he published in Mihail Koglniceanu's newspaper, Steaua Dunrii, the poem
"Hora Unirii", which became the anthem of the unification movement.
New romantic interest
The end of 1855 saw Alecsandri pursuing a new romantic interest, in spite of promises made to
Elena Negri on her deathbed. At age 35, the now renowned poet and public figure fell in love
with the young Paulina Lucasievici, the daughter of an innkeeper. The romance moved at a
lightning pace: they moved in together to Alecsandri's estate at Mirceti and, in 1857, their
daughter Maria was born.
Political fulfilment
Alecsandri found satisfaction in the advancement of those political causes he had long
championed. The two Romanian provinces united and he was appointed minister of External
Affairs by Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He toured the West, pleading to some of his friends and
acquaintances in Paris to acknowledge the newly formed nation and support its emergence in the
turbulent Balkan area.
Retreat at Mirceti
The diplomatic tours tired him. In 1860, he settled in Mirceti for what would be the rest of his
life. He married Paulina more than a decade and a half later, in 1876.
Between 1862 and 1875, Alecsandri wrote 40 lyrical poems, including "Miezul Iernii, "Serile la
Mirceti, "Iarna," "La Gura Sobei", "Oaspeii Primverii", and "Malul Siretului." He also
dabbled in epic poems, collected in the volume "Legende", and he dedicated a series of poems to
the soldiers who participated in the Romanian War of Independence.
In 1879, his "Despot-Vod" drama received the award of the Romanian Academy. He continued
to be a prolific writer, finishing a fantastic comedy, "Snziana i Pepelea," (1881) and two
dramas, "Fntna Blanduziei" (1883) and "Ovidiu" (1884).
In 1881, he wrote Triasc Regele (Long Live the King), which became the national anthem of
the Kingdom of Romania until the abolition of monarchy in 1947.
Long suffering from cancer, Alecsandri died in 1890 at his estate in Mirceti.