George Coșbuc

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under George Coșbuc (disambiguation) .

George Coșbuc

George Coşbuc [ˈd͡ʒe̯ord͡ʒe koʃˈbuk] (born September 20, 1866 in Hordou , Naszod district , Transylvania ; † May 9, 1918 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian writer , translator and teacher. He was a member of the Romanian Academy .

Coșbuc (left), Vaida, Ciuta, Caragiale in Karlsbad 1911

George Coșbuc, bust in Arad

Signature of George Coșbuc

biography

The son of the Greek Catholic priest Sebastian Coșbuc attended primary schools in Hordou, Telciu and Năsăud between 1871 and 1876, and during this time he also learned German from his uncle. Because of this and because of his talent, he was one of the few who was able to transfer to the grammar school of Năsăud, an institution in which great emphasis was placed on learning languages ​​and studying classical literature. So he came into contact early on with the works of Lenau , Heine , Chamisso , Bürger and others, as well as with Romanian literature and authors such as Alecsandri , Alexandrescu , Bolintineanu , Budai-Deleanu , Rădulescu . As early as 1880 he joined the local literary association "Virtus Romana Rediviva", which led to differences with his father, who wanted the son to continue the generation-long tradition of the priestly profession in the family. In 1884 he published his first poems in the annual almanac of the literary association. After successfully completing his Abitur, he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy and Language at the University of Cluj in the same year , where he focused primarily on studies on ancient Greece, the translations and interpretations of the works of Cicero , theory and rhetoric among Greeks and Romans as well as the history of Roman literature. Coşbuc joined the Romanian student fraternity "Iulia" and began working with the magazine "Tribuna" in Sibiu , where he worked from 1887 to 1889 to great praise from the publisher Ioan Slavici after he had broken off his studies due to illness and lack of money . The latter also recommended him to Titu Maiorescu in Bucharest after the “Tribuna” began to work in deficit and the author had to be fired. In his last year there he gained a great reputation, especially in Transylvania, after the publication of the “Nunta Zamfirei” in the “Tribuna” (no. 108). Since he left Austria-Hungary without permission, an entry ban was imposed on him (until 1908).

He now moved his center of life to the capital, was hired for a short time by the Ministry of Culture in the Department of Architecture as a temporary draftsman, then worked and published for Titu Mairescu's “Convorbiri literare” and other magazines and led a rather dissolute life. During this time he published the volume “Balade si idile” (1893), which was important for Romanian literature. By taking over the "Foaia interesantă" (1897) and as a member of the editorial team in other magazines, Coșbuc shaped the development of the Romanian press. In 1901 he edited the magazine " Sămănătorul " together with Alexandru Vlahuță .

As chairman of the office for administration and correspondence of the "Casa Școalelor" (1902) he worked on improving rural training opportunities and traveled a lot for work. In 1907 he had difficulties with the authorities because of the publication and distribution of his manifesto "Noi vrem pãmânt" (We want land) to insurgent farmers. Nonetheless, he was appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Public Education as head and advisor of the office for extracurricular activities. In 1912 he went on a six-week trip to Italy, during which he was allowed to inspect documents and records on Dante and met the Romanist Ramiro Ortiz .

His life changed suddenly in 1915 when his only 19-year-old son Alexander died in a car. He did not recover from the shock of this experience. Although he was given the great honor of being elected as an active member of the "Romanian Academy" (Academia Română) on June 2, 1916 (he had been the corresponding since 1900), he did not publish anything. After his untimely death he was buried at the side of his child in the Bucharest cemetery "Bellu".

Numerous schools, institutes and streets in Romania are named after him. There is also a museum dedicated to him in his place of birth.

Writer and translator

George Coşbuc was a man of letters from the romantic and national patriotism period and was very popular because of his poems, mostly inspired by village life, which preferred ballad-like and idyllic subjects, but also had socially critical features.

After his first attempts at writing at the grammar school in 1882/83, he published his first works in the “Tribuna” from 1884, three ballads with folk motifs (“Blestem de mamă”, “Pe pământul turcului”, “Angelina”), then in 1886, “ Atque nos! "," Fata craiului din cetini "," Draga mamei ", 1887" Brâul Cosânzenii "," Fulger "and in the two following years some of his most important works, namely" Nunta Zamfirei "," Rada "," Numai una ! ”,“ Mânioasă ”and“ Fata morarului ”.

In Bucharest, tensions arose mainly of a political nature between him and Titu Maiorescu, so that he published little in the “Convorbiri literare”, including “La oglindă” (1890) and some poems, including “Rea de plată” (1892). Rather, he preferred to send his manuscripts to the “Tribuna” in Sibiu (“Pe lângă boi”, “Trei”, “Doamne, și toți trei”, “Cântec”, 1891). Warmly welcomed by Ion Luca Caragiale , the volume “Balade și idile” appeared in 1893. In the magazine "Vatra" published by the two and Ioan Slavici in 1894, other important works such as "Doina", "Noi vrem pământ!", "In opressores", "Paşa Hassan", "Iarna pe uliță", "Lupta vieții" and the two-volume "Fire de tort".

In the years that followed, he was very busy and published less, including “Dintr-ale neamului nostru” (1903) and the patriotic poems “Cântece de vitejie” (1904).

After translating Virgil's Aeneid , Byron's Mazeppa , an anthology of Sanskrit literature, Kalidasa's Abhijnanashakuntala , into Romanian in the mid-1980s , from 1906 onwards he dealt almost exclusively with translations: Georgica von Virgil (1906), Parmeno von Terenz ( 1908), Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller (1910), the Odyssey of Homer (1912). The conclusion was Dante's Divine Comedy , which occupied him very much.

He also wrote some well-known quotes:

• Car la vie est un bien perdu quand on n'a pas vécu comme on l'aurait voulu. (Because life is a lost good if you haven't lived the way you wanted to live.)
• Gradometrul cultural al popoarelor e literatura, căci ea reprezintă averea sufletească a lor. (The yardstick for peoples is literature, because it represents their spiritual treasure.)
• Soarele răsare roșu si tot roșu el apune. Omul bun in zile rele, e tot bun ca-n zile bune. (The sun rises red and it sets red too. A good person on bad days is just as good on good ones.)
• Încercarea și când nu reușeste eo scoală. (The attempt, and if it does not succeed, is a school.)
• Multe bunuri are omul, dar virtutea cea mai mare, e să nu se țină mândru cu virtutile pe care le are. (Humans have many good qualities, but the highest virtue is that they do not show off the virtues they have.)
• De multe ori îngâmfarea este un fel de prelată pentru goliciunea sufletească. (Often the arrogance is a kind of cover for the emotional emptiness.)

Works

Poetry and prose (selection)

• Blestem de mamă, Sibiu, 1885;
• Pe pământul turcului, Sibiu, 1885;
• Fata craiului din cetini, Sibiu, 1886;
• Draga mamei, Sibiu, 1886;
• Fulger, Sibiu, 1887;
• Balade și idile, București, 1893;
• Fire de tort, Bucureşti, 1896;
• Războiul nostru pentru neatârnare, Bucureşti, 1899; ediție îngrijită și prefață de Andrei Gligor, Craiova, 1995;
• Povestea unei coroane de oțel, Bucureşti, 1899; ediție îngrijită și prefață de Teodor Vârgolici, București, 1992; ediția Iași, 1997;
• Din țara Basarabilor, Bucureşti, 1901;
• Ziarul unui pierde-vară, Bucureşti, 1902;
• Dintr-ale neamului nostru, Bucureşti, 1903;
• Cântece de vitejie, Bucureşti, 1904;
• Superstițiunile păgubitoare ale poporului nostru, Bucureşti, 1909;
• Balade, Bucureşti, 1913;
• Drumul iubirii, Bucureşti, 1916;
• Povești în versuri, ediție îngrijită de Nicolae Drăganu, Sibiu, 1921;
• Poezii alese, prefață de Mihai Beniuc, Bucureşti, 1952;
• Poezii, I-II, prefață de D. Micu, Bucureşti, 1953;
• Despre literatură și limbă, îngrijită și prefață de AI. Duțu, Bucureşti, 1960; Versuri, prefață de D. Micu, Bucureşti, 1961;
• Comentariu la "Divina Comedie", I – II, îngrijită și introducere de Al. Duțu și Titus Pârvulescu, București, 1963–1965; în Opere alese, IX, ediție îngrijită de Gh. Chivu, prefață de și comentarii Al. Duțu, Bucureşti, 1998;
• Fire de tort. Cântece de vitejie, I – II, îngrijită și prefață de Mircea Tomuș, București, 1966;
• Opere alese, vol. I – VI, îngrijită și prefață de Gavril Scridon, București, 1966–1982, vol. VII – IX, ediție îngrijită de Gh. Chivu, prefață de și comentarii Al. Duțu, Bucureşti, 1985-1998;
• Opera poetică, I – II, Chișinău, 2000;
• Scrieri alese, îngrijită și prefață de Gavril Istrate, Iași, 2001.

Translations (selection)

• Vergiliu, Aeneis, Bucureşti, 1896; ediția (Eneida), îngrijită și prefață de Stella Petecel, București, 1980; ediție prefațată de Ion Acsan, Bucureşti, 2000, Georgice, Bucureşti, 1906;
• Byron, Mazepa, Craiova, 1896;
• Antologie sanscrită, Craiova, 1897;
• Kalidasa, Sacontala, Bucureşti, 1897; ediția Bucureşti, 1959; ediție prefațată de Ion Acsan, Bucureşti, 1999;
• Carmen Silva, Valuri alinate, Bucureşti, 1906; ediția Bucureşti, 2003;
• Terențiu, Parmeno, Bucureşti, 1908;
• Schiller, Don Carlos, Bucureşti, 1910;
• Dante, Divina Comedie, I – III, ediție îngrijită de Ramiro Ortiz, Bucureşti, 1924–1932; ediție îngrijită și prefață de Al. Balaci, Bucureşti, 1954-1957; în Opere alese, VII – VIII, ediție îngrijită de Gh. Chivu, prefață de și comentarii Al. Duțu, Bucureşti, 1985; ediția Iași, 2000;
• Homer, Odiseea, I – II, ediție îngrijită de I. Sfetea și Ștefan Cazimir, prefață de Ștefan Cazimir, București, 1966.

literature

• George Călinescu: "Istoria literaturii Romane de la origini Pana in prezent", Editia a II-a, revăzută și adăugită, Editura Minerva, București 1984
• Eugen Lovinescu: "Critice", Vol. 3, Editura Ancora, Bucureşti 1915
• Dumitru Micu: "George Coşbuc", Editura Tineretului, Bucureşti 1966
• Maria Sass: "George Coșbuc și literatura germană", Editura Amadeus, Sibiu 2000
• Vladimir Streinu: “Clasicii nostri”, Casa Școalelor, București 1943, reeditat in 2002
• Lucian Valea, Mircea A. Diaconu: “Viața lui George Coşbuc”, Vol. 1, Editura Timpul, Bucureşti 2001
• Mircea Zaciu, Marian Papahagi, Aurel Sasu: "Dicționarul scriitorilor Români", Vol. 1, Editura Fundației Culturale Române, București 1995

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} http://universal_lexikon.deacademic.com/223338/Co%C5%9Fbuc
2. ↑ http://www.referat.ro/referate/Vara_de_George_Cosbuc_-_comentariu_si_biografie_6230a.html
3. ↑ http://www.georgecosbuc.eu/
4. ↑ ^{a b} Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Prof. Georgeta Ciobotă (lecture): George Coșbuc - poetul "suflet în sufletul neamului" (May 9, 2008, 90 de ani de la moartea poetului)
7. ↑ http://www.pangloss.de/cms/uploads/Dokumente/Germanistik/Rumaenische%20Literatur.PDF
8. ↑ http://viatadepretutindeni.wordpress.com/istorie-documenteinterpretari/pr-eugen-goia-george-cosbuc-1866-1918/
9. ↑ Rome. Literara: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ autentici.ro

Web links

Commons : George Coșbuc  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• [1] , Selected poems for reading