Leonid Dimov

Leonid Dimov ( Russian Леонид Димов ; born January 11, 1926 in Ismail , Bessarabia , † December 5, 1987 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian poet and translator. His works can be classified as postmodern . Together with Dumitru Țepeneag he shaped the current of Oneirism that was widespread in Romania .

Life

Leonid Dimov was born as Leonid Naumowitsch Mordkowitsch in 1926 in Ismail in Bessarabia , then part of Romania (today in Odessa Oblast , Ukraine ). His mother Nadezhda was Bulgarian , his father Naum of Jewish origin. Dimov's mother tongue was Russian , but he wrote his later works in Romanian.

In the 1930s, the family moved to Bucharest , where young Leonid attended school. After anti-Semitic laws were introduced in Romania in 1940, the family changed their name to Dimov, the mother's maiden name. This was the only way for Leonid to continue his schooling. After the war, he studied biology at the University of Bucharest , but was expelled from the university before graduating because of a conflict with the faculty. Dimov married for the first time in 1948, but later divorced and married Ana-Marina Voinescu in 1959, who brought their daughter Ileana into the marriage. Tatiana's daughter, Ileana, his second wife's child, was adopted by him from his first marriage.

He made his literary debut relatively late in 1965, at the age of almost 40, when he published some poems in the literary magazine Viața Românească . Shortly afterwards he was able to publish in other literary magazines and with Versuri his first volume of poetry was published in 1966. In 1970 he got a job as an editor at the renowned magazine " România Literară ". Dimov was not an outspoken critic of the regime, but was considered a nonconformist and repeatedly expressed cautious criticism of the Ceauşescu regime. At times he was observed by the Securitate secret service .

Signature of Dimov

Dimov also worked as a translator; among others he translated works by Andrei Bely , Michail Lermontow , Marcel Raymond and Gérard de Nerval into Romanian. In 1979 he received the highest award of the Romanian Writers Union.

Dimov suffered from persistent health problems. He died of a heart attack in Bucharest in 1987 at the age of only 51.

Dimov never made his big breakthrough to a wide audience. He was considered introverted, avoided public appearances and largely withdrew into self-isolation. However, his works are still very well received by critics and fellow writers.

According to the Bertelsmann Universal Lexicon , Dimov combines “picturesque Balkan scenery” with “dream-like parables of a surrealistic style”.

Volumes of poetry

• Versuri (1966)
• 7 poems (1968)
• Pe malul Styxului (1968)
• Carte de vise (1969)
• Semne cereşti (1970)
• Eleusis (1970)
• Deschideri (1972)
• ABC (1973)
• La capăt (1974)
• Litanii pentru Horia (1975)
• Dialectica vârstelor (1977)
• Tinereţe fără bătrâneţe (1978)
• Spectacol (1979)
• Veşnica reîntoarcere (1982)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ion Bogdan Lefter in the foreword to Leonid Dimov, "Opera poetică", vol. I-II, Editura Paralela 45, 2010, p. 18th
2. ↑ http://www.pro-saeculum.ro/arhiva/1-19/6.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Ceauşescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989.
4. ↑ Dorin Tudoran, Eu, fiul lor. Dosar de Securitate, Bucharest, Polirom, 2010, p. 90
5. ↑ Leonid Dimov, Versuri, Pagini alese, Literatura Română, Ed. 100 + 1 Gramar, Bucureşti, 2000, p. 253
6. ↑ http://www.rri.ro/de_de/leonid_dimov_der_oneiriker-22174
7. ↑ http://universal_lexikon.deacademic.com/228744/Dimov