Camil Petrescu
Camil Petrescu was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. He was a member of the Sburătorul and a mentor to the writer Anișoara Odeanu.
Life
Petrescu was born in Bucharest in 1894. He lost both his parents early in life and was raised by a relative, or a nanny from the Moșilor suburb.Petrescu went to primary school at Obor, and to high school at Saint Sava National College, where he wrote his very first poem. Being very poor, he studied assiduously, worked to support himself, and relatively late—at the age of 29—he began his studies in philosophy at the University of Bucharest. His antisemitism is controversial, having Jewish friends such as Mihail Sebastian.
In 1916, Petrescu was drafted and sent to the battlefields of then raging World War I, where he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Austro-Hungarians in 1917. Freed in 1918, he depicted his war experiences in his 1930 novel '. In 1933, Petrescu wrote the novel '. He was a teacher in Timișoara, and director of the National Theatre Bucharest. He was elected titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1948. He died in 1957 in Bucharest, and was buried at the city's Bellu Cemetery.
Works
- Ultima noapte de dragoste, întâia noapte de război, 1930
- Patul lui Procust
- Doctrina substanței, 1940