Petru Dumitriu

Petru Dumitriu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈpetru dumiˈtri.u]; 8 May 1924 – 6 April 2002) was a Romanian-born novelist who wrote both in Romanian and in French.

Petru Dumitriu
Born(1924-05-08)May 8, 1924
Baziaş, Romania
Died(2002-04-06)April 6, 2002
Metz, France
Occupationnovelist
NationalityRomanian
Period1943-2002

Biography

Dumitriu was born in Baziaş. His father was a Romanian army officer and his mother was Hungarian and spoke to her husband and son mostly in French, so that French was Petru Dumitriu's second language from childhood. After school in Romania, Dumitriu studied philosophy at Munich University with a Humboldt scholarship, but his studies were interrupted in 1944 when Romania changed sides in the Second World War.

After becoming a member of the Romanian Writers' Union committee in 1950, he became editor-in-chief at Viaţa Românească in 1953.[1]

In 1960, Dumitriu fled from Romania to West Berlin, moved to Frankfurt am Main and later to Bad Godesberg, Germany, finally settling in Metz, France.[2] He did not return to Romania until 1996.

He was married twice: with Henriette Yvonne Stahl, a French-born Romanian writer 24 years his senior, in 1956 (they divorced after about one week), and the same year with Irina Medrea (divorced in 1988).[3]

He had two daughters: Irene (born 1959) and Helene (born 1961)

Works

Partial list of publications:

  • Bijuterii de familie, ESPLA, 1949; English translation by Edward Hyams, Family Jewels, Collins, 1961
  • Drum fără pulbere (Road without dust), ESPLA, 1951
  • Cronică de la câmpie (Chronicle of the plain), ESPLA, 1955
  • Pasărea furtunii (Storm Bird), ESPLA, 1957
  • Cronica de familie (Family Chronicle), ESPLA, 1957 (chapter filmed as An Unforgettable Summer)
  • Incognito, Seuil, 1962; English translation by Norman Denny, Collins, 1964
  • L'Extreme Occident (The Far West), Seuil, 1964
  • Le sourire sarde (The Sardinian Smile), Seuil, 1967
  • L'homme aux yeux gris (The man with grey eyes), Seuil, 1968
  • Rendez-vous au jugement dernier, Seuil, 1961; English translation by Richard Howard, Meeting at the last judgment, Pantheon, 1962
  • Au dieu inconnu. Confessio (To the unknown god. Confession), Seuil, 1979

(ESPLA: Editura de Stat pentru Literatură si Arta, [Romanian] State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest)

References
  1. "PETRU DUMITRIU, DE LA EST LA VEST ŞI ÎNAPOI" (in Romanian). Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  2. Stefanescu, Alex. (No. 18, 1999). "Petru Dumitriu" (in Romanian). Retrieved August 1, 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. Taralunga, Ecaterina (May 8, 2012). "Petru Dumitriu- in memoriam". Retrieved August 1, 2014.


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