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{{short description|Romanian writer and political figure (1910–1966)}}
{{inuse}}
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{{Infobox writer {{Infobox writer
| name = Vladimir Cavarnali | name = Vladimir Cavarnali
| image = Vladimir Cavarnali in 1935.png | image = Vladimir Cavarnali at Săptămîna Poeziei, Constanța, October 1963.png
| imagesize = | imagesize = 250px
| caption = Cavarnali in 1935 | caption = Cavarnali at the ''Săptămîna Poeziei'' festival, October 1963
| pseudonym = | pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1910|8|10|md=y}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|8|10|df=y}}
| birth_name = | birth_name =
| birth_place = ], ], ] | birth_place = ], ], ]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|7|20|1910|8|10|md=y}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1966|7|20|1910|8|10|df=y}}
| death_place = ], ] | death_place = ], ]
| resting_place=] | resting_place = ]
| occupation = {{cslist|Journalist|editor|schoolteacher|politician}} | occupation = {{cslist|Journalist|editor|schoolteacher|politician}}
| period = 1928–1966 | period = 1927–1966
| genre = {{cslist|]|]|]|]}} | genre = {{cslist|]|]|]|]}}
| subject = | subject =
| movement = {{ubl|]|]|'']''|]|]|]}} | movement = {{ubl|]|]|'']''|]|]|]}}
| signature = | signature =
}} }}
'''Vladimir''' or '''Vlad Cavarnali''' (also known as '''Cavarnalli''' or '''Kavarnali'''; {{lang-bg|Владимир Каварнали}}; August 10, 1910 – July 20, 1966) was a ]n-born Romanian poet, journalist, editor, and political figure. Though his ethnic background was ] and ], he embraced ] and would not approve of separation between the ] and ]. In his twenties, he debuted in politics with the ], before switching to the dissident fascist ], and then to the far-right ]. By contrast, Cavarnali's poetic work was heavily indebted to the influence of ], and especially to ]—whose ] style he closely mirrored, after removing most of its political connotations. He was also a translator of ] and more generally ] literature, earning praise for his version of ]'s '']''.


'''Vladimir''' or '''Vlad Cavarnali''' (also known as '''Cavarnalli''' or '''Kavarnali'''; {{langx|bg|Владимир Каварнали}}; 10 August 1910 – 20 July 1966) was a ]n-born Romanian poet, journalist, editor, and political figure. Though his ethnic background was ] and ], he embraced ] and would not approve of separation between the ] and ]. In his twenties, he debuted in politics with the ], before switching to the dissident fascist ], and then to the far-right ]. By contrast, Cavarnali's poetic work was heavily indebted to the influence of ], and especially to ]—whose ] style he closely mirrored, after removing most of its political connotations. He was also a translator of Russian and more generally ] literature, earning praise for his version of ]'s '']''.
Though he won the ] prize in 1934, Cavarnali was a divisive figure—particularly after embracing avant-garde aesthetics in his second (and final) volume, put out in 1939. He was still praised for his work as a cultural animator in his native town of ], and especially for the unexpectedly high standards of his own literary journal, ''Moldavia''. His career there was cut short by the ]'s ]; Vladimir and his younger sister Ecaterina, herself a poet, moved to ]. As the war progressed, he embraced left-wing and po-Soviet views, and was eventually recovered as a poet and translator by the ], the ], and the ]; he was also an author and promoter of childen's literature. The ] employed Cavarnali as a magazine editor and civil servant. He died in relative obscurity at the age of 55, and was survived by Ecaterina, wife of the communist playwright ].

Though he won the ]' prize in 1934, Cavarnali was a divisive figure—particularly after embracing avant-garde aesthetics in his second (and final) volume, put out in 1939. He was still praised for his work as a cultural animator in his native town of ], and especially for the unexpectedly high standards of his own literary journal, ''Moldavia''. His career there was cut short by the ]'s ]; Cavarnali may have spent the years 1940–1941 in dire conditions at ], and was apparently rescued when ]. He and his younger sister Ecaterina, herself a poet, eventually moved to ]. As the war progressed, Cavarnali embraced left-wing and pro-Soviet views, and was eventually recovered as a poet and translator by the ], the ], and the ]; he was also an author and promoter of children's literature. The ] employed Cavarnali as a magazine editor and civil servant, but excluded him from the ] upon an ideological review in March 1950. He died in relative obscurity at the age of 55, and was survived by Ecaterina, wife of the communist playwright ].


==Biography== ==Biography==

===Early life and debut=== ===Early life and debut===
Cavarnali was born a subject of the ] on August 10, 1910, in Bolgrad.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Sasu, p. 287</ref> This town was then in ], ]; the entire area, colloquially known as the ], is now included in the ]. Cavarnali, the son of Hristofor and Varvara,<ref name="sasu287">Sasu, p. 287</ref> is generally seen as a member of the local Bulgarian community;<ref name="nikolov">{{in lang|bg}} Georgi N. Nikolov, , Bulgarian Writers' Union site, May 10, 2021</ref><ref name="duminică">Ivan Duminică, "Bulgarii Chișinăului interbelic (1918–1940)", in ], Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), ''Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018'', p. 245. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. {{ISBN|978-9975-0-0338-4}}</ref><ref>Diana Vrabie, "Recuperări literare: Ioan Sulacov – scriitorul bolgrădean", in ''Revista Română'', Vol. XXII, Issue 4, Winter 2016, p. 31</ref> researchers Eleonora Hotineanu and Anatol Măcriș note that his family was of mixed Bulgarian–Gagauz ethnicity.<ref>Măcriș, pp. 104, 128–129</ref> The surname they used is a variant of the ] ''Kavarnalı'', meaning "]".<ref>Ilie Iulian Mitran, "Gagauzian Onomastics: Mapping Cultural Hallmarks through Names, Surnames and Orthodoxy", in ''Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies'', Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 58, 59</ref> As noted by the literary scholar ], various of Cavarnali's poems attest to his "]" origin, calling Romania "my new motherland"; such pieces also suggest that his father was a ] who owned a specialized shop.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 124; Călinescu, p. 941</ref> Bolgrad and the rest of Bessarabia were indeed only ], when Cavarnali was aged 7 (his sister, Ecaterina, was born that same year).<ref name="adrvoci">Adrian Dinu Rachieru, "Interbelicul basarabean și poezia 'de tranziție' (Voci feminine)", in ''Revista de Lingvistică și Știință Literară'', Issues 3–4, 2008, p. 35</ref><ref name="Măcriș, p. 129">Măcriș, p. 129</ref> In a 1936 article, Vladimir took pride in noting that, unlike the old Bessarabian elites, he had not been educated by the ]. His cultural formation in ] was a "wall separates us, as hostile neighbors".<ref>Burlacu (2020), pp. 68–69</ref> Cavarnali was born a subject of the ] on 10 August 1910, in ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Sasu, p. 287</ref> This town was then in ], ]; the entire area, colloquially known as the ] and ], is now included in ]. Cavarnali, the son of Hristofor and Varvara,<ref name="sasu287">Sasu, p. 287</ref> is generally seen as a member of the local Bulgarian community;<ref name="nikolov">{{in lang|bg}} Georgi N. Nikolov, , Bulgarian Writers' Union site, 10 May 2021</ref><ref name="duminică">Ivan Duminică, "Bulgarii Chișinăului interbelic (1918–1940)", in ], Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), ''Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018'', p. 245. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. {{ISBN|978-9975-0-0338-4}}</ref><ref>Diana Vrabie, "Recuperări literare: Ioan Sulacov – scriitorul bolgrădean", in ''Revista Română'', Vol. XXII, Issue 4, Winter 2016, p. 31</ref> researchers Eleonora Hotineanu and Anatol Măcriș note that he was of mixed Bulgarian–Gagauz ethnicity, with Măcriș including him on a list of "Gagauz diaspora in Bessarabia".<ref>Măcriș, pp. 104, 128–129</ref> The surname he and his family used is a variant of the ] ''Kavarnalı'', meaning "]".<ref>Ilie Iulian Mitran, "Gagauzian Onomastics: Mapping Cultural Hallmarks through Names, Surnames and Orthodoxy", in ''Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies'', Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 58, 59</ref> As noted by the literary scholar ], various of Cavarnali's poems attest to his "]" origin, calling Romania "my new motherland"; such pieces also suggest that his father was a ] who owned a specialized shop.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 124; Călinescu, p. 941</ref> Bolgrad and the rest of Bessarabia were indeed only ], when Cavarnali was aged 7 (his sister, Ecaterina, was born that same year).<ref name="adrvoci">Adrian Dinu Rachieru, "Interbelicul basarabean și poezia 'de tranziție' (Voci feminine)", in ''Revista de Lingvistică și Știință Literară'', Issues 3–4, 2008, p. 35</ref><ref name="Măcriș, p. 129">Măcriș, p. 129</ref> In a 1936 article, Vladimir took pride in noting that, unlike the old Bessarabian elites, he had not been educated by the ]. His cultural formation in ] was a "wall separates us, as hostile neighbors".<ref>Burlacu (2020), pp. 68–69</ref>


Cavarnali studied locally, graduating from the ];<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126">Burlacu (2010), p. 126</ref> he then attended the ] (1928–1931),<ref name="nikolov"/> taking a degree in philosophy and letters (1932). He returned to the Budjak as a schoolteacher, first at ] (to 1933), and then at Bolgrad (to June 1940).<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126"/> Reportedly, he became a published poet in 1928, when his work was first featured in Romanian periodicals.<ref name="stoian">Mihai Stoian, "Evocare tîrzie", in '']'', Vol. XIII, Issue 31, August 1966, p. 7</ref> In February 1934, he and Matei Alexandrescu established the "intellectual group" ''Litere'' ("Letters"), which put out a bimonthly of the same title from its headquarters on Popa Tatu Street 14, Bucharest. Its stated mission was to combat "the anarchy one finds in contemporary literature".<ref>"Gruparea intelectuală 'Litere'", in '']'', February 23, 1934, p. 2</ref> Cavarnali's first-ever collection of verse, titled ''Poesii'' ("Poems"), was submitted for review to the Royal Foundations that same year, upon being recommended by novelist ].<ref>"Ancheta revistei ''Hyperion'' – Literatura română dintre Prut și Nistru, la un secol de la Marea Unire", in ''Hyperion'', Vol. 36, Issues 1–3, 2018, p. 23</ref> It won him the Foundations' special prize for "young unpublished authors", which he shared with ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), pp. 126–127</ref><ref name="mseb1934">], "Literatura în anul 1934", in '']'', January 2, 1935, p. 4</ref> Later in 1934, ''Poesii'' appeared as a booklet with ] of Bucharest.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Călinescu, p. 1029</ref> Among the newspapers which welcomed this contribution was the ] ''Dobrudzhanski Glas'', which spoke of "our compatriot Vladimir Cavarnali" as a "gentle and unique talent".<ref name="nikolov"/> His debut was closely followed by that of his sister. A member of ]'s literary salon,<ref name="adrvoci"/> she appeared in print with poems rated as "beautiful and graceful" by Măcriș.<ref name="Măcriș, p. 129"/> Cavarnali studied locally, graduating from the ];<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126">Burlacu (2010), p. 126</ref> during the graduation ceremony of July 1927 (when he was still in grade seven of eight), he recited two of his own poems.<ref>"''Universul'' în țară. Bolgrad", in '']'', 11 July 1927, p. 6</ref> He then attended the ] (1928–1931),<ref name="nikolov"/> taking a degree in philosophy and letters (1932). Cavarnali returned to the Budjak as a schoolteacher, first at ] (to 1933), and then at Bolgrad (to June 1940).<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126"/> Reportedly he became a published poet in 1928, when his work was first featured in Romanian periodicals.<ref name="stoian">Mihai Stoian, "Evocare tîrzie", in '']'', Vol. XIII, Issue 31, August 1966, p. 7</ref> In February 1934, he and Matei Alexandrescu established the "intellectual group" ''Litere'' ("Letters"), which put out a bimonthly of the same title from its headquarters on Popa Tatu Street 14, Bucharest. Its stated mission was to combat "the anarchy one finds in contemporary literature".<ref>"Gruparea intelectuală 'Litere'", in '']'', 23 February 1934, p. 2</ref>


Cavarnali's first collection of verse, titled ''Poesii'' ("Poems"), was submitted for review to the Royal Foundations that same year, upon being recommended by novelist ].<ref>"Ancheta revistei ''Hyperion'' – Literatura română dintre Prut și Nistru, la un secol de la Marea Unire", in ''Hyperion'', Vol. 36, Issues 1–3, 2018, p. 23</ref> It won him the Foundations' special prize for "young unpublished authors", which he shared with ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), pp. 126–127</ref><ref name="mseb1934">], "Literatura în anul 1934", in '']'', 2 January 1935, p. 4</ref> Later in 1934, ''Poesii'' appeared as a booklet with ] of Bucharest.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Călinescu, p. 1029</ref> Among the newspapers which welcomed this contribution was the ] ''Dobrudzhanski Glas'', which spoke of "our compatriot Vladimir Cavarnali" as a "gentle and unique talent".<ref name="nikolov"/> His debut was closely followed by that of his sister. A member of ]'s literary salon,<ref name="adrvoci"/> she appeared in print with poems rated as "beautiful and graceful" by Măcriș.<ref name="Măcriș, p. 129"/>
Young Cavarnali embarked on a political career with the ] (PNL), joining its chapter in ]. On December 2, 1934, he was voted into the PNL county-level political council, which was presided upon by Sergiu Dimitriu.<ref>"Congresul organizației Național-liberale din jud. Ismail — Ratificarea d-lui Sergiu Dimitriu ca șef al organizației — Alegerea comitetului județean și a delegației permanente", in '']'', December 14, 1934, p. 2</ref> The following year, he joined the editorial staff of ''Bugeacul'', a literary review from his native town.<ref name="sasu287"/> A while after, he split with mainstream politics and joined ]'s ]—originally a breakaway faction of the far-right ], it was established a more left-leaning, "]" party,<ref>Y., "Political Mosaic. The Murder of Stelescu", in ''Danubian Review'', Vol. IV, Issue 3, August 1936, p. 12</ref> combining Romanian nationalism with "social aspirations".<ref>], "Muncă–cinste–adevăr. Ideologie Cruciată", in '']'', Vol. II, Issue 91, October 25, 1936, p. 2</ref> By January 1936, Cavarnali was working for the Crusade's eponymous magazine as a correspondent in ].<ref>"Corespondenții Cruciadei din provincie", in '']'', Vol. II, Issue 55, January 2, 1936, p. 4</ref> He later served as chairman of the Crusade sections in ], but quit the party on September 10, 1936, due to ideological disagreements with its new leadership.<ref>"Dela Cruciada Românismului", in '']'', September 10, 1936, p. 7</ref> The same month, '']'' published an article of his in which he criticized the regional schisms within Romanian nationalism, detailing the "extremely painful" discovery he and other Bessarabians had made—namely, that intellectuals from the ] viewed them as structurally different.<ref>Ana Bantoș, "Regionalismul și societatea comunicării", in '']'', Vol. XI, Issues 4–8, 2001, pp. 194–195</ref>


]
By April 1937, Cavarnali had joined another far-right group, the ], speaking at its public gathering in Chilia.<ref>"Viața politică. O mare întrunire a Frontului Românesc din Chilia-Nouă", in '']'', April 16, 1937, p. 3</ref> He had by then returned to ''Viața Basarabiei'' with an article which chided young Romanian writers for being more interested in joining the cultural bureaucracy than they were in struggling for literary recognition.<ref>"Șantier literar. Datoria scriitorilor tineri", in ''Spiritul Satanei în Teleorman'', Vol. I, Issue 1, March 15, 1935, p. 3</ref> After this polemical stance and his Crusader episode, Cavarnali was viewed with contempt by the Iron Guard, whose '']'' daily deplored the absence of any Guardist literary club in Bessarabia. The region, it alleged, had been abandoned: "Mr ] and other such quadrupeds lead its literary destinies, with a certain Vladimir Cavarnali, the passion of ], meddling in like a cretin."<ref>"Cultură, Oameni, Fapte. Cuiburi de lumină. Literatura basarabeană", in '']'', April 7, 1937, p. 2</ref>


Young Cavarnali embarked on a political career with the ] (PNL), joining its chapter in ]. On 2 December 1934, he was voted into the PNL county-level political council, which was presided upon by Sergiu Dimitriu.<ref>"Congresul organizației Național-liberale din jud. Ismail — Ratificarea d-lui Sergiu Dimitriu ca șef al organizației — Alegerea comitetului județean și a delegației permanente", in '']'', 14 December 1934, p. 2</ref> The following year, he joined the editorial staff of ''Bugeacul'', a literary review from his native town.<ref name="sasu287"/> A while afterward, he split with mainstream politics and joined ]'s ]—originally a breakaway faction of the far-right ], it was established as a more left-leaning, "]" party,<ref>Y., "Political Mosaic. The Murder of Stelescu", in ''Danubian Review'', Vol. IV, Issue 3, August 1936, p. 12</ref> combining Romanian nationalism with "social aspirations".<ref>], "Muncă–cinste–adevăr. Ideologie Cruciată", in '']'', Vol. II, Issue 91, 25 October 1936, p. 2</ref> In May 1935, he had also joined Stelescu and ]'s cultural society, which cultivated the memory of Crusade sympathizer ].<ref>"Constituirea societății 'Prietenii lui Panait Istrati'", in ''Lumea'', 29 May 1935, p. 2</ref> By January 1936, Cavarnali was working for the Crusade's eponymous magazine as a correspondent in ].<ref>"Corespondenții Cruciadei din provincie", in '']'', Vol. II, Issue 55, 2 January 1936, p. 4</ref>
Cavarnali became editor of two Bolgrad magazines, ''Familia Noastră'' ("Our Family", 1937–1940) and ''Moldavia'' (1939–1940).<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 127">Burlacu (2010), p. 127</ref> The latter project, for which he partnered with Ioan St. Botez, drew acclaim from the Bucharest journal '']'', which noted the "extraordinary phenomenon" of a quality magazine appearing out of a "rusty, sad, filthy town" in the Bessarabian provinces.<ref name="mldv125">"Revista Revistelor. ''Moldavia'', Bolgrad. Anul I, Nr. 2—3", in '']'', Vol. XXXI, Issue 12, December 1939, p. 125</ref> The same merit was noted in ''Pagini Literare'' by critic Romulus Demetrescu, who noted that Cavarnali was producing poetry and journalism in a town "beset by mosquitos, by a tormenting silence, by Oriental filth, by misery."<ref>Demetrescu, p. 50</ref> ''Moldavia'' carried Cavarnali's own musings about the state of poetry upon the start of World War II, as well as his renditions of ] (picked out from ], and translated with help from Franz Studeni).<ref name="mldv125"/> ''Moldavia'' ran alongside and against ''Bugeacul'', which was then managed by Dragomir Petrescu and was committed to Bessarabian regionalism. In late 1939, Petrescu allowed Nencev to use ''Bugeacul'' for an editorial polemic. Nencev claimed that Cavarnali and ''Moldavia'' had displayed "ignorance toward Bessarabian literature and Bessarabian writers".<ref>], "Un scriitor dâmbovițean necunoscut: Dragomir Petrescu", in ''Curier. Revistă de Cultură și Bibliologie'', Vol. XIII, Issue 1, 2006, p. 38</ref>


===Refugee and communist turn=== ===Magazine founder and wartime hiatus===
Cavarnali later served as chairman of the Crusade sections in ], but quit the party on 10 September 1936, due to ideological disagreements with its new leadership.<ref>"Dela Cruciada Românismului", in '']'', 10 September 1936, p. 7</ref> One of his last contributions for that group's paper was an homage to the left-wing intellectual ], whom Cavarnali described as a victim of a "poisonous, ruinous nationalism", and of attacks mounted by "the illiterate".<ref>"Prăbușirea uriașului de la Bucov", in '']'', Vol. V, Issue 9, September 1936, pp. 92–93</ref> That same month, '']'' published an article of his in which he criticized the regional schisms within Romanian nationalism, detailing the "extremely painful" discovery he and other Bessarabians had made—namely, that intellectuals from the ] viewed them as structurally different.<ref>Ana Bantoș, "Regionalismul și societatea comunicării", in '']'', Vol. XI, Issues 4–8, 2001, pp. 194–195</ref> By April 1937, Cavarnali had joined another far-right group, the ], speaking at its public gathering in Chilia.<ref>"Viața politică. O mare întrunire a Frontului Românesc din Chilia-Nouă", in '']'', 16 April 1937, p. 3</ref> He had by then returned to ''Viața Basarabiei'' with an article which chided young Romanian writers for being more interested in joining the cultural bureaucracy than they were in struggling for literary recognition.<ref>"Șantier literar. Datoria scriitorilor tineri", in ''Spiritul Satanei în Teleorman'', Vol. I, Issue 1, 15 March 1935, p. 3</ref> After this polemical stance and his Crusader episode, Cavarnali was viewed with contempt by the Iron Guard, whose '']'' daily deplored the absence of any Guardist literary club in Bessarabia. The region, it alleged, had been abandoned: "Mr ] and other such quadrupeds lead its literary destinies, with a certain Vladimir Cavarnali, the passion of ], meddling in like a cretin."<ref>"Cultură, Oameni, Fapte. Cuiburi de lumină. Literatura basarabeană", in '']'', 7 April 1937, p. 2</ref>
] (and ]) 1948 issue of ''Licurici'']]
Cavarnali was also a regular contributor to journals put out elsewhere in Bessarabia, including ''Generația Nouă'', ''Itinerar'', and ''Pagini Basarabene'' (in addition to ''Viața Basarabiei''),<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 127"/> as well as a frequent traveler to the regional hub of ];<ref name="duminică"/> in 1938, his work was also sampled by the modernist magazine of ], ''Front Literar''.<ref name="inima">"Un poet cu inima devastată: Mi-e devastată inima", in '']'', Vol. XXXIII, Issue 200, September 1938, p. 1</ref> A second volume of his poems was printed at Bolgrad in 1939,<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Călinescu, p. 1029</ref> as ''Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă'' ("The Heart's Green Seedling Is Rained upon by the Stars Above"). The title is remembered for being unusually complicated in its cultural setting.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 125; Călinescu, p. 941</ref> On March 24–25, 1940, he was a Bolgrad delegate to the first congress of the Bessarabian Writers' Society (SSB), convened by Halippa in Chișinău. He was voted in as a member of the SSB executive committee.<ref>Constantin ''et al.'', pp. 264–265. See also Sasu, p. 287</ref> Also in early 1940, ''Bugeacul'' featured Cavarnali's biography of, translation from, ] poet-diplomat ].<ref>"Ne scriu din Basarabia", in '']'', Vol. XXXV, Issue 96, April 1940, p. 2</ref>


In early 1937, another Bolgrad lyceum professor, Gheorghe Bujoreanu, was putting out the literary magazine ''Familia Noastră'' ("Our Family"), which showcased literary pieces by his students.<ref>"Ce se petrece în Basarabia. Bolgradul cultural", in ''Gazeta Basarabiei'', 5 February 1937, p. 3</ref> Cavarnali took over as its editor later in 1937, continuing for some three years, and was also head of his own magazine, ''Moldavia'', in 1939–1940.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 127">Burlacu (2010), p. 127</ref> The latter project, for which he partnered with Ioan St. Botez, drew acclaim from the Bucharest journal '']'', which noted the "extraordinary phenomenon" of a quality magazine appearing out of a "rusty, sad, filthy town" in the Bessarabian provinces.<ref name="mldv125">"Revista Revistelor. ''Moldavia'', Bolgrad. Anul I, Nr. 2—3", in '']'', Vol. XXXI, Issue 12, December 1939, p. 125</ref> The same merit was highlighted in ''Pagini Literare'' by critic Romulus Demetrescu, who noted that Cavarnali was producing poetry and journalism in a town "beset by mosquitos, by a tormenting silence, by Oriental filth, by misery."<ref>Demetrescu, p. 50</ref> ''Moldavia'' carried Cavarnali's own musings about the state of poetry upon the start of World War II, as well as his renditions of ] (picked out from ], and translated with help from Franz Studeni).<ref name="mldv125"/> ''Moldavia'' ran alongside and against ''Bugeacul'', which was then managed by Dragomir Petrescu and was committed to Bessarabian regionalism. In late 1939, Petrescu allowed Nencev to use ''Bugeacul'' for an editorial polemic. Nencev claimed that Cavarnali and ''Moldavia'' had displayed "ignorance toward Bessarabian literature and Bessarabian writers".<ref>], "Un scriitor dâmbovițean necunoscut: Dragomir Petrescu", in ''Curier. Revistă de Cultură și Bibliologie'', Vol. XIII, Issue 1, 2006, p. 38</ref>
Around June 1940, during the ], Cavarnali opted to leave the Budjak and settle in Bucharest as a displaced person. He was for a while considered missing: in August, the Commissariat for Refugees sent out notices asking him to contact the authorities.<ref>"Informațiuni", in ''România'', August 21, 1940, p. 10</ref> He lost all contact with Halippa, who believed that Cavarnali, like Nencev and Costenco, had stayed behind in Chișinău.<ref>Constantin ''et al.'', pp. 300–301</ref> Cavarnali remained in Bucharest during the 1941–1944 period, while the ] regime sealed a Romanian alliance with the ] and joined in the ], leading to the temporary recovery of Bessarabia (the Budjak was merged into the ]). On March 28, 1943, he participated in the "Glory to Bessarabia" event, organized by ] and ''Viața Basarabiei'' at the ].<ref>"'Slăvirea Basarabiei'", in '']'', March 28, 1943, p. 6</ref> From 1944 to 1947, Cavarnali worked as both a high school professor and a journalist, publishing new poems in the journal ''Orizonturi''.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 127. See also Măcriș, p. 129</ref> He achieved recognition as a translator from the Russian classics, with versions of ]'s '']''—probably completed in the mid-1940s,<ref>Brăgaru, p. 195</ref> and rated by critic Emil Manu as "the most beautiful Romanian version"<ref name="manu">Emil Manu, "Dicționar de istorie literară contemporană. Addenda. Vladimir Cavarnali", in '']'', Vol. IX, Issue 48, November 1966, p. 7</ref> of that novel—and ]'s '']''.<ref name="stoian"/>


Cavarnali was also a regular contributor to journals put out elsewhere in Bessarabia, including ''Generația Nouă'', ''Itinerar'', and ''Pagini Basarabene'' (in addition to ''Viața Basarabiei''),<ref>Burlacu 2010, p. 127; Sasu, p. 287</ref> as well as a frequent traveler to the regional hub of ];<ref name="duminică"/> in 1938, his work was also sampled by the modernist magazine of ], ''Front Literar''.<ref name="inima">"Un poet cu inima devastată: Mi-e devastată inima", in '']'', Vol. XXXIII, Issue 200, September 1938, p. 1</ref> A second volume of his poems was printed at Bolgrad in 1939,<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Călinescu, p. 1029</ref> as ''Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă'' ("The Heart's Green Seedling Is Rained upon by the Stars Above"). The title is remembered for being unusually complicated in its cultural setting.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 125; Călinescu, p. 941</ref> He was newly married in August 1939, and had honeymooned at the ] retreat in ].<ref>Teodor Scarlat, "Simple însemnări la 882,83 m. altitudine Reportaj din Căminul Scriitorilor, Bușteni", in '']'', Vol. XLVIII, Issue 32, August 1939, p. 8</ref>
A leftward regime change was inaugurated by the ], which also brought Romania itself under a ]. On ] 1945, '']'', put out by the ], hosted one of Cavarnali's poems;<ref>"Revista Revistelor. 1 Mai 1945", in '']'', Vol. XII, Issue 5, May 1945, p. 458</ref> the same year, he published a version of Mikhail A. Bulatov's ''Geese-Swans'', with its retelling of ].<ref name="sasu287"/> Cavarnali founded the children's magazine ''Înainte'' ("Forward"),<ref name="stoian"/> which published its first issue on October 5, 1945.<ref>"Informații", in '']'', October 3, 1945, p. 5</ref> It was positively reviewed by the ] paper, ''Scînteia'': "Aimed at all Romanian children, ''Înainte'' seeks to cultivate their artistic taste, to awaken their inventive spirit, to guide them toward the finer occupations that life has to offer, while also promoting spiritual recreation."<ref name="scînteia">"Note. ''Înainte'', revista pionierilor", in '']'', January 13, 1946, p. 2</ref> By January 1946, ''Înainte'' was receiving contributions from ], ], ], ], and ];<ref name="scînteia"/> by June, it also featured stories by ] and translations from ].<ref>"Informații. Bibliografie", in '']'', June 5, 1946, p. 4</ref> Cavarnali was for a while a teacher of ] and ] at the Boys' School in ], but, by 1947, had been moved back to the capital as a substitute teacher in ]. In August of that year, he achieved tenure, after passing his examination with top marks.<ref>"Decrete regale. Ministerul Educației Naționale", in '']'', August 1, 1947, p. 6792</ref>


On 24–25 March 1940, Cavarnali was a Bolgrad delegate to the first congress of the Bessarabian Writers' Society (SSB), convened by Halippa in Chișinău. He was voted in as a member of the SSB executive committee.<ref>Constantin ''et al.'', pp. 264–265. See also Sasu, p. 287</ref> Also in early 1940, ''Bugeacul'' featured Cavarnali's biography of, and translation from, ] poet-diplomat ].<ref>"Ne scriu din Basarabia", in '']'', Vol. XXXV, Issue 96, April 1940, p. 2</ref> He completed a Romanian version of the '']'', which appeared in ''Prepoem'' magazine of Bucharest.<ref>Augustin Pop, Liliana Burlacu, "''Prepoem''", in ''Dicționarul general al literaturii române. P/R'', p. 653. Bucharest: ], 2016. {{ISBN|973-637-138-7}}</ref> Around June 1940, during the ], Cavarnali was for a while considered missing. In August, the Commissariat for Refugees sent out notices asking him to contact the authorities.<ref>"Informațiuni", in ''România'', 21 August 1940, p. 10</ref> He lost all contact with Halippa, who later reported that Cavarnali, like Nencev and Costenco, had stayed behind in Chișinău.<ref>Constantin ''et al.'', pp. 300–301</ref> Cavarnali himself once gave some details on this period, informing fellow author ] that he had been stranded in Chișinău, stripped of his citizenship, and court-martialed (whether by the Romanians or by the Soviets), being in danger of starving to death.<ref name="lforașul4">], "Orașul dela răsărit", in '']'', Vol. LI, Issue 27, July 1942, p. 4</ref> In December, he was listed among the contributors to a new Bessarabian magazine "of Romanian affirmation", called ''Estul'' ("The East").<ref>"O nouă revistă", in '']'', 18 December 1940, p. 8</ref>
In December 1947, when Cavarnali became tenured at ],<ref>"Deciziuni. Ministerul Educației Naționale. A. Profesori", in '']'', January 21, 1948, p. 503</ref> his rendition of a poem by the ] ] appeared in ''Graiul Nou'', the Soviet–Romanian propaganda magazine.<ref>Brăgaru, pp. 194–195, 197</ref> Upon the establishment of a ] later that month, Cavarnali began working as an editor for another young reader's publication, ''Licurici'' ("Firefly"); his colleagues there included Mihai Stoian, who had grown up reading ''Înainte'', and who describes Cavarnali as one whose leading trait was "compassion", and who "never dared burden anyone with his presence."<ref name="stoian"/> In January 1949, he was assigned to the ] as a reviewer in the Youth Education Directorate, part of a team led by Amos Bradu.<ref>"Deciziuni. Ministerul Învățământului Public", in '']'', January 20, 1949, p. 658</ref> In March 1949, he was a rapporteur at the National Writers' Conference, which established a ] (USR)—he appeared there alongside Cruceanu, ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>"Inființarea Uniunii Scriitorilor din R.P.R. Vechea Societate a Scriitorilor a fost desființată. Incheierea lucrărilor Conferinței pe țară a scriitorilor. Alegerea noului comitet de conducere", in '']'', March 28, 1949, p. 3</ref> His sister had followed him to Bucharest, where she became Davidoglu's wife.<ref name="adrvoci"/><ref name="Măcriș, p. 129"/>


In 1941, the ] regime sealed a Romanian alliance with the ] and joined in the ], leading to the temporary recovery of Bessarabia; the Budjak was merged into the ]. The authorities found Cavarnali and reinstated him, whereupon he joined a circle of writers formed around ''Basarabia'' newspaper.<ref name="lforașul4"/> On 28 March 1943, he participated in the "Glory to Bessarabia" event, organized by ] and ''Viața Basarabiei'' at the ].<ref>"'Slăvirea Basarabiei'", in '']'', 28 March 1943, p. 6</ref> From 1944 to 1947, having been displaced to Bucharest, Cavarnali worked as both a high school professor and a journalist, publishing new poems in the journal ''Orizonturi''.<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 127. See also Măcriș, p. 129</ref> In May 1944, ''Viața Basarabiei'' reported that he was "gravely ill."<ref>V. B., "Cronica. Insemnări. Vladimir Cavarnali", in '']'', p. 324</ref> He achieved recognition as a translator from the Russian classics, with versions of ]'s '']''—probably completed in the mid-1940s,<ref>Brăgaru, p. 195</ref> and rated by critic Emil Manu as "the most beautiful Romanian version"<ref name="manu">Emil Manu, "Dicționar de istorie literară contemporană. Addenda. Vladimir Cavarnali", in '']'', Vol. IX, Issue 48, November 1966, p. 7</ref> of that novel—and ]'s '']''.<ref name="stoian"/><ref name="massoff457">], ''Teatrul românesc: privire istorică. Vol. VIII: Teatrul românesc în perioada 1940—1950'', p. 457. Bucharest: ], 1981</ref>
The poet's final assignments were as a cultural adviser for the Education Ministry, as well a staff worker for '']'' and ''Albina'', dedicated mainly to the promotion of literary education for the youth.<ref name="stoian"/> He attended the USR's ''Săptămîna Poeziei'' festival at ] in late 1963, being billed alongside Theodorescu, ], ], and ].<ref>Negoiță Irimie, "Poetul Aurel Gurghianu – un Orfeu încărunțit", in '']'', June 15, 1999, p. 6</ref> "After great suffering", Cavarnali died in Bucharest on July 20, 1966, and was buried in the city's ].<ref>"Mica publicitate. Anunțuri de familie", in '']'', July 19, 1966, p. 2. See also Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Sasu, p. 287</ref> Literary critic and historian ] (who was in his twenties when Cavarnali died), notes that many, including himself, were no longer aware that he and other interwar authors had even survived into the 1960s. It was only in the late 1990s, upon reading a biographical dictionary compiled by ], when he realized that he and Cavarnali had been contemporaries.<ref>], "Necunoscuții noștri contemporani", in '']'', Issues 13–14/1999, p. 1</ref> Ecaterina outlived her brother by more than 30 years, her first and only published volume appearing in Romania in 1998, when she was aged 80.<ref name="adrvoci"/>

===Communist turn===
] (and ]) 1948 issue of ''Licurici'']]
A leftward regime change was inaugurated by the ], which also brought Romania itself under a ]. On ] 1945, '']'', put out by the ], hosted one of Cavarnali's poems;<ref>"Revista Revistelor. 1 Mai 1945", in '']'', Vol. XII, Issue 5, May 1945, p. 458</ref> the same year, he published a version of Mikhail A. Bulatov's ''Geese-Swans'', with its retelling of ].<ref>"Artă și cultură. Carnet. Literatura pentru copii", in ''Ultima Oră'', 1 September 1945, p. 2; Sasu, pp. 287–288</ref> Cavarnali also founded the children's magazine ''Înainte'' ("Forward"),<ref name="stoian"/> which published its first issue on 5 October 1945.<ref>"Informații", in '']'', 3 October 1945, p. 5</ref> It was positively reviewed by the ] paper, ''Scînteia'': "Aimed at all Romanian children, ''Înainte'' seeks to cultivate their artistic taste, to awaken their inventive spirit, to guide them toward the finer occupations that life has to offer, while also promoting spiritual recreation."<ref name="scînteia">"Note. ''Înainte'', revista pionierilor", in '']'', 13 January 1946, p. 2</ref> By January 1946, ''Înainte'' was receiving contributions from ], ], ], ], and ];<ref name="scînteia"/> by June, it had also featured stories by ] and translations from ].<ref>"Informații. Bibliografie", in '']'', 5 June 1946, p. 4</ref> Cavarnali was for a while a teacher of ] and ] at the Boys' School in ], but, by 1947, had been moved back to the capital as a substitute teacher in ]. In August of that year, he achieved tenure, after passing his examination with top marks.<ref>"Decrete regale. Ministerul Educației Naționale", in '']'', 1 August 1947, p. 6792</ref>

In late 1947, the ] used Cavarnali's translation for its highly successful production of ''Marriage'', with Victor Bumbești as a director.<ref name="massoff457"/> His version of ''Mother'' appeared around the same time, with drawings by ];<ref>"Cărți noui", in '']'', 20 December 1947, p. 2</ref> it had two more editions by 1950.<ref>Sasu, p. 288</ref> In December 1947, when he became tenured at ],<ref>"Deciziuni. Ministerul Educației Naționale. A. Profesori", in '']'', 21 January 1948, p. 503</ref> his rendition of a poem by the ] ] appeared in ''Graiul Nou'', the Soviet–Romanian propaganda magazine.<ref>Brăgaru, pp. 194–195, 197</ref> Upon the establishment of a ] later that month, Cavarnali began working as an editor for another young reader's publication, ''Licurici'' ("Firefly"); his colleagues there included Mihai Stoian, who had grown up reading ''Înainte'', and who describes Cavarnali as one whose leading trait was "compassion", and who "never dared burden anyone with his presence."<ref name="stoian"/> In January 1949, he was assigned to the ] as a reviewer in the Youth Education Directorate, part of a team led by Amos Bradu.<ref>"Deciziuni. Ministerul Învățământului Public", in '']'', 20 January 1949, p. 658</ref> In March 1949, he was a rapporteur at the National Writers' Conference, which established a ] (USR)—he appeared there alongside Cruceanu, ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>"Inființarea Uniunii Scriitorilor din R.P.R. Vechea Societate a Scriitorilor a fost desființată. Incheierea lucrărilor Conferinței pe țară a scriitorilor. Alegerea noului comitet de conducere", in '']'', 28 March 1949, p. 3</ref> His sister had followed him to Bucharest, where she became Davidoglu's wife.<ref name="adrvoci"/><ref name="Măcriș, p. 129"/>

Cavarnali had been received into the Communist Party (known then as "Workers' Party"), but, on 22 March 1950, found himself targeted by a review commission, and recommended for exclusion (alongside fellow writers Camilar, Theodorescu, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]).<ref>Scurtu, pp. 44–45</ref> The decision was carried through, but, following an intercession on their behalf by communist potentate ], Cavarnali and the others were not exposed to further persecution; instead, they had to commit to a series of discussion with ideologists ] and ], so that they "do not lose hope".<ref>Scurtu, pp. 44–45</ref> Cavarnali's subsequent focus on translation work produced editions of ]'s ''Vassiok Trubachov and His Comrades'' (in 1950), ]'s ''Marta'' (in 1954), and ]'s ''In the World of Moderation and Precision'' (in 1964).<ref>Sasu, pp. 287, 288</ref>

The poet's final assignments were as a cultural adviser for the Education Ministry, as well as a staff worker for '']'' and ''Albina'', dedicated mainly to the promotion of literary education for the youth.<ref name="stoian"/> At ''Gazeta'', he took nominal charge of the poetry section, alongside authors such as ], ], and ]. As the latter noted in a 1976 interview, the job was frustrating: "we were entirely useless , everything was done over our heads."<ref>], ], "Nicolae Labiș. Curatul sunet al perfecțiunii. '...El a întins acel ligament de lumină, fără de care poeții de azi nu s-ar fi împlinit atît de repede și de pregnant'", in '']'', Vol. XIX, Issue 51, December 1976, p. 2</ref> Cavarnali attended the USR's ''Săptămîna Poeziei'' festival at ] in late 1963, being billed alongside Theodorescu, ], ], and ].<ref>Negoiță Irimie, "Poetul Aurel Gurghianu – un Orfeu încărunțit", in '']'', 15 June 1999, p. 6</ref> "After great suffering", Cavarnali died in Bucharest on 20 July 1966, and was buried in the city's ].<ref>"Mica publicitate. Anunțuri de familie", in '']'', 19 July 1966, p. 2. See also Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Sasu, p. 287</ref> Literary critic and historian ] (who was in his twenties when Cavarnali died), notes that many, including himself, were no longer aware that he and other interwar authors had even survived into the 1960s. It was only in the late 1990s, upon reading a biographical dictionary compiled by ], when he realized that he and Cavarnali had been contemporaries.<ref>], "Necunoscuții noștri contemporani", in '']'', Issues 13–14/1999, p. 1</ref> Ecaterina outlived her brother by more than 30 years, her first and only published volume appearing in Romania in 1998, when she was aged 80.<ref name="adrvoci"/>


==Work== ==Work==
Vladimir Cavarnali is largely seen as a Romanian disciple of ], and more generally the ]; an often cited precursor and model is ] (from whose works he translated in the 1930s).<ref name="mldv125"/> Călinescu describes Cavarnalian poetry as essentially "]" and "diurnal", bridging the gap between Yesenin and the modern poets of ]. He also notes the activity of three "Yesenians" in modern Romanian literature—with the other two being ] an ].<ref>Călinescu, pp. 940–941. See also Brăgaru, p. 195; Burlacu (2010), p. 124</ref> A similar point is made by Manu, who describes Cavarnali as "one who became a Yesenian through direct influence", while Carianopol's debt to Russian Symbolism was "coincidental".<ref>Emil Manu, "Viața cărților. Poezia. Elegia stenică", in '']'', Vol. XXII, Issue 33, August 1979, p. 2</ref> Manu also identifies Cavarnali's other mentors as ] and ], both of whom are referenced by name, alongside Yesenin, in one of the ''Poesii''.<ref name="manu"/> The poet himself once commented on the works of his fellow Yesenian Lesnea, highlighting their freshness.<ref>C. Trandafir, "Varietăți critice. George Lesnea: ''Poeme''", in ''Ateneu'', Vol. 14, Issue 3, September 1977, p. 10</ref> Vladimir Cavarnali is largely seen as a Romanian disciple of ], and more generally the ]; an often cited precursor and model is ] (from whose works he translated in the 1930s).<ref name="mldv125"/> Călinescu describes Cavarnalian poetry as essentially "]" and "diurnal", bridging the gap between Yesenin and the modern poets of ]. He also notes the activity of three "Yesenians" in modern Romanian literature—the other two being ] and ].<ref>Călinescu, pp. 940–941. See also Brăgaru, p. 195; Burlacu (2010), p. 124</ref> A similar point is made by Manu, who describes Cavarnali as "one who became a Yesenian through direct influence", while Carianopol's debt to Russian Symbolism was "coincidental".<ref>Emil Manu, "Viața cărților. Poezia. Elegia stenică", in '']'', Vol. XXII, Issue 33, August 1979, p. 2</ref> Manu also identifies Cavarnali's other mentors as ] and ], both of whom are referenced by name, alongside Yesenin, in one of the ''Poesii''.<ref name="manu"/> The poet himself once commented on the works of his fellow Yesenian Lesnea, highlighting their freshness.<ref>C. Trandafir, "Varietăți critice. George Lesnea: ''Poeme''", in ''Ateneu'', Vol. 14, Issue 3, September 1977, p. 10</ref>


A leading characteristic of Cavarnali's own Yesenianism was a near-complete absence of political undertones. As noted by ''Dobrudzhanski Glas'', Cavarnali's poetry was unlike that of his Bulgarian Romanian peers in that it was "almost devoid of social sentiments and themes".<ref name="nikolov"/> According to Călinescu, ''Poesii'' should be regarded as a work of nostalgia for the "simple and narrow universe" of his rural childhood.<ref name="Călinescu, p. 941">Călinescu, p. 941</ref> The landscape he pines for is the ] with its "coarse flat plains"—Cavarnali specifically instructed men not to seek their love "where the cherry-trees blossom".<ref name="manu"/> This "Yesenian model of 'the uprooted'" is described by literary historian ] as introduced to Romanian poetry by three Bessarabians: Cavarnali, Nencev, and ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 124</ref> Its recurrence led some reviewers to question whether Cavarnali was not in fact a traditionalist. In a 1935 piece, modernist author ] saw Cavarnali as one of the poets ultimately emerging from the bucolic school of '']'', though one "by no means untalented".<ref name="mseb1934"/> Among the traditionalists, ] simply noted that, unlike Stamatu, Jebeleanu and Vrânceanu, "Vladimir Cavarnali is no poet".<ref>], "Poemele lui Dragoș Vrânceanu", in '']'', June 26, 1934, p. 2</ref> A leading characteristic of Cavarnali's own Yesenianism was a near-complete absence of political undertones. As noted by ''Dobrudzhanski Glas'', Cavarnali's poetry was unlike that of his Bulgarian Romanian peers in that it was "almost devoid of social sentiments and themes".<ref name="nikolov"/> According to Călinescu, ''Poesii'' should be regarded as a work of nostalgia for the "simple and narrow universe" of his rural childhood.<ref name="Călinescu, p. 941">Călinescu, p. 941</ref> The landscape he pines for is the ] with its "coarse flat plains"—Cavarnali specifically instructed men not to seek their love "where the cherry-trees blossom".<ref name="manu"/> This "Yesenian model of 'the uprooted'" is described by literary historian ] as introduced to Romanian poetry by three Bessarabians: Cavarnali, Nencev, and ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), p. 124</ref> Its recurrence led some reviewers to question whether Cavarnali was not in fact a traditionalist. In a 1935 piece, modernist author ] saw Cavarnali as one of the poets ultimately emerging from the bucolic school of '']'', though one "by no means untalented".<ref name="mseb1934"/> Among the traditionalists, ] simply noted that, unlike Stamatu, Jebeleanu and Vrânceanu, "Vladimir Cavarnali is no poet".<ref>], "Poemele lui Dragoș Vrânceanu", in '']'', 26 June 1934, p. 2</ref>


In his second creative period, and especially during his time at ''Viața Basarabiei'', Cavarnali was explicitly radical for his regional context—with Costenco, Nencev, ], an ], he sought a "new spirituality" deriding the "has-beens", including Halippa, ], ], and ].<ref>Burlacu (2020), p. 65</ref> ''Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă'' advertised itself as containing "genius poems, fresh poems" composed on a "mad lyre"—though, Călinescu argues, this was not the case: "the lyrics are in a minor tone, without precise originality, with some light touches from the weeping of ]".<ref name="Călinescu, p. 941"/> Commentators such as Burlacu and Costenco were more welcoming, with the former noting that the volume was veering into ] and ], with echoes from ], ], and especially ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), pp. 125–126</ref> Costenco was enthusiastic about Cavarnali's panegyric to a "tragic man", a "]" that was also the "Bessarabian soul". He viewed ''Răsadul'' as forming a singular poetic cycle, with themes that evoked both ]'s '']'' and ]'s ''Moïse''.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125">Burlacu (2010), p. 125</ref> Similar claims were made by scholar ], who saw Cavarnali's writings as documenting the "death of an era", with uncertainty about what would follow it.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125"/> One fragment (seen by Burlacu as quintessentially Expressionistic)<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125"/> is in part a ] to a ] woman of the steppe. It ends with the following poetic confession, about the impossibility of quitting modern life: In his second creative period, and especially during his time at ''Viața Basarabiei'', Cavarnali was explicitly radical for his regional context—with Costenco, Nencev, ], an ], he sought a "new spirituality" deriding the "has-beens", including Halippa, ], ], and ].<ref>Burlacu (2020), p. 65</ref> ''Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă'' advertised itself as containing "genius poems, fresh poems" composed on a "mad lyre"—though, Călinescu argues, this was not the case: "the lyrics are in a minor tone, without precise originality, with some light touches from the weeping of Camil Baltazar".<ref name="Călinescu, p. 941"/> Commentators such as Burlacu and Costenco were more welcoming, with the former noting that the volume was veering into ] and ], with echoes from ], ], and especially ].<ref>Burlacu (2010), pp. 125–126</ref> Costenco was enthusiastic about Cavarnali's panegyric to a "tragic man", a "]" that was also the "Bessarabian soul". He viewed ''Răsadul'' as forming a singular poetic cycle, with themes that evoked both ]'s '']'' and ]'s ''Moïse''.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125">Burlacu (2010), p. 125</ref> Similar claims were made by scholar ], who saw Cavarnali's writings as documenting the "death of an era", with uncertainty about what would follow it.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125"/> One fragment (seen by Burlacu as quintessentially Expressionistic)<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 125"/> is in part a ] to a ] woman of the steppe. It ends with the following poetic confession, about the impossibility of quitting modern life:
{{Verse translation| {{Verse translation|
{{lang|ro|Nu, tătăroaica mea, păr brun ca iadul! {{lang|ro|Nu, tătăroaica mea, păr brun ca iadul!
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Here to see the new era, bursting out of its iron peel...}} Here to see the new era, bursting out of its iron peel...}}


Burlacu suggests that, beyond its "barbarian" facade, ''Răsadul'' still cultivated the staples of ], ], and ]—and that the exploration of ancient myths, in the works of Cavarnali and his Bessarabian peers, corresponded to this subdued influence.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126">Burlacu (2010), p. 126</ref> His sister Ecaterina is similarly described as a "belated Symbolist" by critic Adrian Dinu Rachieru.<ref name="adrvoci"/> Vladimir's poems were still panned by the columnist of ''România'' daily, who noted of the samples published by ''Viața Basarabiei'' in 1938: "We would have wanted, or rather some have wanted, 'our own prodigals'. And one of them was Mr Vladimir Cavarnali, a young Bessarabian who entered Romanian poetry after a brief and callous reading from Sergei Yesenin. We have since found true poets to translate from Yesenin, and then, his original inspiration exposed, Mr Vladimir Cavarnali had lost his spirit never found himself a new Yesenin, why does that Chișinău magazine print him, with his deplorable spiritual dearth? For now, it's better to print nothing, rather than something by Cavarnali."<ref>"Pentru minte și inimă. Crestături", in ''România'', November 8, 1938, p. 2</ref> In similar vein, the traditionalists at '']'' derided their content as ''modernist-aiurist'' ("modernist-drivelist"),<ref name="inima"/> with an abundance of ''nimicuri poleite'' ("gilded trifles").<ref name="răscoala">G., "Poetul și răscoala", in '']'', Vol. XXXIII, Issue 143, July 1938, p. 1</ref> The group did concede that Cavarnali could still write "beautifully—when not simply acceptably", as with the sample: Burlacu suggests that, beyond its "barbarian" facade, ''Răsadul'' still cultivated the staples of ], ], and ]—and that the exploration of ancient myths, in the works of Cavarnali and his Bessarabian peers, corresponded to this subdued influence.<ref name="Burlacu 2010, p. 126">Burlacu (2010), p. 126</ref> His sister Ecaterina is similarly described as a "belated Symbolist" by critic Adrian Dinu Rachieru.<ref name="adrvoci"/> Vladimir's poems were still panned by the columnist of ''România'' daily, who noted of the samples published by ''Viața Basarabiei'' in 1938: "We would have wanted, or rather some have wanted, 'our own prodigals'. And one of them was Mr Vladimir Cavarnali, a young Bessarabian who entered Romanian poetry after a brief and callous reading from Sergei Yesenin. We have since found true poets to translate from Yesenin, and then, his original inspiration exposed, Mr Vladimir Cavarnali had lost his spirit never found himself a new Yesenin, why does that Chișinău magazine print him, with his deplorable spiritual dearth? For now, it's better to print nothing, rather than something by Cavarnali."<ref>"Pentru minte și inimă. Crestături", in ''România'', 8 November 1938, p. 2</ref> In similar vein, the traditionalists at '']'' derided their content as ''modernist-aiurist'' ("modernist-drivelist"),<ref name="inima"/> with an abundance of ''nimicuri poleite'' ("gilded trifles").<ref name="răscoala">G., "Poetul și răscoala", in '']'', Vol. XXXIII, Issue 143, July 1938, p. 1</ref> The group did concede that Cavarnali could still write "beautifully—when not simply acceptably", as with the sample:
{{Verse translation| {{Verse translation|
{{lang|ro|În slovele mele cântă toate miracolele lumii, {{lang|ro|În slovele mele cântă toate miracolele lumii,
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*], *],
**"Istoria literaturii. Vladimir Cavarnali: poezia faustică", in ''Metaliteratură'', Vol. X, Issues 1–4, 2010, pp.&nbsp;124–127. **"Istoria literaturii. Vladimir Cavarnali: poezia faustică", in ''Metaliteratură'', Vol. X, Issues 1–4, 2010, pp.&nbsp;124–127.
**"Mișcarea generaționistă în Basarabia interbelică", in ], Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), ''Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018'', pp.&nbsp;65–71. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. {{ISBN|978-9975-0-0338-4}} **"Mișcarea generaționistă în Basarabia interbelică", in ], Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), ''Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018'', pp.&nbsp;65–71. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. {{ISBN|978-9975-0-0338-4}}
*], ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent''. Bucharest: ], 1982. *], ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent''. Bucharest: ], 1982.
*Ion Constantin, Ion Negrei, Gheorghe Negru, ''Ion Pelivan, părinte al mișcării naționale din Basarabia''. Bucharest: Editura Biblioteca Bucureștilor, 2011. {{ISBN|978-606-8337-04-3}} *Ion Constantin, Ion Negrei, Gheorghe Negru, ''Ion Pelivan, părinte al mișcării naționale din Basarabia''. Bucharest: Editura Biblioteca Bucureștilor, 2011. {{ISBN|978-606-8337-04-3}}
*Romulus Demetrescu, "Cronica literară", in ''Pagini Literare'', Vol. VII, Issues 1–2, January–February 1940, pp.&nbsp;50–51. *Romulus Demetrescu, "Cronica literară", in ''Pagini Literare'', Vol. VII, Issues 1–2, January–February 1940, pp.&nbsp;50–51.
*Anatol Măcriș, ''Găgăuzii''. Bucharest: Editura Paco, 2008. *Anatol Măcriș, ''Găgăuzii''. Bucharest: Editura Paco, 2008.
*Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I. Pitești: ], 2004. {{ISBN|973-697-758-7}}
*Ioan Scurtu, "1950: Cine merge la Institutul francez să fie arestat, iar Zaharia Stancu să fie exclus din partid...", in '']'', January 1998, pp.&nbsp;43–45.


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Latest revision as of 21:19, 10 November 2024

Romanian writer and political figure (1910–1966)

Vladimir Cavarnali
Cavarnali at the Săptămîna Poeziei festival, October 1963Cavarnali at the Săptămîna Poeziei festival, October 1963
Born(1910-08-10)10 August 1910
Bolgrad, Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire
Died20 July 1966(1966-07-20) (aged 55)
Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania
Resting placeBellu Cemetery
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • editor
  • schoolteacher
  • politician
Period1927–1966
Genre
Literary movement

Vladimir or Vlad Cavarnali (also known as Cavarnalli or Kavarnali; Bulgarian: Владимир Каварнали; 10 August 1910 – 20 July 1966) was a Bessarabian-born Romanian poet, journalist, editor, and political figure. Though his ethnic background was Bessarabian Bulgarian and Gagauz, he embraced Romanian nationalism and would not approve of separation between the Romanian and Bessarabian literary traditions. In his twenties, he debuted in politics with the National Liberal Party, before switching to the dissident fascist Crusade of Romanianism, and then to the far-right Romanian Front. By contrast, Cavarnali's poetic work was heavily indebted to the influence of Russian Symbolism, and especially to Sergei Yesenin—whose proletarian style he closely mirrored, after removing most of its political connotations. He was also a translator of Russian and more generally Slavic literature, earning praise for his version of Maxim Gorky's Mother.

Though he won the Romanian Royal Foundations' prize in 1934, Cavarnali was a divisive figure—particularly after embracing avant-garde aesthetics in his second (and final) volume, put out in 1939. He was still praised for his work as a cultural animator in his native town of Bolgrad, and especially for the unexpectedly high standards of his own literary journal, Moldavia. His career there was cut short by the Soviet Union's invasion of Bessarabia; Cavarnali may have spent the years 1940–1941 in dire conditions at Chișinău, and was apparently rescued when Bessarabia was retaken by Romania. He and his younger sister Ecaterina, herself a poet, eventually moved to Bucharest. As the war progressed, Cavarnali embraced left-wing and pro-Soviet views, and was eventually recovered as a poet and translator by the Soviet occupation forces, the Union of Communist Youth, and the Writers' Union of Romania; he was also an author and promoter of children's literature. The Romanian communist regime employed Cavarnali as a magazine editor and civil servant, but excluded him from the Workers' Party upon an ideological review in March 1950. He died in relative obscurity at the age of 55, and was survived by Ecaterina, wife of the communist playwright Mihail Davidoglu.

Biography

Early life and debut

Cavarnali was born a subject of the Russian Empire on 10 August 1910, in Bolgrad. This town was then in Izmailsky Uyezd, Bessarabia Governorate; the entire area, colloquially known as the Budjak and southern Bessarabia, is now included in Ukraine. Cavarnali, the son of Hristofor and Varvara, is generally seen as a member of the local Bulgarian community; researchers Eleonora Hotineanu and Anatol Măcriș note that he was of mixed Bulgarian–Gagauz ethnicity, with Măcriș including him on a list of "Gagauz diaspora in Bessarabia". The surname he and his family used is a variant of the Gagauzian Kavarnalı, meaning "Kavarnian". As noted by the literary scholar George Călinescu, various of Cavarnali's poems attest to his "Slavic" origin, calling Romania "my new motherland"; such pieces also suggest that his father was a farrier who owned a specialized shop. Bolgrad and the rest of Bessarabia were indeed only united with Romania in 1918, when Cavarnali was aged 7 (his sister, Ecaterina, was born that same year). In a 1936 article, Vladimir took pride in noting that, unlike the old Bessarabian elites, he had not been educated by the Tsarist autocracy. His cultural formation in Greater Romania was a "wall separates us, as hostile neighbors".

Cavarnali studied locally, graduating from the Bolgrad lyceum; during the graduation ceremony of July 1927 (when he was still in grade seven of eight), he recited two of his own poems. He then attended the University of Bucharest (1928–1931), taking a degree in philosophy and letters (1932). Cavarnali returned to the Budjak as a schoolteacher, first at Chilia (to 1933), and then at Bolgrad (to June 1940). Reportedly he became a published poet in 1928, when his work was first featured in Romanian periodicals. In February 1934, he and Matei Alexandrescu established the "intellectual group" Litere ("Letters"), which put out a bimonthly of the same title from its headquarters on Popa Tatu Street 14, Bucharest. Its stated mission was to combat "the anarchy one finds in contemporary literature".

Cavarnali's first collection of verse, titled Poesii ("Poems"), was submitted for review to the Royal Foundations that same year, upon being recommended by novelist Mircea Eliade. It won him the Foundations' special prize for "young unpublished authors", which he shared with Emil Cioran, Eugène Ionesco, Eugen Jebeleanu, Constantin Noica, Horia Stamatu, and Dragoș Vrânceanu. Later in 1934, Poesii appeared as a booklet with Editura Fundațiilor Regale of Bucharest. Among the newspapers which welcomed this contribution was the Bulgarian Romanian Dobrudzhanski Glas, which spoke of "our compatriot Vladimir Cavarnali" as a "gentle and unique talent". His debut was closely followed by that of his sister. A member of Teodor Nencev's literary salon, she appeared in print with poems rated as "beautiful and graceful" by Măcriș.

Cavarnali in 1935

Young Cavarnali embarked on a political career with the National Liberal Party (PNL), joining its chapter in Ismail County. On 2 December 1934, he was voted into the PNL county-level political council, which was presided upon by Sergiu Dimitriu. The following year, he joined the editorial staff of Bugeacul, a literary review from his native town. A while afterward, he split with mainstream politics and joined Mihai Stelescu's Crusade of Romanianism—originally a breakaway faction of the far-right Iron Guard, it was established as a more left-leaning, "Social Fascist" party, combining Romanian nationalism with "social aspirations". In May 1935, he had also joined Stelescu and Alexandru Talex's cultural society, which cultivated the memory of Crusade sympathizer Panait Istrati. By January 1936, Cavarnali was working for the Crusade's eponymous magazine as a correspondent in Ismail.

Magazine founder and wartime hiatus

Cavarnali later served as chairman of the Crusade sections in southern Bessarabia, but quit the party on 10 September 1936, due to ideological disagreements with its new leadership. One of his last contributions for that group's paper was an homage to the left-wing intellectual Constantin Stere, whom Cavarnali described as a victim of a "poisonous, ruinous nationalism", and of attacks mounted by "the illiterate". That same month, Viața Basarabiei published an article of his in which he criticized the regional schisms within Romanian nationalism, detailing the "extremely painful" discovery he and other Bessarabians had made—namely, that intellectuals from the Old Kingdom viewed them as structurally different. By April 1937, Cavarnali had joined another far-right group, the Romanian Front, speaking at its public gathering in Chilia. He had by then returned to Viața Basarabiei with an article which chided young Romanian writers for being more interested in joining the cultural bureaucracy than they were in struggling for literary recognition. After this polemical stance and his Crusader episode, Cavarnali was viewed with contempt by the Iron Guard, whose Buna Vestire daily deplored the absence of any Guardist literary club in Bessarabia. The region, it alleged, had been abandoned: "Mr Pan Halippa and other such quadrupeds lead its literary destinies, with a certain Vladimir Cavarnali, the passion of P. Comarnescu, meddling in like a cretin."

In early 1937, another Bolgrad lyceum professor, Gheorghe Bujoreanu, was putting out the literary magazine Familia Noastră ("Our Family"), which showcased literary pieces by his students. Cavarnali took over as its editor later in 1937, continuing for some three years, and was also head of his own magazine, Moldavia, in 1939–1940. The latter project, for which he partnered with Ioan St. Botez, drew acclaim from the Bucharest journal Viața Românească, which noted the "extraordinary phenomenon" of a quality magazine appearing out of a "rusty, sad, filthy town" in the Bessarabian provinces. The same merit was highlighted in Pagini Literare by critic Romulus Demetrescu, who noted that Cavarnali was producing poetry and journalism in a town "beset by mosquitos, by a tormenting silence, by Oriental filth, by misery." Moldavia carried Cavarnali's own musings about the state of poetry upon the start of World War II, as well as his renditions of Czech folklore (picked out from Bedřich Smetana, and translated with help from Franz Studeni). Moldavia ran alongside and against Bugeacul, which was then managed by Dragomir Petrescu and was committed to Bessarabian regionalism. In late 1939, Petrescu allowed Nencev to use Bugeacul for an editorial polemic. Nencev claimed that Cavarnali and Moldavia had displayed "ignorance toward Bessarabian literature and Bessarabian writers".

Cavarnali was also a regular contributor to journals put out elsewhere in Bessarabia, including Generația Nouă, Itinerar, and Pagini Basarabene (in addition to Viața Basarabiei), as well as a frequent traveler to the regional hub of Chișinău; in 1938, his work was also sampled by the modernist magazine of Brașov, Front Literar. A second volume of his poems was printed at Bolgrad in 1939, as Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă ("The Heart's Green Seedling Is Rained upon by the Stars Above"). The title is remembered for being unusually complicated in its cultural setting. He was newly married in August 1939, and had honeymooned at the Romanian Writers' Society retreat in Bușteni.

On 24–25 March 1940, Cavarnali was a Bolgrad delegate to the first congress of the Bessarabian Writers' Society (SSB), convened by Halippa in Chișinău. He was voted in as a member of the SSB executive committee. Also in early 1940, Bugeacul featured Cavarnali's biography of, and translation from, Yugoslav poet-diplomat Jovan Dučić. He completed a Romanian version of the Kalevala, which appeared in Prepoem magazine of Bucharest. Around June 1940, during the Soviet invasion of Bessarabia, Cavarnali was for a while considered missing. In August, the Commissariat for Refugees sent out notices asking him to contact the authorities. He lost all contact with Halippa, who later reported that Cavarnali, like Nencev and Costenco, had stayed behind in Chișinău. Cavarnali himself once gave some details on this period, informing fellow author Laurențiu Fulga that he had been stranded in Chișinău, stripped of his citizenship, and court-martialed (whether by the Romanians or by the Soviets), being in danger of starving to death. In December, he was listed among the contributors to a new Bessarabian magazine "of Romanian affirmation", called Estul ("The East").

In 1941, the Ion Antonescu regime sealed a Romanian alliance with the Axis Powers and joined in the anti-Soviet war, leading to the temporary recovery of Bessarabia; the Budjak was merged into the Bessarabia Governorate of Romania. The authorities found Cavarnali and reinstated him, whereupon he joined a circle of writers formed around Basarabia newspaper. On 28 March 1943, he participated in the "Glory to Bessarabia" event, organized by Gala Galaction and Viața Basarabiei at the Romanian Atheneum. From 1944 to 1947, having been displaced to Bucharest, Cavarnali worked as both a high school professor and a journalist, publishing new poems in the journal Orizonturi. In May 1944, Viața Basarabiei reported that he was "gravely ill." He achieved recognition as a translator from the Russian classics, with versions of Maxim Gorky's Mother—probably completed in the mid-1940s, and rated by critic Emil Manu as "the most beautiful Romanian version" of that novel—and Nikolai Gogol's Marriage.

Communist turn

Cover of the May Day (and Easter) 1948 issue of Licurici

A leftward regime change was inaugurated by the August 1944 coup, which also brought Romania itself under a Soviet occupation. On May Day 1945, Scînteia Tineretului, put out by the Union of Communist Youth, hosted one of Cavarnali's poems; the same year, he published a version of Mikhail A. Bulatov's Geese-Swans, with its retelling of Russian folklore. Cavarnali also founded the children's magazine Înainte ("Forward"), which published its first issue on 5 October 1945. It was positively reviewed by the Romanian Communist Party paper, Scînteia: "Aimed at all Romanian children, Înainte seeks to cultivate their artistic taste, to awaken their inventive spirit, to guide them toward the finer occupations that life has to offer, while also promoting spiritual recreation." By January 1946, Înainte was receiving contributions from Eusebiu Camilar, Mihail Cruceanu, Cezar Petrescu, Ion Popescu-Puțuri, and Mihail Sadoveanu; by June, it had also featured stories by Geo Dumitrescu and translations from Pavel Bazhov. Cavarnali was for a while a teacher of Romanian literature and history at the Boys' School in Giurgiu, but, by 1947, had been moved back to the capital as a substitute teacher in Gheorghe Șincai National College. In August of that year, he achieved tenure, after passing his examination with top marks.

In late 1947, the National Theater Bucharest used Cavarnali's translation for its highly successful production of Marriage, with Victor Bumbești as a director. His version of Mother appeared around the same time, with drawings by Jules Perahim; it had two more editions by 1950. In December 1947, when he became tenured at Matei Basarab National College, his rendition of a poem by the Soviet Kirghiz Temirkul Umetaliev appeared in Graiul Nou, the Soviet–Romanian propaganda magazine. Upon the establishment of a communist regime later that month, Cavarnali began working as an editor for another young reader's publication, Licurici ("Firefly"); his colleagues there included Mihai Stoian, who had grown up reading Înainte, and who describes Cavarnali as one whose leading trait was "compassion", and who "never dared burden anyone with his presence." In January 1949, he was assigned to the Public Education Ministry as a reviewer in the Youth Education Directorate, part of a team led by Amos Bradu. In March 1949, he was a rapporteur at the National Writers' Conference, which established a Writers' Union of Romania (USR)—he appeared there alongside Cruceanu, Mihail Davidoglu, Victor Eftimiu, Ioanichie Olteanu, Sașa Pană, Cicerone Theodorescu, and Haralamb Zincă. His sister had followed him to Bucharest, where she became Davidoglu's wife.

Cavarnali had been received into the Communist Party (known then as "Workers' Party"), but, on 22 March 1950, found himself targeted by a review commission, and recommended for exclusion (alongside fellow writers Camilar, Theodorescu, Lucia Demetrius, Mihu Dragomir, Coca Farago, Alexandru Kirițescu, Sanda Movilă, Ioana Postelnicu, Zaharia Stancu, and Victor Tulbure). The decision was carried through, but, following an intercession on their behalf by communist potentate Ana Pauker, Cavarnali and the others were not exposed to further persecution; instead, they had to commit to a series of discussion with ideologists Miron Constantinescu and Leonte Răutu, so that they "do not lose hope". Cavarnali's subsequent focus on translation work produced editions of Valentina Oseyeva's Vassiok Trubachov and His Comrades (in 1950), Anna Brodele's Marta (in 1954), and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin's In the World of Moderation and Precision (in 1964).

The poet's final assignments were as a cultural adviser for the Education Ministry, as well as a staff worker for Gazeta Literară and Albina, dedicated mainly to the promotion of literary education for the youth. At Gazeta, he took nominal charge of the poetry section, alongside authors such as Camil Baltazar, Nicolae Labiș, and Alexandru Andrițoiu. As the latter noted in a 1976 interview, the job was frustrating: "we were entirely useless , everything was done over our heads." Cavarnali attended the USR's Săptămîna Poeziei festival at Constanța in late 1963, being billed alongside Theodorescu, Vlaicu Bârna, Aurel Gurghianu, and Adrian Maniu. "After great suffering", Cavarnali died in Bucharest on 20 July 1966, and was buried in the city's Bellu Cemetery. Literary critic and historian Nicolae Manolescu (who was in his twenties when Cavarnali died), notes that many, including himself, were no longer aware that he and other interwar authors had even survived into the 1960s. It was only in the late 1990s, upon reading a biographical dictionary compiled by Mircea Zaciu, when he realized that he and Cavarnali had been contemporaries. Ecaterina outlived her brother by more than 30 years, her first and only published volume appearing in Romania in 1998, when she was aged 80.

Work

Vladimir Cavarnali is largely seen as a Romanian disciple of Russian Symbolism, and more generally the Russian avant-garde; an often cited precursor and model is Sergei Yesenin (from whose works he translated in the 1930s). Călinescu describes Cavarnalian poetry as essentially "proletarian" and "diurnal", bridging the gap between Yesenin and the modern poets of Transylvania. He also notes the activity of three "Yesenians" in modern Romanian literature—the other two being George Lesnea and Virgil Carianopol. A similar point is made by Manu, who describes Cavarnali as "one who became a Yesenian through direct influence", while Carianopol's debt to Russian Symbolism was "coincidental". Manu also identifies Cavarnali's other mentors as Tudor Arghezi and Alexander Blok, both of whom are referenced by name, alongside Yesenin, in one of the Poesii. The poet himself once commented on the works of his fellow Yesenian Lesnea, highlighting their freshness.

A leading characteristic of Cavarnali's own Yesenianism was a near-complete absence of political undertones. As noted by Dobrudzhanski Glas, Cavarnali's poetry was unlike that of his Bulgarian Romanian peers in that it was "almost devoid of social sentiments and themes". According to Călinescu, Poesii should be regarded as a work of nostalgia for the "simple and narrow universe" of his rural childhood. The landscape he pines for is the Budjak Steppe with its "coarse flat plains"—Cavarnali specifically instructed men not to seek their love "where the cherry-trees blossom". This "Yesenian model of 'the uprooted'" is described by literary historian Alexandru Burlacu as introduced to Romanian poetry by three Bessarabians: Cavarnali, Nencev, and Nicolai Costenco. Its recurrence led some reviewers to question whether Cavarnali was not in fact a traditionalist. In a 1935 piece, modernist author Mihail Sebastian saw Cavarnali as one of the poets ultimately emerging from the bucolic school of Sămănătorul, though one "by no means untalented". Among the traditionalists, Mircea Streinul simply noted that, unlike Stamatu, Jebeleanu and Vrânceanu, "Vladimir Cavarnali is no poet".

In his second creative period, and especially during his time at Viața Basarabiei, Cavarnali was explicitly radical for his regional context—with Costenco, Nencev, Bogdan Istru, an Sergiu Matei Nica, he sought a "new spirituality" deriding the "has-beens", including Halippa, Ion Buzdugan, Ștefan Ciobanu, and Gheorghe V. Madan. Răsadul verde al inimii stelele de sus îl plouă advertised itself as containing "genius poems, fresh poems" composed on a "mad lyre"—though, Călinescu argues, this was not the case: "the lyrics are in a minor tone, without precise originality, with some light touches from the weeping of Camil Baltazar". Commentators such as Burlacu and Costenco were more welcoming, with the former noting that the volume was veering into Expressionism and Futurism, with echoes from Imagism, Charles Baudelaire, and especially Walt Whitman. Costenco was enthusiastic about Cavarnali's panegyric to a "tragic man", a "Prometheus" that was also the "Bessarabian soul". He viewed Răsadul as forming a singular poetic cycle, with themes that evoked both Mihai Eminescu's Luceafărul and Alfred de Vigny's Moïse. Similar claims were made by scholar George Meniuc, who saw Cavarnali's writings as documenting the "death of an era", with uncertainty about what would follow it. One fragment (seen by Burlacu as quintessentially Expressionistic) is in part a love poem to a Nogai Tatar woman of the steppe. It ends with the following poetic confession, about the impossibility of quitting modern life:

Nu, tătăroaica mea, păr brun ca iadul!
Niciodată rândunelele n-au iernat în locurile noastre.
Păstrează-te, fecioară, cum în crivăț, frunza, bradul,
Cum stelele se-nverșunează sus, în locuința lor
albastră!
Eu sunt cu orfanii pe drumurile culturii...
În căruțe de foc alerg să-nfrățesc bucuria cu oțelul.
Sunt fiul naturii și voievodul orașelor
Și ascult cum plesnește-n epoca nouă fierul...

No, Tatar girl, girl with hair black as graves!
Never have swallows wintered in our land.
Preserve thyself, o virgin, like firs when the wind raves,
Like stars that save themselves, in their abode
of blue!
I'll be out with my orphans, on roads that lead to culture...
In chariots of fire, to temper joy with steel.
Well I, I am a son of nature, and a prince of the city,
Here to see the new era, bursting out of its iron peel...

Burlacu suggests that, beyond its "barbarian" facade, Răsadul still cultivated the staples of Romanian Symbolism, Aestheticism, and Parnassianism—and that the exploration of ancient myths, in the works of Cavarnali and his Bessarabian peers, corresponded to this subdued influence. His sister Ecaterina is similarly described as a "belated Symbolist" by critic Adrian Dinu Rachieru. Vladimir's poems were still panned by the columnist of România daily, who noted of the samples published by Viața Basarabiei in 1938: "We would have wanted, or rather some have wanted, 'our own prodigals'. And one of them was Mr Vladimir Cavarnali, a young Bessarabian who entered Romanian poetry after a brief and callous reading from Sergei Yesenin. We have since found true poets to translate from Yesenin, and then, his original inspiration exposed, Mr Vladimir Cavarnali had lost his spirit never found himself a new Yesenin, why does that Chișinău magazine print him, with his deplorable spiritual dearth? For now, it's better to print nothing, rather than something by Cavarnali." In similar vein, the traditionalists at Neamul Românesc derided their content as modernist-aiurist ("modernist-drivelist"), with an abundance of nimicuri poleite ("gilded trifles"). The group did concede that Cavarnali could still write "beautifully—when not simply acceptably", as with the sample:

În slovele mele cântă toate miracolele lumii,
De aceea luminez cu zenitul în tărie,
Ca un basm al unor veșnice primăveri,
Hărzit cu triluri primitive de ciocârlie.

All the world's wonders are captured in my verse,
As the light of a zenith colors me to my fill,
Like a fairy-tale of springs carrying on forever,
Endowed by a lark with her primitive trill.

Demetrescu described the volume as a "poetic garden" still riddled with "weeds", advising Cavarnali to reduce the weight of his self-referential poetry in any future works. With an article he penned in Moldavia shortly after, Cavarnali stirred controversy by arguing that there was no point to writing poetry in the "era of confusion" brought on by the European war; he contended that poets would have done best to bask in their own solitude. In a March 1944 issue of Gândirea, poet-theorist Nichifor Crainic looked back on Cavarnali as having "a certain touch, yet not finding a precise contour in his poetic inclinations." Crainic reserved his praise for more explicitly nationalist poets, a generation "molded by the school of the motherland", with Nica as a leading exponent. Cavarnali's postwar reemergence was as a communist poet: as Manu notes, especially in 1955–1958 he discarded the "desolation and bucolic sentimentalism" of his interwar contributions, making a poetic subject from his "certified convictions".

Notes

  1. Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Sasu, p. 287
  2. ^ Sasu, p. 287
  3. ^ (in Bulgarian) Georgi N. Nikolov, Български автори в Румъния – кратък обзор, Bulgarian Writers' Union site, 10 May 2021
  4. ^ Ivan Duminică, "Bulgarii Chișinăului interbelic (1918–1940)", in Sergiu Musteață, Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018, p. 245. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. ISBN 978-9975-0-0338-4
  5. Diana Vrabie, "Recuperări literare: Ioan Sulacov – scriitorul bolgrădean", in Revista Română, Vol. XXII, Issue 4, Winter 2016, p. 31
  6. Măcriș, pp. 104, 128–129
  7. Ilie Iulian Mitran, "Gagauzian Onomastics: Mapping Cultural Hallmarks through Names, Surnames and Orthodoxy", in Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 58, 59
  8. Burlacu (2010), p. 124; Călinescu, p. 941
  9. ^ Adrian Dinu Rachieru, "Interbelicul basarabean și poezia 'de tranziție' (Voci feminine)", in Revista de Lingvistică și Știință Literară, Issues 3–4, 2008, p. 35
  10. ^ Măcriș, p. 129
  11. Burlacu (2020), pp. 68–69
  12. ^ Burlacu (2010), p. 126
  13. "Universul în țară. Bolgrad", in Universul, 11 July 1927, p. 6
  14. ^ Mihai Stoian, "Evocare tîrzie", in Gazeta Literară, Vol. XIII, Issue 31, August 1966, p. 7
  15. "Gruparea intelectuală 'Litere'", in Lupta, 23 February 1934, p. 2
  16. "Ancheta revistei Hyperion – Literatura română dintre Prut și Nistru, la un secol de la Marea Unire", in Hyperion, Vol. 36, Issues 1–3, 2018, p. 23
  17. Burlacu (2010), pp. 126–127
  18. ^ Mihail Sebastian, "Literatura în anul 1934", in Rampa, 2 January 1935, p. 4
  19. Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Călinescu, p. 1029
  20. "Congresul organizației Național-liberale din jud. Ismail — Ratificarea d-lui Sergiu Dimitriu ca șef al organizației — Alegerea comitetului județean și a delegației permanente", in Viitorul, 14 December 1934, p. 2
  21. Y., "Political Mosaic. The Murder of Stelescu", in Danubian Review, Vol. IV, Issue 3, August 1936, p. 12
  22. Constantin Karadja, "Muncă–cinste–adevăr. Ideologie Cruciată", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. II, Issue 91, 25 October 1936, p. 2
  23. "Constituirea societății 'Prietenii lui Panait Istrati'", in Lumea, 29 May 1935, p. 2
  24. "Corespondenții Cruciadei din provincie", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. II, Issue 55, 2 January 1936, p. 4
  25. "Dela Cruciada Românismului", in Adevărul, 10 September 1936, p. 7
  26. "Prăbușirea uriașului de la Bucov", in Viața Basarabiei, Vol. V, Issue 9, September 1936, pp. 92–93
  27. Ana Bantoș, "Regionalismul și societatea comunicării", in Limba Română, Vol. XI, Issues 4–8, 2001, pp. 194–195
  28. "Viața politică. O mare întrunire a Frontului Românesc din Chilia-Nouă", in Buna Vestire, 16 April 1937, p. 3
  29. "Șantier literar. Datoria scriitorilor tineri", in Spiritul Satanei în Teleorman, Vol. I, Issue 1, 15 March 1935, p. 3
  30. "Cultură, Oameni, Fapte. Cuiburi de lumină. Literatura basarabeană", in Buna Vestire, 7 April 1937, p. 2
  31. "Ce se petrece în Basarabia. Bolgradul cultural", in Gazeta Basarabiei, 5 February 1937, p. 3
  32. Burlacu (2010), p. 127
  33. ^ "Revista Revistelor. Moldavia, Bolgrad. Anul I, Nr. 2—3", in Viața Românească, Vol. XXXI, Issue 12, December 1939, p. 125
  34. Demetrescu, p. 50
  35. Mihai Cimpoi, "Un scriitor dâmbovițean necunoscut: Dragomir Petrescu", in Curier. Revistă de Cultură și Bibliologie, Vol. XIII, Issue 1, 2006, p. 38
  36. Burlacu 2010, p. 127; Sasu, p. 287
  37. ^ "Un poet cu inima devastată: Mi-e devastată inima", in Neamul Românesc, Vol. XXXIII, Issue 200, September 1938, p. 1
  38. Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Călinescu, p. 1029
  39. Burlacu (2010), p. 125; Călinescu, p. 941
  40. Teodor Scarlat, "Simple însemnări la 882,83 m. altitudine — Reportaj din Căminul Scriitorilor, Bușteni", in Universul Literar, Vol. XLVIII, Issue 32, August 1939, p. 8
  41. Constantin et al., pp. 264–265. See also Sasu, p. 287
  42. "Ne scriu din Basarabia", in Neamul Românesc, Vol. XXXV, Issue 96, April 1940, p. 2
  43. Augustin Pop, Liliana Burlacu, "Prepoem", in Dicționarul general al literaturii române. P/R, p. 653. Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2016. ISBN 973-637-138-7
  44. "Informațiuni", in România, 21 August 1940, p. 10
  45. Constantin et al., pp. 300–301
  46. ^ Laurențiu Fulga, "Orașul dela răsărit", in Universul Literar, Vol. LI, Issue 27, July 1942, p. 4
  47. "O nouă revistă", in Curentul, 18 December 1940, p. 8
  48. "'Slăvirea Basarabiei'", in Curentul, 28 March 1943, p. 6
  49. Burlacu (2010), p. 127. See also Măcriș, p. 129
  50. V. B., "Cronica. Insemnări. Vladimir Cavarnali", in Viața Basarabiei, p. 324
  51. Brăgaru, p. 195
  52. ^ Emil Manu, "Dicționar de istorie literară contemporană. Addenda. Vladimir Cavarnali", in Luceafărul, Vol. IX, Issue 48, November 1966, p. 7
  53. ^ Ioan Massoff, Teatrul românesc: privire istorică. Vol. VIII: Teatrul românesc în perioada 1940—1950, p. 457. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1981
  54. "Revista Revistelor. 1 Mai 1945", in Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Vol. XII, Issue 5, May 1945, p. 458
  55. "Artă și cultură. Carnet. Literatura pentru copii", in Ultima Oră, 1 September 1945, p. 2; Sasu, pp. 287–288
  56. "Informații", in Scînteia, 3 October 1945, p. 5
  57. ^ "Note. Înainte, revista pionierilor", in Scînteia, 13 January 1946, p. 2
  58. "Informații. Bibliografie", in Universul, 5 June 1946, p. 4
  59. "Decrete regale. Ministerul Educației Naționale", in Monitorul Oficial, 1 August 1947, p. 6792
  60. "Cărți noui", in Timpul, 20 December 1947, p. 2
  61. Sasu, p. 288
  62. "Deciziuni. Ministerul Educației Naționale. A. Profesori", in Monitorul Oficial, 21 January 1948, p. 503
  63. Brăgaru, pp. 194–195, 197
  64. "Deciziuni. Ministerul Învățământului Public", in Monitorul Oficial, 20 January 1949, p. 658
  65. "Inființarea Uniunii Scriitorilor din R.P.R. Vechea Societate a Scriitorilor a fost desființată. Incheierea lucrărilor Conferinței pe țară a scriitorilor. Alegerea noului comitet de conducere", in Adevărul, 28 March 1949, p. 3
  66. Scurtu, pp. 44–45
  67. Scurtu, pp. 44–45
  68. Sasu, pp. 287, 288
  69. Dorin Tudoran, Alexandru Andrițoiu, "Nicolae Labiș. Curatul sunet al perfecțiunii. '...El a întins acel ligament de lumină, fără de care poeții de azi nu s-ar fi împlinit atît de repede și de pregnant'", in Luceafărul, Vol. XIX, Issue 51, December 1976, p. 2
  70. Negoiță Irimie, "Poetul Aurel Gurghianu – un Orfeu încărunțit", in Cuvântul Liber, 15 June 1999, p. 6
  71. "Mica publicitate. Anunțuri de familie", in România Liberă, 19 July 1966, p. 2. See also Burlacu (2010), p. 127; Sasu, p. 287
  72. Nicolae Manolescu, "Necunoscuții noștri contemporani", in România Literară, Issues 13–14/1999, p. 1
  73. Călinescu, pp. 940–941. See also Brăgaru, p. 195; Burlacu (2010), p. 124
  74. Emil Manu, "Viața cărților. Poezia. Elegia stenică", in Luceafărul, Vol. XXII, Issue 33, August 1979, p. 2
  75. C. Trandafir, "Varietăți critice. George Lesnea: Poeme", in Ateneu, Vol. 14, Issue 3, September 1977, p. 10
  76. ^ Călinescu, p. 941
  77. Burlacu (2010), p. 124
  78. Mircea Streinul, "Poemele lui Dragoș Vrânceanu", in Glasul Bucovinei, 26 June 1934, p. 2
  79. Burlacu (2020), p. 65
  80. Burlacu (2010), pp. 125–126
  81. ^ Burlacu (2010), p. 125
  82. "Pentru minte și inimă. Crestături", in România, 8 November 1938, p. 2
  83. ^ G., "Poetul și răscoala", in Neamul Românesc, Vol. XXXIII, Issue 143, July 1938, p. 1
  84. Demetrescu, pp. 50–51
  85. Alexandru Burlacu, "Sergiu Matei Nica, exilat în poezie", in Philologia, Vol. LXIV, Issue 1, January–April 2022, p. 9

References

  • Carmen Brăgaru, "Tălmăcitori în Graiul Nou", in Revista de Istorie și Teorie Literară, Vol. XIII, Issues 1–4, 2019, pp. 191–198.
  • Alexandru Burlacu,
    • "Istoria literaturii. Vladimir Cavarnali: poezia faustică", in Metaliteratură, Vol. X, Issues 1–4, 2010, pp. 124–127.
    • "Mișcarea generaționistă în Basarabia interbelică", in Sergiu Musteață, Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018, pp. 65–71. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. ISBN 978-9975-0-0338-4
  • George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1982.
  • Ion Constantin, Ion Negrei, Gheorghe Negru, Ion Pelivan, părinte al mișcării naționale din Basarabia. Bucharest: Editura Biblioteca Bucureștilor, 2011. ISBN 978-606-8337-04-3
  • Romulus Demetrescu, "Cronica literară", in Pagini Literare, Vol. VII, Issues 1–2, January–February 1940, pp. 50–51.
  • Anatol Măcriș, Găgăuzii. Bucharest: Editura Paco, 2008.
  • Aurel Sasu (ed.), Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, Vol. I. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7
  • Ioan Scurtu, "1950: Cine merge la Institutul francez să fie arestat, iar Zaharia Stancu să fie exclus din partid...", in Magazin Istoric, January 1998, pp. 43–45.
Romanian modernist literature in World War II
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