ALECSANDRI, or ALEXANDR1, VASILE (1821-f89o)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 539 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ALECSANDRI, or ALEXANDR1, VASILE (1821-f89o) , Rumanian lyric poet, was born at Bacau in Moldavia on the 21st off July 1821. His father was the Spatar Alecsandri, of Jewish and Italian origin, who had settled in Moldavia in the 18th century. Vasile was educated first in

Jassy

JASSY (Iafit)

and afterwards (1834-1839) in Paris. In 1839 he started on' a

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

journey through the Carpathian Mountains, and was the first to collect Rumanian popular songs, no doubt influenced by Western examples. He first published his collection in 1844. His

Dome

DOME (Lat domus,
house
- HOUSE
- HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
  Gothic
  - GOTHIC
  it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)
; Ital. duomo,
cathedral
- CATHEDRAL
)

i Lacrimioard, lyrical poems, appeared at Paris in 1852, and in 1852--1853 he produced at

Jassy

JASSY (Iafit)

a fuller collection of popular

ballads

BALLADS

and songs: He then adapted some French plays for the newly founded Rumanian theatre, and wrote some

original

ORIGINAL

pieces. His connexion with the revolutionary

movement

MOVEMENT

of 1848 compelled him to seek shelter in the west of Europe, and he visited England, where a beautifully illuminated edition of his poems was printed in the

original

ORIGINAL

Rumanian language. In 1867 he published some fugitive pieces, written in a lighter vein, and entitled Pastele; these were followed in 1871 by the Legende of similar character. More serious are his dramatic writings which began with Despot Veda and culminated in Ovid. In later life Alecsandri took an active part in politics; he became minister for foreign affairs from 1859 to 186o, and in r885 was appointed Rumhnian minister in Paris. He died on the 26th of August 1890 at his country seat, Mircesti. His best title to fame consists in the fact that he
gave the first impetus to the collection of Rumanian popular songs and first drew attention to their inimitable charm.
See L. Sainsanu, Autorii Romani modern (1891), pp. 90 and 318. A complete edition of Alecsandri's writings in nine volumes was published at

Bucharest

BUCHAREST (Bucuresci)

in 1875 seq. (M. G.)

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