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'''Leon Feraru''' (born '''Leon Enselberg''',<ref name="sasu">Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I, p. 580. Pitești: [[Editura Paralela 45]], 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7</ref> also credited as '''L. Schmidt''';<ref>Călinescu, p. 1040</ref> 1887 – 1961) was a [[Romania]]n and [[United States|American]] poet, literary historian and translator.
'''Leon Feraru''' (born '''Leon Enselberg''',<ref name="sasu">Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I, p. 580. Pitești: [[Editura Paralela 45]], 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7</ref> also credited as '''L. Schmidt''';<ref>Călinescu, p. 1040</ref> 1887 – 1961) was a [[Romania]]n and [[United States|American]] poet, literary historian and translator.


Born in [[Brăila]] into a modest [[Romanian Jews|Jewish]] family, his father was an ironworker (''fierar''), the origin of his pseudonym.<ref name="sasu"/> He attended primary and high school in his native city, followed by a literature and law degree from the [[University of Montpellier]], making his published debut in [[Saniel Gossman]]'s Jewish review, ''Lumea Israelită''; other reviews that ran his work included ''[[Viața Românească]]'', ''Viața Literară și Artistică'', ''Ecoul. Conservatorul Brăilei'', ''Curierul'', ''[[Flacăra]]'', ''[[Noua Revistă Română]]'', ''[[Convorbiri Critice]]'', ''[[Vieața Nouă]]'', ''Pessach'', ''Pagini Libere'', ''[[Adevărul Literar și Artistic]]'', and ''Tânărul Evreu''.<ref name="sasu"/><ref>S. Podoleanu, ''60 scriitori români de origină evreească'', Vol. I, p. 107. Bucharest: Slova, A. Feller, [1935]. {{OCLC|40106291}}</ref> Pen names he used in these publications were Ola Canta (shared with [[Dimitrie Anghel]]), H. Libanon and L. Feru.<ref name="sasu"/>
Born in [[Brăila]] into a modest [[Romanian Jews|Jewish]] family, his father was an ironworker (''fierar''), the origin of his pseudonym.<ref name="sasu"/> He attended primary and high school in his native city, followed by a literature and law degree from the [[University of Montpellier]], making his published debut in [[Saniel Gossman]]'s Jewish review, ''Lumea Israelită''.<ref name="sasu"/><ref name="spod107">S. Podoleanu, ''60 scriitori români de origină evreească'', Vol. I, p. 107. Bucharest: Slova, A. Feller, [1935]. {{OCLC|40106291}}</ref> In 1910–1912, his work was featured in two of the major [[Bucharest]] literary journals, ''[[Flacăra]]'' and ''[[Convorbiri Critice]]'', as well as in [[Al. T. Stamatiad]]'s ''Grădina Hesperidelor''.<ref>George Baiculescu, Georgeta Răduică, Neonila Onofrei, ''Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. II: Catalog alfabetic 1907–1918. Supliment 1790–1906'', pp. 139, 245, 307. Bucharest: [[Editura Academiei]], 1969</ref> Other reviews that ran his work included ''[[Viața Românească]]'', ''[[Noua Revistă Română]]'', ''[[Vieața Nouă]]'', ''Viața Literară și Artistică'', ''Ecoul'', ''Conservatorul Brăilei'', and [[Barbu Nemțeanu]]'s ''Pagini Libere''.<ref name="sasu"/><ref name="spod107"/> Pen names he used in these publications were Ola Canta (shared with [[Dimitrie Anghel]]), H. Libanon and L. Feru.<ref name="sasu"/>


Enselberg-Feraru was friends with [[Eugeniu Botez|Jean Bart]], [[Camil Baltazar]] and especially Anghel, with whom he collaborated on several poems (''Halucinații'', ''Orologiul'' and ''Vezuviul'').<ref name="sasu"/> By late 1912, he was a leading contributor to [[Nicolae Xenopol]]'s ''Țara Nouă''.<ref>{{ro icon}} Delaflămânzi, "Revista revistelor", in ''[[Universul Literar]]'', Nr. 12/1912, p. 4</ref> Following the anti-Semitic outcry that came about as a result of the staging of [[Ronetti Roman]]'s play ''Manasse'' and similar episodes, he emigrated to the United States in early 1913. In his adopted country, he became a constant promoter of Romanian culture, as confirmed by his correspondence and noted in the accounts of his contemporaries.<ref name="sasu"/>
Enselberg-Feraru was friends with [[Eugeniu Botez|Jean Bart]], [[Camil Baltazar]] and especially Anghel, with whom he collaborated on several poems (''Halucinații'', ''Orologiul'' and ''Vezuviul'').<ref name="sasu"/> By late 1912, he was a leading contributor to [[Nicolae Xenopol]]'s ''Țara Nouă''.<ref>{{ro icon}} Delaflămânzi, "Revista revistelor", in ''[[Universul Literar]]'', Nr. 12/1912, p. 4</ref> Following the anti-Semitic outcry that came about as a result of the staging of [[Ronetti Roman]]'s play ''Manasse'' and similar episodes, he emigrated to the United States in early 1913. In his adopted country, he became a constant promoter of Romanian culture, as confirmed by his correspondence and noted in the accounts of his contemporaries.<ref name="sasu"/>
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Initially working as an unskilled laborer,<ref name="sasu"/> he was in New York City in 1919, working on the [[Romanian American]] community press. In January 1920, he and Dion Moldovan were editorial secretaries at ''Steaua Noastră. Our Star'', Phillip Axelrad's self-proclaimed "Oldest Best and Most Popular Roumanian Weekly Newspaper in America".<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 899</ref> In March, Feraru and Moldovan issued their own ''România Nouă'', which only put out one issue.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 823</ref> Feraru eventually became a teaching assistant at the [[University of Toronto]]. He then was a professor of Romance languages and literature at [[Columbia University]] (1917–1927) and at [[Long Island University]] (1927–1947), where he chaired the foreign languages department for a time. He contributed to ''The Romanic Review'' and ''Rumanian Literary News'' (which he edited).<ref name="sasu"/>
Initially working as an unskilled laborer,<ref name="sasu"/> he was in New York City in 1919, working on the [[Romanian American]] community press. In January 1920, he and Dion Moldovan were editorial secretaries at ''Steaua Noastră. Our Star'', Phillip Axelrad's self-proclaimed "Oldest Best and Most Popular Roumanian Weekly Newspaper in America".<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 899</ref> In March, Feraru and Moldovan issued their own ''România Nouă'', which only put out one issue.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 823</ref> Feraru eventually became a teaching assistant at the [[University of Toronto]]. He then was a professor of Romance languages and literature at [[Columbia University]] (1917–1927) and at [[Long Island University]] (1927–1947), where he chaired the foreign languages department for a time. He contributed to ''The Romanic Review'' and ''Rumanian Literary News'' (which he edited).<ref name="sasu"/>


Briefly returning to Romania only in 1925,<ref name="sasu"/> his first book of poetry was ''Maghernița veche și alte versuri din anii tineri'' ("The Old Shanty and Other Verse of Youth"), put out by [[Cartea Românească]] of [[Bucharest]] in 1926. According to literary historian and critic [[George Călinescu]], the works fall into two separate categories: "moving" regrets for his native Romania, and samples of [[proletarian literature]], including an ode to the sound of hammers in industrial Brăila ("his most valid" poetry).<ref>Călinescu, p. 937</ref> During the early 1920s, Feraru was a contributor to ''Omul Liber'', a social-literary bimonthly edited by [[Ion Pas]].<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 679</ref> He was later featured in ''Cugetul Liber'', put out in Bucharest by Pas and [[Eugen Relgis]], his texts also published in the [[Union of Romanian Jews]] organ, ''Curierul Israelit''.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (2003), pp. 260–261, 277–278</ref> Feraru's work also appeared in literary newspapers such as ''Victoria'', ''Ateneul Literar'', ''Junimea Moldovei'', and ''Cafeneaua Politică și Literară''.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), pp. 165, 227; (2003), pp. 65, 200–201, 550, 1017</ref> His second and last book of Romanian verse came out in 1937 as ''Arabescuri'' ("Arabesques"), issued as a supplement by Pas' social democratic review ''[[Șantier]]''.<ref>Călinescu, p. 1029</ref>
Briefly returning to Romania only in 1925,<ref name="sasu"/> his first book of poetry was ''Maghernița veche și alte versuri din anii tineri'' ("The Old Shanty and Other Verse of Youth"), put out by [[Cartea Românească]] of Bucharest in 1926. According to literary historian and critic [[George Călinescu]], the works fall into two separate categories: "moving" regrets for his native Romania, and samples of [[proletarian literature]], including an ode to the sound of hammers in industrial Brăila ("his most valid" poetry).<ref>Călinescu, p. 937</ref> During the early 1920s, Feraru was a contributor to ''Omul Liber'', a social-literary bimonthly edited by [[Ion Pas]],<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), p. 679</ref> ''[[Adevărul Literar și Artistic]]'', ''Curierul'', ''Pessach'', ''Pagini Libere'', and ''Tânărul Evreu''.<ref name="sasu"/> He was later featured in ''Cugetul Liber'', put out in Bucharest by Pas and [[Eugen Relgis]], his texts also published in the [[Union of Romanian Jews]] organ, ''Curierul Israelit''.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (2003), pp. 260–261, 277–278</ref> Feraru's work was sampled in literary newspapers such as ''Victoria'', ''Ateneul Literar'', ''Junimea Moldovei'', and ''Cafeneaua Politică și Literară''.<ref>Desa ''et al.'' (1987), pp. 165, 227; (2003), pp. 65, 200–201, 550, 1017</ref> His second and last book of Romanian verse came out in 1937 as ''Arabescuri'' ("Arabesques"), issued as a supplement by Pas' social democratic review ''[[Șantier]]''.<ref>Călinescu, p. 1029</ref>


Back in America, Feraru wrote two English-language critical studies of Romanian literature: ''The Development of the Rumanian Novel'' (1926) and ''The Development of the Rumanian Poetry'' (1929); he submitted articles and reviews for ''The International Encyclopedia'' (1930) about [[Gala Galaction]], [[Mateiu Caragiale]], [[Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești]], [[Lucian Blaga]], and his friend Baltazar. He translated selections from [[Mihai Eminescu]], [[Tudor Arghezi]], [[Panait Cerna]], [[Anton Pann]], [[Vasile Cârlova]] and [[Dimitrie Bolintineanu]] into English.<ref name="sasu"/> Through his will, Feraru left Columbia University, which paid his pension, his library of some ten thousand Romanian-language books. He died in New York City.<ref name="sasu"/>
Back in America, Feraru wrote two English-language critical studies of Romanian literature: ''The Development of the Rumanian Novel'' (1926) and ''The Development of the Rumanian Poetry'' (1929); he submitted articles and reviews for ''The International Encyclopedia'' (1930) about [[Gala Galaction]], [[Mateiu Caragiale]], [[Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești]], [[Lucian Blaga]], and his friend Baltazar. He translated selections from [[Mihai Eminescu]], [[Tudor Arghezi]], [[Panait Cerna]], [[Anton Pann]], [[Vasile Cârlova]] and [[Dimitrie Bolintineanu]] into English.<ref name="sasu"/> Through his will, Feraru left Columbia University, which paid his pension, his library of some ten thousand Romanian-language books. He died in New York City.<ref name="sasu"/>

Revision as of 13:35, 13 July 2015

Leon Feraru (born Leon Enselberg,[1] also credited as L. Schmidt;[2] 1887 – 1961) was a Romanian and American poet, literary historian and translator.

Born in Brăila into a modest Jewish family, his father was an ironworker (fierar), the origin of his pseudonym.[1] He attended primary and high school in his native city, followed by a literature and law degree from the University of Montpellier, making his published debut in Saniel Gossman's Jewish review, Lumea Israelită.[1][3] In 1910–1912, his work was featured in two of the major Bucharest literary journals, Flacăra and Convorbiri Critice, as well as in Al. T. Stamatiad's Grădina Hesperidelor.[4] Other reviews that ran his work included Viața Românească, Noua Revistă Română, Vieața Nouă, Viața Literară și Artistică, Ecoul, Conservatorul Brăilei, and Barbu Nemțeanu's Pagini Libere.[1][3] Pen names he used in these publications were Ola Canta (shared with Dimitrie Anghel), H. Libanon and L. Feru.[1]

Enselberg-Feraru was friends with Jean Bart, Camil Baltazar and especially Anghel, with whom he collaborated on several poems (Halucinații, Orologiul and Vezuviul).[1] By late 1912, he was a leading contributor to Nicolae Xenopol's Țara Nouă.[5] Following the anti-Semitic outcry that came about as a result of the staging of Ronetti Roman's play Manasse and similar episodes, he emigrated to the United States in early 1913. In his adopted country, he became a constant promoter of Romanian culture, as confirmed by his correspondence and noted in the accounts of his contemporaries.[1]

Initially working as an unskilled laborer,[1] he was in New York City in 1919, working on the Romanian American community press. In January 1920, he and Dion Moldovan were editorial secretaries at Steaua Noastră. Our Star, Phillip Axelrad's self-proclaimed "Oldest Best and Most Popular Roumanian Weekly Newspaper in America".[6] In March, Feraru and Moldovan issued their own România Nouă, which only put out one issue.[7] Feraru eventually became a teaching assistant at the University of Toronto. He then was a professor of Romance languages and literature at Columbia University (1917–1927) and at Long Island University (1927–1947), where he chaired the foreign languages department for a time. He contributed to The Romanic Review and Rumanian Literary News (which he edited).[1]

Briefly returning to Romania only in 1925,[1] his first book of poetry was Maghernița veche și alte versuri din anii tineri ("The Old Shanty and Other Verse of Youth"), put out by Cartea Românească of Bucharest in 1926. According to literary historian and critic George Călinescu, the works fall into two separate categories: "moving" regrets for his native Romania, and samples of proletarian literature, including an ode to the sound of hammers in industrial Brăila ("his most valid" poetry).[8] During the early 1920s, Feraru was a contributor to Omul Liber, a social-literary bimonthly edited by Ion Pas,[9] Adevărul Literar și Artistic, Curierul, Pessach, Pagini Libere, and Tânărul Evreu.[1] He was later featured in Cugetul Liber, put out in Bucharest by Pas and Eugen Relgis, his texts also published in the Union of Romanian Jews organ, Curierul Israelit.[10] Feraru's work was sampled in literary newspapers such as Victoria, Ateneul Literar, Junimea Moldovei, and Cafeneaua Politică și Literară.[11] His second and last book of Romanian verse came out in 1937 as Arabescuri ("Arabesques"), issued as a supplement by Pas' social democratic review Șantier.[12]

Back in America, Feraru wrote two English-language critical studies of Romanian literature: The Development of the Rumanian Novel (1926) and The Development of the Rumanian Poetry (1929); he submitted articles and reviews for The International Encyclopedia (1930) about Gala Galaction, Mateiu Caragiale, Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești, Lucian Blaga, and his friend Baltazar. He translated selections from Mihai Eminescu, Tudor Arghezi, Panait Cerna, Anton Pann, Vasile Cârlova and Dimitrie Bolintineanu into English.[1] Through his will, Feraru left Columbia University, which paid his pension, his library of some ten thousand Romanian-language books. He died in New York City.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Aurel Sasu (ed.), Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, Vol. I, p. 580. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. ISBN 973-697-758-7
  2. ^ Călinescu, p. 1040
  3. ^ a b S. Podoleanu, 60 scriitori români de origină evreească, Vol. I, p. 107. Bucharest: Slova, A. Feller, [1935]. OCLC 40106291
  4. ^ George Baiculescu, Georgeta Răduică, Neonila Onofrei, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. II: Catalog alfabetic 1907–1918. Supliment 1790–1906, pp. 139, 245, 307. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1969
  5. ^ Template:Ro icon Delaflămânzi, "Revista revistelor", in Universul Literar, Nr. 12/1912, p. 4
  6. ^ Desa et al. (1987), p. 899
  7. ^ Desa et al. (1987), p. 823
  8. ^ Călinescu, p. 937
  9. ^ Desa et al. (1987), p. 679
  10. ^ Desa et al. (2003), pp. 260–261, 277–278
  11. ^ Desa et al. (1987), pp. 165, 227; (2003), pp. 65, 200–201, 550, 1017
  12. ^ Călinescu, p. 1029

References

  • George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1986.
  • Ileana-Stanca Desa, Dulciu Morărescu, Ioana Patriche, Adriana Raliade, Iliana Sulică, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. III: Catalog alfabetic 1919–1924. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1987.
  • Ileana-Stanca Desa, Dulciu Morărescu, Ioana Patriche, Cornelia Luminița Radu, Adriana Raliade, Iliana Sulică, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. IV: Catalog alfabetic 1925-1930. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 2003. ISBN 973-27-0980-4