Biography Lucian Boz

1 biography

1.1 life , career
1.2 in wartime france
1.3 australian experience , legacy

biography
early life , career

a native of in hârlău, iași county, boz born jewish parents mendel, later wounded , decorated in world war i, , clara (née sapina). family moved national capital bucharest in 1909, lucian attended gheorghe lazăr high school. enrolled in law faculty of university of bucharest, professors included istrate micescu, constantin c. stoicescu , vintilă dongoroz. graduated in 1934 never practiced, instead entering career in press , in literary criticism.

boz s first published work, biographical sketch of walt whitman, appeared in premiera magazine in 1927. member of eugen lovinescu-led sburătorul literary society, contributed facla, isac ludo s adam, adevărul literar și artistic, tiparnița literară, capricorn, mișcarea, unu (where used pseudonym vasile cernat), contimporanul (where editorial secretary in 1930-1931), discobolul, , viața românească. began frequenting literary cafes, befriending, among others, eugène ionesco, alexandru sahia, , ionathan x. uranus.

boz noted promoter of literary modernism, and, according scholar paul cernat, enthusiastic supporter of homegrown avant-garde . in contimporanul, introduced romanians work of james joyce. seen cernat important piece of commentary, though (as noted arleen ionescu) reading of ulysses contains errors of interpretation today [...] appear hilarious. in march 1930, in facla, published interview ever granted constantin brâncuși, on visit bucharest. same newspaper carried posthumous homage avant-garde hero urmuz (whom described reformer of romanian poetry , local equivalent of rimbaud) , praise of modernists such jacques g. costin. @ zodiac, literary sheet put out i. peltz, boz wrote similar reviews of literary works ion vinea , hortensia papadat-bengescu. in 1931, adevărul daily hosted homage tristan tzara.

alongside em. ungher, boz edited own publication, avant-garde magazine ulise, appeared in 4 numbers in 1932–1933. largely continuation of contimporanul, grouped around eclectic circle, comprising ionesco, uranus, alongside arșavir acterian, dan botta, emil botta, marcel bresliska, barbu brezianu, petru comarnescu, virgil gheorghiu, anton holban, eugen jebeleanu, alexandru robot, horia stamatu, simion stolnicu, octav Șuluțiu, , writer-cartoonist neagu rădulescu. in 1933, boz became editor @ adevărul , dimineața, @ weekly cuvântul liber. 1932 essay on mihai eminescu (eminescu. Încercare critică), printed in capricorn, drew lavish praise george călinescu. other contemporary critics appreciated work included lovinescu, ionesco, perpessicius, pompiliu constantinescu, , ion biberi.

before 1935, boz columnist @ vremea, covered modern literature of france. followed on writing cartea cu poeți ( book of poets ), published in 1935. displaying extreme eclecticism , included essays 31 contemporary romanian poets, of whom entered literary canon. preface outlined boz s credo: rejection of critical impressionism, , empathetic, anti-intellectual, enthusiastically visionary , reception of literary work review. essays focused on finding international connections romanian particulars, instance tracing links between vinea , frank wedekind; tudor arghezi, urmuz, , ramón gómez de la serna or françois villon; geo bogza , marquis de sade.

in later decades, boz reviewed reserve. in 1941, revising stance, călinescu suggested boz s visionary enthusiasm aberration , since impaired selection of values. found boz intelligent writer, 1 of unthinking generosity . however, described ulise more mature of romania s avant-garde papers. sergiu ailenei notes boz s attempt describe eminescu means of national psychology far-fetched . cernat takes middle ground, describing boz second-rate , prolix , rather invertebrate , surprisingly intuitive . opposition mainstream literary theory, cernat notes, suited avant-garde requirements, surpassing călinescu s own limits. boz, concludes, worth rereading.

in wartime france

boz opposed rise of fascism, and, in 1937 interview azi, spoke out against attempts threaten , silence jewish authors. after dimineața , adevărul suppressed national christian government in december 1937, left paris. there, took courses @ École pratique des hautes études. took part in public conferences , attended lectures jacques maritain, gabriel péri , dolores ibárruri, joining pen international. met benjamin fondane , ilarie voronca. in 1939, accredited paris correspondent of tudor teodorescu-braniște s jurnalul, , still contributed adevărul literar și artistic, sought protect , recover jewish romanian intellectuals. sent diplomatic reports united press. in order make ends meet, worked french newspapers well, including le petit parisien, excelsior , dimanche illustrée.

boz unable complete studies, due outbreak of world war ii , subsequent german occupation. joined french resistance. in 1943, gestapo arrested him , wife carola, sending them drancy internment camp. while there, 1 of friends hunger-stricken paris brought them food emil cioran, romanian philosopher. of several thousand romanian jews passed through on way nazi extermination camps, dozen saved intervention of romanian legation, including boz , wife. once released, , carola went vichy france, arrested , threatened return drancy. freed upon insistent intervention of cioran, accompanied couple border , ensured had left france safely.

at end of 1944, following king michael coup, boz returned romania, co-founded french-language daily l information internationale. columnist @ democrația, independent left-wing weekly, , had poetry published in communist youth journal, scînteia tineretului, while working editor @ finanțe și industrie daily , correspondent of romanian press information agency (arip).

in 1945, published book on wartime france, franța, 1938—1944, described @ time petru comarnescu 1 of books richly provide full awareness civilizations shape tomorrow s world. equal parts memoir, historical account, , reportage colorful detail. first part deals paris of 1938-1940, through battle of france , beginnings of resistance. in second part, begins operation torch, describes arrest, chapter on wife s detainment written her. supplies descriptions of french people on both sides of conflict , ends liberation of 1944. earned praise literary chronicler @ revista fundațiilor regale, noted adherence french spirit , vivid , suggestive depictions of maquis figures . boz translated jean bruller s le silence de la mer, in introduction discussing choice between resistance , collaboration faced wartime french writers.

in march 1946, returned paris correspondent revived adevărul, , dailies finanțe și industrie , l information internationale, become english-language weekly. @ same time, wrote pieces le monde , sent reports scandinavian papers. in 1947, le monde sent him on assignment famine-stricken areas of romania; last visit native country. because romanian newspapers employed him disappeared advent of communist regime , work french newspapers , radio sporadic, took job @ paris business.

australian experience , legacy

at end of 1950 decided emigrate. avoiding soviet-occupied romania, briefly stayed in genoa before arriving in australia in february 1951, after 35-day journey. first stopping in canberra, took on blue-collar jobs support himself. began factory welder, having taken course on arc welding in france, changed jobs after suffering accident. boz moved sydney, opened public relations firm no employees. assistant wife, former journalist dimineața , herself devotee of literature , culture.

thanks fluency in french , english, hired air france head of australian office, while wife found work @ french embassy in canberra. during time in position, published hundreds of articles france s aviation , aerospace industry in australian newspapers , magazines. member of australian journalists association, , newspapers featured work included daily telegraph, sydney morning herald , australian. in 1958, made knight of ordre du mérite commercial, while in 1979, conferred knighthood in national order of merit.

because commercial work kept him busy, boz had little time cultural pursuits , read evenings , sundays. however, after retiring in 1974, resumed engagement literature, still displaying attachment toward native land, organizing australian conferences romanian culture, , publishing articles writers such emil cioran. frequent reviews of novels published during interwar appeared book edited himself in 1981, anii literari 30. sent letters romanian friends, both inside country , in anticommunist diaspora. among cultural figures whom carried on correspondence cioran, ionesco, constantin noica, Ștefan baciu, anton dumitriu, mircea eliade, , nicolae steinhardt. noica @ 1 point marveled @ how boz s romanian still was.

although never criticized communist regime, , privately did in 1992, in letter arșavir acterian (calling danube–black sea canal ill-fated undertaking of demented ceaușescu ), publication of work blocked authorities, considered him political émigré. franța, 1938—1944 kept in secret archive romania s censorship apparatus. in 1980s, boz made photocopies of of interwar work, sending them friends , acquaintances. asked ionel jianu supply details romanian artists living in australia, boz submitted information 4 of them, of whom appeared in jianu s subsequent 1986 volume, les artistes roumains en occident. emil boldan , constantin crișan attempted edit volume of essays, project came nought. nevertheless, several censored or self-censored articles him did appear in press, instance 1981 piece in orizont friend steinhardt, knew facts of situation, implied boz left romania in 1937.

following romanian revolution of 1989, boz worked jurnalul literar between 1994 , 2002, publishing letters, memories , biographical sketches. did similar work iosif vulcan, romanian expatriate review in cringila. in private correspondence, particularly indignant lucian pintilie s film oak, lamenting presentation of romania kind of barbarian, brutal, violent state . in 2000, published short roman à clef, piatra de încercare ( testing bench ), featured fictionalized portrayal of himself protagonist, appearances made wife , son alan, cioran , eliade. plot unfolds in wartime france, title referring french civilian population , response occupation.

boz died in sydney in 2003. had came included in literary reference volumes, , work analyzed by, among others, nicolae tzone, nicolae florescu, florin manolescu, andrei , barbu brezianu , constantin crișan. essays on eminescu republished constantin cubleșan in 2001 volume eminescu în oglinzile criticii ( eminescu s critical mirrors ). samples of boz s other work, reviewed tzone, saw print in aldebaran review, , correspondence issued volume @ editura dacia.