Dinu Pillat

Dinu Pillat
Born	Constantin I. Pillat (1921-11-19)November 19, 1921 Bucharest,Kingdom of Romania
Died	December 5, 1975(1975-12-05)(aged 54) Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania
Occupation	Literary critic, prose writer
Alma mater	University of Bucharest
Years active	1938–1975
Spouse	Cornelia Filipescu
Children	Monica Pillat
Relatives	Ion Pillat(father) Maria Pillat-Brateș(mother)

Dinu Pillat(bornConstantin I. Pillat;November 19, 1921–December 5, 1975) was aRomanianliterary critic and prose writer.

Born inBucharest,his parents were poetIon Pillatand his wife Maria (néeProcopie Dumitrescu), a painter known professionally asMaria Pillat-Brateș.After attending Spiru Haret High School in his native city from 1932 to 1940, he enrolled in the literature and philosophy faculty of theUniversity of Bucharest.He studied there from 1940 to 1944, specializing in modern philology. He obtained a doctorate in 1947, with a thesis on thesensation novelin Romanian literature during the latter half of the 19th century;his adviser wasGeorge Călinescu.However, the title of doctor was not conferred until 1968. In 1957, he became a researcher at the Literary History and Folklore Institute, which took on the name of the recently deceased Călinescu in 1965.His time there was interrupted in March 1959, when he was arrested and ensnared in a plot concocted by thecommunist regime'sSecuritatesecret police. Together withConstantin Noica,he was charged with leading a conspiracy to distribute anti-regime propaganda. In reality, the alleged conspirators did not know one another, and theRomanian Communist Partywished to deliver a lesson to rising intellectuals. Sentenced to 25 years at hard labor and 15 years' imprisonment for treason, he was held atJilavaandGherlaprisons, where he suffered recurring bouts of tuberculosis. He was amnestied in July 1964.

Pillat's first published work appeared inUniversul literarin 1938. His first novel, the 1943Tinerețe ciudată,dealt with the love life and intellectual passions of high schoolers and university students.Moartea cotidiană(1946) is a novel that describes the banality of the petit-bourgeois existence, written from anExistentialistperspective. He resumed publishing in 1969, with a brief biography ofIon Barbu.Mozaic istorico-literar. Secolul XXappeared the same year. He edited and prefaced works by Barbu,Max BlecherandIonel Teodoreanu.Pillat also published an anthology,O constelație a poeziei române moderne.This featured poems by his father and by Barbu,Tudor Arghezi,George Bacovia,Lucian Blaga,Benjamin Fondane,Adrian Maniu,Ion Vinea,andVasile Voiculescu.

He and his wife Cornelia had a daughter, poet and philologistMonica Pillat.

Works

• Ion Barbu(in Romanian). București: Editura Tineretului. 1969.OCLC10305776.
• Mozaic istorico-literar secolul XX(in Romanian). București: Editura pentru literatură. 1969.OCLC23578427.
• Dostoievski în conștiința literară românească: eseu(in Romanian). București:Cartea Românească.1976.OCLC3433147.
• Itinerarii istorico-literare(in Romanian). București:Editura Minerva.1978.OCLC5029244.