Radu Gyr

Radu Gyr(Romanian pronunciation:[ˈraduˈd͡ʒir];pen nameofRadu Ștefan Demetrescu[ˈraduʃteˈfandemeˈtresku];March 2, 1905 – 29 April 1975) was aRomanianpoet, essayist, playwright and journalist.

Biography

Early life

Born inCâmpulung-Muscel,Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan "Coco" Dumitrescu. When he was 3, his family moved toCraiova,where he did his secondary studies at theCarol I High School.Starting in 1924, he studied at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of theUniversity of Bucharest,where he received hisPh.D.in Literature and became a Senior Lecturer.He made his literary debut in 1924 with the well-received volumeLiniști de schituri( "Silence of the sketes" ).In 1927 he married Flora, with whom he had a daughter, Simona Luminița.

Iron Guard membership

In the 1930s he published in right-wing, nationalist literary magazines such asGândirea,Gând Românesc,Sfarmă-Piatră,Decembrie, Vremea, Revista Mea, and Revista Dobrogeană, and in the newspapersCuvântul,Buna Vestire,and Cuvântul Studențesc. He joined theIron Guardfascistmovement, becoming in time its commander in theOlteniaregion.When the Iron Guard was repressed by the regime ofKingCarol II,Gyr was arrested and imprisoned atTismana.

After theNational Legionary Governmentcame to power in September 1940, he was appointed General Manager of the Romanian Theatres. Under his administration, the Barașeum Jewish Theater (laterState Jewish Theater) was founded.The creation of the Jewish Theatre was accompanied by an interdiction against Jewish actors playing anywhere else in Romania, part of a joint effort to purge Jewish people from "Romanian" (non-Jewish) theatres across the country.

In prison

Gyr was imprisoned for 20 years and he was never completely rehabilitated as a writer. In January 1941, after theLegionnaires' rebellionwas put down by theIon Antonescuregime, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, for inciting the crowd.His first years as apolitical prisonerbegan as soon as the Iron Guard lost their battle with Antonescu. After spending time atAiud Prison,Gyr was sent to fight on theEastern Front(a form of punishment which was reserved for former Legionnaires) and was gravely wounded at the battle ofVinogradov.After the1944 Romanian coup d'étathe was re-arrested, and condemned to 12 years ofhard labor.Sent back to Aiud, he was later transferred to a prison inBrașov.

In 1958 he wassentenced to deathby theCommunist authoritiesbecause of his poem, considered subversive by the regime, "Ridică-te Gheorghe, ridică-te Ioane!" ( "Arise Gheorghe, Arise Ioan!"). The poem called — in the style of a rally to war — the 'Romanian nation', symbolized by generic Romanian Christian names, to revolt. It had been issued as the last wave of brutalcollectivizationwas taking hold of rural Romania (a process which lasted between 1949 and 1962).

An English translation of the poem:

Not for a heaped shovel of ruddy hot bread,
nor for barns full of grain, nor for fields full of corn,
instead for your heavens to be free of dread
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

For the blood of your folk flowing red through the drains,
for your beautiful song which was stifled at morn,
for the tears of your sun, left imprisoned in chains,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

Not so that your fury sinks teeth into bars,
but to sing as you fill, on the crest of the dawn,
a heap of horizons and a hatful of stars,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

So that freedom you drink, flowing fresh from the pail,
and to heavenly whirlpools be mightily drawn,
while apricot buds shake on you, merry hail,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

And so, as you kindle your kisses on fires,
on thresholds, on doors, and on icons forlorn,
on all that is free, and to freedom aspires,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

Rise up now Gheorghe on chains and on ropes!
Rise up now Ion on flesh and on bone!
And high, to the storm-light which shines on your hopes,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!

(FromRomanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present,Daniel Ioniță,Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing, Sydney, 2020)

His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, but he served only six years, two of which (atAiud Prison) with chains at his feet. Although severely ill (hepatitis,tuberculosis,haemophilia,gangrenedrectal prolapse), he was refused any medical assistance, was starved and tortured. Altogether he served 16 years in communist prisons (1945–1956; 1958–1964). In 1963–1964 all surviving political prisoners had to be released, upon pressure from theWest.

Collaboration with the Securitate

After his release from prison in 1963 he was constantly tailed by the Romanian secret police, theSecuritate.Persuaded to use their perceived expertise inethnocracy,Radu Gyr andNichifor Crainicwrote propaganda articles forGlasul Patriei('The Voice of the Fatherland') – later calledTribuna României– a newspaper published by the Securitate targeting exiled Romanians abroad.

Death

Gyr died in 1975 inBucharest,and was buried in the city'sBellu Cemetery.In 2012, his remains and those of his wife (who died in 1984) were moved toPetru Vodă Monastery,inPoiana Teiului,Neamț County.

Published works

• Plânge Strâmbă-Lemne(roughly: "The Wood Bender Crieth"; 1927)
• Cerbul de lumină( "A Deer of Light"; 1928)
• Stele pentru leagăn( "Stars for the Cradle"; 1936)
• Cununi uscate( "Dried-up Wreaths"; 1938)
• Corabia cu tufănici( "The Ship of Chrysanthemums"; 1939)
• Poeme de război( "War Poems"; 1942)
• Balade( "Ballads"; 1943) - as well as a series of lyricised tales.

Presence in English-language anthologies

• 2019 - Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry / 400 de ani de poezie românească- Minerva Publishing 2019 -Daniel Ioniță(editor and principal translator) assisted by Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul, and Eva Foster.ISBN978-973-21-1070-6
• 2020 - Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present- bilingual edition -Daniel Ioniță(editor and principal translator) withDaniel Reynaud,Adriana Paul and Eva Foster - Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing - 2020 -ISBN978-0-9953502-8-1;LCCN - 2020907831

External links

• (in Romanian)Poems by Radu Gyr