Vlahuta, Alexandru

Born Sept. 5, 1858, in Pleşeşti; died Nov. 19, 1919, in Bucharest. Rumanian writer.

The son of a peasant, Vlahuţă worked as a teacher, school inspector, and journalist. The influence of M. Eminescu is noticeable in his first book, Verses (1887). In the article “Eminescu’s School and New Poetry” (1892) and the programmatic poem Where Are Our Dreamers? (1893), he advocated a literature embodying progressive social ideals. At the center of his autobiographical novella From the Sufferings of This World (1886) and the novel Dan (1894) is the figure of an intellectual seeking ways of liberating the people. In the collections of short stories Moments of Peace (1899) and Torn Out Pages (1909), Vlahuţă portrays unfortunate people and their despair and the hatred of the oppressed for the exploiters. There are also powerful notes of protest in his poetry.