George Topîrceanu

Born Mar. 20, 1886, in Bucharest; died May 7, 1937, in Iaşi. Rumanian poet.

Topîrceanu studied in Bucharest and Iaşi. His first works were published in 1904. His first anthology of poems, Happy Ballads, was published in 1916, and the second, expanded edition was published in 1920 under the title Happy and Sad Ballads. Topîrceanu’s ironic, sometimes allegorical elegies express sympathy with the people.

In 1916, Topîrceanu published his anthology Original Parodies, which the press called “pages of criticism in the form of illustrative examples.” In 1928 he published Bitter Almond, a collection of lyric poems. Topîrceanu wrote of his experiences in World War I (1914—18) in Memoirs of Battles Near Turtucaia (1918) and The Pirin Mountains (1936).

In 1926, Topîrceanu was awarded the National Prize for his poetry.