Ovid Densusianu

Ovid Densusianu (Romanian pronunciation: [oˈvid densuʃiˈanu]; also known under his pen name Ervin; 29 December 1873, Făgăraș – 9 June 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist, folklorist, literary historian and critic, şef de şcoală poetică, university professor and journalist. He is known for introducing new trends of European modernism into Romanian literature.

Bust of Densusianu in Densuș.

The son of Aron Densușianu, a university professor at the University of Iași, and Elena (b. Circa), he received a degree from the Faculty of Letters, University of Iași, in 1892. Between 1893 and 1895, he studied in Berlin, Germany, and Paris, France. After he received his diploma from the École pratique des hautes études, Paris, in 1896, he worked his way up at the University of Bucharest, eventually becoming a professor in 1901.

In 1918, he became a full member of the Romanian Academy.

Densusianu was briefly married to Elena Bacaloglu, who later came to admire fascism and organized the National Italo-Romanian Cultural and Economic Movement. He is buried at Bellu cemetery, in Bucharest.

Writings (selection)

• La Prise de Cordres et de Sebille, Paris, 1896
• Aymeri de Narbonne dans la chanson du pelerinage de Charlemagne, Paris, 1896
• Istoria literaturii române, Bucureşti, 1898
• Un Essai de resurrection litteraire, Paris, 1899
• Între două lumi, Bucureşti, 1899
• Histoire de la langue roumaine, Leroux, Paris, 1901
• Folclorul, cum trebuie înţeles, Bucureşti, 1910; second edition, Bucureşti, 1937
• Poezia nouă, Bucureşti, 1911
• Limanuri albe, Bucureşti, 1912
• Păstoritul la popoarele romanice. Însemnătatea lui lingvistică şi etnografică, Bucureşti, 1913
• Graiul din Ţara Haţegului, Bucureşti, 1915
• Originea păstorească a „Cântării Cântărilor”, Bucureşti, 1916
• Heroica, Bucureşti, 1918
• Sub stânca vremei, Bucureşti, 1911
• Barbu Delavrancea, Bucureşti, 1919
• Literatura română modernă, I-III, Bucureşti, 1920-1933; re-edited by I. Şerb, Bucureşti, 1985
• Salba clipelor, Bucureşti, 1921
• Dante şi latinitatea, Bucureşti, 1921
• Sufletul latin şi literatura nouă, I-II, Bucureşti, 1922
• Vieaţa păstorească în poezia noastră populară, I-II, Bucureşti, 1922-1923; second edition, Bucureşti, 1943
• Raze peste lespezi, Bucureşti, 1924
• Evoluţia estetică a limbii române, I-V, Bucureşti, 1924-1938
• În zorile vieţei, Bucureşti, 1925
• Flori alese din cântecele poporului. Viaţa păstorească în poezia noastră populară. Folclorul, cum trebuie înţeles. Graiul din Ţara Haţegului, edited and foreword by Marin Bucur, Bucureşti, 1966
• Opere, I-VI, edited by B. Cazacu, V. Rusu and I. Şerb, Bucureşti, 1968-1985
• Ideal şi îndemnuri, edited and foreword by Călin Manilici, Cluj Napoca, 1980
• Scrieri literare, Bucureşti, 1998

References

• Aurel Sasu, Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române (A-L), Paralela 45, Pitesti, 2006, pp. 476–477 (in Romanian)
• Ion Diaconu şi Ioan Şerb (eds.), Ovid Densusianu în amintirea şi conştiinţa critică românească, Editura "Grai şi suflet" - Cultura Naţională, 2005, XXII (in Romanian)