Iacob Negruzzi


Iacob C. Negruzzi was a Moldavian, later Romanian poet and prose writer.
Born in Iași, he was the son of Constantin Negruzzi and his wife Maria. Living in Berlin between 1853 and 1863, he attended high school, followed by the University of Berlin, from which he obtained a doctorate in 1863. He was a professor at the University of Iași from 1864 to 1884, and at the University of Bucharest from 1885 until his retirement in 1897. He was elected to the Assembly of Deputies in 1870, and later joined the Romanian Senate. He was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1881, was later its general secretary, and served three terms as Academy president: 1893-1894, 1910-1913 and 1923-1926. Negruzzi was among the founders of Junimea, and became its secretary in 1868. He played a very significant role as editor of Convorbiri Literare, ensuring the magazine's regular appearance by investing an immense amount of energy and making significant sacrifices, including material ones. He continued as editor for ten years after moving to Bucharest in 1885. He wrote reviews and notes in Convorbiri; published selections from Copii de pe natură, as well as the novel Mihai Vereanu ; and initiated a column called "Corespondență", probably the country's first true letter to the editor section.
His press debut came in 1866, with a one-act play that appeared in Foaia Soțietății pentru Literatura și Cultura Română în Bucovina; his first book was the 1872 Poezii. Although written starting in 1889, Amintirile din "Junimea" was only published in 1921. He translated several plays by Friedrich Schiller. Other translations included Romantic poetry, both French and German, published in Poezii. His wife was Maria Rosetti.