Iancu Văcărescu


Iancu Văcărescu was a Romanian Wallachian boyar and poet, member of the Văcărescu family.

Biography

The son of Alecu Văcărescu, descending from a long line of Wallachian men of letters — his paternal uncle, Ienăchiță Văcărescu, was author of the first Romanian grammar; Iancu was the grandfather of writer Elena Văcărescu. He received a quality education not only in Greek, but also in German and French, and was well versed in Western literature.
A patriot during the Phanariote epoch, he sided with the national movement in 1821, and assisted in establishing the Romanian theatre, translating many books and plays from German and French into Romanian, notably the Britannicus of Racine, a literary event of no small importance at the time. He inaugurated modern Romanian poetry.
During the debates in the National Assembly over the drafting of an organic law for the Danubian Principalities, Văcărescu spoke out against Imperial Russian overseeing, and was placed under arrest before being exiled for the following years.
Văcărescu was also one of the founders of the modern Romanian school system. He wrote philosophical poems, and ballads that found their inspiration in folklore. The first volume of verse he published was in 1830.
Before the 1848 Wallachian revolution, he presided a literary society which served as a front for the radical secret association Frăţia.

Published books