Păstorel Teodoreanu, or just Păstorel (born Alexandru Osvald (Al. O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 – March 17, 1964), was a Romanian humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu. He worked in many genres, but is best remembered for his parody texts and his epigrams, and less so for his Symbolist verse. His roots planted in the regional culture of Western Moldavia, which became his main source of literary inspiration, Păstorel was at once an opinionated columnist, famous wine-drinking bohemian, and decorated war hero. He worked with the influential literary magazines of the 1920s, moving between Gândirea and Viața Românească, and cultivated complex relationships with literary opinion-makers such as George Călinescu.
After an unsuccessful but scandalous debut in drama, Teodoreanu perfected his work as a satirist, producing material which targeted the historian-politician Nicolae Iorga and the literary scholar Giorge Pascu, as well as food criticism which veered into fantasy literature. As an affiliate of Țara Noastră, he favored a brand of Romanian nationalism which ran against Iorga's own. Corrosive or contemplative, Păstorel's various sketches dealt with social and political issues of the interwar, continuing in some ways the work of Ion Luca Caragiale. In the 1930s, inspired by his readings from Anatole France and François Rabelais, he also published his celebrated "Jester Harrow" stories, mocking the conventions of historical novels and Renaissance literature. His career peaked in 1937, when he received one of Romania's most prestigious awards, the National Prize.
Teodoreanu was employed as a propagandist during World War II, supporting Romania's participation on the Eastern Front. From 1947, Păstorel was marginalized and closely supervised by the communist regime, making efforts to adapt his style and politics, then being driven into an ambiguous relationship with the Securitate secret police. Beyond this facade conformity, he contributed to the emergence of an underground, largely oral, anti-communist literature. In 1959, Teodoreanu was apprehended by the communist authorities, and prosecuted in a larger show trial of Romanian intellectual resistants. He spent some two years in prison, and reemerged as a conventional writer. He died shortly after, without having been fully rehabilitated. His work was largely inaccessible to readers until the 1989 Revolution.
Biography
Early life The Teodoreanu brothers were born to Sofia Muzicescu, wife of the lawyer Osvald Al. Teodoreanu. The latter's family, originally named Turcu, hailed from Comănești; Osvald's grandfather had been a Romanian Orthodox priest. Constantin Ostap, "Păstorel Teodoreanu, reeditat in 2007", in Ziarul de Iași, February 6, 2007 Sofia was the daughter of Gavril Muzicescu, a famous composer from Western Moldavia,Botez, p. 4 Mihai Haivas, "Personalități dorohoiene: Alexandru Oswald Teodoreanu (Păstorel) fiu al Dorohoiului (1)", in Dorohoi News, March 15, 2014Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 7 Vasile Iancu, "Memoria culturală, prin grele pătimiri", in Convorbiri Literare, May 2011 and herself a teacher at the Music and Declamation Conservatory in Iași.Smaranda Sburlan, "Doamna Iașilor", in Femeia, Issue 2/1994, p. 24 When Păstorel was born, on July 30, 1894, she and her husband were still living at Dorohoi. Ionel (Ioan-Hipolit Teodoreanu) and Puiuțu (Laurențiu Teodoreanu) were his younger siblings, born after the family had moved to Iași. Osvald's father, Alexandru T. Teodoreanu, had previously served as City Mayor, Gina Popa, "Se stinge 'ulița copilăriei' ", in Evenimentul, March 31, 2010 while an engineer uncle, also named Laurențiu, was the first manager of the original Iași Power Plant.Ostap (2012), pp. 53, 56–57 The Teodoreanus lived in a townhouse just outside Zlataust Church. They were neighbors of poet Otilia CazimirLeon, p. 53 and relatives of novelist Mărgărita Miller Verghy. Elena Cojuhari, "Viața și activitatea Margaretei Miller-Verghy în documentele Arhivei Istorice a Bibliotecii Naționale a României", in Revista BNR, Issues 1–2/2009, pp. 46, 62
From 1906, Alexandru Osvald attended the National High School Iași,Ciobanu, p. 244; Teodoreanu & Ruja, pp. 7–8 in the same class as the film critic and economist D. I. Suchianu.Ostap (2012), p. 54 Young Păstorel had a vivid interest in literary activities and, critics note, acquired a solid classical culture.Z. Ornea, "Cronica edițiilor. Păstorel Teodoreanu", in România Literară, Issue 40/1992, p. 11Călinescu, p. 777; Ciobanu, p. 244; Hrimiuc, pp. 293, 295–296; Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 13 Literary historian Zigu Ornea, who spent time with Păstorel in the 1950s, cautions that, in addition to being a "jolly carouser", he was outstandingly educated in the classics, and could converse in Old French. The final two years of his schooling were spent at Costache Negruzzi National College, where he eventually graduated.Ciobanu, p. 244 He became friends with a future literary colleague, Demostene Botez, with whom he shared lodging at the boarding school. Years later, in one of his reviews for Botez's books, Teodoreanu confessed that he once used to steal wine from Botez's own carboy.Călinescu, p. 777; Ciobanu, p. 244 Botez himself recalled that Păstorel would leave him endearing notes confessing to his weakness, noting that such exchanges helped to strengthen their friendship.Botez, p. 5 He recalled that all three Teodoreanu brothers were outstanding and well-loved as boys, but also that Păstorel had made one enemy—his mathematics professor, the subject of his pranks and innuendo.
In 1914, just as World War I broke out elsewhere in Europe, he was undergoing military training at a Moldavian cadet school,Ciobanu, p. 244; Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 8 leading him to graduate from the Artillery School of Bucharest in 1916. Over the following months, Osvald Teodoreanu became known for his support of prolonged neutrality, which set the stage for a minor political scandal.Lucian Boia, "Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, p. 95. Bucharest: Humanitas, 2010. When, in 1916, Romania joined the Entente Powers, Alexandru was mobilized, a Sub-lieutenant in the 24th artillery regiment, Romanian Land Forces.Ciobanu, pp. 244, 246; Teodoreanu & Ruja, pp. 8–9 He had just published his first poem, a sonnet of unrequited love, uncharacteristic for his signature writing.Ciobanu, p. 246 As he recalled, his emotional father accompanied him as far west as the army would allow.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 8
According to Botez, the war only helped to bolster Păstorel's "Quixotic irreverence toward life and its cruelties". The future writer saw action in the Battle of Transylvania: on August 25, 1916, he was in Toplița, confessing in a rhyming letter that he was always "drink[ing] like a Cossack", even when commanding his troops.Păstorel Teodoreanu, "Inedit. Cenaclului", in Tribuna, Vol. XVI, Issue 41, October 1972, p. 14 He eventually withdrew during The Romanian Debacle, escaping with the defeated armies into besieged Moldavia. His fighting earned him the Star of Romania and the rank of Captain. Meanwhile, Puiuțu Teodoreanu volunteered for the French Air Force and died in April 1918.Ostap (2012), p. 56. See also Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9 During the same interval, Ionel, still in Iași, fell in love with Ștefana "Lily" Lupașcu, who became his wife.Leon, pp. 53–54 Cornelia Pillat, "Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu. Corespondență inedită: scrisori din roase plicuri", in România Literară, Issue 20/2001 She was half French, and, through her, the Teodoreanus became cousins in law of Cella and Henrieta Delavrancea (orphaned daughters of writer Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea); and of Stéphane Lupasco, the French philosopher. Basarab Niculescu, "Stéphane Lupasco și francmasoneria română", in Convorbiri Literare, March 2012
In 1919, upon demobilization, Alexandru returned to Iași. Like Ionel, he became a contributor to the magazines Însemnări Literare and Crinul,Tudor Opriș, Istoria debutului literar al scriitorilor români în timpul școlii (1820–2000), p. 135. Bucharest: Aramis Print, 2002. and also proofread for the former. Though he enjoyed an expensive lifestyle, he still had no steady income, and reportedly depended on his family, and especially his mother, for his material needs. At the time, he openly provoked his fellow citizens, who mocked for not having enough funds to entertain girls, by taking a britzka ride throughout the city, leaving his legs and hands to hang out; he then placed women's shoes on his hands, to make it appear that he was having public intercourse.
Păstorel eventually took a law degree from Iași University, and, in 1920, moved to the opposite corner of Romania, employed by the Turnu Severin Courthouse.Ciobanu, p. 244; Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9 He only spent a few months as a magistrate.Leon, p. 54; Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9 Before the end of the year, he relocated to Cluj, where Cezar Petrescu employed him as a staff writer for his literary magazine, Gândirea.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9 The group's activity was centered on Cluj's New York Coffeehouse. Constantin Coroiu, "Mitul cafenelei literare", in Cultura, Issue 302, December 2010 Together with another Gândirea author, Adrian Maniu, Teodoreanu wrote the fantasy play Rodia de aur ("Golden Pomegranate"). It was published by the Moldavian cultural tribune, Viața Românească, and staged by the National Theater Iași in late 1920.Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 9. See also Călinescu, p. 1020, 1022; Ciobanu, p. 245; Lovinescu, p. 304 Some months later, Teodoreanu was co-opted by theatrologist Ion Marin Sadoveanu into the Poesis literary salon, whose members militated for modernism.Cernat (2007), pp. 270–271
Țara Noastră period In short while, Al. O. Teodoreanu became a popular presence in literary circles, and a famous bon viveur. The moniker Păstorel, candidly accepted by Teodoreanu, was a reference to these drinking habits: he was said to have "tended" (păstorit) the rare wines, bringing them to the attention of other culinary experts.Costin, pp. 254–255; Teodoreanu & Ruja, p. 7 His first contribution to food criticism was published by Flacăra on December 31, 1921, with the title Din carnetul unui gastronom ("From a Gastronomer's Notebook").Pîrjol, pp. 19, 25 He is said to have been uniquely well-acquainted with French cuisine, having read all its relevant guides—from Joseph Berchoux to Brillat-Savarin and Mapie de Toulouse-Lautrec.Ionescu, p. 42 Teodoreanu integrated with the bohemian society in several cities, leaving written records of his drunken dialogues with linguist Alexandru Al. Philippide. Bogdan Crețu, "Corespondența lui Păstorel", in Ziarul Financiar, October 22, 2009 At Iași, the Teodoreanus, including Ștefana, tightened their links with Viața Românească, and with novelist Mihail Sadoveanu; Păstorel greatly admired the group's doyen, critic Garabet Ibrăileanu.Ciobanu, pp. 244–245 A visitor, modernist poet-critic Felix Aderca, reported seeing Păstorel at Viața Românească, "plotting" against the National Theater Bucharest, because, unlike the nationalist theatrical companies of Iași, it only rarely staged Romanian plays. Aderca's antagonistic remarks, published in Sburătorul, reflected growing tensions between the modernist circles in Bucharest and the cultural conservatives in Iași.Piru, p. 128 Visiting Bucharest in or around 1923, Păstorel met Aderca at Casa Capșa restaurant; the resulting fistfight was only interrupted by the intervention of a bystander, Ilarie Voronca.