Alecu Beldiman, common rendition of Alexandru Beldiman (Romanian Cyrillic: AлєѯaндрȢ Бєлдимaн), also known as Alecul or Aleco Beldiman (1760 – January 1826), was a Moldavian statesman, translator and poet, one of the forerunners of Romanian nationalism. A scion of the boyar elite, he was the eldest son of Vornic Gheorghe Beldiman, and the nephew-in-law of chronicler Enache Kogălniceanu. Alecu himself held high commission in the Moldavian military forces and bureaucracy, but secretly resented the Phanariote regime which had awarded them. He may have affiliated with a loose group known as the "National Party", championing an alliance between Moldavia's independence from the Ottoman Empire and support for the French Republic.
Beldiman's earliest contributions to cultural life probably date back to the 1790s, and originally included translations of French prose and verse drama. He may have contributed an original play, while his brother, Dumitrache Beldiman, helped arrange some of the earliest Moldavian stage performances, as puppet shows. By 1820, Alecu had become the most productive translator in Moldavia, directly contributing to Westernization and the spread of Enlightenment ideas, and also completing a Romanian version of the Odyssey. His works in the field were circulated in print form by Zaharia Carcalechi, or otherwise copied by hand.
Beldiman's anti-Greek sentiment peaked during the 1821, when an invasion by the Sacred Band chased him and other Romanian boyars out of Moldavia. The invasion and its violent aftermath inspired him to write the epic poem Tragodiea Moldovei ("Moldavia's Tragedy"). Although politically significant and comprising picturesque detail, the work was widely dismissed as a sample of exceptionally bad writing. Upon returning home, Beldiman also came into conflict with Prince Ioan Sturdza, who had him imprisoned at Tazlău Monastery in 1824. Poems he wrote during that interval show him as a conservative critic of republican and nationalist propaganda, and display his pity for the lower classes; he was also becoming more supportive of rule by the Ottoman Empire. Though eventually released, he maintained a low profile for the remainder of his life. His family continued to have a role in Moldavian, and later Romanian politics; his grandson Alexandru Beldiman was a journalist.
Biography Origins and early life According to family tradition, Beldiman's ancestors crossed into Moldavia from the Principality of Transylvania. Laurențiu Ungureanu, "Boieri mari, episodul 6: Alecu Beldiman, omul care ne-a adus Adevărul, in Adevărul, February 18, 2017Bacalov, p. 25; Iacob, p. 293 This would make them distant relatives of the Hungarian Counts of Beldi. The immigrants entered historical record in March 1579, when "a certain Beldiman" served as Mayor (Șoltuz) of Suceava.Stoicescu, p. 349. See also Iacob, p. 293 In April 1609, Nichifor Beldiman, recorded in some genealogies as a nemeș (untitled landowner), became Vornic. He later served as Hetman and Logothete,Stoicescu, pp. 349–350 and, in late 1615, led the boyars into rebellion against Prince Ștefan IX Tomșa. He was captured in neighboring Wallachia and beheaded, his remains being disposed of in the Siret River.Stoicescu, pp. 349–350, 353. See also Bacalov, pp. 88–89; Călinescu, p. 55; Iacob, p. 293 His two sons continued to hold major boyar ranks, while his daughter married into the Prăjescu family.Stoicescu, pp. 350, 428
During the 18th century, the family lost its economic prosperity and political influence, and came to be regarded as emancipated peasants, rather than as boyars. Isolated in the rural areas of Fălciu County, they were often known by the nickname Mânja.Iacob, pp. 293–295 Alecu Beldiman's grandfather, Grigore Mânja Beldiman, rectified the situation. From beginnings as a page at the court of Prince Constantin Cantemir, he became fluent in Ottoman Turkish in Istanbul, where he also befriended Beizadea Dimitrie Cantemir.Iacob, p. 294 In 1711, following the Pruth River Campaign, the Cantemirs were chased out of the country; a Beldiman branch also left Moldavia and settled in the Russian Empire.Bezviconi, p. 177
These events led to the emergence of a Phanariote regime in Moldavia and Wallachia: from ca. 1711, both Danubian Principalities had lost much of their autonomy within the Ottoman Empire; the boyar elite, formed mainly by Greek immigrants, controlled the administration. Grigore Mânja survived this time of troubles, and emerged as a favorite of the early Phanariotes: Nicholas Mavrocordatos and Grigore II Ghica both made used of his services. However, his participation in boyar conspiracies during the third reign of Mihai Racoviță endangered his career and his life.Iacob, pp. 294–295 Alecu's father was Gheorghe Beldiman (1724–1792). Orphaned of both parents by 1735, he and his four brothers were virtually adopted by the returning Prince Ghica, who groomed them for high office.Iacob, pp. 295–297 Gheorghe amassed a personal fortune while climbing through the ranks, serving as Stolnic in 1763, Ban in 1773, and finally Vornic in 1790.Iacob, pp. 297–298 During the Russo-Turkish War of the 1770s, he declared his personal submission to Catherine the Great.Ion Constantin, Ion Negrei, Gheorghe Negru, Ioan Pelivan: istoric al mișcării naționale din Basarabia, p. 64. Bucharest: Editura Biblioteca Bucureștilor, 2012. He remained a noted figure in the Russophile party, and as a result earned a permanent appointment to the Moldavian Divan in 1774.Iacob, p. 298
His son's birth came during the final stages of the Phanariote era. Alecu was born in 1760, either in Iași, the Moldavian capital, or in the smaller town of Huși.Călinescu, p. 55; Densusianu, p. 27; Marcu, p. 119 His maternal family was Greek. His mother, Maria, was the daughter of "publican Lefter" from Istanbul; her sister was married to Enache Kogălniceanu, the Moldavian chronicler and social reformer.Iacob, p. 298. See also Marcu, p. 119 The couple had an older daughter, Anastasia, and three younger sons: Iancu, Filip, and Dumitrache.Iacob, pp. 291, 298–300 Early on, Alecu became fluent in Greek and more unusually for his generation, also in French.Călinescu, p. 55; Eliade, p. 335; Marcu, pp. 121, 123 He was educated at home and in private Greek schools—unlike Dumitrache, who was a graduate of the Princely Academy.
The future chronicler climbed steadily through the boyar hierarchy, becoming Ceauș in the Moldavian military forces in 1785; he was Serdar in 1789. At age 34, Alecu became a Paharnic at the princely court of Michael Drakos Soutzos, before being moved to serve as Ispravnic in Neamț County. In 1800, under Prince Constantine Ypsilantis, Beldiman was appointed Pârcălab of Galați.Marcu, p. 119 Following his father's death, he became sole owner of several estates. One was Cornești, outside Iași; two others, Iezereni and Tețcureni, were in Bessarabia.Iacob, pp. 301–304. See also Iorga (1912), p. 110 Beldiman was married three times, but scholars provide contradictory details on this issue. Literary historian George Călinescu reports that Beldiman's first wife, name unknown, was a member of the Romano clan; the second was Ileana, sister of the Logothete and poet Costache Conachi, making him in-laws with Nicolae Vogoride, future Kaymakam of Moldavia.Călinescu, pp. 55, 85, 980. See also Marcu, p. 119 Genealogist Vasile Panopol corrects such accounts, noting that Ileana (or Elena) Conachi was Beldiman's first wife, followed by Elena Costandache. A sister of the Spatharios Gheorghe Costandache, she bought him an urban estate in Iași; they were still married to each other in 1823, but she presumably died shortly after.Vasile Panopol, "O lume apusă. Pe ulițele Eșului", in Contemporanul, Issue 35/1994, p. 4 Both authors agree that Beldiman's final, childless, marriage was to Elena Greceanu.Călinescu, pp. 55, 980
Theater historian Ioan Massoff notes that Bedliman's earliest contributions to drama include his 1784 rendition of Pietro Metastasio's La clemenza di Tito—as Milosârdia lui Tit.Ioan Massoff, "150 de ani de teatru românesc. Cronologie", in Luceafărul, Vol. IX, Issue 52, December 1866, p. 8 Researcher Nicolae N. Condeescu cites him as the uncredited translator of Vincent Voiture's novel, Alcidales et Zelide, done at some point in the late 18th century. In or around 1799, he also probably completed a version of Eustathios Makrembolites and Godard de Beauchamps' Story of Hysmine and Hysminias.Marcu, pp. 122–123 In parallel, Beldiman became identified as one of the earliest contributors to the popularization of Western theater. The beginnings of Moldavian own theatrical activity are dated to ca. 1800, when Conachi, Nicolae Dimachi and Dumitrache Beldiman produced a short series of puppet shows, with Romanian-language texts.Tatiana Vișescu, "Începuturile teatrului românesc cult. Costachi Caragiali – O repetiție moldovenească sau noi și iar noi", in Language and Literature – European Landmarks of Identity, Vol. 1, 2005, p. 129 They also wrote a comedy of their own, making Dumitrache's one of Moldavia's first playwrights. Another play, tentatively dated to 1811, was called Serdarul din Orhei ("The Serdar of Orhei"); historian Nicolae Iorga believes that it was penned by Alecu Beldiman.
Dumitrache and Alecu remained interested in both literature and politics; Filip withdrew to a monastery in 1792, while Iancu died later that same decade.Iacob, pp. 299–300 According to philologist Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică, Alecu Beldiman's next translation was from Homer's Odyssey (as Odiseia lui Omir). Andreas Wolf, a Transylvanian Saxon physician, met the Beldimans ca. 1797, praising them as lovers of arts and literature. Bogdan-Duică hypothesizes that Beldiman handed his manuscript to Wolf, who took it to Hermannstadt and promised to publish it there.Lascu, pp. 99–101 It shows the author's familiarity with, and reliance on, the French-style Romanization of Greek, but is above all infused with staples of the Moldavian dialect.Lascu, pp. 101–104 Another similar text, tentatively attributed to Beldiman, showed up at Dorohoi, near Moldavia's border with Austrian Bukovina.Lascu, p. 99
Literary fame An unclear tradition claims that one of the Belidimans was involved in a project to unite Wallachia and Moldavia as a single "republic", with help from Napoleon Bonaparte.Nicolae Iorga, "Cugetători români de acum o sută de ani. I. Trei conservatori în epoca de unire și consolidare", in Memoriile Secțiunii Istorice, Vol. XXI, 1939, pp. 706–707 Following the Russian invasion of Moldavia in 1806, the youngest Beldiman brother interrupted his literary activities to serve in the occupation government. Alecu's own literary output became more notable following the Russo-Turkish War and the peace of Bucharest. Both Alecu Beldiman and Conachi had been chased out of their Bessarabian estates by the Russian occupation, which ultimately annexed the region as a Bessarabian Governorate; they settled in Iași as refugees.Bezviconi, p. 202 In 1815, Prince Scarlat Callimachi appointed Alecu an Aga of his citadel in Hârlău. At around that time, he also became involved in the thriving business of inn-keeping, establishing his own taproom in Bârlad.Marcel Proca, "Hanuri. Istoria evoluției de la han la hotel", in Academia Bârlădeană, Vol. XXI, Issue 4 (57), Winter 2014, p. 15 Beldiman was advanced to Postelnic in 1818, and finally became the Ispravnic of Iași in 1819, under Prince Michael Soutzos.Marcu, p. 119. See also Călinescu, p. 55; Densusianu, p. 27 An 1819 map by Giuseppe Bayardi shows that he owned a mansion on Iași's Sârbească Street.Iftimi & Văleanu, p. 45 His estate grew to include parts of Popeni and Vinderei, in Tutova County, as well as several other townhouses in Iași. He also owned several hamlets populated by Romanies, which he kept as boyar slaves.Iacob, pp. 303–304