Vladimir or Vlad Cavarnali (also known as Cavarnalli or Kavarnali; ; 10 August 1910 – 19 July 1966) was a Bessarabian-born Romanian poet, journalist, editor, and political figure. Though his ethnic background was Bessarabian Bulgarian and Gagauz, he embraced Romanian nationalism and would not approve of separation between the Romanian and Bessarabian literary traditions. In his twenties, he debuted in politics with the National Liberal Party, before switching to the dissident fascist Crusade of Romanianism, and then to the far-right Romanian Front. By contrast, Cavarnali's poetic work was heavily indebted to the influence of Russian Symbolism, and especially to Sergei Yesenin—whose proletarian style he closely mirrored, after removing most of its political connotations. He was also a translator of Russian and more generally Slavic literature, earning praise for his version of Maxim Gorky's Mother.
Though he won the Romanian Royal Foundations' prize in 1934, Cavarnali was a divisive figure—particularly after embracing avant-garde aesthetics in his second (and final) volume, put out in 1939. He was still praised for his work as a cultural animator in his native town of Bolgrad, and especially for the unexpectedly high standards of his own literary journal, Moldavia. His career there was cut short by the Soviet Union's invasion of Bessarabia; Cavarnali may have spent the years 1940–1941 in dire conditions at Chișinău, and was apparently rescued when Bessarabia was retaken by Romania. He and his younger sister Ecaterina, herself a poet, eventually moved to Bucharest. As the war progressed, Cavarnali embraced left-wing and pro-Soviet views, and was eventually recovered as a poet and translator by the Soviet occupation forces, the Union of Communist Youth, and the Writers' Union of Romania; he was also an author and promoter of children's literature. The Romanian communist regime employed Cavarnali as a magazine editor and civil servant, but excluded him from the Workers' Party upon an ideological review in March 1950. He died in relative obscurity at the age of 55, and was survived by Ecaterina, wife of the communist playwright Mihail Davidoglu.
Biography
Early life and debut Cavarnali was born a subject of the Russian Empire on 10 August 1910, in Bolgrad.Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Sasu, p. 287 This town was then in Izmailsky Uyezd, Bessarabia Governorate; the entire area, colloquially known as the Budjak and southern Bessarabia, is now included in Ukraine. Cavarnali, the son of Hristofor and Varvara,Sasu, p. 287 is generally seen as a member of the local Bulgarian community; Georgi N. Nikolov, Български автори в Румъния – кратък обзор, Bulgarian Writers' Union site, 10 May 2021Ivan Duminică, "Bulgarii Chișinăului interbelic (1918–1940)", in Sergiu Musteață, Alexandru Corduneanu (eds.), Identitățile Chișinăului: Orașul interbelic. Materialele Conferinței Internaționale, Ediția a 5-a, 1–2 noiembrie 2018, p. 245. Chișinău: Editura ARC, 2020. Diana Vrabie, "Recuperări literare: Ioan Sulacov – scriitorul bolgrădean", in Revista Română, Vol. XXII, Issue 4, Winter 2016, p. 31 researchers Eleonora Hotineanu and Anatol Măcriș note that he was of mixed Bulgarian–Gagauz ethnicity, with Măcriș including him on a list of "Gagauz diaspora in Bessarabia".Măcriș, pp. 104, 128–129 The surname he and his family used is a variant of the Gagauzian Kavarnalı, meaning "Kavarnian".Ilie Iulian Mitran, "Gagauzian Onomastics: Mapping Cultural Hallmarks through Names, Surnames and Orthodoxy", in Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 58, 59 As noted by the literary scholar George Călinescu, various of Cavarnali's poems attest to his "Slavic" origin, calling Romania "my new motherland"; such pieces also suggest that his father was a farrier who owned a specialized shop.Burlacu (2010), p. 124; Călinescu, p. 941 Bolgrad and the rest of Bessarabia were indeed only united with Romania in 1918, when Cavarnali was aged 7 (his sister, Ecaterina, was born that same year).Adrian Dinu Rachieru, "Interbelicul basarabean și poezia 'de tranziție' (Voci feminine)", in Revista de Lingvistică și Știință Literară, Issues 3–4, 2008, p. 35Măcriș, p. 129 Vladimir also had a brother, Nicolae, who went on to serve in the Romanian Land Forces.Cor., "Ce se petrece în Basarabia. Scrisori din Bolgrad. Crimă sau sinucidere? Fratele scriitorului Cavarnali găsit mort într-o fântână. — O victimă a 'baricadelor' primăriei. — Scarlatina și febra tifoidă fac ravagii. — Viața școlară — Diverse", in Gazeta Basarabiei, 11 September 1936, p. 3
In a 1936 article, Vladimir took pride in noting that, unlike the old Bessarabian elites, he had not been educated by the Tsarist autocracy. His cultural formation in Greater Romania was a "wall [which] separates us, as hostile neighbors".Burlacu (2020), pp. 68–69 Cavarnali studied locally, graduating from the Bolgrad lyceum;Burlacu (2010), p. 126 during the graduation ceremony of July 1927 (when he was still in grade seven of eight), he recited two of his own poems."Universul în țară. Bolgrad", in Universul, 11 July 1927, p. 6 He then attended the University of Bucharest (1928–1931), taking a degree in philosophy and letters (1932). Cavarnali returned to the Budjak as a schoolteacher, first at Chilia (to 1933), and then at Bolgrad (to June 1940). Reportedly, he became a published poet in 1928, when his work was first featured in Romanian periodicals.Mihai Stoian, "Evocare tîrzie", in Gazeta Literară, Vol. XIII, Issue 31, August 1966, p. 7 In February 1934, he and Matei Alexandrescu established the "intellectual group" Litere ("Letters"), which put out a bimonthly of the same title from its headquarters on Popa Tatu Street 14, Bucharest. Its stated mission was to combat "the anarchy one finds in contemporary literature"."Gruparea intelectuală 'Litere'", in Lupta, 23 February 1934, p. 2 Cavarnali was a contributor to Frize, a literary monthly published in Brașov, with poems that are seen by critic Emil Manu as "moderately modernist".Emil Manu, "Istoria unor entuziasme", in Almanahul Literar, 1983, p. 194
Cavarnali's first collection of verse, titled Poesii ("Poems"), was submitted for review to the Royal Foundations that same year, upon being recommended by novelist Mircea Eliade."Ancheta revistei Hyperion – Literatura română dintre Prut și Nistru, la un secol de la Marea Unire", in Hyperion, Vol. 36, Issues 1–3, 2018, p. 23 It won him the Foundations' special prize for "young unpublished authors", which he shared with Emil Cioran, Eugène Ionesco, Eugen Jebeleanu, Constantin Noica, Horia Stamatu, and Dragoș Vrânceanu.Burlacu (2010), pp. 126–127Mihail Sebastian, "Literatura în anul 1934", in Rampa, 2 January 1935, p. 4 Later in 1934, Poesii appeared as a booklet with Editura Fundațiilor Regale of Bucharest.Burlacu (2010), p. 126; Călinescu, p. 1029 Among the newspapers which welcomed this contribution was the Bulgarian Romanian Dobrudzhanski Glas, which spoke of "our compatriot Vladimir Cavarnali" as a "gentle and unique talent". His debut was closely followed by that of his sister. A member of Teodor Nencev's literary salon, she appeared in print with poems rated as "beautiful and graceful" by Măcriș.
Young Cavarnali embarked on a political career with the National Liberal Party (PNL), joining its chapter in Ismail County. On 2 December 1934, he was voted into the PNL county-level political council, which was presided upon by Sergiu Dimitriu."Congresul organizației Național-liberale din jud. Ismail — Ratificarea d-lui Sergiu Dimitriu ca șef al organizației — Alegerea comitetului județean și a delegației permanente", in Viitorul, 14 December 1934, p. 2 The following year, he joined the editorial staff of Bugeacul, a literary review from his native town. A while afterward, he split with mainstream politics and joined Mihai Stelescu's Crusade of Romanianism—originally a breakaway faction of the far-right Iron Guard, it was established as a more left-leaning, "Social Fascist" party,Y., "Political Mosaic. The Murder of Stelescu", in Danubian Review, Vol. IV, Issue 3, August 1936, p. 12 combining Romanian nationalism with "social aspirations".Constantin A. Caradja, "Muncă–cinste–adevăr. Ideologie Cruciată", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. II, Issue 91, 25 October 1936, p. 2 In May 1935, he had also joined Stelescu and Alexandru Talex's cultural society, which cultivated the memory of Crusade sympathizer Panait Istrati."Constituirea societății 'Prietenii lui Panait Istrati'", in Lumea, 29 May 1935, p. 2 By January 1936, Cavarnali was working for the Crusade's eponymous magazine as a correspondent in Ismail."Corespondenții Cruciadei din provincie", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. II, Issue 55, 2 January 1936, p. 4
Magazine founder and wartime hiatus Cavarnali later served as chairman of the Crusade sections in southern Bessarabia, but quit the party on 10 September 1936, due to ideological disagreements with its new leadership."Dela Cruciada Românismului", in Adevărul, 10 September 1936, p. 7 One of his last contributions for that group's paper was an homage to the left-wing intellectual Constantin Stere, whom Cavarnali described as a victim of a "poisonous, ruinous nationalism", and of attacks mounted by "the illiterate"."Prăbușirea uriașului de la Bucov", in Viața Basarabiei, Vol. V, Issue 9, September 1936, pp. 92–93 That same month, Viața Basarabiei published an article of his in which he criticized the regional schisms within Romanian nationalism, detailing the "extremely painful" discovery he and other Bessarabians had made—namely, that intellectuals from the Old Kingdom viewed them as structurally different.Ana Bantoș, "Regionalismul și societatea comunicării", in Limba Română, Vol. XI, Issues 4–8, 2001, pp. 194–195 By April 1937, Cavarnali had joined another far-right group, the Romanian Front, speaking at its public gathering in Chilia."Viața politică. O mare întrunire a Frontului Românesc din Chilia-Nouă", in Buna Vestire, 16 April 1937, p. 3 He had by then returned to Viața Basarabiei with an article which chided young Romanian writers for being more interested in joining the cultural bureaucracy than they were in struggling for literary recognition."Șantier literar. Datoria scriitorilor tineri", in Spiritul Satanei în Teleorman, Vol. I, Issue 1, 15 March 1935, p. 3 After this polemical stance and his Crusader episode, Cavarnali was viewed with contempt by the Iron Guard, whose Buna Vestire daily deplored the absence of any Guardist literary club in Bessarabia. The region, it alleged, had been abandoned: "Mr Pan Halippa and other such quadrupeds lead its literary destinies, with a certain Vladimir Cavarnali, the [homosexual] passion of P. Comarnescu, meddling in like a cretin.""Cultură, Oameni, Fapte. Cuiburi de lumină. Literatura basarabeană", in Buna Vestire, 7 April 1937, p. 2