Ion Ionescu-Căpățână, often shortened to Ion Căpățână or Căpățînă (1914 – 1942 or 1943), was a Romanian writer, publisher, and political activist. A promoter of vegetarianism, he also discovered libertarianism and individual anarchism, which he fused with influences from Gandhism; in the early 1930s, his magazine Vegetarianismul functioned as a discreet protagonist on the Romanian anarchist scene. Căpățână, who was an Esperantist and environmentalist, also aligned himself with Panait Istrati—a figure on the anti-Stalinist left who had maintained cordial relations with a dissident fascist movement, the Crusade of Romanianism. He defended Istrati's reading of communism in his trips to France and Bulgaria, and, after Istrati's death, established his own channels of communications with the Crusade. Căpățână eventually left the Kingdom of Romania, spending time in Paris as an advocate of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. He still published some of his works at home, and edited a Romanian translation of poems by Hristo Botev.
Căpățână spent his final years entirely in France, where he translated and self-published Istrati's final articles, albeit in a highly adapted (and therefore controversial) form. He married a Frenchwoman and moved with her in a cabin outside Rantigny, feeding himself off the land. He witnessed the German occupation, and in his late work expressed a newfound sympathy toward Nazism—though he continued to be seen as an anarchist icon by various of his contemporaries. He died aged 28 or 29, after consuming mushrooms that were either uncooked or poisonous. In the 1960s, an effort was made to republish his Istratian volumes.
Biography Romanian career Journalist Tibor Molnár, who met Ionescu-Căpățână in October 1936, when the latter was aged 22, describes him as a having "blond hair [and] a sparse mustache", being soft-spoken and overall "not typical" in his demeanor and appearance.Tibor Molnár, "Beszélgetés a fiatalemberrel, akinek nincs színes inge", in Brassói Lapok, 4 October 1936, p. 14 A fellow anarchist, Eugen Relgis, once spoke of him as "self-taught".Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156 His first and most lasting commitment was to vegetarianism, which he took up from the age of twelve—after having read Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile; he credited this lifestyle choices, also including temperance advocacy, with having remade him into a calm human, easing his transition toward nonviolence. In the early 1930s, the young man was won over by Istrati's philosophy, which advocated ideological pluralism (synthesizing various strains of libertarianism), and took additional inspiration from anarchists such as Gérard de Lacaze-Duthiers.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22 He was additionally impressed by Mahatma Gandhi, whom he once described to Molnár as the world's greatest contemporary figure.
In 1932, Căpățână was putting out the magazine Vegetarianismul, obtaining contributions from Istrati and Relgis, as well as from Victor Iamandi, Ivan Gorbunov-Posadov, and Yordan Kovachev. Historian Vlad Brătuleanu comments that, as the mainstays of this publication, Căpățână and Relgis only made oblique references to politics, but also that their implicit theory on "purified" society had "astonishing similarities" with individualist anarchism of the Max Stirner kind, particularly in its derivative French variety; Căpățână published the translation of at least one article by Han Ryner, glorifying primitivism.Brătuleanu, pp. 280–284 Vegetarianismuls second issue for 1934 featured Relgis' musings, linking humanitarianism and eugenics."Cărți și reviste. Eugen Relgis: Umanitarism și eugenism", in Dimineața, 24 August 1934, p. 7 By October, Căpățână was a general secretary of the International Vegetarian Union, and had co-founded the Romanian Vegetarian Society, placed under the honorary chairmanship of physician Constantin Ion Parhon (and with sociologist Henric Sanielevici as its active president)."Memento. Societatea Vegetariană Română", in Universul, 21 October 1934, p. 14 Literary historian Mircea Iorgulescu sees him as a "bizarre figure" in Romanian life, noting that he combined in his person anarchism, Esperantism, and environmentalism;Mircea Iorgulescu, "Labirintul variantelor (I)", in Dilema, Vol. I, Issue 20, May–June 1993, p. 3 Relgis adds his friend's status as an eclectic anarchist, promoting "pacifism and various libertarian tendencies".Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156
Self-published by Căpățână, Vegetarianismul ultimately disappeared after evidence that its movement was entirely marginal: its attempt to form an agricultural commune (based on models advanced by Élisée Reclus, Peter Kropotkin, and possibly also Pierre-Joseph Proudhon) met with general indifference.Brătuleanu, pp. 283–284 By Căpățână's own admission, 1934 was also when he first traveled to France—specifically because he wished to meet the self-exiled Istrati, and to ask him for existential advice. He recalls that the senior writer, already terminally ill, was bitter and disappointed about his former friends in the French Communist Party, whom he had lost for stating his ideas on the Soviet Union and Stalinism.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 23 He continued to be drawn to France, "the land of reason", even after Istrati himself decided to move back to Romania, where he embarked on a collaboration with the controversial Crusade of Romanianism (which had broken out of the fascist Iron Guard). Căpățână hoped to find a surviving network of Istratian disciples, but eventually acknowledged that none could be found in all of France at that time—he was instead surprised to discover that many regular people believed the communists' narrative on Istrati as a traitor of the working class.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 23
Ionescu-Căpățână returned to his homeland, and reached Brașov, just as the local papers were carrying news of Istrati's death. He immediately left for Bucharest, where he attended his mentor's funeral, afterwards seeking to meet with Crusaders such as Mihai Stelescu and Alexandru Talex, whom he intended to interview about their collaboration with Istrati.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, pp. 23–24 He never managed to, but instead began reading through articles that Istrati had penned for the Crusade's journal, and was persuaded that, far from betraying the workers' cause, Istrati had always stood by the "generous principles" of the anti-Stalinist left.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, pp. 22, 24 Comparatist Heinrich Stiehler summarizes his interpretation: "[the Crusade] oriented itself, especially as a national movement, against communism, in the historical form of Stalinism, with its lack of alternatives."Heinrich Stiehler, "Cineva care nu se mai angajează la nimic?", in Contemporanul, Vol. VII, Issue 14, April 1996, p. 16
Căpățână sought to popularize his discovery in Romania and in neighboring Bulgaria (a country he deeply admired for its vegetarian traditions), but found out that the Soviet interpretation had prevailed in both countries—and that "not a single working-class or avant-garde publication would agree to publish articles defending Panait Istrati." He only found an audience among the libertarians and the Tolstoyans, who at the very least agreed to review the evidence he had gathered up in Istrati's favor.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 24 He also attended Crusade meetings, where he heard Stelescu speak about the looming danger posed by the Iron Guard—shortly before a Guardist death squad murdered Stelescu himself.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 24
In exile Brătuleanu notes that Căpățână had already emigrated from Romania in 1935, and that he soon after became involved in supporting the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.Brătuleanu, p. 284 Molnár reports that, in 1936, he had relocated to Bucharest, and was traveling to places such as Arad, still lecturing the general public on the benefits of vegetarianism. He attempted to revive Vegetarianismul, but government censors banned the magazine as engaged in propaganda for a "political ideology" (Căpățână described this as a misunderstanding, "still trust[ing] that the matter will be clarified"). By his own account, Căpățână settled in France in 1937, just as the Crusade was moving back to the right (or, as Căpățână himself argued, was being annexed and repurposed by the Iron Guard).Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 24 As noted by scholar Édouard Raydon, he was fleeing the dangers posed by "events in Central Europe", he had also been angered by the political censorship imposed in Romania.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22 From Paris, he coordinated a press service in support of the Spanish Republicans.Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156 The activist had "no real understanding of French", but learned it almost immediately,Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, pp. 22, 24 building on his prior knowledge of Esperanto.Michaud, p. 19 He could therefore begin work on translating and publishing Istrati's final articles (all of which had been written in Romanian). In doing so, he helped respond to claims that Istrati had died as a fascist.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, pp. 22, 24 His last published works in Romania included a translation of Les Délégués d’atelier, by the syndicalist ideologue Maurice Chambelland (appearing at Umanitatea publishers in 1937, it was prefaced by I. Felea)."Caleidoscop. Litere, Artă, Știință. Delegații de atelier", in Adevărul, 29 June 1937, p. 2 Also then, Căpățână curated the first-ever Romanian edition of poems by a 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionist, Hristo Botev.Relgis & Tătăran, p. 158
Ionescu-Căpățână married a Frenchwoman, about whom little is known, other than that she was born somewhere in the banlieue of Paris and that she worked as an archival clerk for the postal serviceMichaud, p. 18 (her salary was his only regular source of income).Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22 Raydon identifies her as Ana Munsch, and notes that she was Ion's second wife.A. Lr., "Cronica pe glob. Redescoperirea lui Panait Istrati", in Cronica, Vol. III, Issue 48, November 1968, p. 12 In 1938,Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156 the couple settled in a two-room cabin at Soutraine, a forested area outside Rantigny, where Ionescu-Căpățână also relocated his printing press. Keeping up with his strict vegetarianism, he fed himself on plants from his own garden, raised bees, and built himself a masonry oven where he baked his own bread.Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22; Michaud, pp. 18, 19. See also Relgis & Tătăran, pp. 156, 159 Căpățână embarked on a collaboration with Lacaze-Duthiers,Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22 together with whom he published a short-lived philosophical review, Aristocratie (or Cahiers de l'Aristocratie), which appeared for just one series (1939–1940).Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156 It was entirely printed by Căpățână himself,Ionescu-Căpățână & Raydon, p. 22 who also handled its Esperanto pages. Other portions were done in French (by Lacaze), Romanian (Relgis) and Spanish (Benjamín Cano Ruiz).Relgis & Tătăran, p. 156