Eugen Constant (né Constantinescu; 25 October 1890 – 27 February 1975) was a Craiova-based Romanian writer, labor organizer, and political activist. Born into relative poverty, he was trained as an accountant and worked for long as a teacher in trade schools. He was called up under arms during World War I, making his debut as a poet at Iași, in 1917. His early works alternated between displays of Romanian nationalism and themes borrowed from the Symbolists; he was often seen, by both contemporaries and later reviewers, as a minor, indigestible poet, and his one social novel, published in 1935, was similarly panned. Eugen's output, like that of his brothers Paul and Savin, largely illustrated the author's leftist convictions and tropes, showing influences from Marxism; during the 1920s and into the Great Depression, he was in permanent contact with the Romanian Communist Party, which directed his contributions in trade unionism. He took a public stand in defense of workers and activists during the Grivița Strike of 1933, his propaganda leading to his near-prosecution by the Romanian monarchy.
Despite stints with his brother Paul in Sibiu, where he founded two literary magazines, and after making failed attempts to take up work in Bucharest, Eugen Constant remained attached to Craiova. He was affiliated with local journals, including Năzuința and Radical, before creating his own, Condeiul, publishing it until after the break of World War II. His socialism apparently toned down during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and he revived his nationalism; possibly sympathetic to the Iron Guard, he was kept on by Ion Antonescu's dictatorship, serving as a factory leader of the state-run leisure service. He turned back toward socialism immediately after anti-fascist coup of August 1944, joining the newly established Union of Patriots, and endorsing the communists' mounting control of Romanian society. The communist regime granted him favors, especially during his old age. His contributions to proletarian literature were generally considered as not up to the aesthetic standard, despite his enthusiastic support for communist policies.
Biography Early life Born in Craiova on 25 October 1890, Eugen Constantinescu had eight siblings, four of whom also became writers: Iancu, Paul (1895–1981), Dumitru "Savin" (1902–1928), and Lucia.Faifer, pp. 531, 533, 534 Their father was Dumitru Constantinescu, a quilter, and their mother was Eufrosina née Ghindeanu.Faifer, p. 531 Eugen's childhood was spent at his father's rented apartment on Craiova's Copertari Street, which he described as a place for "industrious artisans" and "workers macerated by a horrible capitalist exploitation", and where he was made to prioritize learning over any other activity, including play.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 10, 104–105, 110 Showing some gifts for music, he was for a while a choirboy in Elie Michăilescu's ensemble.Constant & Novăceanu, p. 105 His family, however, restricted his career choices to accounting: he attended a local commercial school in 1902–1904, then enlisted at the Gheorghe Chițu Higher School of Commerce, taking his graduation diploma in 1909. His teacher of history and political economy was Vasile Mihăilescu, who took a public stand in support of the 1907 Romanian peasants' revolt, and spent time in prison as a result. E. Constant notes that he had feared for Mihăilescu's life, but also that he had ignored his political opinions, his standing as a "visionary of the new social order", until he himself had become a leftist.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 76–78 He was at the time seeking advice from the celebrated novelist, Mihail Sadoveanu, with whom he had correspondence in 1903.Constant & Novăceanu, p. 112
Eugen fought and withdrew with the Romanian Land Forces during the invasion of 1916–1917, when Craiova and the whole of Oltenia came to be occupied by the Central Powers. He was for long stationed in Western Moldavia, at Iași, where he debuted as a poet—his first published sonnet, La datorie, was distinctly nationalistic in content.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 14–15. See also Faifer, p. 531 Overall, however, his poems were in line with the Symbolist movement, with critics pointing to similarities with George Bacovia.George Baiculescu, "Cărți și reviste. Eugen Constant: Galerii de ceară", in Adevărul Literar și Artistic, Vol. V, Issue 211, December 1924, p. 7Paul Georgescu, "Cărți noi. Eugen Constant, Poezii", in Viața Românească, Issue 6/1968, pp. 145–146 Young Constant was indebted to Charles Baudelaire and Alexandru Macedonski,Faifer, p. 532 the latter of whom he always admired as a poet of "social revolt", "entirely devoted to the people's cause".Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 38–42 He viewed himself as primarily influenced by a Craiova author, Traian Demetrescu.Dragu, p. 5 As read by critic Florin Faifer, Constant's first published contributions show him to be "depressive and skeptical", "a misanthrope and misogynist", depicting "a world of shadows that merges the odd and the grotesque." The early Constant only abandons this setting when he explores natural landscapes, or in samples of "social poetry", where he is energized by his hatred of the upper classes.
Still at Iași, Eugen presented his works to Mihai Codreanu, the consecrated Parnassian, who reportedly enjoyed them and treated him as a literary colleague.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 15–16 Upon his return with the end of war (and the establishment of Greater Romania), he had relocated back to his old home on Copertari;Constant & Novăceanu, p. 10 Paul, who had reached an officer's rank, settled at Sibiu in Transylvania.Faifer, p. 533 Eugen also rejoined Chițu School in 1918, and served for one year as a teacher of Romanian language. He was standing in for Mihail Cruceanu, whom he had met at a socialist rally held during that year; as he explains in his memoirs of the encounter, Cruceanu had asked him to take over "for a couple of days", since he had been delegated at the inaugural congress of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), but ended up being arrested and tried.Constant & Novăceanu, p. 10. See also Faifer, p. 531
Still using his birth name Eugen Constantinescu, he issued his sonnets as Oglinzi aburite ("Blurred Mirrors") in 1918. In May 1919, he became a regular at Ramuri magazine, having been invited there by poet Elena Farago; alongside Cruceanu, he attended sessions held in Farago's house, whereby they discussed the option of setting up a regional trade union of literary professionals.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 17–18 According to Constant, he himself was "disoriented" about the labor movement until his meetings with PCR members—which began in "winter 1921". Cruceanu introduced him to Marxism, providing him with samples of works by Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Nikolai Bukharin.Dragu, pp. 1, 5
1920s politics
Later in the 1920s, as Farago had established a new magazine, called Năzuința, Eugen became a regular; he was also acquainted with another Năzuința writer, Ion Dongorozi, whose novel he reviewed in a 1922 issue of Flamura magazine.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 70–71 Farago promoted the Constants: Savin was a regular, while Eugen was published with an entire volume, Galerii de ceară ("Wax Exhibits").Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 20, 92–93 It appeared in 1924, and was the first book to feature his pseudonymous signature.Faifer, pp. 531–532 It was also immediately censured by critic George Baiculescu, who declared his astonishment that Farago had allowed such "absurdities" to appear under her aegis. According to Baiculescu, only some small portions of Galerii de ceară resembled genuine poetry, while the rest put a reader's patience to the absolute test. During this period, Savin debuted as a poet, with lyrics that contained explicitly Marxist messages.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 97–99 Seen by his brothers as the most gifted of the Constantinescu-Constant family, he was retained at the University of Bucharest to serve as assistant professor to Mihail Dragomirescu.Constant & Novăceanu, p. 124; Faifer, p. 533
In 1926, Eugen joined Paul and Savin Constant in publishing a collective volume, known simply as Poezii ("Poems"); his chapter was titled Amurg prin vitralii ("A Sunset in Stained Glass"). He was keeping books for Gheorghe Negrețu and his "Orient Bank", later recalling that he was being paid "sporadically" for his services. It was then that Dongorozi, who had become manager of the National Theater Craiova (TNC), took him along as the troupe's accountant.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 5, 70–72. See also Faifer, p. 531 He also attended literary soirees at that institution, including one in which the celebrated Tudor Arghezi and Nicolae M. Condiescu read out samples from Arghezi's work.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 5–6, 72 In time, he himself was published in Arghezi's magazine, Bilete de Papagal. His TNC tenure, during which he tried to reform the finances, ended abruptly in 1928, after the entire building had been destroyed in a "mysterious fire" (possibly started by an usher's stove).Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 55, 71–72, 118 In October of that year, Eugen and Paul lost their brother Savin, who was crushed and killed in a train collision at Recea.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 93–94, 96–97, 100, 124; Faifer, pp. 533–534 A friend, the poet Nicolae Milcu, happened to be riding one of the trains involved; he was unscathed, but also died, of tuberculosis, in 1930.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 93–94
For about fifteen years, Eugen was a teacher at the Obedeanu school for tanners. He spoke at the school's end-of-year festivities in July 1929, using the rostrum to denounce capitalist exploitation, and being identified by his colleagues as the voice of "warm and sincere socialism".Index, "Cronici Craiovene. Serbarea de fine de an de la școala superioară de Arte și Meserii din Craiova", in Îndreptarea, 19 July 1929, p. 3 He was let go with pay by the TNC, but in November 1930 served as accountant for Madona Dudu Church."Dimineața în țară. Craiova", in Dimineața, 4 November 1930, p. 8 By his own account, he had a "notorious" confrontation with the church caretakers, who were also landowners. Beyond Ramuri, he was a regular in many regional magazines and newspapers, either under his main pseudonym or with various others (Inimosu, Evghenie, Silvirgil, Condeierul, Vulcan). New venues that featured his work included the modernist Radical, put out in Craiova by Constantin Nissipeanu and Ionathan X. Uranus;M. P., "Reviste de avangardă", in Ateneu, Vol. 33, Issue 3, March 1996, p. 2 for a while, he was editor of his own publications—Garda ("The Guard", 1928–1931) and Strigătul Oltean ("The Oltenian Yell", 1929). When historian Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor decided to publish his own journal, as Pământ și Suflet Oltenesc, Constant reportedly helped him with proceeds from his literary conferences.Constant & Novăceanu, pp. 81–82