Radu Cioculescu (20 February 1901 – 9 January 1961) was a Romanian writer, editor, and political activist; he was the older brother of literary historian Șerban Cioculescu, and the uncle of poet and scholar Barbu Cioculescu. Orphaned early on, he fought as a child soldier in World War I, and, upon his return to civilian life, trained as a chemist. He settled on a careers as a musician and music critic, was for a while deputy director of the Romanian National Opera, and also achieved recognition as a translator—initially, with works of drama that were performed in Bucharest. During the interwar, Cioculescu also stated his organizational commitments to the Romanian Freemasonry, the PEN Club, and the National Peasants' Party (for a while, he deviated from the latter, joining the Radical Peasantists). He and his brother were brought on by Paul Zarifopol at the official literary magazine, Revista Fundațiilor Regale, entirely put out by Radu and Camil Petrescu in 1934–1940. In this environment, the Cioculescus resisted the growth of fascism and radical Romanian nationalism, and defended literary modernism, but, in 1938, also embraced the authoritarian tenets of the National Renaissance Front.
The Iron Guard, which took power in September 1940, sacked Cioculescu and persecuted his Jewish wife. He was afforded more recognition by Ion Antonescu, who toppled the Guardists in 1941, but still annoyed the authorities by refusing to renounce his Masonic allegiances and by criticizing Antonescu's support for Nazi Germany. Later that year, he was dispatched to a command post on the Eastern Front, where, while working on his translation of Marcel Proust's seven-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time, he documented the mass murder of Jews, as well as widespread looting by his fellow Romanians. Captain Cioculescu was arrested on the front and sent to Târgu Jiu internment camp; upon his release, he was reintegrated in government structures and allowed to work as a publishing adviser, but also kept under house arrest. He returned to public life immediately after the fall of Antonescu in August 1944, when he rejoined the National Peasantist caucus and took up party offices in Bucharest.
Cioculescu earned much acclaim for his Proustian translation, with the first two volumes issued in 1945. As manager and censor of the Bucharest Radio in the late 1940s, he helped form the National Radio Orchestra. He became publicly aligned with the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union, but was increasingly anti-communist—still allowing the airwaves to be used by critics of the Romanian Communist Party. Despite the latter's dominant position in government, Cioculescu managed to obtain a position in the Arts Ministry, where he placed curbs on acts of political retaliation. When a Romanian communist regime was finally established in 1947–1948, he joined the resistance movement; he was pursued by the Securitate and finally apprehended in 1949. He was then sentenced for various crimes, including high treason, but continued to express his dissidence after incarceration, and was rated by his wardens as one of the more stubborn inmates. He survived re-education attempts at Aiud, but ultimately died, of colorectal cancer and other afflictions, in 1961. His In Search of Lost Time was published in installments during the 1960s and 1970s, though some of these had to be entirely rewritten by his widow, the opera singer Eugenia Babad, with support from his nephew.
Biography Early life
Cioculescu was born in the Danube port of Turnu Severin, on 20 February 1901. His mother, Constanța née Miloteanu, was a homemaker, and Nicolae Cioculescu, a naval engineer.Barbu Cioculescu, "Centenar Radu Cioculescu. Un caracter care a sfidat destinul", in România Literară, Issue 2/2001, p. 3Nestorescu et al., pp. 381, 383 On the paternal side, the future translator descended from Romanian peasants in Mehedinți County (where the family, like virtually all inhabitants, owned its own plot of land).Florin Mugur, "Dialog cu Șerban Cioculescu", in Convorbiri Literare, Issue 23/1972, p. 3 Before taking up engineering, Nicolae had had literary ambitions, writing and publishing his own poetry. The couple also had a younger son, Șerban, born in Bucharest, capital of the Romanian Kingdom, on 7 September 1902.Nestorescu et al., p. 383 The boys grew up in the opulent house that the Cioculescus had built themselves in Turnu Severin, learning German from a private tutor and French from their parents. Their childhood changed its idyllic course when Nicolae and Constanța both died, around the time of World War I. During the subsequent invasion of Romania, Radu served as a Boy Scout, in which capacity he assisted the Romanian Land Forces, withdrawing with them into Western Moldavia.Moldovan, p. 138 His friend Nicolae Carandino recounts that, throughout the interwar, when he was a reserve sub-lieutenant, Cioculescu applied for advanced military training. As Carandino writes, "he showed up for any set date without consideration for his time, his personal affairs, or his tiredness. He was natural-born 'volunteer', from that rare breed of 'volunteers' who seek neither reward nor publicity."Nicolae Carandino, "Cei de sub cristal (II)", in Viața Românească, Vol. LXXVII, Issue 5, May 1982, p. 40
Șerban credited Radu as a prodigy musician, noting that he himself never liked music—which simply put him to sleep. The brothers were further separated by their education and career choices: Radu graduated from Bucharest's Mihai Viteazul Lyceum, then majored in chemistry at Cluj (Babeș-Bolyai) University, whereas Șerban attended Traian National College, then studied letters at the University of Bucharest.Nestorescu et al., pp. 381, 383 Though offered employment as an assistant professor in his chosen field, Radu was still primarily interested in music. He followed up with piano training at the Vienna Conservatory.Nestorescu et al., p. 381
Returning by 1930, the elder Cioculescu was appointed deputy director of the Romanian National Opera; in 1934, he served in a similar capacity for the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra.Nestorescu et al., p. 381 During August 1931, Marioara Ventura's company was rehearsing Cioculescu's translation of Valentin Kataev's Squaring the Circle."Teatru–muzică–litere–arte. Repetiții la Teatrul Ventura", in Viitorul, 7 August 1931, p. 2 Later that year, the same venue used his versions of English plays, done from the original: J. M. Barrie's Charwomen and the War or The Old Lady Shows her Medals,Rep., "Repetiții febrile la Teatrul Ventura", in Rampa, 12 August 1931, p. 4 and W. Somerset Maugham's Letter.Cicerone Theodorescu, "Maria Ventura: 'Scrisoarea'. 3 acte și 5 tablouri de Somerset Maugham — Traducere de Radu Cioculescu", in Neamul Românesc, 3 November 1931, p. 2 Cioculescu was at the time also the theatrical manager of the troupe, in which capacity he pulled a prank on his actor, Ion Iancovescu (who was himself a famous prankster).Ioan Massoff, "De ce sughite d-ra Ventura...", in Rampa, 26 October 1931, pp. 1–2 In April 1932, alongside Haig Acterian, Petru Comarnescu and Corneliu Moldovanu, he appeared at a public venue to defend young Romanian drama and film against critical remarks by Ion Gorun."Tribuna liberă", in Curentul, 22 April 1932, p. 4
Cioculescu was a self-reported atheist.Balotă, p. 47 Initiated early on into the Romanian Freemasonry, from which he retained a passion for occult practices,Barbu Cioculescu, "Constant Tonegaru (1919—1952) — destinul unui poet", in Memoria. Revista Gândirii Arestate, Issue 1 (90), 2015, p. 18 he was a founder of the Meșterul Manole Lodge, also enlisting writer Victor Eftimiu.Moldovan, pp. 138, 149 He was additionally a registered member of the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ) in Ilfov County since at least May 1932, when the group's leadership asked him to communicate his new mailing address."Partidul național-țărănesc. Dela organizația de Ilfov", in Dreptatea, 8 May 1932, p. 3 In November of that year, he signed his name to an anti-censorship platform, defending Panait Mușoiu, a doyen of Romanian anarchism whose book had reportedly been banned by the authorities; other signatories included Acterian, Comarnescu, Eugen Jebeleanu, Alexandru Sahia, Sandu Tudor, and Petre Țuțea."Pentru libertatea scrisului", in Dimineața, 8 November 1932, p. 6 For a while around March 1933, he joined Grigore Iunian's breakaway group, the "Radical Peasants' Party" (PȚR), announcing that he would edit its newspaper, Deșteptarea."Dela partidul țărănesc-radical", in Adevărul, 14 March 1933, p. 5 In May, he was elected to the PȚR central committee in Bucharest's Green Sector."Intrunirile și congresele de Duminecă. Dela Partidul Țărănist-Radical", in Dimineața, 23 May 1933, p. 7
Cioculescu resented the creation of Nazi Germany, and his initial gesture of opposition was in refusing to accept any tickets to the Berlin Philharmonic.Mihail Sebastian, "Centenarul nașterii lui Mihail Sebastian. Jurnal", in Minimum, Vol. XXI, Issue 248, November 2007, p. 13 In December 1933, upon establishing the official literary magazine, Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Paul Zarifopol selected him as his editorial secretary."Revista Fundațiilor Culturale Regale", in Cuvântul, 17 December 1933, p. 5 His work there became tinged by controversy after Zarifopol's death in 1934. According to Veghea newspaper, he had installed himself as chief editor, and was using this position to publish literary columns by his brother, which made the family significantly richer at the state's expense.Teodor Scarlat, "Literatură, artă, știință. In atenția opiniei publice", in Veghea, 20 January 1935, p. 2 The right-wing publicist Dinu Buzdugan likewise noted in April 1935 that, in their work at Revista Fundațiilor Regale, the two Cioculescus were "not up to the challenge of the times". Buzdugan described Radu's activity as "forever absent-minded".Dinu Buzdugan, "Insemnări. Reviste. Revista Fundațiilor Regale", in Rânduiala, Vol. I, Issue 2, April–June 1935, p. 245 In a 1972 interview, Șerban argued that Radu had not wanted to be accused of nepotism, and that he himself had been invited to the magazine by Zarifopol personally. The initial panning was also contrasted by philologist Ion Hangiu, who argued in 1999 that Radu Cioculescu and his editorial associate, Camil Petrescu, had established Revista Fundațiilor Regale as a "European-level publication."Ion Hangiu, "Miscellanea. Revista Fundațiilor Regale", in Limba și Literatura Română, Vol. XXVIII, Issue 2, April–June 1999, pp. 37–38
Against fascism