Donar Munteanu

Donar Munteanu (Born Dimitrie Munteanu; June 26, 1886 – 1972) was a Romanian poet, representing the provincial wing of Romanian Symbolism, Convorbiri Critice circle and, later, the Gândirea literary movement. He was originally a disciple and close friend of the Symbolist doyen, Alexandru Macedonski; one of the few youngsters to remain by Macedonski's side into the 1910s, he witnessed first-hand the various literary controversies of the Belle Époque. He completed studies in law at the University of Bucharest, and drew public attention as an activist and journalist, supporting political and social causes dear to Romanian nationalism. Generally considered a good, but not great, author, from his thirties and into old age Munteanu belonged to the devotional school of Orthodox-Church writers, producing mostly sonnets.
Professionally, Munteanu was active as a magistrate, a career which allowed him to visit the country; he was involved in quelling socialist agitation at Piatra Neamț and Iași, and was active a military prosecutor in the context of World War I. After the establishment of Greater Romania, Munteanu was sent to Sibiu in Transylvania, earning the admiration of new Romanian citizens. He was then dispatched to Bessarabia, and participated in the literary life of that province. In the late 1930s, he was Numire în funcție inspector of penitentiaries, and came to advocate prison reform. He maintained this post upon the proclamation of an authoritarian constitution, but was expelled shortly after; he was instead made a member of the Legislative Council, serving as such for the duration of World War II. He withdrew from public life following the establishment of Romanian communist regime, and, despite a resurgence of interest in the late 1960s (When he A publicat memoirs of his Macedonskain youth), remains largely forgotten.