George Coșbuc (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈd͡ʒe̯ord͡ʒe koʃˈbuk]; 20 September 1866 – 9 May 1918) was a

Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist, best remembered for his verses describing, praising
and eulogizing rural life, its many travails but also its occasions for joy.

Coșbuc was born in Hãrdãu -Năsăud Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania) and died in Bucharest.

Contents

 1 Biography

o 1.1 Early life

o 1.2 First works

o 1.3 1890s

o 1.4 Later life

 2 References

 3 External links

Biography

Early life

His father Sebastian Coșbuc, a Greek Catholic priest looked up to by his parish, drew from a line reputed
to have yielded fourteen consecutive generations of priests. George attended primary school and
graduated to secondary classes in the neighboring village of Telcs (now: Telciu). He happily took to the
scholarly bent encouraged by his father, earning the praise of instructors and being chosen among the
few who were to sign up for advanced courses at Liceul Românesc (Romanian Lyceum), a higher learning
academy in the town of Naszód (now: Năsăud). He soon found himself doubling as teacher.

He began tearing through the library of the institution, impressing colleagues with his encyclopedic
inclinations, and joined a local literary club, the Virtus Romana Rediviva, an association his father
frowned upon as a deviation for a prospective career as clergyman. In 1884, already a well-loved teacher
at the age of 24, he published his very first poems in the yearly almanac of the literary club.

First works

Coşbuc began attending courses at the University of Cluj-Napoca in 1884, while collecting fairy tales and
popular stories, which he rewrote and published to local success. He became so popular that three years
later, he was asked to become editor in chief of the main Kolozsvár Romanian newspaper, Tribuna.
He soon published what widely became known as his first masterpiece, Nunta Zamfirei ("Zamfira's
Wedding") to enthusiastic praise in Romanian literary circles. He moved to Romania, Bucharest, the
capital, and the center of cultural discourse. His contributes to the periodical Convorbiri Literare to
consistent acclaim. In collaboration with other former educators, he pieced together a praised
Romanian language textbook: Carte românească de citire (the "Romanian Book of Reading").

1890s

George Coșbuc on a 2014 Romanian stamp

In 1893, he published Balade și idile ("Ballads and Pastorals") a volume which cemented his reputation.
He began dabbling in poetry with political subtext, penning the emphatic Noi vrem pământ ("We
Demand Land"), Lupta vieții ("Life's struggle"), and overviewes the debut of yet another literary
magazine, Vatra. In 1895, he married Elena Sfetea.

He completed the first Romanian translation of Virgil's Aeneid in 1896, and also published a collection of
various poems and short stories, Versuri și proză ("Verses and Prose"). His output as a translator is
astonishing: within the span of three years, he published large portions of Kalidassa's Sanskrit
Abhignānashākuntala (a part of them through German translations), and a new Romanian translation of
Homer's Odyssey. Coşbuc also undertook the translation of various works by Friedrich Schiller. The
Romanian Academy deemed him an "outstanding member" in 1898. He further contributed to literature
by completing, a decade later, the epic effort of translating Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy in its
entirety.