Panait Istrati facts for kids
Panait Istrati (born August 10, 1884 – died April 16, 1935) was a Romanian writer. He wrote in both French and Romanian languages. People sometimes called him "The Maxim Gorky of the Balkans," comparing him to a famous Russian writer.
Contents
Early Life and First Writings
Panait Istrati was born in Brăila, a city in Romania. His mother, Joița Istrate, was a laundress. His father, Georgios Valsamis, was a Greek tobacco trader.
He went to primary school for six years. He had to repeat two grades. After school, he worked many different jobs. He was an apprentice in a tavern, a pastry cook, and a peddler. Even with these jobs, he loved to read a lot of books.
Around 1907, Istrati started writing. He sent his articles to socialist newspapers in Romania. His first article was Hotel Regina in a paper called România Muncitoare. He also published his first short stories there, like Mântuitorul ("The Redeemer") and Familia noastră ("Our Family"). He wrote for other newspapers too, such as Dimineața and Adevărul.
In 1910, he helped organize a workers' strike in Brăila. He then traveled to many cities, including Bucharest, Istanbul, Cairo, Naples, and Paris. He also lived in Switzerland for a while to get treatment for tuberculosis, a lung disease. During his travels, he had two difficult marriages and spent long periods moving from place to place without a fixed home.
While in a special hospital for his illness, Istrati met Josué Jéhouda, a Swiss writer. Jéhouda became his friend and helped him learn French.
Istrati greatly admired the French writer Romain Rolland. He tried for a long time to get in touch with him. Finally, Rolland received a letter from Istrati and wrote back. In 1923, Istrati's story Kyra Kyralina was published. Rolland wrote a special introduction for it. This story was the first in a series called the Adrien Zograffi cycle. Rolland was very interested in Istrati's adventurous life. He encouraged Istrati to write more and published parts of his work in a magazine called Clarté. Istrati's next important book was the novel Codine.
Istrati and His Views on Communism
Istrati shared similar ideas with Romain Rolland about making society better. Like Rolland, he hoped that the Bolshevik movement in Russia would create a fairer world. In 1927, he visited the Soviet Union to celebrate the anniversary of the October Revolution. He traveled through many parts of the country, seeing celebrations in Moscow and Kiev.
In Moscow, he met his future friend, Nikos Kazantzakis, another writer. Panait Istrati also met Victor Serge and said he wanted to become a citizen of the Soviet Union. He and Kazantzakis even wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, but they never received a reply.
In 1928 and 1929, Istrati visited the Soviet Union again. This time, he traveled to more distant places like the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Baku. During these visits, Istrati began to see the true nature of Stalin's communist government. He realized it was a dictatorship that caused suffering for many people.
After this experience, he wrote a famous book called The Confession of a Loser. This book was one of the first by an intellectual to show disappointment with the Soviet system. Istrati wrote about the unfair treatment of old communist leaders and how entire groups of people were being harmed. He also sent two strong letters to the Soviet secret police in December 1928, expressing his concerns.
After this, Istrati faced a difficult time. His former communist friends called him names like "Trotskyist" or even "Fascist". Henri Barbusse, another writer, was especially harsh. Romain Rolland had praised Istrati's letters to the secret police, but he chose to stay out of the arguments. Istrati returned to Romania feeling sick and discouraged. He was treated for tuberculosis in Nice, France, and then came back to Bucharest.
Later Years and Death
After he broke away from his support for Bolshevism, Istrati's political views were not always clear. The Romanian secret police continued to watch him closely. In April 1933, he wrote an article in a French magazine titled L'homme qui n'adhère à rien ("The man who will adhere to nothing"). This title showed that he no longer wanted to fully support any political group.
Around this time, Istrati also started writing for Cruciada Românismului ("The Crusade of Romanianism"). This was a group that had split off from the ultra-nationalist Iron Guard. Istrati became connected with the group's leader, Mihai Stelescu. Stelescu was later killed by members of the Iron Guard. Istrati himself was attacked several times by groups from the Iron Guard.
Feeling alone and without protection, Panait Istrati died at the Filaret Sanatorium in Bucharest. He was buried in Bellu Cemetery.
List of Works
Adrian Zografi series
- Les Récits d'Adrien Zograffi / The Stories of Adrian Zografi
- Kyra Kyralina, Rieder, Paris, 1924
- Oncle Anghel, Rieder, Paris, 1924
- Les Haidoucs : I. Présentation de Haidoucs, Rieder, Paris, 1925
- Les Haidoucs : II. Domnitza de Snagov, Rieder, Paris, 1926
- Enfance d'Adrien Zograffi / Childhood of Adrian Zografi
- Codine, Rieder, Paris, 1926
- Mikhail, Rieder, Paris, 1927
- Adolescence d'Adrien Zograffi / Adolescence of Adrian Zografi
- Vie d'Adrien Zograffi / The Life of Adrian Zografi
- At Maison Thuringer, Rieder, Paris, 1933
- Le Bureau du Placement, Rieder, Paris, 1933
- Méditerranée. Lever du soleil, Rieder, Paris, 1934
- Méditerranée. Coucher du soleil, Rieder, Paris, 1935
Other Works by Panait Istrati
- Past and future. Autobiographical pages, Renaissance, Bucharest, 1925
- La Famille Perlmutter, Gallimard, Paris, 1927 (with Josué Jéhouda)
- Isaac, the joust of the iron, Joseph Hessler librairie, Strasbourg, 1927
- Le Refrain de la fosse (Nerantsoula), Grasset, Paris, 1927
- Mes départs (pages autobiographiques), Gallimard, Paris, 1928
- Les Chardons du Baragan, Bernard Grasset, Paris, 1928
- Confession pour vaincus. Après seize mois dans l'URSS, Rieder, Paris, 1929
- Le Pécheur d'éponges (pages autobiographiques), Rieder, Paris, 1930
- Pour avoir aimé la terre, Denoël et Steele, Paris, 1930
- Tsatsa Minnka, Rieder, Paris, 1931
- En Égypte, Éditions des Cahiers libres, Paris, 1931
Films Based on Istrati's Books
Panait Istrati wrote a screenplay based on his own work called The Bandits. This film project was never finished.
His novel Kira Kiralina was made into a silent film in 1927 in Soviet Ukraine. It was filmed again in 1993 as a Romanian-Hungarian movie. A third film version, directed by Dan Pița, came out in 2014.
There is also a 1958 French-Romanian film called Ciulinii Bărăganului, based on his book. The novel Codine was made into a French-Romanian film in 1962.
Images for kids
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Panait Istrati in 1927
See also
In Spanish: Panait Istrati para niños
