George Cosbuc Biography

George Coşbuc (September 20, 1866, Hordou, nowadays Coşbuc in Bistriţa-Năsăud County—May 9, 1918, Bucharest) 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.

Although his work was later coopted by Communist propagandists to embellish Marxist-Leninist rhetoric marginalizing intellectuals while emphasizing "the alliance between peasants and the laboring class", he is still widely regarded as a master of verse, accomplished translator and loving chronicler of the Romanian human and geographical topography.

Coşbuc began attending courses at the University of Cluj 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 Cluj newspaper, Tribuna.

He soon published what widely became known as his foremost masterpiece, Nunta Zamfirei ("Zamfira's Wedding") to enthusiastic praise in Romanian literary circles. He moved to Bucharest, capital of Romania 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").