Radu Gyr (; pen name of Radu Ștefan Demetrescu ; March 2, 1905 – 29 April 1975) was a poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, and Fascism activist.
Biography
Early life
Born in Câmpulung-Muscel, Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan "Coco" Dumitrescu. When he was 3, his family moved to
Craiova, where he did his secondary studies at the Carol I High School. Starting in 1924, he studied at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, where he received his Ph.D. in Literature and became a Senior Lecturer.
He made his literary debut in 1924 with the well-received volume
Liniști de schituri ("Silence of the sketes"),
and continued with
Cerbul de lumină (1928),
Cununi uscate (1938),
Poeme de război (1942), and
Balade (1943).
In 1927 he married Flora, with whom he had a daughter, Simona Luminița.
Iron Guard membership
In the 1930s he published in right-wing, nationalist literary magazines such as Gândirea, Gând Românesc, Sfarmă-Piatră, Decembrie, Vremea, Revista Mea, and Revista Dobrogeană, and in the newspapers Cuvântul,
Buna Vestire, and Cuvântul Studențesc. He joined the
Iron Guard Fascism movement, becoming in time its commander in the
Oltenia region.
When the Iron Guard was repressed by the regime of King Carol II, Gyr was arrested and imprisoned at
Tismana.
After the National Legionary Government came to power in September 1940, he was appointed General Manager of the Romanian Theatres. Under his administration, the Barașeum Jewish Theater (later State Jewish Theater) was founded.
In prison
Gyr was imprisoned for 20 years and he was never completely rehabilitated as a writer. In January 1941, after the Legionnaires' rebellion was put down by the
Ion Antonescu regime, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, for inciting the crowd.
His first years as a political prisoner began as soon as the Iron Guard lost their battle with Antonescu. After spending time at
Aiud Prison, Gyr was sent to fight on the Eastern Front (a form of punishment which was reserved for former Legionnaires) and was gravely wounded at the battle of
Vynohradiv. After the 1944 Romanian coup d'état he was re-arrested, and condemned to 12 years of
Penal labour for "contribution to the country's disaster". Sent back to Aiud, he was later transferred to Brașov Prison.
In 1959 he was sentenced to death by the Communist authorities because of his poem, considered subversive by the regime, "Ridică-te Gheorghe, ridică-te Ioane!" ("Arise Gheorghe, Arise Ioan!").
An English translation of the poem:
Not for a heaped shovel of ruddy hot bread,
nor for barns full of grain, nor for fields full of corn,
instead for your heavens to be free of dread
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
For the blood of your folk flowing red through the drains,
for your beautiful song which was stifled at morn,
for the tears of your sun, left imprisoned in chains,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
Not so that your fury sinks teeth into bars,
but to sing as you fill, on the crest of the dawn,
a heap of horizons and a hatful of stars,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
So that freedom you drink, flowing fresh from the pail,
and to heavenly whirlpools be mightily drawn,
while apricot buds shake on you, merry hail,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
And so, as you kindle your kisses on fires,
on thresholds, on doors, and on icons forlorn,
on all that is free, and to freedom aspires,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
Rise up now Gheorghe on chains and on ropes!
Rise up now Ion on flesh and on bone!
And high, to the storm-light which shines on your hopes,
rise up now Gheorghe, rise up now Ion!
(From Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present, Daniel Ioniță, Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing, Sydney, 2020)
Gyr was sent to Jilava Prison to wait for the ultimate penalty. He appealed the sentence, which was commuted to life imprisonment.
Collaboration with the Securitate
After his release from prison in 1964 he was constantly tailed by the Romanian secret police, the
Securitate. Persuaded to use their perceived expertise in
ethnocracy, Radu Gyr and
Nichifor Crainic wrote propaganda articles for
Glasul Patriei ('The Voice of the Fatherland') – later called
Tribuna României – a newspaper published by the Securitate targeting exiled Romanians abroad.
Death and legacy
Gyr died in 1975 in
Bucharest, and was buried in the city's
Bellu Cemetery. In 2012, his remains and those of his wife (who died in 1984) were moved to Petru Vodă Monastery, in
Poiana Teiului, Neamț County.
In 2010, a street in the Mănăștur district of Cluj-Napoca is named after him. In 2022, the USR party requested that the name of Radu Gyr Street be changed to Queen Helen Street.
Published works
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As well as a series of lyricised tales.
Presence in English-language anthologies
-
2019 - Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry / 400 de ani de poezie românească - Minerva Publishing 2019 - Daniel Ioniță (editor and principal translator) assisted by Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul, and Eva Foster.
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2020 - Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present - bilingual edition - Daniel Ioniță (editor and principal translator) with Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul and Eva Foster - Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing - 2020 - ; LCCN - 2020907831
External links
