CEZAR BOLIAC (1813-1881)A poet, a journalist, and a revolutionary, Cezar Boliac was born in Bucuresti, son of a
peripatetic Italian doctor. He was
educated at St. Sava College under Ioan Heliade-Radulescu.
He was briefly in the newly formed Muntenian militia, then perhaps did a stint in Paris as a
student In 1835 he begam a literary career by publishing a book of poetry,
Meditations, inspired no doubt by Young's Nights
and by Les Paroles d'un croyant by Lamennais. In 1836 he began
publishing the newspaper Curiosul (The Curious One), which was
suspended after a few numbers. Thereafter he bec
ame a member of various Muntenian
nationalist societies, incuding the Societatea filarmonica and
Fratia.
Boliac participated in the events of 1848, serving as editor-in-chief of the revolutionary newspaper, Poporul Suveran (The Sovereign People), and as a secretary of the Muntenian provisional government. He was also active in discussions related to the emancipation of the gypsy population.
Following the defeat of the Muntenian revolution by the Turkish and Russian armies, he managed to escape to Brasov, in Transylvania, where he published the revolutionary newspaper EXPATRIATUL (The Expatriate) in 1849. He also played an important role in the diplomatic efforts in 1849 to bring together as allies in the same cause the Romanians and the Hungarians. As a "special delegate of the Romanian emigration", he co-authored with Nicolae Balcescu the Pacification Project manifesto for cooperation, which came too late.
After the end of the Transylvanian 1848, he became active among the Romanian militants in Paris. Upon returning to his homeland in 1857, he fought for the union of the two Romanian provinces (serving as editor of the official newspaper of the Ad-Hoc Assembly), supported the election of Prince Cuza, and served briefly as director of the State Archives (he was something of an amateur archaeologist). His main activity after 1859 was as a publicist, producing Buciumul (1862-1864) and Trompeta Carpatilor (1865-1877). He supported Cuza's agrarian and monastic reforms, while after 1866, he served numerous times as a deputy in parliament. A stroke left him paralyzed after 1877.
Boliac's poetry was influenced by the humanism found in the writings of Lamennais and
Proudhon and promoted a militant, romantic style. His archaeological efforts
uncovered several valuable sites; he also became involved in research at various
monasteries throughout Romania, helping bring to light their
historical and cultural
relevance. His work was undervalued after his death; during the Communist regime in
Romania, it was greatly exaggerated because of its social protest and socialist themes.
D. Popovici, "Cesar Boliac: romantism si socialism in definitia poeziei," Cercetari de
literatura romana Sibiu, 1944, 261-291.
Ovidiu Papadima, Cezar Boliac
Bucuresti, 1966.
JGC revised this file
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/ac/boliac.htm on
October 7, 2004.
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1998, 2004 James Chastain.
Marin Bucur
Bibliography