Felix Aderca (; born Froim-Zelig [Froim-Zeilic] Aderca; March 13, 1891 – December 12, 1962), , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 280-281 (1080-1081), August–September 2007 Boris Marian, , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 292-293 (1092-1093), March–April 2008Crohmălniceanu (1994), p.80; Rotman, p.174 also known as F. Aderca, Zelicu Froim Adercu Aderca, Felix , biographical entry at the Alexandru and Aristia Aman Dolj County Library; retrieved March 1, 2010 or Froim Aderca, was a Romanian novelist, playwright, poet, journalist and critic, noted as a representative of rebellious modernism in the context of Romanian literature. As a member of the Sburătorul circle and close friend of its founder Eugen Lovinescu, Aderca promoted the ideas of literary innovation, cosmopolitanism and art for art's sake, reacting against the growth of traditionalist currents. His diverse works of fiction, noted as adaptations of Expressionist techniques over conventional narratives, range from psychological and biographical novels to pioneering fantasy and science fiction writings, and also include a sizable contribution to erotic literature.
Aderca's open rejection of tradition, his socialism and pacifism, and his exploration of controversial subjects resulted in several scandals, making him a main target of attacks from the far-right press of the interwar period. As a member of the Jewish-Romanian community and a vocal critic of antisemitism, the writer was persecuted by successive fascist regimes before and during World War II. He afterward resumed his activities as author and cultural promoter, but, having failed at fully adapting his style to the requirements set by the communist regime, lived his final years in obscurity.
Married to the poet and novelist Sanda Movilă, Aderca was also noted for his networking inside the interwar literary community, being the interviewer of other writers and the person behind several collective journalistic projects. Interest in the various aspects of his own literary contribution was rekindled in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Biography
Early life and World War I Froim Aderca hailed from the northwestern historical region of Moldavia, his native village being Puiești, Tutova County (now in Vaslui County). He was one of five children born to merchant Avram Adercu and his wife Debora Perlmutter,Debora Perlmutter mentioned in Călinescu (p.792). Cubleșan (p.79) specifies the number of children. his family being in the minority group of Jews to whom Romania had granted political emancipation.Cernat, p.34 Among his siblings were Leon and Victor, both of whom followed in their father's footsteps: the former became a shoe salesman in Milan, Italy, the latter an accountant in Israel.Călinescu, p.792
After completing his primary education at the local school, Froim spent the remainder of his childhood years in the southwestern city of Craiova and in rural Oltenia. Avram set up a new business in partnership with the State Tobacco Monopoly, while Froim attended the Carol I High School.Cubleșan, p.79 He was soon expelled from all state-funded lyceums, after his school-paper on the historical Jesus was deemed anti-Christian.Crohmălniceanu (1994), p.80 Turning to literature, Froim pondered rallying with the traditionalist writers, who later became his ideological adversaries. The poems he sent to Sămănătorul magazine were sent back to him, but other pieces saw print in Sămănătoruls provincial satellite, Ramuri.
Befriending the Craiova publisher Ralian Samitca (whose brother, Ignat Samitca, was described as Aderca's first literary sponsor), Aderca published several other works in book format. In 1910, he issued the political essay Naționalism? Libertatea de a ucide ("Nationalism? The Freedom to Kill", published under the pen name Oliver Willy)Crohmălniceanu (1972), p.422; Cubleșan, p.79-80 and the first of his several collections of lyric poetry: Motive și simfonii ("Motifs and Symphonies"). In 1912, he followed up with four separate volumes of verse: Stihuri venerice ("Poems to Venus"), Fragmente ("Fragments"), Reverii sculptate ("Sculptured Reveries") and Prin lentile negre ("Through Black Lenses").Crohmălniceanu (1972), p.422 His works were by then featured in a more eclectic and influential venue, Bucharest's Noua Revistă Română.Cernat, p.34, 61; Crohmălniceanu (1972), p.422; Cubleșan, p.79 The cycle of poems which saw print in that venue, marking his official debut as 1913, are collectively known as Panteism ("Pantheism").
Having also made his debut in Romanian drama with the printed version of his "theatrical paradox" Antractul ("The Intermission"), Aderca left for France during the same year. He attempted to start a new life in Paris, but was unsuccessful and only one year later returned to his homeland.Cubleșan, p.80 During this interval, in March 1914, Noua Revistă Română published one of his early critical essays, marking the start of Aderca's flirtations with Symbolism in general and the local Symbolist circles in particular: În marginea poeziei simboliste ("On Symbolist Poetry"). For a while, he was tasked with the magazine's literary column, and, in this context, began a publicized polemic with the traditionalist critic (and fellow emancipated Jew) Ion Trivale. Other texts he authored were published in Versuri și Proză, a periodical issued in Iași city, one most often associated with the last wave of Romanian Symbolism.Cernat, p.55; Crohmălniceanu (1972), p.422
Having witnessed the outbreak of World War I even before Romania joined in, Aderca recorded his experience in the 1915 volume Sânge închegat... note de război ("Dried Blood... Notes from the War").Boia, p.133; Cubleșan, p.86 Much of his press activity comprised pacifist and socialist opinion pieces, in which he condemned in equal terms the Entente countries and Central Powers.Boia, p.133; Călinescu, p.791-792 For a while, he displayed a Germanophile bias, arguing that the Central Powers were the more progressive of two sides and even contributing, in 1915, to the Germanophile tribune Seara.Boia, p.133-135
Nonetheless, Aderca was among the Jewish men drafted in the Romanian Army in the era before full emancipation, seeing action on the local theater and later serving in the war of 1919 against Soviet Hungary. Dumitru Hîncu, "Felix Aderca și autoritîțile comuniste" , in România Literară, Nr. 46/2006Oișteanu, p.253; Sebastian, p.146. See also Boia, p.135 His conduct under arms, deemed "heroic" by cultural historian Andrei Oișteanu,Oișteanu, p.253 earned him a military decoration.Sebastian, p.146 As a civilian, Aderca was still close to the anti-Entente intellectual circles: during the separate peace interval of 1918, he contributed to A. de Herz's Germanophile newspaper Scena, but published only poetry and literary essays.Boia, p.105, 135
Sburătorist affiliation After the war's end and the establishment of Greater Romania, Aderca returned to Craiova, where his wife Sanda Movilă (herself an aspiring writer, born Maria Ionescu in Argeș County)Călinescu, p.936 gave birth to their son Marcel in January 1920. Avram Croitoru, , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 240 (1040), November 2005 Later that year, the family settled in Bucharest, where Aderca was appointed to a civil service office within the Ministry of Labor (an office he kept until 1940). He was collaborating with another poet, Benjamin Fondane, preparing lectures on various literary subjects to complement Fondane's projects for the stage.Daniel, p.618
In parallel, he carried on with his literary activity, publishing a large number of books in quick succession and, in some cases, with significant success among the Romanian public.Cubleșan, p.80-81 His first novel, titled Domnișoara din Str. Neptun ("Little Miss on Neptune Street"), saw print in 1921, and marked Aderca's definitive break with traditionalism. It was followed by a long line of other novels and novellas: Țapul ("The Goat", 1921), later reissued as Mireasa multiplă ("The Multiple Bride") and as Zeul iubirii ("The God of Love"); Moartea unei republici roșii ("The Death of a Red Republic", 1924); Omul descompus ("The Decomposed Man", 1926); Femeia cu carne albă ("The White-fleshed Woman", 1927).Cubleșan, p.83 A member of the Romanian Writers' Society, Victor Durnea, "Societatea scriitorilor români" , in Dacia Literară, Nr. 2/2008 (republished by the Romanian Cultural Institute's România Culturală ) Z. Ornea, "Evocări verosimile" , in România Literară, Nr. 4/2000Sebastian, p.615 Aderca also made his debut as a translator from French, publishing a version of Henri Barbusse's Hell (1921). In 1922, he reissued Naționalism? Libertatea de a ucide as Personalitatea. Drepturile ei în artă și în viață ("The Personality. Its Rights on Art and Life", dedicated to philosopher and Noua Revistă Română founder Constantin Rădulescu-Motru), and put out the first section of a more theoretical writing, Idei și oameni ("Ideas and People").
Felix Aderca's new life in Bucharest brought his affiliation to the modernist circle and magazine Sburătorul. Reportedly, he was among the privileged members of this club—that is, those whose opinions were treasured by its leader Eugen Lovinescu; according to literary historian Ovid Crohmălniceanu, he assumed the task of popularizing the anti-traditionalist and Sburătorist ideology with an intensity matched only by critics Vladimir Streinu and Pompiliu Constantinescu.Crohmălniceanu (1972), p.23 A similar verdict comes from one of Lovinescu's contemporaries and rivals, the literary historian George Călinescu: "[Aderca] was one of those with the courage of taking an immediate stance, to which the master of the house [Lovinescu] would subsequently add his signature and his seals". According to Marcel Aderca, it was Lovinescu who gave his father the first name Felix, although the writer himself continued to exclusively use the shortened signature F. Aderca. By 1927, the writer was also directly involved in publishing the eponymous tribune, serving as a member of its editorial board and contributing its regular book review column. Simona Vasilache, "Ce se citește și ce se scrie" , in România Literară, Nr. 19/2008
Increasingly, the relationships between the Sburătorists were transposed on a personal level: the owner of a Peugot car, Aderca took his colleagues on weekend trips to Băneasa, or even into the Southern Carpathians. Ioana Pârvulescu, "Îmblînzitorul" , in România Literară, Nr. 17/2001 In the end, Aderca became what literary historian Ioana Pârvulescu describes as Lovinescu's "one true friend". Ioana Pârvulescu, "Mulți chemați, puțini aleși..." , in România Literară, Nr. 16/2001 Like other Sburătorists, he acted paternally toward his mentor's young daughter, Monica (herself known in later decades as a literary critic), and was present at her baptism. Ioana Pârvulescu, "Cadouri pentru Monica" , in România Literară, Nr. 45/2003 In June 1926, he even contributed to an anthology of poems written in her honor (Versuri pentru Monica, or "Verse for Monica").
In other contexts, the gatherings could highlight conflicts between the various members, Aderca and Lovinescu included. As literary chronicler, Aderca stood out for his negative comments on the novels of his Sburătorul colleague, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu: while acknowledging her glimpses of literary greatness, he criticized the liberties she took with the Romanian language, and especially her barbarisms. Although he repeatedly stated his admiration for the maverick poet Al. T. Stamatiad (who clashed with Lovinescu during Sburătorul sessions), the two men quarreled over Aderca's admiration for Barbusse. Cornelia Ștefănescu, "Viața documentelor" , in România Literară, Nr. 45/2002
Independent modernist promoter