Avram Steuerman-Rodion, born Adolf Steuerman or Steuermann and often referred to as just Rodion (November 30, 1872 – September 19, 1918), was a Romanian poet, anthologist, physician and socialist journalist. A member of Romania's Jewish community, he was a lifelong militant for Jewish emancipation and assimilation, noted for poems which attack the prevailing antisemitism of his day. For a while, he was active as a propagandist of Hovevei Zion ideas among local Jews.
During the early stages World War I, Rodion was a columnist at Seara daily, with articles which criticized Romania's prospects of joining the Entente Powers. Steuerman is himself described as a Germanophile, but, upon Romania's entry into the war in 1916, earned distinction on the local front. He committed suicide upon demobilization, following episodes of clinical depression.
Married into the family of Jewish intellectuals Moses and Elias Schwartzfeld, Steuerman-Rodion was thus related to poet-philosopher Benjamin Fondane, who was his literary pupil. Steuerman himself is often described as an obscure contributor to Romanian literature, but survives in cultural memory for having given a poetic voice to the ideals of Jewish integration.
Biography
Early life and career A native of Iași city, the historical capital of Moldavia region, Steuerman was a graduate of the National High School.Podoleanu, p.303 He published his first poem in Drapelul, a Moldavian weekly, and debuted as a polemicist in the satirical journal Perdaful. A passionate writer and, according to his friend Blumenfeld-Scrutator, "the prototype of journalistic refinement",Blumenfeld-Scrutator, p.306 he moved on to establish his own newspaper. Addressed to the Moldavian Jews, it was called Răsăritul ("The East"), and stood for Zionism.Podoleanu, p.303, 305 Steuerman also contributed to the Iași gazette Jurnalul, an organ of a left-wing political movement spearheaded by George Panu. Known under the pen name As., he was a noted proponent of socialist literature and didacticism in art, following the theories of socialist thinker Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea. Victor Durnea, "Enigmaticul I. Saint Pierre" , in Cultura, Nr. 312, February 2011
As a result, Steuerman had his works published in the Moldavian socialist review, Contemporanul.Cioculescu et al., p.580 He fought to defend Dobrogeanu-Gherea against dissident socialists, in particular against a pseudonymous critic, I. Saint Pierre. In November 1894, he and Anton Bacalbașa of Adevărul daily were each proposing ways to uncover Saint Pierre's real identity, and debating each other on the actual nature of Pierre's critique. By then, Steuerman's own articles were being taken up by Adevărul.Dafin, Vol. I, p.87; Podoleanu, p.303 As a correspondent, he was using a regional pen name: De la Iași, later A. de la Iași.Dafin, Vol. I, p.87; Massoff, p.37; Podoleanu, p.304
By 1893, Steuerman had enlisted at the University of Iași Faculty of Medicine,Massoff, p.37 but was still preoccupied with literary studies. The Jewish printing house of Lazăr Șaraga hosted Steuerman's selection of Romanian literature, Autori români ("Romanian Authors"). Published in or around 1893, it was divided into two volumes: the Anthology-proper and the Chrestomathy.Călinescu, p.555, 978; Massoff, p.37, 57; Podoleanu, p.304 Steuerman and Șaraga published a second edition in 1896. Cornelia Pillat, "Voluptatea lecturii" , in România Literară, Nr. 35/1999 Between these, Steuerman and his editor worked on translations from the work of philosopher Vasile Conta, putting out the Theory of Universal Undulation in 1894, and the Basic Metaphysics in 1896.Massoff, p.45-46; Podoleanu, p.305 The same collaboration brought the posthumous edition of poems by the socialist Traian Demetrescu, published by Șaraga and prefaced by Steuerman,Cioculescu et al., p.819 and tales by Carmen Sylva, the Queen-consort of Romania.Massoff, p.45
In Moldavia, Steuerman made his name writing for the moderate left-wing paper Evenimentul. Additionally, he worked with the Evenimenul men Al. Stroja-Flișki and Ioan Dafin on the literary magazine Cărticica Săptămânei.Dafin, Vol. I, p.76 Writing years later, Dafin called Rodion "one of [Romania's] most talented journalists". According to Dafin, he wrote with "amazing ease", and was involved on all aspects of creative work.Dafin, Vol. I, p.87-89
In parallel, Steuerman was studying to become a Doctor of Medicine: beginning in autumn 1896, he furthered his medical studies in France.Boia, p.318; Dafin, Vol. I, p.88 Normally, this departure would have brought a hiatus in his journalistic activity. Steuerman compensated by mailing daily contributions to Evenimentul, and, as Dafin notes, "his absence from Iași was not at all felt by his readers."Dafin, Vol. I, p.88 Upon his return, he set up a medical practice in the city.Boia, p.318 His thesis, on the treatment of skin cancer, was eventually printed in 1898.Podoleanu, p.305
His writing career was consecrated by several volumes of lyrical poetry—Sărăcie ("Poverty"), Lirice ("Lyricals"), Spini ("Thorns")—, a volume of short stories—O toamnă la Paris ("An Autumn in Paris")—, a libretto for an opera about Moldavian Prince Petru Rareș, , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 302-303 (1102-1103), September 2008, p.20; "Calendar. Aniversările și comemorările lunii septembrie" , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 324-325 (1124-1125), September 2009, p.16; Massoff, p.57, 58; Podoleanu, p.304-305 and several translations. The latter work includes versions of plays or poems by Tristan Bernard, Heinrich Heine, Victor Hugo, Ada Negri, Leo Tolstoy etc.Podoleanu, p.303-304, 305-306
In 1897, Steuerman was a contributor to Noutatea ("The Novelty"), an independent daily published in Iași by the Jewish poet Berman Goldner-Giordano. This short-lived gazette had a relatively obscure history, and one of its contributors, the maverick socialist Garabet Ibrăileanu reportedly forgot to mention it in all his later accounts of the period. Victor Durnea, "Pseudonimele lui G. Ibrăileanu. Colaborator la Noutatea (Iași, 1897)" , in România Literară, Nr. 11/2008 Its regular contributors were young supporters of left-wing ideologies: alongside Steuerman and Giordano, they include poet Mihail Codreanu and future jurist Eugen Heroveanu. With Codreanu, Steuerman (who usually disguised his name under the signatures Rodion, Aster, Leander and Tristis) took charge of the literary column and the poetry section. They were sporadically joined by other writers, among them Laura Vampa, Alexandru Toma, I. A. Bassarabescu, George Ranetti etc.
Rise to fame Steuerman focused on his work in the journalistic genre. In 1901, Goldner's edited a selection of his friend's contributions, as Ele ("Them"). Four years later, Dacia publishers issued Rodion's critical essay about the classical Jewish humorist Cilibi Moise. At that stage, the Jewish writer was encountering resistance from the antisemitic literary movement in Moldavia. One such incident occurred when, as A. Trestianu, he published his poems in the magazine Arhiva, Organul Societății Științifice și Literare. That collaboration ended abruptly, when Gheorghe Ghibănescu, the editor in chief, discovered that Trestianu was a Jew, and ordered his staff to destroy the physical evidence of Rodion's correspondence.Isac Ludo, Despre pseudonim, Editura Răspântia, Bucharest, 1947, p.23
In 1903,Zăstroiu, p.23 Steuerman married Angela, daughter of Iași-based Jewish folklorist Moses Schwartzfeld, and was integrated into the Schwartzfeld family.Crăciun, p.147; Daniel, p.602 Rodion also became a literary chronicler at Ordinea ("The Order"), published by the Conservative-Democratic Party, and held a similar position at Alexandru Bădărău's Opinia ("The Opinion"). The latter employed him as its main editor for several years on end: Steuerman wrote three simultaneous columns in Opinia, and (Dafin argues) was "the paper's true soul."Dafin, Vol. II, p.61 He was perpetually interested in new social and cultural developments, and enthusiastic about the birth of cinema, writing in Opinia about the coming demise of demise, and probably authoring the advertorials about "moving-picture soirées" in Iași.Zăstroiu, p.23-25
During those years, Rodion began a cordial correspondence with Ion Luca Caragiale, the self-exiled Romanian playwright. Himself a noted proponent of Jewish emancipation and Jewish Romanian literature, Caragiale viewed Steuerman as one of his best Jewish friends, a group which also includes Dobrogeanu-Gherea, dramatist Ronetti Roman, journalists Barbu Brănișteanu and Emil Fagure, Dan Mănucă, "Scrisorile lui Caragiale" , in Convorbiri Literare, August 2003 as well as Steuerman's own publisher Șaraga. Vasile Iancu, "Înfațișările lui Caragiale în Iașii Junimii" , in Convorbiri Literare, November 2002 Around 1907, Caragiale publicly stated his admiration for Steuerman and Ronetti Roman. His words of praise irritated nationalist historian Nicolae Iorga, who published the antisemitic review Neamul Românesc: in one of his articles for that magazine, Iorga reported that Caragiale was a sellout to Jewish interests.Voicu, p.148 Caragiale indirectly reacted to this accusation in 1908, when he satirized Iorga's scholarly ambitions with a mordant epigram that was first published in Convorbiri Literare.Voicu, p.148-149
Meanwhile, Rodion was becoming a Romanian expert on the poetry of Heinrich Heine. In 1910, he published a comparative study of Heine and Édouard Grenier; a year later, the volume Complicele lui Heine ("Heine's Accomplice"). His work established Rodion's reputation outside Moldavia: in Transylvania, critic Ilarie Chendi noted that, with Dumitru Karnabatt and some others, the "fecund" Steuerman was still maintaining alive the tradition of cultural journalism. Ilarie Chendi, "Vieața literară în 1911 (o privire generală)", in Luceafărul, Nr. 3/1912, p.61 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library) Diversifying his contributions, he published in Opinia and Ordinea his introductions to the work of Oscar Wilde.Oscar Wilde: A Romanian Bibliography of Secondary Sources , at The Oscholars network; retrieved February 22, 2011 Obtaining Caragiale's blessing, he regularly put out quatrains with humorous commentary of political affairs.Blumenfeld-Scrutator, p.307, 309-310 Rodion also rallied with Viața Socială, a left-wing paper put out in Bucharest by the republican agitator N. D. Cocea.Angelo Mitchievici, Decadență și decadentism în contextul modernității românești și europene, Editura Curtea Veche, Bucharest, 2011, p.99. At Iași, he and Goldner-Giordano were invited to write for a regional newspaper of record, Gazeta Moldovei.Dafin, Vol. II, p.41 In 1912, Steuerman's review of French-language studies of Romanian literature, from Theodor Cornel to Léo Claretie, saw print in the newspaper Românul of Arad. Rodion, "Literatura franco-română", in Românul (Arad), Nr. 223/1912, p.9 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library) The same year, again signing A. Trestianu, he returned to Arhiva with a translation from Carmen Sylva.Podoleanu, p.304
Despite literary recognition, and probably because he was perceived as a foreigner, Steuerman was not invited to join the newly created Romanian Writers' Society (SSR). He ridiculed the SSR's xenophobia in a series of articles for Ordinea and Opinia.Durnea (2005), passim His comments enlisted negative reactions in Chendi's Cumpăna magazine, where it was implied that Rodion risked awakening latent antisemitism, but were defended by his more liberal colleagues at Noua Revistă Română.Durnea (2005), p.25, 27 At around the same time, Rodion had become a sympathizer of Josef B. Brociner and his "Society of Romanian Israelites"—a local branch of Hovevei Zion and one of Romania's first Jewish political associations. , in Realitatea Evreiască, Nr. 241 (1041), November–December 2005, p.10