Anton Costache Bacalbașa (, commonly known as Toni or Tony Bacalbașa, pen names Rigolo, Wunderkind,Călinescu, p.564; Cosco, p.114 , Paul D. Popescu, Democrația Socială (II)", in Ziarul Prahova, 11 February 2012 Jus., Wus., Zig. etc.; Victor Durnea, "Enigmaticul I. Saint Pierre" , in Cultura, Nr. 312, February 2011 21 February 1865 – 1 October 1899) was a Romanian political journalist, humorist and politician, chiefly remembered for his antimilitaristic series Moș Teacă. Together with his brothers Ioan and Constantin, he entered public life as a republican and socialist militant. For a while, his career was intertwined with that of Marxist doyen Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, who inspired in him the idea of a socialist art addressed to the masses. He was himself a popularizer of Marxist ideas, and one of the first Marxist intellectuals in Romanian political history.
After 1893, Bacalbașa was at the center of Marxist politics, as an executive of the Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party (PSDMR). While active within the socialist movement and making his essential contributions to Romanian humor, Toni joined Ion Luca Caragiale, his close friend, in editing the satirical magazine Moftul Român. He helped Constantin Mille to turn Adevărul daily into a socialist tribune, serving as its editor and directing its short-lived literary supplement (Adevărul Literar). His choice of subjects and his perceived harshness were the subject of several controversies, and, in 1894, he defended the Adevărul office building from rioting anti-socialist students. Over the following years, Bacalbașa drifted away from both Adevărul and the PSDMR, switching his allegiance to the political club formed around Nicolae Fleva.
At the time of his death, aged 34, Bacalbașa had served in the Assembly of Deputies as a representative of the Conservative Party. Despite this change in politics, he is mainly credited for his early contributions to Romanian literature, most of which reflect his critique of the political mainstream in the monarchical era. He created the stereotype of the cruel, violent and incompetent officer, and brought to public attention the hazing of young recruits.
Biography
Early years Bacalbașa was a native of Brăila, where his father Costache was serving as Police chief. The family traced its origins to Gorj County, changing their name from Telescu to Bacalbașa (literally, "head of the grocers") when one of them became leader of a guild in Galați. Costache had a military career in autonomous Wallachia, from 1834 to 1841, then settled in Brăila with his wife Aneta; they had thirteen children, seven of whom died before reaching maturity. According to literary historian George Călinescu, the exact date of Anton's birth is a mystery, but, judging by one of Toni's poems, may be 21 February 1865.Călinescu, p.564 Authors note that Toni was a passionate and extrovert person, but with a generally weak constitution.Călinescu, p.564; Cosco, passim; Kirițescu, p.46 Born prematurely,Sanielevici, p.220 he was reputedly an epileptic. Ilie Ighel, "Salon. Din Bucureșci", in Familia, Nr. 25/1894, p.296 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library) In one of his later poems, Bacalbașa describes himself as unattractive, uncouth, "wax-faced, dead-eyed", and pessimistic.
The boy had difficulties completing his education. He attended school only up to the 8th grade, and, upon turning 17, volunteered for service in the Romanian Land Forces, where he became a Sergeant.Felea, p.7 He preserved a bittersweet record of his army service, reflected in both Moș Teacă and some memoirs of military life. According to his own account, he was insulted by a senior officer for not reporting to him concerning the suicide of one recruit; he avenged himself by punching his superior in front of the entire company. Bacalbașa faced a court-martial but, since the recruits refused to report him, was merely demoted.
After leaving the Land Forces, he moved to the capital, Bucharest, where he began associating with the left-liberal, Radical and socialist milieus. He was, by various accounts, a good public speaker, who knew how to address the workers, but who avoided issues of doctrine and made ample use of "mean gibes" against the politicians in power.Kirițescu, p.47 Bacalbașa and his brothers became interested in socialist politics at a time when the local socialist movement was taking its first steps. In 1879, Constantin established a leftist magazine, called Drepturile Omului ("Human Rights"). Z. Ornea, "Capitala de odinioară", in România Literară, Nr. 13/2001
The Romanian socialist clubs, which first held congress during that year, were still undecided about which school of thought should inspire their agenda: Marxism, Lassallism, Anarchism and Nihilism each had adherents in Romania.110 ani..., p.11; Hitchins, pp.374–376 The proponents of a non-violent and liberal Marxism, as theorized political refugee Dobrogeanu-Gherea, eventually won the day, and the socialist clubs began constructing programs for a collectivist economy.110 ani..., pp.11–12; Hitchins, pp.376–377 Anton Bacalbașa had an essential contribution in this process. After 1881, he joined the Marxist group around Contemporanul magazine.110 ani..., p.11 His 1883 brochure, Capitalul, was the first ever introduction to, and summary of, Karl Marx's Das Kapital.Hitchins, p.376 Bacalbașa's literary ambitions were satisfied the same year. Some of his poems saw print in the magazine Literatorul, which was put out in Bucharest by writer Alexandru Macedonski.
Constantin Bacalbașa continued to take the initiative when it came to publicizing Gherea's cause. His 1883 magazine Emanciparea ("The Emancipation") made history for circulating portions of Jules Guesde's version of the "socialist catechism". Mircea Dumitriu, "Socialiștii români la început de drum. Clarificări și replieri doctrinare", in România Liberă, 7 December 2007 As the years progressed, Anton himself joined in the effort: in 1887, he became the editorial director of Desrobirea (also translatable as "The Emancipation"), which advertised itself as a voice of the "working men party" (partidul lucrătorilor). "Literatură și arte", in Familia, Nr. 45/1887, p.539 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library)
Democratic Radical, Sotir, Democrația Socială
Anton Bacalbașa ran for a seat in the Assembly of Deputies (Ilfov County, 3rd College), during the election of October 1888, picking up just 6 votes."Alegerile generale pentru Cameră. Colegiul III", in Adevărul, 16 October 1888, p.1 By then, Dobrogeanu-Gherea and his pupils had caught negative attention from the governing Conservative Party, and especially from the Conservatives' political-literary faction, Junimea. In 1889, by means of the socialist press, Bacalbașa popularized the rumor that a Conservative-Junimist cabinet was working on expelling Gherea from the country.Ornea (1998, II), p.315 Gherea himself was alarmed by this, and requested an audience with Junimea leader and Education Minister Titu Maiorescu. Maiorescu reassured Gherea that his followers had no intention of sabotaging the socialist clubs in this disputable manner.Ornea (1998, II), pp.315–316
Around that time, Toni and his brothers became members of the Democratic Radical Party, a short-lived and eclectic liberal faction, whose founder and leader was the ex-Junimist George Panu. Ion Bulei, "Lumea românească la 1900. Traseismul în politică la sfârșitul secolului al XIX-lea. Cazul Gheorghe Panu", in Ziarul Financiar, 8 October 2009 Constantin was afterward the publisher of Panu's political newspaper, Lupta. Panu and his men tried to negotiate an alliance against the National Liberal Party (PNL), which had for long been the nominal leftist side of Romania's two-party system. Their program included a promise that the outgoing PNL Prime Minister, Ion Brătianu, would be made to face trial. The PNL's George D. Pallade reported with sarcasm that Panu's promise to fight corruption "with the Bacalbașas" could only bring his party votes from "the naive".
Both Toni and Constantin were press delegates to the 1890 Congress of Students in Botoșani, a major affair which involved both Conservatives and socialists. "Amintiri despre artistul Liciu", in Românul (Arad), Nr. 79/1912, p.10 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library) In June 1891, "Bacalbașa Anton" was also announced as one of the leading contributors to the literary magazine Ecoul Sĕptĕmânii ("The Weekly Echo"), alongside a gathering of journalists and social activists: Traian Demetrescu, Saniel Grossman, Gheorghe "din Moldova" Kernbach, Dumitru Teleor, Maica Smara, Berman Goldner-Giordano etc. "Salon. Literatură și arte", in Familia, Nr. 22/1891, p.262 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai University Transsylvanica Online Library) Also joining them were draftsmen Nicolae Vermont and Constantin Jiquidi.
Toni was later inducted into the Marxist club formed by Constantin Mille at Sotir Hall, Bucharest, and lectured for the public on a weekly basis.Cosco, p.114; Felea, p.7 Author Constantin Kirițescu, who joined the Sotir group as a 17-year-old, recalls that both men "carried the brunt" of organizing and educating the socialist sympathizers. According to journalist I. Felea, Toni, who "resembled Ferdinand Lassalle in looks and speech", was a favorite of the Bucharest workers, and made an impression on them by touching the issue of penniless senior citizens.Felea, p.7. See also Sanielevici, pp.219–220 Bacalbașa himself did not have a stable domicile, and slept on the tables at Sotir. By 1893, Kirițescu notes, the task of representing "Marxist orthodoxy" had fallen on a new arrival, Ioan Nădejde; the "occult leader" Dobrogeanu-Gherea, already "an invalid", was rarely visiting the club, and was losing support among the rank and file.Kirițescu, pp.48–49 Two other figures, Alexandru Ionescu and Alexandru Georgescu, represented the working class on the Sotir presidium, but they were both in the process of becoming prosperous businessmen.Kirițescu, p.48
Beginning in early 1892, Toni centered his activity on the industrial hub of Ploiești, where he became managing editor of Democrația Socială ("Social Democracy"). The weekly paper was financed by a lawyer and entrepreneur, Alexandru Radovici, and was originally apolitical, but moved to the left once Bacalbașa took over. Paul D. Popescu, Democrația Socială (I)", in Ziarul Prahova, 4 February 2012 He himself lived for a while in the city, and, like Radovici, sat on the Ploiești Workers' Club Executive Committee. Democrația Socială became a rather important voice for the socialist movement, receiving collaborations from Gherea, Demetrescu, Mille, I. Nădejde, Sofia Nădejde, O. Carp and George Diamandy. According to historian Paul D. Popescu, the editorial opinion was divisible into three factions: Gherea was the evolutionary socialist, Radovici the liberal democrat; Toni, who made a lasting impression among the readers, represented the far left, prophesying the dictatorship of the proletariat.