Profira Sadoveanu (pen name Valer Donea; 21 May 1906 3 October 2003), also credited as ProfirițaCornelia Djingola, Profira Sadoveanu, "Biografia debuturilor. 'Evenimentul real, adevărul l-au impresionat întotdeauna pe Sadoveanu, ele erau punctul de plecare în tot ce scria'", in Luceafărul, Vol. XX, Issue 22, May 1977, p. 8 and known after her marriage as Sadoveanu Popa,Petre Grancea, "Ecouri dela repetiția generală. Viața din Holywood , redată la Teatrul Național – Date despre piesa Visuri americane", in Opinia, 8 May 1935, p. 1"Decese", in România Liberă, 18 September 1981, p. 4 was a Romanian prose writer and poet, noted as the daughter, literary secretary, and editor of the celebrated novelist Mihail Sadoveanu. She was born during her father's stay in Fălticeni, on the traditional border between Western Moldavia and Bukovina, and is sometimes regarding as belonging to a Bukovinan literary tradition. She had fond memories of the place, where she had a carefree childhood on her paternal estate. During the campaigns of World War I, the family relocated to the urban center of Iași, purchasing a villa on Copou Hill. Profira's adolescence saw her socializing with some major figures in Romanian literature, who were friends of her father. Her own debut as a poet, in the 1920s, was overseen by George Topîrceanu.
In the early 1930s, Sadoveanu was an aspiring playwright and thespian, working with Ion Sava and Costache Popa on the production of independent plays, and contributing a musical comedy of her own. Popa, also active as a translator and interior designer, became her husband for the next four decades, and moved with her to Bucharest. Profira's choice for a career in theater was actively discouraged by her father, who was instead fully supportive of her becoming a writing professional; he personally handled the manuscript of her first novel, in 1933, and had her publish reportage works in his Adevărul. This second debut earned her critical attention, though her later efforts in the field were touched by allegations of immorality and plagiarism from Sadoveanu Sr. She spent much of World War II editing his works for print in a luxury edition—a project interrupted briefly by the fascist National Legionary State, during which the Sadoveanus and Popas went into hiding, fearing for their lives. Her attempt to return as a poet, in 1944, saw her most copies of her new book being destroyed by American bombers. During the final stages of the war, she also arranged for print a novel written by her brother Paul-Mihu, who had been killed in action at Turda.
The Romanian communist regime, inaugurated in 1948, openly celebrated Sadoveanu Sr, including by selecting him as republican head of state. At this stage, Profira, like Mihail and her stepmother Valeria, converted her style to Socialist Realism, contributing the screenplay to a 1952 film, Mitrea Cocor. Regarded as a leading authority on her father, whose secretary she had been for decades, she was allowed to continue with editing a definitive edition of his works, as well as numerous lifetime and posthumous biographies of him, and memoirs of her own childhood. She alternated these with a number of prose poems, which represent adaptations of his narrative style in verse form; with Mircea Drăgan and Alexandru Mitru, she also adapted his Frații Jderi into a 1974 film. In parallel, Sadoveanu Jr had a steady output as a translator of Russian-, French- and English-language works, introducing the Romanian public to the novels of Peter Neagoe and William Saroyan.
Childhood Born in Fălticeni, Profira was the favorite childȘerban Cioculescu, "Breviar. Planeta părăsită sau geocentrismul familial", in România Literară, Issue 11/1987, p. 7Lefter, p. 12 of novelist-politician Mihail Sadoveanu and his wife Ecaterina née Bâlu. Her exact birthplace at No 40 Rădășani Street was part of the Bâlus' dowry. According to her daughter's testimony, Ecaterina had been an aspiring writer, before marrying and dedicating herself to homemaking.Monica Spiridon, "Profira Sadoveanu Foc de artificii", in România Literară, Issue 48/1985, p. 10 Profira had an older sister, Despina; her other siblings were Teodora "Didica", famed for her beauty, painter Dimitrie Sadoveanu, and the youngest boy, novelist Paul-Mihu Sadoveanu;Lefter, p. 12 another brother, Bogdan, died in 1920, at the age of seven.Profira Sadoveanu, "Ionuț", in România Literară, Issue 19/1974, p. 14 According to a memoir published in the 1980s, her father and mother (whom she called Catincuța) raised her an atheist, though she was never able to suppress her belief in angels.Profira Sadoveanu, "Foc de artificii (fragment)", in Foaia Noastră. Organ al Uniunii Democratice a Românilor din Ungaria, Vol. XL, Issue 18, May 1990, p. 5 She attended the "girls' school" on Fălticeni's Rădăștenilor Street,Nicolae Tzone, Profira Sadoveanu, "Viața culturală a localităților patriei. 'Tata ar fi fericit să vadă acum Fălticenii...' Convorbire cu Profira Sadoveanu", in Scînteia Tineretului, 11 March 1989, p. 3 then the local Nicu Gane High School (from 1917 to 1918).Aurel Sasu (ed.), Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române, Vol. II, p. 514. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Some of her earliest memories include seeing her father dressed up in an officer's uniform in preparation for the Second Balkan War.
Shortly after her birth, the family bought a vacant plot from the local pharmacist Vorel (known to Profira as a "German apothecary"), which Mihail turned into an orchard. He also personally designed Profira's childhood home, which included odaia națională ("the room of the nation"), with portraits of historical figures such as Stephen the Great, Michael the Brave, Vasile Lupu, and Alexandru Ioan Cuza. At this second address, she was neighbors with the destitute writer I. Dragoslav. She was additionally schoolmates and best friends with the future mathematician Florica T. Câmpan, who recalls that she had pity for Profira, assuming that Mihail, as a professional writer, must have also been miserably poor.Simion Tavitian, Armeni din România, Vol. III, p. 90. Constanța: Ex-Ponto, 2008. . See also Gheorghiu, p. 44 In contrast, Profira viewed her child self as "the happiest being in existence", since she was "free to roam wherever I wished", and could walk everywhere barefoot. Her father introduced her to the staples of Romanian literature, allowing her to memorize large portions of Mihai Eminescu's poetry and of Vasile Alecsandri's drama ("my first love"); she was also an enthusiastic reader of Nikolai Gogol, trying out home-theater adaptations of Gogol's Marriage and "May Night". She followed up with compositions presented in school, and recalled being frustrated by suspicions that Mihail was writing these on her behalf.
Profira's life was interrupted abruptly during the Romanian campaigns of World War I; she later confessed to her fear and indignation that Mihail was once forced to present himself for active duty. Her education was continued with a private course prepared by her father, after which she attended Oltea Doamna High School in Iași, graduating in 1925.Gheorghiu, p. 44; Oprișan, p. 30 The entire family had relocated to that city, a regional capital of Western Moldavia, and occupied a villa on Copou Hill—the building had once been owned by politician Mihail Kogălniceanu. In 1920 or '21, she produced a handwritten single-issue magazine, Flori de Câmp ("Flowers of the Field"), with contributions by Didica and illustrations by her brother Dumitru. It featured her first-ever poem. Sadoveanu Sr discreetly read the piece, and then asked a poet friend, George Topîrceanu, to weigh in. Throughout her life, Profira kept and strictly followed the guidelines she received then from Topîrceanu. Mingling in with the literary circle formed around Viața Romînească, she was present when the family entertained there some of the major figures in interwar Romanian literature, and later also witnessed impromptu performances by singer Maria Tănase.Al. Raicu, "Autografe. Lîngă inima lui Sadoveanu", in Luceafărul, Vol. XVII, Issue 10, March 1974, p. 8 Her writings, some of which contain minute records of her life with Sadoveanu Sr, report that she and her siblings often assisted her father with proofreading; she had by then "devour[ed] our huge parental library".Lefter, pp. 12, 13 Sadoveanu Jr took pride in noting that she was the only one of her siblings whom Mihail consulted, when writing his novels.Lefter, p. 12
Profira studied at the philosophy section of the literature and philosophy faculty at Iași University from in the 1920s (sources diverge, placing the range between 1923Oprișan, p. 30 and 1929).Gheorghiu, p. 44 With her colleague and friend Valeria Mitru, she spent the period between December 1923 and May 1924 in Czechoslovakia. She never took her graduating examination. Her scholarly activities included sociological fieldwork with Petre Andrei, who, in 1927, took her back to Fălticeni, allowing her to see her childhood home after a nine-year absence.
Debut years In 1928, Sadoveanu Sr selected one of Profira's stories, Săniușul ("Sledging"), for publication in Mihail Sevastos' literary newspaper Adevărul Literar și Artistic. In 1929, Sevastos also selected for print a reportage of her student trip to Bratislava. In 1930, father and daughter journeyed together throughout the northern reaches of Western Moldavia and Bukovina, witnessing first-hand the on-site development of his masterpiece, The Hatchet.Imola Katalin Nagy, "Paralele inegale. Sadoveanu și Móricz sau paradoxul coincidențelor", in Vatra, Vol. XXXVII, Issues 468–469, March–April 2010, p. 162 Sadoveanu Jr was encouraged to write by her father's colleagues, including Dimitrie D. Pătrășcanu, who rated one of her prose fragments as the seed of a potentially "colossal book". Under the pen name "Valer Donea" (which originated with a private "joke"), she published more reportage works in Universul Literar.
Profira's first published translation, in 1930, was Alfred de Musset's novel, White Blackbird; in 1931, she and Teodora completed similar work on Roland Dorgelès' Partir....Oprișan, p. 31 The young woman also intended to study the dramatic arts in Paris, but did not obtain Mihail's consent. During the early 1930s, she was involved with the underground art scene of Iași, helping Costache Popa and Expressionist painter Ion Sava with Teatrul de vedenii ("The Theater of Apparitions"); she had contributions on adapting stories from Rudyard Kipling ("The Mark of the Beast"), Edgar Allan Poe ("The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"), and E. T. A. Hoffmann ("The Choosing of a Bride").Mircea Deac, "Cronica plastică. Ion Sava, pionier al expresionismului militant", in Viața Românească, Vol. XXIII, Issue 6, June 1970, pp. 111–113
"Around 1933", Profira had written her own musical comedy, Visuri americane ("American Dreams"), and managed to have it shown at the National Theater Iași in May 1935; Sava was the director, and Alexandru Celibidache the musical producer. The plot moved between Iași and America's major film studios, with local actors impersonating 1930s movie stars—from Greta Garbo to Adolphe Menjou and Charlie Chaplin. She intended to play the female lead, but her father made her promise to step down—her part went to Eliza Petrăchescu, in her first stage performance. The original cast also included Ștefan Ciubotărașu and, on his only performance as an actor, the future conductor Sergiu Celibidache.Alex Vasiliu, "Cantabile. Celibidache: paradox și inițiere", in Ziarul de Iași, 16 August 2006, p. 6A