Constantin Barcaroiu (24 January 1895 – 21 April 1974) was a Romanian actor, writer and political activist, noted for his involvement with the extremist Crusade of Romanianism. Born to destitute workers, he had his beginnings in the socialist movement, contributing to its artistic propaganda. He graduated from the Bucharest Drama Conservatory, but struggled to find employment, and moved around the country; in tandem, he also penned poems and articles that were featured in various publications—beginning with Epoca—and was a magazine editor. He was a late contributor to the Symbolist movement, into which he added his own social messaging, as well as some standards of expressionism and literary naturalism. He joined the Crusade after it had split from the more conventionally fascist Iron Guard, and, in his work as a Crusader poet and novelist, combined Christian messaging with the staples of proletarian literature. Barcaroiu remains particularly noted for his social novel, Periferie, published at the height of the Great Depression.
Barcaroiu left the Crusade in September 1936, shortly after its leader, Mihai Stelescu, had been assassinated by an Iron Guard death squad. Alongside other former Crusaders, he joined the National Renaissance Front, created in 1939 around Carol II the authoritarian King—whom he viewed as likely to provide social programs against unemployment. In tandem, Barcaroiou networked with the Adonis group of poets, which brought together proletarian writers and some of the former Crusaders. He and the circle remained active during the Guard's "National Legionary State", and also during the pro-Axis dictatorship of Ion Antonescu. Enjoying success as an actor, and seeing his novel reprinted, Barcaroiu was also repeatedly involved in Antonescian propaganda, up until the anti-fascist coup of 1944. Though deciding to end his journalistic activity in 1945, he was still active on the stage during his final three decades, which were spent under communist rule. The communist authorities expressed their satisfaction with his work in that sphere, offering him permanent employment at the state theater in Reșița.
Actor, socialist, Crusader
Barcaroiu was born in the outer slums of Bucharest, on 24 January 1895, to industrial workers George Georgescu and Maria Barcaroiu. As literary historian Dan Mănucă observes, the two were "very likely indigent", meaning that Constantin had to struggle to remain in school.Mănucă, p. 616 In 1915–1916, he was enlisted at Theodor M. Stoenescu's Academy of Music and Drama, which had its yearly graduation shows at Liedertafel Hall. During the first such gala, he impressed the columnist at Dimineața, who noted that he was suited for comedies.D., "Dela Teatru. Producția Academiei de muzică și artă dramatică", in Dimineața, 30 June 1915, p. 3 After the next such performance in June 1916, he was recommended by Minerva newspaper as an already accomplished young talent."De la Liedertafel. Producția de fine de an a Academiei de artă drammtică", in Minerva, 28 June 1916, p. 3 His first known political affiliation was with the Socialist Party of Romania, which, at some point after 1919, recruited him as its actor-propagandist, alongside fellow Stonescu academy alumni Alexandru Finți and Sandu Eliad.Alterescu & Gîțză, pp. 210–211
Barcaroiu was absent from records during the later stages of World War I, which came with a period of German occupation. Returning to cultural life in interwar Greater Romania, he had his debut as a poet in 1922, when samples of his work appeared in Epoca daily. According to Mănucă, they display faint echoes from Ion Minulescu, already showing Barcaroiu as a "belated Symbolist".Mănucă, p. 617 Barcaroiu had also enlisted at the state-run Drama Conservatory, taking his final exams in 1924.Mănucă, p. 616 On 31 March 1923, the Belle-Arte Association, formed by Barcaroiu's colleagues, held a benefit show for him."Șezătoarea asociației Bele-Arte ", in Timpul, 1 April 1923, p. 4 In August of that year, he was in Breaza, performing alongside Dinu Macedonski in Max Maurey's Le Stradivarius."Informațiuni", in Rampa, 26 August 1923, p. 6 Around 1924, Barcaroiu's own poetry was being read out during cultural evenings at a socialist club, located on Bucharest's Șelari Street.Alterescu & Gîțză, p. 212 In May 1925, he traveled to Bolgrad in southern Bessarabia, as a guest of General Neculce Society. Here, he performed a comedic monologue, and was praised by Îndreptareas local correspondent for his "unparalleled humor."Mon Bardou, "'Casele Naționale' și Universitatea liberă la Bolgrad", in Îndreptarea, 1 June 1925, p. 2 By September, he was cast as the lead in Erasmus Montanus, done at the Bucharest People's Theater from a classical text by Ludvig Holberg. Critic Scarlat Froda appreciated the production, but described Barcaroiu as "too cavernous" for the part.Scarlat Froda, "Cronica dramatică. Teatrul Popular: Erasmus Montanus, comedie în trei acte de Holberg", in Rampa, 25 September 1925, p. 4
For the next decade, Barcaroiu was an itinerant actor. In tandem, he penned social poetry and theater criticism for various outlets, including Răsăritul and Capitala (both of which had him as an editor), Flacăra, Universul, and the Iron Guard's Sfarmă-Piatră.Mănucă, pp. 616–617 He came into contact with Mihai Stelescu, who had formed the Crusade as a Guardist dissidence. Stelescu gave him his first break was in political journalism: in 1934, Barcaroiu became editor of the Crusade's eponymous magazine.Mănucă, p. 616 His inaugural article there was an indictment of economic liberalism, which he blamed for the Great Depression. Observing that there was "overproduction" while "the masses are hungry [and] the nation walks about naked and barefooted", he stated that the liberal state was mismanaged, opting for dirigisme.Constantin Barcaroiu, "Probleme muncitorești. Incertitudinea muncii", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. I, Issue 1, 22 November 1934, p. 7 Also that year, he collected his prose poetry as Florile roșii ("The Red Flowers"), seen by Mănucă as a melodrama-tinged commentary on working-class life, with tones of "enraged Christianity" and a heavy reliance on biblical analogies.Mănucă, p. 617 A contemporary reviewer, C. Dan Pantazescu, described the volume as "a drop of poison mixed with flower", placing side by side "a laudable effort toward artistic beauty" and an ideological lesson about "the turmoil of human beings, grieving in the face of the misery and infamy that lurks in obscure corners."C. Dan Pantazescu, "Literatură Idei Comentarii. Cronica literară", in Țara Noastră, 16 February 1935, p. 2
Periferie
In 1935, Barcaroiu debuted as a novelist with Periferie ("Periphery"), which he wrote alongside his close friend Petre Bellu, who was completing his own novel (Apărarea are cuvântul). According to Bellu, they went through "days of sad serenity, sharing a loaf of bread, a cigarette, and a dream that we tore away, with great difficulty, from the tragedy of life."Petre Bellu, "Gânduri omenești", in Bacăul, 5 May 1942, p. 1 Combining proletarian literature and Christian principles, Periferie is seen by Mănucă as "manichean". The critic is unimpressed by its promise of a humanitarian world-to-come; he nonetheless makes note of Barcaroiu's language, which creates a "landscape of poignant color" that announces Eugen Barbu's prose.Mănucă, p. 617 Scholars such as Henri Zalis, which analyze both Barcaroiu and Barbu as heirs of literary naturalism, also draw a distinction between the two: while Barcaroiu belongs with Carol Ardeleanu in a category of lesser naturalists, fully embracing its stylistic requirements, whereas Barbu (like Tudor Arghezi and Marin Preda) is only partly an adherent, using naturalistic techniques only when convenient.Emil Manu, "Vitrina cărții. Monografia unui curent literar", in România Liberă, 27 June 1979, p. 2
Speaking for the Crusade, Alexandru Talex praised Periferie as a worthy sample of proletarian "social frescos", alongside works by Ardeleanu and George Mihail Zamfirescu. This verdict was received with scorn by the left-wingers at Facla, who described Periferie as "sinister" and "ungrammatical" propaganda in favor of "Crusader fascism".Trei, "Literatură – artă – teatru. Bazar", in Facla, 5 September 1935, p. 2 Rendering in full a fragment in which Barcaroiu detailed a sexual act (with "reduced literary imagination"), Facla suggested that he was perhaps better suited for factory work.Trei, "Literatură – artă – teatru. Bazar", in Facla, 9 August 1935, p. 2 Barcariu's stated mentor was Panait Istrati, who had also been an intellectual luminary of the Crusade. Shortly before his death in April 1935, Istrati had reportedly vetted Periferie for publishing, calling it "a social novel of a rare kind.""Fapte și comentarii. O părere de dincolo de mormânt", in Credința, 11 August 1935, p. 7 On 19 May, Barcariu helped set up the Friends of Panait Istrati Association, operating out of the deceased author's home. Its managers included Stelescu, Talex, Demostene Botez, Vladimir Cavarnali, Petru Manoliu, and Aida Vrioni."Asociația 'Prietenii lui Panait Istrati'", in Opinia, 29 May 1935, p. 3
Periferie, meanwhile, enjoyed some commercial success,Mănucă, p. 617 though Barcaroiu had to promote it himself. The future literary historian Mircea Zaciu, at the time an adolescent, recalls seeing him doing so at "a small bookshop" in Arad, "the sad symbol of a scorned or neglected artist".Mircea Zaciu, "In memoriam Radu Tudoran", in Luceafărul, Issue 46/1992, p. 7 Another distributor was his Jewish publisher, Ignaz Herz, who was at the time being singled out as a peddler of pornography. Himself a novelist, Theodor Rășcanu came to Herz's defense, noting that, though inclined toward sensationalism or paraliterature, his distribution network included "many works of fine literature", including those penned by Barcaroiu and Bellu.Theodor Rășcanu, "La Corso... – In loc de interview", in Facla, 6 November 1936, p. 1 Pantazescu, who had objected to Periferie (seeing it as a base book that signaled Barcaroiu's loss of importance), observed with satisfaction that there was a dispute between the author and Herz: those on Bercaroiu's side accused Herz of having modified the text to increase sales, with help from a ghostwriter named Ștefan Freamăt.C. Dan Pantazescu, "Literatură Idei Comentarii. Am avut dreptate!", in Țara Noastră, 19 August 1935, p. 2
In June 1935, Barcaroiu signed up to a manifesto of the young writers (also signed by Virgil Carianopol, Paul Daniel, and Dem. Bassarabeanu), who demanded that the King-regnant, Carol II, create a social program for the employment of young intellectuals."Un strigăt al tinerilor scriitori", in Știrea, 26 June 1935, p. 4 Stelescu was eventually assassinated by an Iron Guard death squad in June 1936, leaving his movement in divided into factions. In September, Talex left the Crusade, citing "ideological disagreements" with the new leadership."Dela 'Cruciada Românismului'", in Dimineața, 8 September 1936, p. 2 His example was immediately after followed by thirteen other high-ranking members, including Barcaroiu, Cavarnali, Paul Bărbulescu, and Virgil Treboniu."Dela Cruciada Românismului", in Adevărul, 10 September 1936, p. 7 In October, the Crusade's "leadership committee" published a "letter of clarification". It accused "three or four" members of having been agents provocateurs, who had "sought to discredit the movement by presenting it as supportive of the communist credo."Comitetul de Conducere, "Cuvânt de lămurire pentru Cruciați și pentru prietenii 'Cruciadei Românismului'", in Cruciada Românismului, Vol. II, Issue 91, 25 October 1936, p. 1
Adonis and World War II propaganda