Alexandru Talex | |
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 Talex in 1940 | |
| Born | Atanase Alexandrescu 7 December 1909 Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | 17 November 1998 (aged 88) Bucharest, Romania |
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| Period | 1931–1998 |
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Alexandru Talex, born Atanase Alexandrescu (first name also Al., Alex., or Alexandre; 7 December 1909 – 17 November 1998), was a Romanian activist journalist, cultural promoter, translator, and literary historian, noted in particular for being the friend and apologist of novelist Panait Istrati. He debuted as a journalist while in his twenties, when he became a posthumous disciple of historian and Romanian nationalist thinker Vasile Pârvan, defending his thought against the dismissive opinions expressed by Eugen Lovinescu. As a friend of Mihai Stelescu, Talex was associated with Stelescu's proletarian-fascist group, the Crusade of Romanianism. He edited the movement's newspaper for two years, obtaining Istrati's collaboration and intellectual support; they were good friends for the final five months of Istrati's life, with Talex emerging as his custodian. He also established a lifelong relationship with Istrati's widow, Margareta, providing her with material support.
In early 1936, Talex oversaw the standoff between the Crusade and the more powerful Iron Guard, but recommended a non-violent approach. Stelescu was murdered by an Iron Guard death squad in July of that year, and the movement began disintegrating; Talex himself quit in September, immediately after having published an article supporting non-Soviet communism. Though affiliated for a while with the state party, called National Renaissance Front, and joining the Union of Professional Journalists as a contributor to various periodicals, he focused mainly on his preservation of Istrati's legacy. In 1944, with Romania was engaged on the Eastern Front, Talex published his biography of Istrati, emphasizing his late friend's anti-Sovietism. In tandem, he was drawn into the anti-Nazi resistance network, joining the editorial staff of România Liberă—an underground paper connected to the Romanian Communist Party. Following the 23 August Coup and its momentary restoration of democracy, he was active within the Romanian Social Democratic Party, supporting its alliance with the communists.
The Romanian communist regime tolerated Talex, and allowed him to continue working as a journalist, though its censorship apparatus banned his Istrati biography. In the 1960s, as Romania entered a national-communist phase, Istrati came to be reevaluated as an important writer and thinker. This effort was taken up by Alexandru Oprea and Eugen Barbu, albeit on terms that Talex found unacceptable. His publicized critique led to his own rediscovery as an Istrati expert, and he was directly involved in the publication of Istrati books, from reprints of his novels to collections of his letters. Talex also participated in a similar effort undertaken in France by Roger Grenier, and became an internationally recognized figure. He lived to see the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which allowed him to publish previously censored works by Istrati. By the time of his death in 1998, he was being criticized for his monopoly on Istrati's public image—including his attempt to block discussion about Istrati's, and his own, connections to fascism—and for the poor quality of his translations from French.