Pantazi Ghica | |
|---|---|
 Ghica, photographed in courtroom attire | |
| Born | March 15, 1831 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | July 17, 1882 (aged 51) Bucharest |
| Pen name | Tapazin, G. Pantazi, Ghaki |
| Occupation | journalist, dramatist, poet, short story writer, essayist, politician, lawyer |
| Period | 1859–1882 |
| Genre | comedy, satire, memoir, drama, literary criticism |
| Literary movement | Romanticism Realism |
Pantazi Ghica (Romanian pronunciation: [panˈtazi ˈɡika]; also known under the pen names Tapazin, G. Pantazi, and Ghaki;[1] 15 March 1831 – 17 July 1882) was a Wallachian, later Romanian politician and lawyer, also known as a dramatist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. A prominent representative of the liberal current, he was the younger brother and lifelong collaborator of Ion Ghica, who served as Prime Minister of the Romanian Kingdom in 1866-1867 and again in 1870-1871. Pantazi Ghica began his political career as a participant in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, a collaborator of the Romantic historian and activist Nicolae Bălcescu, and a member of the radical grouping headed by C. A. Rosetti. Although twice involved in the administration of Buzău County, Ghica lived much of his life in exile or in Bucharest, and was also a soldier for the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War. After 1875, he was a prominent member of the National Liberal Party.
Generally seen as a mediocre writer, he was foremost noted for his associations with the literary figures Nicolae Filimon, Vasile Alecsandri, Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Alexandru Odobescu and Alexandru Macedonski, as well as for his extended polemic with the conservative literary society Junimea. Ghica's work and political convictions were criticized and often ridiculed by Junimist intellectuals such as Titu Maiorescu, Mihai Eminescu, and Ion Luca Caragiale. He is most likely one of the unnamed liberal politicians who are negatively portrayed in Eminescu's poem Scrisoarea a III-a.
Pantazi Ghica suffered from kyphosis. Notably, this physical defect is mentioned for satirical effect in Eminescu's poem and in Caragiale's autobiographical work, Din carnetul unui vechi sufleur.
- ^ Călinescu, p.390, 515