Anatol Emilian Baconsky

Anatol E. Baconsky was a Romanian modernist poet, essayist, translator, novelist, publisher, literary and art critic. His work, which includes dystopian elements, lyric poetry, free verse, sonnets, reportage, travel writing, and satire, has been praised for its aestheticized, original, and progressively dark perspective on Romanian literature. He was also known for his translations, including the Mahābhārata and works by Jorge Semprún and Artur Lundkvist, and for editing world literature anthologies and monographs on Romanian and foreign painters. Baconsky's early life was marked by the turmoil of World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation of Romania. Despite an initial affiliation with Surrealism, he became a prominent supporter of the communist regime, later growing disillusioned with its guidelines. This change in perspective was evident in his editorial work for the magazine Steaua and his public reactions against the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime. His final years were spent in Austria and West Berlin, where he critiqued consumerism before his untimely death in the 1977 earthquake in Bucharest.