Constant Tonegaru

Constant Tonegaru was a Romanian avant-garde and Decadent poet, known for his bohemianism and individualist poems. He was part of the World War II generation in Romanian literature and closely related to the works of his friends Geo Dumitrescu, Dimitrie Stelaru, and Ion Caraion. Tonegaru was also an anti-fascist and anti-communist, participating in culturally subversive activities against the authoritarian Ion Antonescu regime. He contributed to the Albatros magazine until it was shut down by censorship. After the Soviet occupation of Romania, he criticized cultural persecution and helped marginalized authors through the Mihai Eminescu Association. Unfortunately, he became a political prisoner and, after being sentenced to a two-year term, suffered from severe lung disease due to the dire conditions in Aiud Prison. He died shortly after his release. His legacy was fully recognized posthumously, after the Romanian Revolution of 1989.