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Mihail Sadoveanu

Mihail Sadoveanu (1880–1961) was a classic of Romanian literature, author of the historical novels The Brothers Jder (trilogy, 1932–1942) and The Life of Stephen the Great, which depict the distant past of the Moldavian Principality and its connections with 15th-century Crimea. He translated the works of Taras Shevchenko into Romanian.

Overview

Mihail Sadoveanu was born in 1880 near Iași — the former capital of Moldova. He entered the history of Romanian literature primarily as the author of monumental historical novels depicting the era of the Moldavian Principality's flourishing under the rule of Stephen the Great (Ștefan cel Mare, 1457–1504). His work is deeply connected with Ukrainian themes and Crimean history.

In 1945, Sadoveanu translated Taras Shevchenko's works Ivan Pidkova and A Cherry Orchard by the House into Romanian, and later wrote the preface to the first Romanian edition of Shevchenko's Kobzar (1957). To the hetman Ivan Pidkova, the writer dedicated a separate historical novelette.

The theme of Ukrainian–Romanian relations is present in several of his works. In the novels Stephen the Great and The Brothers Jder, Sadoveanu wrote about the 15th century, when no distinction was made between "Rus'" and "Ukrainian" in the contemporary understanding, which is fully justified given the era. Soviet translators later exploited this ambiguity, imposing "russian" as a direct equivalent of "Ruthenian" or "Rus'".

Key Details / Subtopics

  • The novel-trilogy The Brothers Jder (1932–1942): a monumental saga that vividly recreates the life of Moldova and Crimea in the 15th century. "Jder" means "marten" (a mustelid) in Romanian. Among the characters is Petru Tataru, whose ancestors came from the Crimean Tatars. The plot line includes the abduction by Crimeans of the beloved girl of one of the Jder brothers. News from Crimea shapes the political "weather" in Moldova and the fates of ordinary people.
  • The Life of Stephen the Great: a fictionalized biography of the Moldavian ruler Ștefan cel Mare and a historical chronicle of his era, the time of the formation of the Principality of Moldova. It contains descriptions of Crimean events of the 1470s: the siege of Mangup, the fate of Princess Maria of Mangup, the Moldavian army of Alexander Palaiologos, and the Ottoman conquest of the Principality of Theodoro (1475).
  • Crimean context: Sadoveanu's novels describe the Principality of Theodoro, squeezed between the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate, its final destruction in 1475 (15 thousand Goths perished, the rest were sold into slavery), the siege of Mangup by Moldavian warriors and janissaries, and the heroic death of Alexander Palaiologos.
  • Shevchenko translations: In 1945 he translated Ivan Pidkova and A Cherry Orchard by the House; in 1957 he wrote the preface to the first Romanian edition of the Kobzar; he dedicated a historical novelette to Hetman Pidkova.
  • Vlad the Impaler (Dracula): a contemporary of Stephen the Great, the ruler of Wallachia, mentioned in the context of the historical era described by Sadoveanu.