Profile of Ion Creanga on Famous Like Me

Ion Creangă was born in the village of Humulesti, located in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains in northern Moldavia, in 1837. As the first child of eight, Creangă's mother wanted him to be educated for priesthood, traditionally a prestigious position in the village community. Details of Creangă's youth can be extracted from his Amintiri din copilarie (Memories of My Boyhood). He began his education in Humulesti, then he studied briefly at Brosteni before returning home and enrolling at a school in the neighbouring Targu-Neamt. After a year at the seminary in Falticeni, Creangă left for Iasi, the Moldovan capital, where he continued to prepare for priesthood at the school of the Socola Monastery.

Creangă became a deacon after completing his studies at Socola in 1858, and married the daughter of a priest in Iasi. Creangă resumed his education in 1864, when he began studying to become a teacher at the Vasile Lupu school, which was headed by the well known politician and literary critic Titu Maiorescu. He became a substitute teacher and collaborated in the writing of textbooks designed to help primary school pupils to learn how to read and write.

Creangă had great difficulties in adapting himself to urban life. He was constantly in conflict with his superiors in church for unholy behaviour, such as frequenting the theatre and shooting rooks in the courtyard of Golia Monastery, where he officiated. Eventually, his often criticisms of church officials and his eccentric behaviou led to his suspension both as a deacon and as a teacher. To earn his living, he opened a tobacco shop. He bought a humble home on the outskirts of Iasi, which he nicknamed "bojdeuca". There he lived a peasant lifestyle, much like in his childhood in Humulesti. With the help of Titu Maiorescu, Creangă was reinstated in 1874. The following year, during an inspection of the school where Creangă taught, he encountered Mihai Eminescu, the young poet who then worked as a school inspector. A lasting friendship resulted. Eminescu encouraged Creangă to write down the tales that he frequently recounted orally, and brought him to the Junimea literary society. The bulk of Creangă's work was written during this period, between 1875 and 1883 when he began to suffer from health problems. Some of his most famous stories are Mos Ion Roata si unirea, Danila Prepeleac, Povestea porcului, Fata babei si fata mosului and Ivan Turbinca. He retired as a teacher in 1887 and died two years later, on 31 December 1889, from an attack of epilepsy.

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