Constantin Negruzzi

Constantin Negruzzi was a Romanian poet, novelist, translator, playwright, and politician.

Born in Trifeștii Vechi, Moldavia, he studied at home with a Greek teacher. He admitted in a later article that he learnt Romanian by himself, from a book written by Petru Maior. During the 1821 Revolution, his family took refuge in Chișinău, Bessarabia, where he met Alexander Pushkin and became interested in literature.

Notable among his writings are his memoirs – Amintiri din junețe – and his historical writings, Fragmente istorice, Negru in alb, Aprodul pur. He translated some of the ballads of Victor Hugo, some of Thomas Moore's poetry and Antiochus Kantemir's poetry. Negruzzi wrote two plays, Muza de la Burdujeni and Cârlani, while translating several other plays.