Felix (Froim) Aderca

Felix Aderca was a talented Romanian writer, well known and respected in the period between the two world wars. He published many books, introduced the sci-if genre in Romania (Orase Inecate) and had editorial columns in many papers. He was also a literary critic and philosopher. Aderca was good friends with Tudor Arghezi, Geo Bogza, Lovinescu, and other luminaries of the time.

Froim (Felix) Aderca grew up in Puiesti, where his parents spoke Yiddish. He attended a "heider" for the primary education. He learned Romanian language in Craiova middle schools, only to become a well-known Romanian writer, publicist, philosopher, and poet. He was mostly self-taught, through extensive reading of progressive writers of the time, which started at an early age.

In his last year of high-school in Craiova , at Liceul Carol I, he was expelled and deprived of the right to continue his studies in any high-school in Romania on antisemitic grounds. He had dared to write in an essay on The reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire where he stated that Virgin Mary had not really been a virgin and that Jesus had been born out of wedlock. He reached desperation levels following the expulsion, and even considered suicide. Liceul Carol I in Craiova now lists Felix Aderca as one of the famous people who attended the school. Also a school of Journalism was named after Felix Aderca, and the city of Craiova named one of the streets Felix Aderca.

In 1913 he met and married Rubina Penchas in Craiova, and moved to Paris shortly after, intent on continuing his studies and/or becoming a published author. Before leaving for Paris, in October 1913, he managed to publish his first poems in Noua Revista Romana, edited by Constantin Beldie. Before that, in 1910 at the age of 19 he had published his first article, under the pseudonym Oliver Willy, entitled " Nationalism? Licence to kill", in which he maturely debated against the anti-Semitic movement of the time.

He voluntary returned to Romania at the start of the first World War, and reported to the military office, where he promptly was arrested for "desertion". In a Kafka-esque manner he was able to prevail in arguing that he cannot be a deserter when he is there voluntarily, to join the Romanian army, and he came from Paris for that. Consequently he was admitted as Medic helper, because Jews were not allowed to fight directly. However, for acts of courage during an assault when all regular soldiers ran away and only the officer and Aderca fought on, he was awarded a military medal.

In 1920 his son Marcel was born, and the family moved to Bucharest. Felix Aderca worked for 20 years in various positions at the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance, but at the same time he wrote fervently, worked for "Sburatorul", and in 1928 he became the editorial secretary for the journal "Bilete de Papagal". Taking the advice of E. Lovinescu, he changed his name from Froim to Felix. In 1939 he was exiled to Cernowitz and later to Lugoj. He was also arrested by the legionares.

Between the two world wars he wrote and published a large number of articles, essays, novels, and poems. He was part of the luminary movements of the time, much appreciated and celebrated, but also much debated. He and his work have always created controversy, from one movement or the other. Aderca was never interested in politics, but his work often irritated various political factions.

After Wolrd War II he was was in charge of the artistic studies at the Ministry of Arts, a position he held from 1945 to 1948. The Communist regime did not appreciate Aderca's work or his positions, and he was persistently shunned and pushed aside. His friendship with Tudor Arghezi suffered because of that.

In 1960 he had an accident falling from a bicycle - some believe this may have caused the brain tumor that later killed him - but there is no proof of such connection. Aderca died in 1962 from a brain tumor which his doctors did not want to operate given his age.

Not a religious person at any time throughout his life, Aderca asked to be incinerated, and his ashes be spread in the Black Sea, while the Romanian Rhapsody, by G. Enescu be played on the shore.

His son Marcel, accompanied by Aderca's second wife, the writer Sanda Movila, and his two grand-daughters aged 11 and 9, fulfilled his wish on the beach of the village Schitu, where the family had spent many happy summers. Marcel had borrowed a crank-up record player (patefon) from a museum, and the music played on the beach, while Marcel carried the urn into the water at sun-set, and spread the ashes.

Various works by Felix Aderca were re-published in Romania after the fall of the Communist regime, a biography was published, written by his son Marcel based on the writer's auto-biographical notes, and multiple celebration have been staged for the writer's various birth celebrations.