Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor
Romanian scholar (1900–1968) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor or Nicolaescu-Plopșor, sometimes shortened to N. Plopșor (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin nikoləˈesku plopˈʃor]; April 20, 1900 – May 30, 1968), was a Romanian historian, archeologist, anthropologist and ethnographer, also known as a folkorist and children's writer, whose diverse activities were primarily focused on his native region of Oltenia. A student and disciple of Vasile Pârvan at the University of Bucharest, he had a youthful activity collecting and publishing Oltenian songs and poetry, being the first to document Romanian folklore as produced during the peasants' revolt of 1907, and committing to writing the regional variants of Miorița ballad. Increasingly interested in the Balkans' prehistoric period, he researched various Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic sites in his native country, placing them in a larger European context while producing his own systems of Prehistoric chronology and typology. His main contributions to archeology include the classification of Oltenian microliths, the study of local cave paintings, and the disputed claim that a site in Tetoiu evidenced a regional contribution to anthropogenesis.
Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor | |
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Born | (1900-04-20)April 20, 1900 |
Died | May 30, 1968(1968-05-30) (aged 68) |
Resting place | Sineasca Cemetery, Craiova |
Other names |
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Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Bucharest |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Era | 20th century |
Main interests | |
Influenced | Alexandru Cerna-Rădulescu |
An active collector of art, including a trove of Romanian icons and modern public art by Constantin Brâncuși, Nicolăescu-Plopșor was also known for his activity as a museologist and head of the Museum of Oltenia in Craiova. During the interwar, he became noted as both a politician and activist for the welfare of the Romani-Romanian minority, also amassing land as an agriculturalist. Before World War II, he was one of the regional Oltenian leaders for the emerging Romani political movement, and a contributor to some of the first Romani-language newspapers in local history; chased out of the burgeoning movement by its internal schisms, he was for a while a prominent figure in the National Liberal Party-Brătianu, before being co-opted by the National Renaissance Front. Plopșor was additionally a follower of Christian mystic Petrache Lupu, whose preaching he explored in a work of religious anthropology. His contribution to Romanian literature includes collections of folklore and Romani mythology, editions of works by other Oltenian writers, as well as original anecdotes and quasi-fairy tales with folkloric roots. Plopșor drew attention, both positive and negative, for his heavy reliance on the Western Wallachian dialect, being sometimes incomprehensible to his non-Oltenian readers.
Nicolăescu-Plopșor's career peaked after the onset of Romanian communism in the 1950s. Although forced to sell his own land, he was controversially involved in the 1949 nationalization of Victor N. Popp's estate; he also adapted his style to Soviet historiography and the Stalin cult. Plopșor led both a national archeological section and Craiova ethnographic branch of the Romanian Academy, of which he was elected a corresponding member in 1963. He was additionally tasked with directing teams of researchers at Bicaz, the Iron Gates, and Ada Kaleh. Involved with a literary club formed around Ramuri magazine, he published his final book of children's fiction, Tivisoc și Tivismoc, in 1965, and turned it into a screenplay the following year.