Thistles of the Baragan

PanaitIstrati (1884-1935) was born in Braila. He began to work at a veryyoung age, and tried his hand at countless jobs during his youth.During this period he was both reading and writing prolifically. Healso learned French quickly at that time. He contracted tuberculosisin 1916 and went to Switzerland to be cured. There he was introducedwith the novels of Romain Rolland. After his treatment, he continuedwandering around Europe, doing odd jobs, and attempting suicide in1921. He wrote to Romain Rolland in 1923. It was Rolland who helpedhim get his first work Kyra Kyralina published in 1924, andeven wrote a preface to it. A significant part of Istrati's lifewas spent travelling. He made long trips to Greece, Turkey, Egypt,Italy, and France. His novels, My Departures [1928] andMediterranean [1934],are all products of these travels. Istrati's masterpiece TheThistles of the Baragan wasoriginallypublished in 1928, and hasbecome a symbol of "theabsolute goodness of the humanity" inliterature since then.JacquesLe Clercq (1898-1972) was born in Karlovy Vary (formerly Karlsbad).He was a professor of French literature and Romance languages atQueens College and Columbia University, and also a member of theeditorial board of Brentano's, and wrote poetry under the pen nameof Paul Tanaquil. He translated many French classics into English,including Rabelais, Dumas, Stendhal and Balzac.

"Panait Istrati was above all a free spirit. His entire life he exercised his freedom as an art. He served the truth in total contempt for his own fate. Literature was not his goal, but a means to serve, through writing, human dignity."—Mircea Cărtărescu