A chapter in the history of Targoviste
Grigore ALEXANDRESCU, poet, fable writer, translator, publicist, politician, born in Târgoviște, on February 22nd, 1810, spent his childhood at the houses of Nae Hiotu.
He remains orphan and poor, but from an early age he shows great intelligence and an extraordinary memory. He learns Greek and French, becomes a student at the "Sfântul Sava" National College in Bucharest, being a colleague of Ion Ghica.
His work includes pre-romantic and romantic meditations and elegies, epistles, satires and fables, strongly influenced by French classicism, paving the way for the great poetry of deep interiorization, of meditation on the meanings of life. He contributed decisively to the creation of the Romanian epistle and fable.
He dedicates to his hometown the poems “Goodbye. In Târgovişte ”,“The past. At Dealu Monastery”.
As a sign of gratitude, a bust is placed in the city, created by the sculptor I. Pavelescu-Dima, near his birthplace. A high school and a street are named after him.
In any case, the city that ruled is dear to me;
I love it because it’s sad and because it has suffered:
And like the antiquary, to his passion,
Pick up the old copper that is no longer in use,
So in my zeal, in my parental place,
Son of these ruins, their land they glorify.
A fragment from “The past. At Dealu Monastery”