A. de Herz

A. de Herz
Herz in 1912
Born	Adolf Edmund George de Herz (1887-12-15)December 15, 1887 Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Died	March 9, 1936(1936-03-09) (aged 48) Floreasca, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Pen name	Dinu Ramură, Mira Dăianu, Dinu, Puck
Occupation	playwright, poet, songwriter, journalist, screenwriter, translator, stage actor, civil servant
Nationality	Romanian
Period	1901–1936
Genre	epic poetry, verse drama, sonnet, ode, romance, fable, historical fiction, pastiche, comedy, farce, revue, libretto, reportage, short story
Literary movement	Sămănătorul Neoclassical literature Gândirea
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Adolf Edmund George de Herz, commonly shortened to A. de Herz, also rendered as Hertz and Herț (December 15, 1887 – March 9, 1936), was a Romanian playwright and literary journalist, also active as a poet, short story author, and stage actor. He was the scion of an upper-class assimilated Jewish family, with its roots in Austria-Hungary. His grandfather, Adolf Sr, was a controversial banker and venture capitalist, while his father, Edgar von Herz, was noted as a translator of Romanian literature. Adolf had a privileged childhood and debuted as a poet while still in high school, producing the lyrics to a hit romance. In his early work for the stage, Herz was a traditionalist inspired by Alexandru Davila and the Sămănătorul school, but later veered toward neoclassical literature and aestheticism. His "salon comedies", staged by the National Theater Bucharest, borrowed from various authors, including Roberto Bracco, Henri Lavedan, and Haralamb Lecca, peaking in popularity in 1913, with Păianjenul ("The Spider"). By the start of World War I, Herz was also a writer of revues.

Controversy followed Herz during the early 1910s, when his writing raised suspicions of plagiarism. A vaster controversy came with Romania's participation in the war, when Herz became noted as a supporter of the Central Powers. He remained in German-occupied territory, putting out the daily paper Scena, which became a leading voice of Romanian "Germanophilia", but was also a pioneering contribution to cultural journalism. He was arrested by returning loyalists during late 1918, and sent to Văcărești Prison, where he served alongside Ioan Slavici and I. C. Frimu. Herz was finally acquitted in March 1919; the controversy nevertheless survived, also leading to authorship disputes with a former friend, Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești, and provoking the enmity of writers Liviu Rebreanu and George Ranetti.

The financially insecure Herz continued to publish plays and translations, embarking on a lasting collaboration with Constantin Tănase, and writing a revue for Josephine Baker. Starring in his own plays, he also served for a while as editor of a cultural supplement, Adevărul Literar și Artistic, then briefly as head of Dimineața daily and as interviewer for the Radio Company. Herz oversaw the directorial debut of Sică Alexandrescu, who became his production and writing partner in the 1930s; he also ensured Zaharia Stancu's literary breakthrough, and his own daughter Kuki's debut in acting. Eventually, Herz accepted appointment as chair of the National Theater Craiova in 1930, while continuing to work in other fields, and debuting as a talking-picture screenwriter.

Toppled by actors' protests and political intrigues in 1935, Herz was increasingly disfavored by critics, who discussed his creative decline into a formulaic craft. He died early the following year, after a battle with diabetes and an illness of the lungs. By then, his Jewish origin had stirred an additional controversy, which was prolonged with the adoption of antisemitic policies during most of World War II—although his plays continued to be produced by Alexandrescu and others. The communist regime was similarly adverse to the "bourgeois" work produced by Herz, though a selective recovery was allowed beginning in the late 1960s; this trend was opposed by various critics, who suggested that Herz was no longer culturally relevant.