Mihail Sadoveanu (Romanian: [miha'il sado'veanu]; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; November 5, 1880 - October 19, 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communist republic (1947-1948 and 1958). One of the most prolific Romanian-language writers, he is remembered mostly for his historical and adventure novels, as well as for his nature writing. An author whose career spanned five decades, Sadoveanu was an early associate of the traditionalist magazine Samanatorul, before becoming known as a Realist writer and an adherent to the Poporanist current represented by Viata Romaneasca journal. His books, critically acclaimed for their vision of age-old solitude and natural abundance, are generally set in the historical region of Moldavia, building on themes from Romania's medieval and early modern history.

In 1896, when he was aged sixteen, Sadoveanu gave thought to writing a monograph on Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great, but his first literary attempts date from the following year. It was in 1897 that a sketch story, titled Domnisoara M din Falticeni ("Miss M from Falticeni") and signed Mihai din Pascani ("Mihai from Pascani"), was successfully submitted for publishing to the Bucharest-based satirical magazine Dracu. He started writing for Ovid Densusianu's journal Vieata Noua in 1898. His contributions, featured alongside those of Gala Galaction, N. D. Cocea, and Tudor Arghezi, include another sketch story and a lyric poem. Sadoveanu was however dissatisfied with Densusianu's agenda, and critical of the entire Romanian Symbolist movement for which the review spoke. He ultimately began writing pieces for non-Symbolist magazines such as Opinia and Pagini Literare. In parallel, he founded and printed by hand a short-lived journal, known to researches as either Aurora or Lumea. Sadoveanu left for Bucharest in 1900, intending to study Law at the University's Faculty of Law, but withdrew soon after, deciding to dedicate himself to literature. He began frequenting the bohemian society in the capital, but, following a sudden change in outlook, abandoned poetry and focused his work entirely on Realist prose. In 1901, Sadoveanu married Ecaterina Balu, with whom he settled in Falticeni, where he began work on his first novellas and decided to make his living as a professional writer. His first draft for a novel, Fratii Potcoava ("The Potcoava Brothers"), came out in 1902, when fragments were published by Pagini Alese magazine under the pseudonym M. S. Cobuz. The following year, Sadoveanu was drafted into the Romanian Land Forces, stationed as a guard near Targu Ocna, and inspired by the experience to write some of his first social criticism narratives. After that time, he spent much of his home in the country, where he raised a large family. Initially, the Sadoveanus lived in a house previously owned by celebrated Moldavian raconteur Ion Creanga, before they commissioned a new building, famed for its surrounding Gradina Linistii ("Garden of Quietude"). He was the father of eleven, among whom were three daughters: Despina, Teodora and Profira Sadoveanu, the latter of whom was a poet and a novelist. Of his sons, Dimitrie Sadoveanu became a painter, while Paul-Mihu, the youngest (born 1920), was author of the novel Ca floarea campului... ("Like the Flower of the Field...") which was published posthumously.

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