Dinu Nicodin

Dinu Nicodin (; pen name of Nicolae Ioanid; 1886–1948) was a Romanian writer affiliated with the modernist venue Sburătorul. Having an aristocratic (boyar) background, he was an eccentric and adventurous figure who only turned to literature as a hobby, and whose scattered works were generally well received by critics during his lifetime. Nicodin was a promoter of works by his younger colleagues, and cultivated close friendships with those of his generation, being primarily noted for his presence on the interwar's social scene.

Nicodin's two novels, Lupii ("The Wolves") and Revoluţia ("The Revolution"), have earned praise for their erudition and their characteristic narrative style, but these traits have also made him hard to place in relation to 20th century currents in Romanian literature. The writer largely faded out of critical memory by 1950, although there has been a significant resurgence in interest in later decades.

Biography The scion of an old and prosperous boyar family, Nicodin lived in Bucharest, where his main residence was the Capşa Hotel. His other activities centered on eccentric and adventurous pursuits: a dueler and a horse rider, he was also a financial expert, and once tasked by the government with overseeing the liquidation of a bank.

Cultivating a personal relationship with literary theorist Eugen Lovinescu, While attending the sessions of Sburătorul, Nicodin also pursued a romantic affair with female novelist Cella Serghi. His own debut came late in life: the 1934 novel Lupii, which elevated him to critical attention, and the prose poem Aghan.

Dinu Nicodin made his comeback to literature during World War II, when he published a volume of short stories, Pravoslavnica ocrotire (approx., "The Orthodox Protection").

Shortly before his 1948 death, Nicodin was in correspondence with young critic Ion Negoiţescu. A disciple of Lovinescu and member of the Sibiu Literary Circle, Negoiţescu had earlier given an enthusiastic review to Revoluţia. Nicodin was among those who tried to obtain Negoiţescu a scholarship to study in France, but their common project ultimately failed.

Work Dinu Nicodin had an eccentric position in the field of Romanian literature, and has traditionally been described by literary critics and historians as a hard to classify figure, and found primarily interesting for using a distinctive stylistic category of the Romanian language. One such reviewer, George Călinescu, welcomed the novelist's 1934 debut as a display of "best quality humor, solid culture and an irony of rare acrimony." The same commentator later defined Nicodin as "bizarre" and "snobbish beyond all belief". According to a 2008 article by academic Andrei Terian, Ion Negoiţescu's early review of Nicodin's book erred by shifting critical attention toward "saucy and picturesque" aspects, such as a glimpse into Jean Jacques Rousseau's sexuality. In 2008, Nicodin was granted a sizable entry in Nicolae Manolescu's own overview of Romanian literature. According to Ciotloş, Manolescu parted with his mentor, George Călinescu, by reinstating Nicodin to a more prominent position. Manolescu's text was itself a comment on Nicodin's legacy: "Without doubt, the man is [...] superior to his work. Without the man's reputation, it is probable that the novels, not to mention the short stories [...], would now be forgotten."