Mihai Beniuc

Mihai Beniuc (; 20 November 1907 – 24 June 1988) was a Romanian socialist realist poet, dramatist, and novelist.

Biography He was born in 1907 in Sebiș, Arad County (at the time in Austria-Hungary), the son of Athanasie and Vaseline Beniuc. He attended the Moise Nicoară High School in Arad, where he had Al. T. Stamatiad as literature teacher, and where he made his debut in the school's magazine, Laboremus. In 1931, he graduated from the University of Cluj, majoring in psychology, philosophy and sociology. He then enrolled as a masters student at the University of Hamburg, where he studied animal behaviour with Jakob Johann von Uexküll. His training was reflected in his writing, particularly in his novels. He joined the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Cluj, and moved to Sibiu after Northern Transylvania was annexed by Hungary in 1940, in the wake of the Second Vienna Award. During that time, he wrote several poetry volumes (Cântece de pierzanie (1938), Cântece noi (1940), Orașul pierdut (1943)), the latter one a poetic reverie after the city he had left, Cluj. Beniuc was the President of the Writers' Union of Romania and, from 1955, a titular member of the Romanian Academy. After 1965, he became a professor at the University of Bucharest.

He was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, and in 1978, the , 1st class. He died in 1988 in Bucharest, and is buried at the city's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery.

Selected works Plays Cântece de pierzanie, 1938 Cântece noi, 1943 Orașul pierdut, 1943 Un om așteaptă răsăritul, 1946 Mărul de lângă drum, 1954 Steaguri, 1951 Cântec pentru tovarășul Gheorghiu-Dej, 1951 Partidul m-a învățat, 1954 Trăinicie, 1956 Azimă, 1956 Inima bătrînului Vezuv, 1957 Cu un ceas mai devreme, 1959

Novels Pe muche de cuțit, 1959 Dispariția unui om de rând, 1963 Explozie înăbușită, 1971