N. I. Herescu

Niculae I. Herescu (December 5, 1906 – August 19, 1961) was a Romanian classical scholar, essayist, translator and poet. Descending from a noble family of Oltenia, he was trained in Latin and became a full professor at the University of Bucharest while still in his twenties. He translated widely from the Roman canon, as well as publishing a series of studies devoted to ancient writers. Meanwhile, Herescu wrote poetry of his own, and was president of the Romanian Writers' Society for several years. He left his native country shortly before a Soviet occupation began, and spent the last part of his life in exile, first in Portugal and then in France.

Biography Origins and early career Born in Turnu Severin, his parents were Lieutenant Colonel Ion Herescu (later a General) and his wife Caterina (née Viișoreanu). His mother came from a landed Oltenian boyar family, and he was named after his maternal uncle, a judge. He attended high school in Craiova, followed by the classical languages section of the literature and philosophy faculty at the University of Bucharest. He attended specialty courses in Paris from 1927 to 1929, and obtained a Doctor of Letters degree in 1929. He taught Latin language and literature at Bucharest, as a teaching assistant (1929), associate professor (1932) and full professor (1935–1945). He was director of Bucharest's Institute of Latin Studies. in 1939 joining the leadership of the National Renaissance Front, the sole party under the royal dictatorship of King Carol II.

Herescu thrived under the dictatorship: in 1939, upon the death of Nicolae M. Condiescu, he was elected president of the Romanian Writers' Society, and would serve until 1944.

He was a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, as well as of the Parisian Société des Études Latines. He directed the Craiova-based publication Favonius from 1926 to 1928, as well as Bucharest's Revista clasică Orpheus. Favonius from 1929 to 1943. Together with Ion Pillat and Vasile Voiculescu, he edited the sole number of the poetry magazine Pleiada in 1934. His work, particularly translations from classical authors and essays about them, appeared in Adevărul literar și artistic, Cele trei Crișuri, Cuget clar, Familia, Flamura, Gândirea, Galeria artei, Năzuința, Orpheus, Ramuri, Revista Fundațiilor Regale, and Universul literar, as well as in foreign speciality journals (Acta Philologica, Orphaeus, Revue de philologie, Revue des études latines). He taught at the University of Lisbon from 1947 to 1948, but his contract was not renewed. Subsequently, moving to Paris, he worked at the Romanian section of French Radio. He continued to publish in his field, but was unable to relaunch a university career. Later in 1961, Herescu died unexpectedly in Zürich, aged 54.