Rodica Ojog-Brașoveanu

Rodica Ojog-Brașoveanu (28 August 1939 – 2 December 2002) was a Romanian writer. She was dubbed the "Agatha Christie of Romania", her works consisting mainly of detective novels and short stories.

Biography Daughter of Ana and Victor Ojog, she was born into a family of wealthy intellectuals. Her mother was a teacher, while her father was a lawyer and member of the National Liberal Party.

Enrolled at the age of six at the "La Maison du Français", Ojog-Brașoveanu acquired an affinity for the French language, which she would remain profoundly attached to for the rest of her life.

She started her secondary education in 1948 at the "Domnița Ileana" High School (now known as the Mihai Eminescu National College), and upon graduating went on to study Law at the University of Bucharest. However, in 1956, she was expelled and arrested on a political basis, accused of supporting the anti-communist revolt in Budapest. She would only be readmitted in 1962, following a year of unqualified work in a factory. In 1963, she married actor Cosma Brașoveanu and resumed her Law studies, this time at the University of Iași; she completed her law degree in 1967, at the University of Bucharest. From 1968, she began working as a lawyer.

Ojog-Brașoveanu died in 2002, as a result of severe lung problems.

Works

Novels After her debut in 1969 with a television scenario, Ojog-Brașoveanu started writing on her husband's demands. Her first detective novel, Moartea semnează indescifrabil (Death Has an Indecipherable Signature), was published in 1971 at the Albatros Publishing House. Following the success of this novel, Ojog-Brașoveanu decided to quit her job as a lawyer and dedicate herself completely to writing.

Her works are much appreciated for their humor, irony and atypical characters, and in particular, her fine and amusing descriptions of the Romanian society (regardless of the time of action), as well as the alert pace of her narrative.

Her novel Cianură pentru un surâs (Cyanide for a Smile) has been translated into Bulgarian.

Famous characters Ojog-Brașoveanu's most well-known character is undoubtedly Melania Lupu, a mischievous old lady, half-detective half-criminal, to whom the author gives an unusual confidant – her cat, Mirciulică. Her other well-known character is Minerva Tutovan, a former math teacher turned commissioner, particularly rigorous in her investigations and with a remarkable talent for disguises. She has her dog Spiridon as a companion, but works especially with the young inspector Dobrescu, who is also one of her former students.

Influences Ojog-Brașoveanu's favourite authors include Edgar Wallace, Georges Simenon, Karl May, and among Romanian ones, Theodor Constantin and Haralamb Zincă. Critics dubbed her the "Agatha Christie of Romania", with the British novelist being one of her most obvious sources of inspiration for her books. In addition, like the British author, Ojog-Brasoveanu was able to live on just her writings throughout her life, her novels selling in tremendous numbers.