Born in
Mânăstirea,
Călărași County, as the son of a small landowner, he was enrolled in the
Craiova Military College, which he deemed "oppressive". In 1926, he published his first story in the journal '''' (The Falcons). The following year, he concluded that he was not suited for a military career, and left the college. He finished his
secondary education in the
Saint Sava National College, then started law studies at the
University of Bucharest. Dissatisfied with life at the university, he became a
novice in the
Cernica Monastery in 1929. He apparently failed to find what he was looking for, and left after only a year to visit the
Holy Land. While there, he decided to adopt the name "Sahia", which is Arabic for "truth". From 1931 until his death, he provided sketches and reportage for several popular Romanian newspapers and journals, including '
, ', and
Adevărul. In 1932, he helped create the proletarian literary journal, '''', but it suffered from censorship and low readership. Still in search of something to give meaning to his life, he visited the
Soviet Union in 1935. He was impressed with what he saw and, upon his return, wrote
USSR Today, in praise of their accomplishments. The following year, he joined the
Romanian Communist Party (RCP). , Bucharest In 1937, he died in Bucharest of untreated
tuberculosis. In 1946, after the Communist takeover, he was promoted as a hero of the working class and the manner of his death enabled the RCP to portray him as being the son of "poor peasants". Several of his works have been made into films. In December 1952, the Romanian state company Romfilm was renamed the "Alexandru Sahia Film Studio"; in July 1991 the studio was reorganized as Sahia-Film. ==References==