Early life and literary debut The Bacaloglus, whose name is the
Turkish for "grocer's son" (var.
Bakkaloğlu), were a family of social and political importance, descending from the
Bulgaro-Romanian Ion D. H. Bacaloglu, a recipient of the
Order of Saint Stanislaus. Elena's ancestors were first mentioned in
Bucharest about 1826, having settled in
Wallachia as foreign nationals, and set up business as land speculators. Elena's father was Bucharest civil administrator Alexandru Bacaloglu (1845–1915), related to scientist
Emanoil Bacaloglu. He was married to Sofia G. Izvoreanu (1854–1942). Another brother, lawyer Alexandru "Sandi" Bacaloglu, was less known until a 1923 incident propelled him into the public arena. Elena was born in Bucharest on December 19, 1878. Compared to other Romanian women of the
fin de siècle, and even to some men, she was highly educated, taking her diplomas at the
University of Bucharest Faculty of Letters and the
Collège de France. Her study interests were
French culture, art history, and philosophy. It was in Paris (where she was chaperoned by Constantin Bacaloglu) that she met Ovid Densusianu, her future lover. However, her first marriage was to
Radu D. Rosetti, who was to become a highly successful lawyer and a minor
neoromantic poet. Reportedly, she fell "madly in love", and convinced her reluctant parents to approve of him. They were engaged on December 19, 1896, and had their religious wedding in January of the next year, with politician
Nicolae Filipescu as godfather. They had a daughter together. On August 7, 1902, Elena married Ovid Densusianu, who was fast becoming the theoretician of
Romanian Symbolism. Historian Lucian Nastasă describes theirs as an odd union. Elena was "extremely beautiful"; Ovid, much less educated than his wife, was also "short and limp". They had a son, Ovid Jr (or Ovid O. Densusianu), born in March or April 1904. Bacaloglu's editorial debut was in 1903, when
Editura Socec published her monograph
Despre simbolizm și Maeterlinck ("On Symbolism and Maeterlinck"). Together with the essays of
Alexandru Bibescu (1893) and
Izabela Sadoveanu-Evan (1908), it constitutes an early Romanian attempt to define the limits of Symbolism,
Decadence and modernity. In Bacaloglu's interpretation, Symbolism and Decadentism were the two sides of a coin: while the Decadents gave voice to the late-19th-century "degeneration" of the
Latin race, the Symbolists epitomized the Latin "revival", a triumph of mysteries and metaphysics. Straddling these two eras were Maeterlinck's
Hothouses, which she was the first to discuss from a Romanian perspective. According to literary historian
Angelo Mitchievici,
Despre simbolizm tackles the literary critic's perspective as a "participatory-
impressionistic formula, not lacking in refinement". In 1906, Bacaloglu also published her
psychological novel,
În luptă ("In Combat"), followed in 1908 by another novelistic work,
Două torțe ("Two Torches"). Her writing was poorly reviewed by the literary chronicler at
Viața Românească, who argued that
În luptă was impossible to read through. The book was presented to the
Romanian Academy as a candidate for the annual literary prize, but was rejected with objections regarding Bacaloglu's "tortured" writing technique and her poor grasp of literary Romanian. Other magazines, including
Noua Revistă Română and
Convorbiri Critice, hosted samples of her literary work.
Relocation to Italy Meanwhile, Bacaloglu had separated from Densusianu, divorcing him in 1904. Having traveled through much of Western Europe, For a few months in 1908, she had an affair with the poet-playwright
Salvatore Di Giacomo, whose
Assunta Spina she translated for
Convorbiri Critice (August 1909). In the early 1910s, Bacaloglu was living in Rome, where, in September 1912, she published a monograph about the love affair between Romanian poet
Gheorghe Asachi and his Italian muse, Bianca Milesi. A recipient of the
Bene Merenti medal, granted by the
Romanian King Carol I, she translated into French the prose work of his consort,
Carmen Sylva. She also represented Romania at the
Castel Sant'Angelo National Exhibit, and, as "Hélène Bacaloglu", gave French-language conferences about Di Giacomo. During the period, she came into conflict with Romanian antiquarian
Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș. Mandated by the Romanian government, Tzigara replaced Bacaloglu at the National Exhibit's Romanian Committee. He described Bacaloglu as an illegitimate, self-appointed, representative, and noted that the Italian press also mistrusted her abilities. Bacaloglu presented her own version of the events in a protest to the curators, later published as a brochure. Her conferences on Di Giacomo were received with more sympathy: Alberto Cappelletti gave them a good review in
Il Giorno, and E. Console republished them as a fascicle, but all such collaborations ended abruptly when her collaborators became dissatisfied with her character and the quality of her prose. She still continued to be held in esteem by her Romanian peers and, in 1912, was voted into their
Romanian Writers' Society. Working for this organization, she became close to Italian General
Luigi Cadorna, described by Romanian officials as her "protector", and
Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino. According to
Victor Babeș, the Transylvanian doctor and publicist, Elena Bacaloglu was "the great propagandist of Romanianism abroad, and especially so in Italy". The cause of "Greater Romania" fascinated two of Bacaloglu's three brothers: Victor, the author of patriotic plays, created one of the first all-Romanian newspapers in
Bessarabia; George fought with distinction during the
war of 1916, fulfilled several diplomatic missions, and was later a
Prefect of
Bihor County, Transylvania. Elena, Constantin and Victor were all correspondents for George Bacaloglu's cultural review,
Cele Trei Crișuri, well into the 1930s.
Fascist experiment After the war, Elena Bacaloglu remained in Italy as a correspondent of
Universul, the Bucharest daily. One of the first Romanians to gain familiarity with the modern far-right movements in Europe, and, historians assess, driven by an "enormous ambition", she contemplated transplanting
Italian fascism into Greater Romania. This project had preoccupied her since the "
red biennium" of 1919–1920, when she presented a
proto-fascist appeal to the Italian nationalist
Gabriele d'Annunzio and wrote articles for ''
Il Popolo d'Italia. Benito Mussolini, who presided over the Fasci Italiani'' paramilitaries, also received Bacologlu's letters, but was noticeably skeptical at first. In 1922, the tribunal of
Casale Monferrato heard her complaint against Romania over copyright issues. Seeking to "draw the fascist chief [Mussolini] closer to Romania's political course", Bacaloglu also made visible efforts to prevent a rapprochement between Italy and Romania's rival,
Regency Hungary. At some point in 1921, with Mussolini's acquiescence, Bacaloglu established an Italo–Romanian fascist association, later known as
National Italo-Romanian Cultural and Economic Movement (MNFIR). Her followers began setting up fascist leagues in Romania—one of the first such clubs was founded in the Transylvanian regional capital,
Cluj. The main difference between the Italian and Romanian fascists was their respective stance on the "
Jewish Question": the Italo-Romanian Movement was
antisemitic; the original
Fasci were not. The goal was supported by other Constantin Bacaloglu, in his work at Iași University. Working with the antisemitic opinion leader,
A. C. Cuza, he gave endorsement to rioters who called for the expulsion of most
Romanian Jewish students, and tolerated
fascist symbolism. However, according to political scientist Emanuela Costantini, the antisemitic agenda of the Movement was comparatively "moderate"; she highlights instead Bacaloglu's other ideas: "an
anti-industrialism in the
populist mold", and a version of nationalism heavily inspired by the
Action Française. The Romanian branch of Italian fascism was always minor, and vied for attention with a plethora of paramilitary groups. As suggested by Costantini, it shared their
anticommunism and contempt for democracy, but was the only one to be directly inspired by Mussolini. In 1922, MNFIR split, and its more powerful sections, presided upon by
Titus Panaitescu-Vifor, However, in 1923, Bacaloglu reentered central politics as leader of the reconstructed MNFIR, directly modeled on the
Fasci Italiani. On December 30 of that year, she founded the propaganda weekly
Mișcarea Națională Fascistă, of which she was also the "political director". Only about a hundred people were persuaded to join, even though, as historian Francisco Veiga notes, many represented the more active strata of Romanian society (soldiers, students). and Constantin Bacaloglu's own Iași University. Women themselves were largely absent: still not granted the vote under the
1923 Constitution, they generally preferred enrollment in specifically
feminist organizations, and were never popular with the more significant Romanian fascist parties (including, from 1927, the
Iron Guard).
Antifascist clampdown and disgrace Throughout its short existence, Bacaloglu's association was very vocal in condemning the Romanian status-quo and the
Treaty of Versailles. She believed that the
Little Entente, which was partly dedicated to countering
Italian irredentism but included Romania, would leave the two countries prey to capitalist and Jewish exploitation. Some reports suggest that the "Romanian fascio" took it upon itself to threaten enemies of the deposed, but politically ambitious,
Crown Prince Carol (who did not in fact approve of the Romanian fascists). In October 1923,
Nicolae Iorga, a historian who opposed Carol's return, accused the organization of sending him
hate mail. Several other theories circulate regarding Codreanu's motivation, but it is known that his group of assassins included an FNR man, Teodosie Popescu, and also that the act was celebrated in the FNR media. The news was taken up in another Transylvanian paper,
Clujul, which claimed that "the lawyer Bacaloglu" had "taken revenge on his sister's slanderer". Also according to
Clujul, Vifor, who lived in Rome and was not involved in the Rosenthal incident, remained recognized as the "fascist leader"—as FNR president. Meanwhile, George Bacaloglu, interviewed by the press, denied any connection with his sister's movement. According to historian Armin Heinen, the MNFIR was never a fully fledged party, whereas Vifor's more powerful movement could present a more attractive platform to some of Bacaloglu's disillusioned followers. The FNR was explicitly
Nazi as well as
corporatist, and as such still had little to do with the Mussolinian program. Somewhat larger in numbers, it managed to absorb two other nationalist political clubs, emerging from this fusion with a program supporting dictatorial politics and the expulsion of all foreigners. Sandi Bacaloglu was soon imprisoned, facing charges of attempted assassination and sedition. The court only cleared him of the more serious charges, and fined him 50
Lei. Accounts differ as to what became of Elena Bacaloglu's fascist party. She is credited as a founder of the successor
National Fascist Movement (MNF), closed down by
Romanian Police in 1925. However, this mainly Transylvanian party did not have a direct link with the Bacaloglus. Before the police clampdown, the FNR announced in
Clujul its goal of destroying "the intrigues of foreigners", and its motto ("The Fascio does not forget!"). It also informed Transylvanians that Sandi Bacaloglu, recently freed and presenting himself as a Mussolini envoy, was not a fascist, and could not claim to represent any local fascist party. A Romanian police report of the period suggests that "the Fascist Party of Romania" intended to join up with Cuza and Codreanu's
National-Christian Defense League (LANC) and the
Romanian Action, into a "National Christian Party". In October 1925, however, Cuza officially announced that the National Romanian Fascio, the Romanian Action, and the Transylvanian Social-Christian Party had voted to dissolve and merge with the League, with the common goal being "the elimination of the kikes". Sandi Bacaloglu signed his name to the appeal as a Fascio representative, and became a member of the LANC's executive council, on par with
Ioan Moța,
Ion Zelea Codreanu,
Iuliu Hațieganu,
Valeriu Pop,
Iuniu Lecca. Afterward, Sandi Bacaloglu ran in the
general election of 1926 on the same list as Cuza and Codreanu. , published under the
swastika logo. It proclaims: "Romanian brethren! The Land of the Romanians faces a great peril. The kikes, with assistance from Judaized Romanians and the political parties, as tools of the kikes, are gambling with the future of the Country and Folk." In 1927, his sister still held claim to being leader of "the national fascist movement", with temporary headquarters in "the Solacoglu House",
Moșilor. She also pursued her dispute with the Romanian state. She claimed that the authorities still owed her some 4 million Lei, which she tried to obtain from
Interior Affairs Minister Octavian Goga and from Writers' Society president
Liviu Rebreanu. In her letters to Rebreanu, she made transparent allusions to the possibility of mutual help but, researcher Andrei Moldovan suggests, was incoherent and needlessly haughty.
Later years In 1928, Bacaloglu left Romania on a visit to the
Kingdom of Spain, where she continued to campaign for Pan-Latinism and collaborated with
La Gaceta Literaria. He later returned to Bucharest as a representative of Balcan Oriente news agency. Also in 1929, the Romanian fascio was revived a third and final time, when a certain Colonel August Stoica tried to use it in his coup against government, variously described as an "operatic plot" The conspirators were rounded up and made subject to a public trial, during which prosecution invoked the
Mârzescu Law against fascist as well as communist sedition. Bacaloglu herself remained active on the margin of Romanian politics, witnessing from the side as Prince Carol retook his throne with the help of
Iuliu Maniu and the
National Peasants' Party. She approached the Maniu government and the
Foreign Ministry with offers of support and complaints about past persecutions, but these were poorly received. She continued with her appeals to Rebreanu (who was also being asked to help George Bacaloglu revive
Cele Trei Crișuri) and writer-bureaucrat
Eugen Filotti. In 1931, she claimed that a conspiracy, headed by diplomat
Filip Lahovary and the leaders of the
National Liberal Party, wanted to assassinate her "through hunger" and prevented her from even talking to people of influence. Bacaloglu also stated that, in exchange for recognition of financial support, she could obtain Mussolini's endorsement for the National Peasantists, who were in the opposition. As a Bucharest PNC leader, he also led street battles with a more minor LANC splinter group, the
Fire Swastika. By then, Elena's son by Densusianu was also entering public life. Educated in Italy and Romania, Ovid Jr trained as a schoolteacher He also had prospects of becoming a writer, and is especially remembered for a 1937 novel,
Stăpânul ("The Master"). He adhered to his mother and uncle's fascist ideology: he was a staff writer for the Iron Guard paper
Porunca Vremii, translated the political essays of Mussolini and
Antonio Beltramelli, and campaigned in support of Italy during the
Ethiopian War. Always a staunch critic of fascism, Ovid Densusianu Sr died unexpectedly on June 8, 1938, after surgery and
sepsis. A year into World War II, Elena was again living in Rome, but had to return to Romania because, as she put it, "fake Latin nationalists" wanted her gone. During the same interval, Titus Vifor reactivated his fascism. He was assigned by the Iron Guard's "
National Legionary State" to direct the Romanian Propaganda Office in Rome, together with writers
Aron Cotruș and
Vintilă Horia, and, in May 1941, became its president. and was buried in
Bellu cemetery. She was survived by Ovid Jr. After the official establishment of
Communist Romania, he focused on his work as a philologist, but was still arrested in 1958, and spent six years as a political prisoner. He died in Bucharest, on April 19, 1985. ==Notes==