The statue of poet Vasile Cârlova

THE STATUE OF POET VASILE CÂRLOVA Vasile Cârlova was born on 4th February 1809 in Buzău, as the son of the medelnicer Ioniță Cărlova – former ispravnic of Buzău, descendant of the branch of Bishop Luca of Buzău, later Metropolitan of Hungaro-Wallachia. He was an officer (second lieutenant) in the miliția of Wallachia, founded in 1830, the nucleus of the future modern Romanian army. As a poet, his literary work was limited, but important for literature, which is why George Călinescu mentioned him in his famous „History of Romanian Literature”, as the one who introduced to us the theme of European pre-romanticism. He was a classmate of the future poet Grigore Alexandrescu. He made his debut with translations from Greek and French, and in 1830 he published in the „Romanian Courier”, edited by Ion Heliade Rădulescu, the poem „The Sad Shepard”, set to music in 1850 by Anton Pann. Also, in 1830 he published in the same gazette „The Ruins of Târgoviște” and „Nightfall”, poems for which Ion Heliade Rădulescu foresaw a brilliant literary future. In 1831 he wrote „The March of the Romanians” or „Ode to the Romanian army on the occasion of raising the national flag”, verses published posthumously in 1839. Vasile Cârlova died on 18 September 1831 in Craiova, after an infectious disease, and was buried in the courtyard of Madona Dudu church. His statue, placed in Crâng Park of Buzău in 1972, was made of bronze by sculptor Gheorghe Coman of Buzău.