Veronica Micle | |
|---|---|
 Veronica Micle | |
| Born | Ana Câmpeanu (1850-04-22)April 22, 1850 |
| Died | August 3, 1889(1889-08-03) (aged 39) |
| Resting place | Văratec Monastery |
| Occupation | Poet, writer |
| Language | Romanian |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Alma mater | Iași Central School for Girls |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Years active | 1872–1889 |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Mihai Eminescu |
| Children | Virginia and Valeria |
Veronica Micle (bornAna Câmpeanu; 22 April 1850 – 3 August 1889) was anAustrian Empire-bornRomanian poet, whose work was influenced byRomanticism. She is best known for her love affair with the poetMihai Eminescu, one of the most important Romanian writers.
Born in Naszód,Kingdom of Hungary (nowNăsăud,Bistrița-Năsăud County,Romania), Micle was the second child of the shoemaker Ilie Câmpeanu and his wife Ana. She was born to him posthumously: Ilie died in 1849, taking two bullets to the chest while fighting underAvram Iancu against theHungarian revolutionaries. Her mother went toMoldavia, settling inTârgu Neamț in 1850, then toRoman, and finally inIași in 1853.[1][2]
Ana went to primary school (during which time she began using the name Veronica) and to the Iași Central School for Girls, which she graduated in June 1863.[1][2] Her graduation exam proctor was theRector of theUniversity of Iași, ProfessorȘtefan Micle. They fell in love and on 7 August 1864, atBob Church, inCluj (at the time, Kolozsvár), she married Micle, thirty years her senior.[2] She had two daughters: Virginia, a poet who married Eduard Gruber,[3] and Valeria, an opera singer who used the name Hilda professionally.[1]
In March 1872, inVienna, she met Eminescu, beginning a relationship that would last for the rest of their lives.[2] At first he would visit the literary salon that she hosted. Their friendship had become love sometime between 1875, when they started dedicating poems to each other, and 1878 (sources vary). Their romance went through several ups and downs—for instance, Eminescu left forBucharest in 1877 to editTimpul and that year Micle published poems in which she expressed her sadness at being left behind. Her husband died in 1879, leaving her rather poor. She came to Bucharest to seek a pension and Eminescu publicly called her his fiancée, but further stresses intervened (including a stillborn child in May 1880) and while he took up the subject again in 1881, he was diagnosed withsyphilis in 1883.
In 1887, she moved toBucharest in an effort to keep up Eminescu's spirits. After his death in June 1889, she retired toVăratec Monastery, where she put together a volume calledDragoste și Poezie (Love and Poetry), in which she included poems of her own and those of Eminescu dedicated to her, to which she added commentary. A shaken Micle tookarsenic not two months after Eminescu's death.[2] She is buried on the monastery grounds, inVăratec village. Her house in Târgu Neamț, given to her by her parents as a wedding dowry and which she donated to the monastery in 1886, is now a museum.
A bronze sculpture of Micle by Veaceslav Jiglițchi was unveiled inChișinău in 2021.[4]
Micle made her publishing debut inNoul Curier Român (NCR) in 1872, with two romantic sketches published under the pen-name Corina. She published her poems, influenced by Eminescu, inColumna Lui Traian in 1874 and inConvorbiri Literare the following year. She also contributed toFamilia (from 1879),Revista Nouă andRevista Literară.
Additionally, a volume containing 93 of Eminescu's letters to Micle and 15 of her replies was published in 2000.
