Dan Deșliu (August 31, 1927 – September 4, 1992) was aRomanian poet.
Born inBucharest, his parents were Ștefan Deșliu, an accountant at theBulandra Theatre company and later administrator of the Workers' Theatre, and his wife Elena (née Săndulescu). He began secondary school atMatei Basarab Lyceum in his native city, followed by theMediaș aeronautics school and the Bucharest industrial and building high school. He then attended theDramatic Arts Conservatory underMaria Filotti. From 1946 to 1948, he appeared as an actor atPetroșani and Bucharest, also working as an editor forFlacăra magazine. He was later an editor atScînteia and, between 1961 and 1962, was editor-in-chief atLuceafărul. His first published work was the sonnet "Paseri", which appeared inGeorge Călinescu'sLumea in 1945; his first book was the 1949Goarnele inimii. He won the State Prize in 1949, 1950 and 1951. In 1971 he was awarded theOrder of Cultural Merit [ro], 2nd class,[1] and in 1974 he received theRomanian Writers' Union Prize for his bookCetatea de pe aer. In 1978, he took the same prize forUn haiduc pe bicicletă.[2] Together withEugen Frunză [ro], he composed the lyrics for "Te slăvim, Românie", which served as Romania's national anthem from 1953 to 1975.[3]
During the 1940s and 1950s, he quickly came to the literary forefront as a representative poet of his era, much lauded for his militantsocialist realist poetry that enthusiastically chronicled the events of the day. This was embodied by his first book as well as the ones that followed across the next decade:Lazăr de la Rusca (1949),Minerii din Maramureș (1951),Cântec de ruină (1957), andCeva mai greu (1958). Afterwards, he attempted a shift toward a skeptically elegiac, obsessive lyricism that dealt with regret and lack of fulfillment (Cercuri de copac, 1962;Drumul spre Dikson, 1969;Cetatea de pe aer, 1974).[2]
Starting in 1962 and particularly from 1970, he began to criticize the policies of theRomanian Communist Party, and as a result was placed under thorough surveillance by theSecuritate secret police.[4] In the 1980s, he turned toward open dissidence, repudiating his "revolutionary" past,[5] quitting the party in 1980[4] and directly criticizing dictatorNicolae Ceaușescu, whom he accused of behaving as if he were "the owner of Romania".[5] In March 1989, he sent an open letter toRadio Free Europe decrying the domestic situation in his country, prompting his placement under house arrest.[6] During theRomanian Revolution that December, he was named a member of theNational Salvation Front Council.[7]
An excellent swimmer, Deșliu drowned atNeptun nearly three years after the Revolution; it is unknown whether his death was accidental or deliberate.[8] After a thorough search covering the 20 km (12 mi) betweenCostinești andVama Veche, his intact body was found after eight days beside the dock of Ceaușescu's former villa in Neptun.[4] A diary of his, likely written in 1990–1991, appeared in 2001.[9] A street in23 August,Constanța County bears his name, and he is buried atBellu Cemetery in Bucharest.
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