Mihai Gafița

Mihai or Mihail Gafița (Francized ''Mikhaï Gafitza''; October 21, 1923 – March 4, 1977) was a Romanian literary historian, critic, editor, and children's novelist, also noted as a communist activist and politician. He began his career during World War II, with pieces published in a youth magazine put out by ''Universul''. During his time studying at the University of Bucharest, he became involved in left-wing agitation, joining the National Popular Party and serving as chairman of its youth sections, as well as of the National Union of Romanian Students. Having been embraced by the Romanian Communist Party (known then as the Workers' Party), Gafița emerged as one of its interpreters of Romanian literature, and excelled in particular as a writers' biographer. The late 1940s saw him espousing Socialist Realism, with noted fanaticism in public, but also working to reinstate disgraced authors such as Ion Vinea. He was controversially involved with coaxing the acclaimed writer Cezar Petrescu, converting him to communism and encouraging him to rewrite his novels on Socialist-Realist manner; Gafița also joined the ranks of communist censors by bracketing out thousands of pages from Petrescu's last novel.

In the mid-1960s, Gafița was director of a state-run publishing venue, Editura pentru Literatură, and was turning away from political writing—earning praise for his monographs on Petrescu and Duiliu Zamfirescu. His Stalinist positioning was poorly reviewed during the advent of national communism, which initially favored a cultural liberalization. Gafița was able to survive politically; he formed a lasting partnership with the unconventional novelist Marin Preda, which, in 1970, saw them taking over as managers of the reestablished publishing house, Cartea Românească. Gafița's stated resolve, that he would reach out to dissident writers, earned him attention from the Securitate secret police, and left him exposed during the Neo-Stalinist turn codified by the July Theses (1971). It was also put to the test by the anti-communist novelist Paul Goma, with whom Gafița had a major conflict, and on whom he informed to the Securitate.

Gafița's collections of critical essays continued to be written from a Marxist perspective. These were published in the mid-1970s, earning him approval, though not also general acclaim, for their explorations into 19th-century literary culture, as well as for their gentle humor. The author was crushed to death, alongside poet Anatol E. Baconsky, during the March 1977 earthquake. He left a troubled legacy, being resented for his role as a censor, though still appreciated for his biographical research. He was survived by two sons, Gabriel and Mihnea Gafița, both of whom took up careers in letters. Gabriel's involvement in the diplomatic service was tinged by controversy upon revelations that he had become a Securitate informant after his father's death. Provided by Wikipedia