Biography

Marin Preda (Romanian pronunciation: [maˈrin ˈpreda]; 5 August 1922, Siliștea Gumești, Teleorman County, Kingdom of Romania – 16 May 1980, Mogoșoaia, Ilfov County, Socialist Republic of Romania) was a Romanian novelist, post-war writer and director of Cartea Românească publishing house. He is considered by some to be the most important novelist in post-World War II Romanian literature. However, he has also garnered an ambivalent perception in post-socialist Romania: Preda's final novel, Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni ("The Most Beloved of Earthlings"), published just a couple of months before his death, is considered a daring critique of the beginnings of communism in Romania; in contrast, Preda was well-regarded by party leaders and received high distinctions in socialist Romania, and did not position himself as an open opponent of the regime. At the time of his death, Marin Preda was a member of the Great National Assembly.