Ștefan Octavian Iosif

Ştefan Octavian Iosif
Born	(1875-09-11)11 September 1875 Braşov, Austria-Hungary
Died	22 June 1913(1913-06-22) (aged 37) Bucharest
Occupation	Poet, translator
Nationality	Romanian
Genre	Lyric poetry
Spouse	Natalia Negru ​ ​ (m. 1904; div. 1911)​

Ştefan Octavian Iosif (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃteˈfan oktaviˈan ˈjosif]; 11 September 1875 – 22 June 1913) was a Romanian poet and translator of Romanian origin.

Life

Born in Braşov, Transylvania (part of Austria-Hungary at the time), he studied in his native town and in Sibiu before completing his education in Paris. While in France, he met Dimitrie Anghel, who would become a long-time friend. In Bucharest, Iosif, Anghel and Emil Gârleanu created a literary society (1909), the Romanian Writers' Society; Iosif later became associated with Sămănătorul.

His friendship with Anghel came to an abrupt end after the two writers fell in love with the same woman, Natalia Negru. She was first married to Iosif, but divorced him in order to remarry Anghel. The latter was drawn to despair by her infidelities, and committed suicide in 1914. Iosif had died the year before, at a hospital in Bucharest, after having suffered a stroke. He was buried at Bellu cemetery.

Works

• Patriarhale (1901)
• Romanţe din Heine (1901)
• Poezii (1902)
• Din zile mari (1905)
• Credinţe (1905)