Background
Constantin Axinte was born on July 4, 1897, in the village of Perieți, Ialomița County, Romania as the second of the seven children of Costache and Maria.
Constantin Axinte was born on July 4, 1897, in the village of Perieți, Ialomița County, Romania as the second of the seven children of Costache and Maria.
He graduated after the 5th grade in Perieți, as a mediocre student. At the age of 18 he graduated from the Cotroceni Piloting School in Bucharest, but he did not obtain the pilot license (as of April 1, 1913, Romania had only 20 licensed pilots).
He became known by the pseudonym Costică Acsinte, present on the backs of most of his photographs. With the start of the First World War, Costica Acsinte enrolled as a volunteer war photographer, developing his own photographs as well as the ones of the Romanian pilots and reconnaissance missions. He also developed films for the French reconnaissance missions and even for Russian pilots of the 1st and 3rd Aviation Groups.
He activated for the photographic section of the Air Squadron 1 of the Romanian army.
His experiences were immortalized in his private photographic album which contains 84 pages and 327 photographs, the majority of which being accompanied by a short dactylographic description (the album also comprises drawings/sketches and newspaper clippings). Amongst the ones photographed one can find: Ferdinand I of Romania, Queen Marie of Romania, Carol II of Romania, Henri Mathias Berthelot or General Eremia Grigorescu.
Axinte Constantin was demobilized on June 15, 1920, as a sergeant. Between 1920 and 1926, he collaborated with well-known photographers from Bucharest from which he borrows photographic gear and materials.
Costică Acsinte was the father of three children: Alexandru (Sandu), Ecaterina and Viorica.
1930 he opened a photography studio in the center of the town of Slobozia, called "Foto Splendid Acsinte", working until 1950 with glass plates as photographic support (mostly gelatine silver Agfa plates). Later he switched to sheet film and 35mm and 120mm film. He retired in 1960, his photography studio being demolished shortly after.
After 1960, Costică Acsinte continued to take photographs in the neighboring villages of Slobozia, especially in the village of Grivița.
He died on January 7, 1984, being buried in the cemetery of Bora in Slobozia. Costică Acsinte was awarded 2009 the title of "Honored Citizen" of Slobozia.
