Background
Preda was born in Teleorman county, in a village called Siliştea-Gumeşti, into a family of peasants.
Preda was born in Teleorman county, in a village called Siliştea-Gumeşti, into a family of peasants.
He first studied at school in his home village, then schools in Abrud and Cristur-Odorhei.
He moved to Bucharest in 1940 and became a proofreader at Timpul ("Times") magazine. His first novella was called Calul ("The Horse"). lieutenant was written in 1943 and read in Eugen Lovinescu"s literary circle, Sburătorul ("The Flier").
lieutenant was included in his debut volume of 1948, Întâlnirea din pământuri.
("The Meeting between the Lands"). Between 1943 and 1945 he served in the army, which was to inspire some of his later works.
In 1945 he was hired as a proofreader at România liberă ("Free Romania") newspaper, and beginning with 1952 served as an editor at the cultural magazine Viaţa Românească ("Romanian Life"). In 1965, he became vice-president of "Uniunea Scriitorilor" (Writers" Union) and in 1970 the director of "Cartea Românească" publishing house, keeping this job until his death.
Preda"s novel Delirium (Delirul) is considered to reflect the attempt to review Ion Antonescu"s role against the background of re-surging nationalist pride in Communist Romania.
Here, Antonescu is painted as a tragic figure, who joined Germans, regarding this as the only way to re-gain Bessarabia. The first edition of the novel quickly sold out. After a few short weeks on the market, the novel was withdrawn from all public, university, and school libraries and all bookshops.
lieutenant was not much later, on May 16, 1980, that the novelist died at the Writers" Mansion of Mogoşoaia Palace.
The autopsy, which took place 24 hours after his death, showed that his blood alcohol concentration was 3.5 Baccalaureate, enough to fall into a coma. The official cause of death was asphixiation.
In 1980, Marin Preda published his last novel, Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni ("The Most Beloved Earthling"), regarded as a violent critique of communism.
Romanian Academy]
He became a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1974, and was promoted to titular post-mortem member in 1990.