Although Panait Istrati did not live in this memorial house, situated in the Public Gardens of Braila, it is only fitting that this small building was deemed suitable for a museum. After all, it was close to this place that he used to stay and look at the Danube and it's surroundings, thinking about his stories and past, magnificent tales filled with the images of his childhood, those who met in his adventurous life, his hardships and victories, his defeats and achievements. Maybe it was here that he got the ideas for this stories about the fabled "haiduc", outlaws who fought the oppression and poverty.
This memorial house was established very late, only in 1984, and today we also find on the National List of Monuments and Historical Sites in Romania. This terrible delay was in no small part due to the rejection of Communism by Istrati, after a famous voyage to the USSR, and also his involvement with a small far-right Romanian group, in the interwar period. Led by Mihail Stelescu and bearing the name of "Cruciada Romanismului" (The Romanian Crusade), it appeared as a rival of the much more popular Iron Guard, after Stelescu defected from the previous organisation, only to meet a gruesome faith some years later. Panait Istrati became close to the young extremists and wrote several articles for their official magazine, a choice that kept him out of Romanian literature for the larger part of the Communist regime. It was only in the 1980's that his brilliant work was once again read and published, and Panait Istrati was aknowledged as one of the best writers in Romanian literature. So in 1984, one hundred years since the birth of the writer, the Panait Istrati Museum was finally opened.
You can visit the Memorial House from Wednesday to Sunday, from 9.30 to 16.00, and it is one of the most interesting places to see in Braila, as it offers visitors a chance of understanding how Istrati worked, how he chose he subjects, what was the atmosphere that surrounded him. Besides documents and various editions of his books, the museum also has a small collection of personal objects and photographs, worth a look. You can also find pieces of furniture, rare editions of his books, most of the exhibits being donated by the former (and last) wife of the writer, Margareta Istrati.
Actually, the house was used as the gardener's house, since it was built, at the beginning of the 20th century. The Public Gardens in Braila were radically changed after the middle of the 19th century, when the fashion of large, carefully planned and decorated parks became more and more popular. Around 1860, in the North-East of the park, the house of the gardener, the green house and the pub were built. The Gardener's House, built in the manner that was very popular at that time, was used for years especially for this purpose.
It is a pity to go to Braila and not stop for a visit at the Panait Istrati Memorial House, to discover more about an original and unusual writer, with a life that matched and sometimes surpassed his writings.
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2008-01-29
