Barbu, Ion (1895–1961)

Romanian poet, translator, and mathematician. From 1925 his poetic output dealt increasingly in complex metaphors that drew on his extensive mathematical knowledge (he was professor of mathematics at Bucharest from 1929 onwards). His collection Joc secund/Mirrored Play appeared in 1930.

Barbu made his debut in Alexandru Macedonski's magazine Literatorul (1918). His early poems were modelled on the French 19th-century group Les Parnassiens, and between 1920 and 1925 his verse had a Turkish flavour.