"from Loránd Gáspár to Lorand Gaspar"
Lorand Gaspar is largely unknown to the Romanian public.
In what follows, we present some brief biographical details that will help integrate his figure into the context of Transylvania.
Lorand Gaspar is one of the most important French-language poets of the twentieth century. He was also a translator and photographer, with a strong passion for history.
He was born in Târgu Mureș in 1925, into a family in which three languages were spoken—Hungarian, Romanian and German—and he began studying French at an early age. He initially aspired to become a physicist and a poet but ultimately became a surgeon and a poet.
He began studying science in Budapest in 1943, but was soon called up for military service. After the Germans occupied Hungary, Gaspar was deported in southern Germany. He managed to escape to a French camp in March 1945. After spending a year in captivity, he chose to remain in France and, in May 1946, settled in Paris. He later obtained French citizenship and pursued medical studies in the city.
In 1954 he left for Israel as a young physician. From 1954 onwards, while working as a surgeon in Jericho, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, he came into close contact with the Palestinian population, through whom he came to know the desert more intimately—a landscape that would exert a lasting influence on him and, for a long period, constitute the principal source of inspiration for his poetry.
Starting in 1960, Gaspar discovered another space—the Aegean Sea—which would inspire his subsequent volumes. After the Six-Day War of 1967, his desire to become involved in mediation between Israelis and Palestinians was not viewed favourably by the authorities, who suggested that he should look for another job.
From 1970 until his retirement, he worked in a hospital in Tunis. There he met Jacqueline Daoud, the head of the clinic, with whom he shared a passion for literature and who would later become his second wife. Throughout this entire period, he wrote, translated, undertook long journeys—especially into the desert—and practised photography.
He published his first volume of poetry in 1967, for which he was awarded the Apollinaire Prize. He subsequently received several other literary distinctions, the most important being the Goncourt Prize in 1998.
He retired in 1992 but maintained his links with the Charles-Nicolle Hospital until 1995. He and his wife then chose to divide their time between Paris and Gammarth (near Tunis), and later settled permanently in Paris.
He passed away on 9th october, 2019, in Paris.